Oak & the Owl

Monday, May 13, 2013

Leather & Tweed: Utterly Engaged w/ Jesi Haack & Jasmine Star

Long time no post! I’m so excited to have my first post be this beauty after an extended absence from blogging. I had the honor of working with one of my wedding industry favorites, Jesi Haack, on this stylized shoot for Utterly Engaged. It was Lucia and Henny’s brilliant idea to bring hipster chic to the wedding world, and Jasmine Star’s photos are stunning. I love how fun and relaxed this entire experience was, and it shows in these images. It was such a great time with a phenomenal team. Erica of 10.11 killed it on hair and make-up, as always. The invites were perfectly designed by Vintage Invites, and the signage from Joyful Joyful worked beautifully with Founds adorable vintage bikes and baskets. Enjoy these images and let me know what you think.

Credits

Photography: Jasmine Star

Shoot Design & Styling: Jesi Haack

Florals & Styling: Oak & the Owl

Hair & Make-Up: 10.11 Makeup

Rentals & Props: Found Vintage Rentals

Invitation & Paper Goods: Vintage Invites

Signage: Joyful Joyful Designs

Models: Cazzy Zahurshy, Patricia Iluore, Garrett Lopez, & Danny Williams

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Revisiting Summertime w/ Kamee June Photography

I didn’t post anything last week because I’m waiting… Waiting on things to happen. I’ve also been planning and executing several shoots I’m really excited about, all the while battling different illnesses my little Ebola monkey named Bass has brought home. To say I’m over being sick is an understatement. Ugh. Although I’m happy and incredibly grateful to be able to start my business slow while he’s still little. To take the time to just hold him for 24 hours and know Oak & the Owl will survive a late email being sent, or my car not being cleaned out from Saturdays shoot. As much as I want my business to be booming now, with a new client inquiry coming in hourly, I know that’s not smart. My intent is for now to be the lead up to the boom. I think 2 more years of laying the groundwork will benefit everyone involved. So while I’m patiently waiting on many things, including photos from last years weddings, or for certain weddings to be published before I can share them on my blog, I thought I’d share this mini shoot I did with Kamee June a couple of years ago. Kamee came over to my house and I pulled some little vignettes together for her to shoot. I especially love this one. The combination of hot pink and black is great, and the little French plates I used I can’t get enough of. I need to dream up another shoot where I can use them in their full glory.

The flowers uses were Karl Rosenfeld peonies, lilac, mini clematis, and green dianthus.

That’s it for today. Hopefully I’ll have received some of the photos I’ve been waiting on for next weeks post. If not, I’ll find something from the archives to share. Cheers!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Oak & the Owl is One!!

I started working on this post over two weeks ago and got totally sidetracked. One of the things I love about my work is how involved I am in these pinnacle moments of peoples lives. A few days before I planned to post this, I was rocked by the death of someone I adored. Her daughters are good friends of mine, and I’m doing her youngest daughters wedding flowers in August. Laurie (the mom) had been battling cancer for 3 years, and she had a very quick and unexpected end. When she started to drastically deteriorate, her daughter Caitlin decided to up her wedding date to Saturday 2.9 so her mom could be there. We collaborated together on how to make a beautiful wedding ceremony at Cedar Sinai. Whether it should be outside under a flowering tree perfectly in bloom, if they should just do it in the hospital chapel, or if her mom couldn’t make it that far, in the family waiting room down the hall. Everything was set and we were so (cautiously) excited to see it come together. Friday morning (2.8) as I was working on Caitlin’s bouquet, I was told her mom had passed. “She’s gone.” was the text I received. Heartbroken completely describes how I felt. Heartbroken and furiously angry. I just kept cussing over and over. I couldn’t believe this woman, who was a model to me for kindness, truth, love, and perfected priorities, could be taken so early. Her older daughter, one of my best friends, is due with the first baby in the family this April. Her mom didn’t even make it to hold her first grandbaby. There are days when the reality of this seems impossible.

But then I went on and finished the two weddings I had for that Saturday. And a funny thing happened. Both of my brides for that weekend are named Caitlin. The other sweet Caitlin invited me to her ceremony. It was so incredibly beautiful. It moved me, and it gave me a renewed love for what I do, and for life in general. At the end of the ceremony the pastor told the guests that the bride and grooms kiss in front of everyone was THEIR FIRST KISS EVER. I sat there with my mouth agape. I couldn’t believe it. I am not a religious person at all, but I can deeply respect people’s beliefs. Especially when they live their life so in line with those beliefs. These two people, crazy beautiful, talented, smart, etc., chose to stay true to their faith, and to each other, over a more fleeting satisfaction.

It was as though that weekend was a reminder to me of the balance of life's beauty. The one Caitlin, who lost her mom the day before her wedding, and the other Caitlin who had never even kissed her groom before that day. That the end of one life is typically followed by the beginning of another. Extreme loss is paired with significant and impassioned gain. The fact that I get to be a part of these moments, no matter how small, makes me incredibly grateful. And like I’m doing the right thing with my life.

I also thought it was a beautiful end to Oak & the Owl’s first year in business. We celebrated our first year anniversary on 2.10.2013.

For a little anniversary celebration I put together a sort of year in review for this post. I didn’t share everything we did, but just looking at all these photos makes me a little tired, while at the same time completely invigorated for our second year. Lol. I just finished my taxes and the amount of money I spent on shoots is ridiculous. Yet without all of them, I know I wouldn’t have had as successful a year. So that being said, I hope you enjoy the review. And I’m confident I’ll be back next week with another post. A real wedding from last December. (Although, considering this is a few weeks late, I don’t want to promise anything. ;-)) Cheers! xo