Lately, I have been feeling trapped in the conception of what a wedding should look like. The traditional nature of a white dress, black tux, and muted colors. While there is nothing wrong with this vibe (heck, I love this vibe), I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and experiment with a little bit of color!
When Kelby and I met, we hit it off, and casually slipped into conversation that I was a wedding coordinator and stylist. I love to slip this into the conversation because you never know who you will meet, and the amazing projects that will come from it (ahem, please see example A above). Kelby came to me with a bright, colorful, airy, and playful mood board that honestly scared me a little. It was so different than the content I had been doing, and I was SO nervous to design using bright colors.
To be completely candid about this experience, I had so much anxiety about this shoot. As I was piecing together the design I kept thinking “What if no one likes this?!” or “What if I get there and all the colors look terrible together?!” A piece of advice to stylists: Joann’s is overwhelming, and do not go when you have 12 minutes til they close. I mean what was I thinking trying to go through the fabric section in 12 minutes? Who knows… I’m getting anxiety just typing about it (could also be the 3 cups of cold brew I’ve had today…oops). Once I got the yellow fabric, I could start to slowly see my vision coming together. There is usually a turning point to me during the planning process for a shoot, where I start to feel better about my design. For this shoot, that point came much much later than I hoped it would.
While all the vendors were sending me pictures of their work and ideas, I started to get more and more excited to create content that was different. My idea started with a non traditional wedding dress, after being inspired by seeing a bride wearing a yellow dress. I saw the fuchsia dress at Your Big Day in Camas and thought, “Yep. Thats it, fuchsia it is.” And what happened?! MORE anxiety! Change is hard for people, and I did not know how people would react to seeing a bright fuchsia (I am starting to hate the word fuchsia, as I type it) in their feeds. I started to question why I had the mindset that I was creating with the worry of others not approving of my design.
Which brings me to my final point of this blog post…
I write this, in hopes whoever is reading it, learns from my mistake of creating with the wrong mindset. While it is okay to be nervous about creating, it is not healthy to create with the worry that others will not approve. Trust me… I am still learning how to change my mindset when I create, by telling myself “I am creating this for me, for the vendors who are willing to take a chance on me, and for MY brand.” Thats just it: this is my brand and the beauty of starting a business is to be able to create ANYTHING I want to! If I did not create for me, then why the heck am I doing this?!
I am writing a HUGE thank you to whoever is reading this. A thank you for following me, my dream, and supporting my crazy ideas like a fuchsia wedding dress!!
Coordinator/Stylist: Madison August / Instagram: @madisonaugusteventdesign
Photographer: Kelby Maria / Instagram: @kelby_maria
Models: Michelle + Jake / Instagram: @michelle_marie_ + @jame.jame.jame
Venue: Saint Irene’s / Instagram: @saintirenes
Florals: Chas Thompson Thomas / Instagram: @wildflower_portland
Cake: Rebecca Powazek / Instagram: @beescustomcakes
Hair + Makeup: Kendall Peters / Instagram: @romantictressesbridal
Calligraphy: Charlene Santos / Instagram: @charligraphy
