Modern Los Angeles Wedding Inspiration at the Fenyes Estate

5 years ago, Styled shoots were all the rage. These perfectly curated fake weddings provided an aspirational benchmark to inspire real weddings to continue innovating and up-leveling. Then, the pandemic hit.

A Shift to Authenticity

Things were already trending this way, but I do think it accelerated the focus to real weddings with a focus on what is authentic rather than striving for perfection. And I fully welcome this change.

While I love the shift to the real and authentic, I still see a place for the aspirational and creating work because it’s creatively inspiring and beautiful. So I wanted to share a styled elopement of my own.

A Major Life Change

Before the pandemic, I lived in Wisconsin. And while I loved our local client work, I was continually feeling drawn to California and to finding opportunities to articulate my own creative vision.

I considered many different workshops and group styled shoots, but I wanted something that reflected MY vision, not work that, while incredibly beautiful, could easily fit in any of 100 different fine art photographer’s portfolio from 2018.

My Vision: Modern, Yet Soft

While the style of the day was very feminine and floral, I wanted to create something with a bit of a modern edge. Something that would feel soft overall, but also chic and cool for the modern bride.

With that in mind, I created this modern elopement vision at the Fenyes Mansion in Pasadena with the help of stylist Kelly Oshiro.

At the time, I had no idea that a pandemic was on the way that would completely change my life and prompt me to move to California where I’d have greater proximity to creating work like this. Doesn’t life have a funny way of showing us that there really are no coincidences?

Planning: Kelly Oshiro

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