Weddingbee PRO

It excites me to no end when I get to do photo shoots. This one was done with a fantastic team including the ever talented Kevin Chin, Anne Millett of Mira Aster, Classic Party Rentals, and Utterly Engaged Magazine.

The theme for UE's wedding magazine issue #5 was Back to Basics.

Instead of featuring a typical wedding, we decided that it was more charming to feature a wedding rehearsal dinner because after all a wedding celebration starts with the many parties leading up to the magical day.

When I grew up, the wedding rehearsal dinner was a big deal. Unlike the formality of the wedding reception, the wedding rehearsal dinner was filled with relaxed laughter, silly toasts, light hearted games and comfort food that was made by friends and family members. The familiarity of backyard bashes, favorite family recipes, and fun but unpretentious details feels so right (so right now!). Emphasis on a family style dinner, picnic bench seating, Grandma's hand me down flatware, and hand crafted details is not a return to basics but return to something beloved.

Anne and I had so much fun not only doing the styling and the background story, but we also divided the catering duties. Corn on the cob was grilled by Kevin. The strawberry shortcake by Anne and the strawberry lemonade by yours truly were both semi homemade. Biscuits were made the night before in my kitchen. And Anne's beautiful handwriting was on that chalkboard.

I hope you enjoy this Strawberry Shortcake Rehearsal Dinner shoot that makes me want to “spread the love”.

(That's my dog, Chin Chin getting into the attention!)