Breckenridge Sunrise Engagement

Mallory and Sean came to me through a client referral but from our first phone call and Zoom chats, I instantly felt like I’d known them for years. They live in St. Louis, MI, but are holding their wedding in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in September 2024. Mallory’s grandmother has a home there, and it’s a special place for her family.

Sean and Mallory were warriors and braved an early morning wakeup on Labor Day weekend to meet me at 6:15am at Officer’s Gulch, between Frisco and Breckenridge. Nothing beats magic hour photos (the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset), especially in the mountains!

Little did I know that the morning before Mallory and Sean’s engagement shoot, my boyfriend, now fiancé, would propose the day prior. With that, when I introduced Mallory and Sean to my fiancé, they were over the moon to hear about how he proposed and our love story. That is the type of people Mallory and Sean are—they only recently met me and hardly knew Mitch, yet they couldn’t wait to hear about our love and love story. They are such loving, generous, sweet people! I can’t wait to photograph their wedding next year and celebrate their love!

Lakefront Wedding Reception for Denver Couple

Jessica and Dan’s intimate wedding reception was elegant yet casual and full of love and laughter. Jessica and Dan met once they moved to Denver from Chicago and New York. I was thrilled to travel to gorgeous Saugatuck, Michigan, where Dan’s family has a family summer home. Saugatuck looks like it’s straight out of New England. Beautiful lakefront homes and lush gardens everywhere. The morning started overcast and rainy, but amazingly, the weather cleared up and greeted us with a gorgeous golden hour and beautiful sunset. The waterfront was stunning, as was capturing these beautiful souls’ love. They had their intimate ceremony in Denver, with just the two of them and I was thrilled to document their family reception to celebrate their love.

I’ve always been drawn to flowers and love incorporating nature and flowers into my wedding and event photography. I started dabbling in floral arranging while quarantining in 2020, and I was beyond thrilled and honored that the couple entrusted me to create the tablescapes and floral arrangements for their wedding. It was an absolute blast making the arrangements the morning of the wedding, setting up the venue, and then photographing it. For micro weddings and elopements, it’s wonderful to work so closely with couples and to simplify the planning by essentially being the only vendor besides venue, catering, and bakery.

Tips for Choosing the Best Wedding Flowers with Floral Designer Barbara Mele

Barbara Mele, Founder of Gatherings Floral Design, is a self-described “flower lover extraordinaire.”  With close to two decades of experience, Barbara’s team at Gatherings services NYC and the Tri-state area with her incredible floral designs for weddings, events, and occasions of all sizes. In addition to running Gatherings, Barbara has also trained many florists as a former teacher at FlowerSchool of New York.

Barbara created romantic, elegant, and classic table pieces and a bouquet for a micro wedding I photographed at Conrad New York Downtown. As the wedding photographer, I came to know the wedding couple, Anna and Efram, through brunching and talking at length about what they wanted their wedding to be like, and Barbara’s designs reflected their personalities and style perfectly: intimate, sweet, elegant. I was so impressed with Barbara’s talent, kind personality, and dedication to her craft that I identified her as my top-choice NYC florist to feature. 

Barbara and I recently sat down together (virtually) for an interview where she shared excellent guidance for couples planning their wedding, elopement, familial connection to gardens, and her “urban garden” style. Read on!

Rachael: Tell me about your path and how you got to where you are now:

Barbara: I always wanted to be a florist. My grandmother was a landscape architect, and my mom is one of ten siblings; all seven of her sisters are landscape architects, but my mom is the only one who isn’t. I knew I wanted to do something to honor my grandmother—my fondest childhood memories were of being in the garden with her. I would walk into the neighborhood florist shop in high school asking if they needed help, but they would ask if I had experience (which I didn’t), so it was a vicious cycle. I learned to be persistent, and in college, I landed my first job with a European-style florist who preferred to hire people without experience so they could teach everyone “fresh.” I advise anyone interested in being a florist to be willing to sweep the floor, help answer the phone—literally anything to get in, and eventually, you’ll be able to learn more and take on more.  

