Weddings are a day filled with love, beautiful décor, and celebration. When it comes to planning an unforgettable wedding, it's all in the details. That’s why we teamed up with Meghan of Meghan Elizabeth Events and Mindy of Mindy Briar Photography to set the scene for an idyllic Provençal wedding. We sat down with Meghan and Mindy to learn a little more about how they create such a magical day!
Meghan is the owner of Meghan Elizabeth Events, a wedding and event planning company based in Fairfield, Connecticut. She focuses on making sure clients have a smooth wedding planning process and let her take on the hard stuff, making their day less stressful and more memorable.
Mindy is driving force behind Mindy Briar Photography. She and her husband, Cameron, have a true passion for a good love story. They work as a team to make your perfect day as joyful, relaxed, and heartfelt as possible.
GL: Meghan, can you tell us what led you to become a wedding planner?
MD: I’ve been planning weddings for five years, but was bitten by the event planning bug well over a decade ago during my first job out of college. At O, The Oprah Magazine, I worked in the marketing department on everything from intimate client entertaining events to large-scale (think 4,000 Oprah fans!) reader events. Yes, I did meet Oprah and yes, she is amazing! Next, I moved to Brides Magazine and fell in love with weddings. I mean, how could you not?! I got engaged myself during my time at Brides!
Combining my expertise in event logistics and my love for gorgeous weddings, I started Meghan Elizabeth Events and have loved every minute of it! Working with clients and their families to achieve an amazing day always gives me the “event high” that started it all so many years ago!
GL: Mindy, how did you become a wedding photographer?
MB: I have a degree in Interior Design (aka: a million Art classes taken in college) and have a true passion for Art in all forms. As a travel obsessed gal who recently moved across the country with her hubby and two pups, I've been having a blast photographing people, places and things that move me and have a unique story to share.
GL: Do you photograph more than weddings?
MB: Yes, I love to photograph people in many scenarios. Whether it be a vibrant portrait session in the busy city, a romantic couples session at sunset at your favorite beach, or family portraits on a perfect sunny day in the park. I'm here to celebrate YOU and capture your best moments in a lovely and inspiring way. I believe that every person has a special story to tell and it's my goal to capture your authenticity through my camera lens. I'm a lover of love, kiddo and baby enthusiast (is that a thing? Because oh my goodness, if it is - this is me!), and true blue all American girl who loves to meet new people and capture them in a bright and cheerful way.
GL: How did you come up with the concept of the shoot?
MD: L’Escale already has a beautiful Provençal feeling to work with. We wanted to bring in bright colors and play with the vintage aesthetics to create a stunning spring table that feels like it came right from a luxurious dinner party in France.
Collaborating with talented vendors is key in bringing a vision to life. Mindy and I worked together on the concept but our work was elevated by our vendor team. Shari from Bespoke Designs and McArdles both took the inspiration and helped us to take it to another level.
With every wedding I plan, I’m inspired by my couples aesthetics and how their day looks when it comes to life. As a wedding vendor, these types of shoots are a fun way to take all the ideas and inspiration and collaborate to create something gorgeous.
GL: Shari, can you tell me how Bespoke Designs works all of the vendors to create the invitations?
SL: Event planners have learned that the creative team at Bespoke are serious about bringing their event vision to life. Meghan gave us the detailed event concept board so we could clearly pick up the mood and feel of the pinks and the blues. Caitlin Clonan, Creative Director at McCardles let us know exactly which flowers she would be using. From there, we had our calligrapher create a new, custom lettering style that we letter pressed on the invitations, and then hand lettered on the envelopes. The flowers have been drawn and colored for the liner. And the gorgeous blue delphiniums have been printed on the outer wrap. Continuing from there, we created a custom wax seal of the same species of rose, and wrapped it with a hand dyed silk ribbon of the same pale rose petal color.
This is what Bespoke means: every detail of the wedding invitation suite has been custom created to tell the story of this unique celebration."
Planner - Meghan Elizabeth Events - meghanelizabethevents.com
Photographer - Mindy Briar Photography - mindybriar.com
Venue - L’Escale/The Delamar Greenwich - lescalerestaurant.com, delamar.com
Florist - McArdle’s Florist and Garden - mcardles.com
Stationery - Bespoke Designs - bespokedesigns.com
Vintage Rentals - Borrowed Vintage Style - borrowedvintagestyle.com
Rentals - Smith Party Rentals - smithpartyrentals.com
Bride’s Attire - Katie Fong Collection - katiefong.com
Groom’s Attire - Suit Supply Greenwich - suitsupply.com
Hair - Beauty by Chelsea Day - beautybychelseadae.com
Makeup - Style by Allyssa - stylesbyallyssa.com
Jewelry - Manfredi Jewels - manfredijewels.com
Cake - Sweet Lisa’s Exquisite Cakes - sweetlisas.com
Models - Kaitlyn Tarpey and Salvatore Borea