R: How do you describe your floral style?

B: Urban Garden. I’ve always loved very wild gardens and open fields from childhood, but my whole career has been in Manhattan, so I’ve combined the wild garden feel with the city. I love using wildflowers in a sleek modern vase: a little different, a little unusual. 

R: What advise do you have for couples planning their wedding or elopement? 

B: Try to stick with varieties that will be in season. The flowers will be healthier and stay open for longer—you want them to be at their best. They are also more reasonably priced. As technology and communication has expanded and growing practices have changed and improved, flowers are now available outside of their local season. Peonies are in their peak, locally, in May but are now available in October from South America. You are paying double the cost and it’s a roll of the dice as to how healthy they will be and how long they will last. Let nature take its course and stick to seasonal blooms.

R: How do you guide couples in selecting their wedding flowers?

B: There’s always something that clues the florist in to see what they would like such as a save-the-date, a dress, or the venue. Usually couples don’t talk to a florist as their first vendor. I also ask how they met, what their interests are and get a sense of the wedding venue and setting. I also advise based on seasonality.

Photo by Enrique Vega

Photo by Kim Trang

R: How do you help couples choose their colors and style?

B: I start with the venue along with the couple’s own preferences. Venues are often dark with mahogany fixtures, or the lighting isn’t great. Using whites and light colors brighten things up. Sometimes couples come in with references from Instagram or Pinterest that are beautiful but would only work in specific spaces or outdoors. It can help see examples of what a couple likes as a starting point if they bring references. My focus is on emulating the couple's feeling and style, and then I line-up the colors to compliment the space, lighting, and any color requests. 

 R: What current trend do you like, and what are you ready to say “goodbye” to?

B: I enjoy tablescapes with bud vases and candles—they have a lot of depth and dimension. Lots of different styles to it, incredibly malleable, which I really like. I’m ready to say “goodbye” to DIY flowers. There is a lot of education online now, which is great, but couples don’t necessarily have to do the whole package DIY if they are on a budget. You could do some but make sure you have the bouquet made by a professional florist. You don’t want wilted flowers in your wedding portraits!

R: What is your favorite part of working with couples planning their wedding?

B: I like meeting with the couples and hearing their love story. Whether they have the vaguest idea of what they want or are very specific, I love bringing a sketch or idea on paper to life.

R: Do you have a favorite flower? 

B: That’s an impossible question. I can say the flowers I don’t enjoy working with are poinsettias because when you cut them, they release a white sap and are messy to work with.

Photo by Checo Barragan

 R: How do people find you?

B: Usually, people find me via word of mouth and through venues I’ve worked at. If you’re top of mind with a venue, it is a good way to get business. Through social media as well.

Contact Barbara at info@GatheringsFloralDesign.com or by phone at 212-682-2083. Follow her on Instagram at @gatheringsfloraldesignny and visit her site www.gatheringsfloraldesign.com.

Planning your proposal, engagement, or wedding? Make sure you read Top Tips for Sustainable and Zero-Waste Weddings and my interview with jewelry designer Alice Clarke featuring her Tips for Selecting the Perfect Engagement Ring.

Top Tips for Sustainable and Zero-Waste Weddings

Weddings can transport us to beautiful places—whether a micro wedding in a backyard, on the beach, in a local garden, at a modern magnificent ballroom, a farm, or at a gorgeous chateau. Yet, regardless of your wedding style, location, and number of guests, the unfortunate reality is events and weddings can produce a lot of waste. The good news is there are many ways to reduce waste!

I was thrilled to have one of my favorite wedding images published in Top Tips for Throwing Zero-Waste Weddings in St. Louis in St. Louis Best Bridal. They shared fabulous tips including:

• Choose a mindful caterer that values local, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients and creates farm-to-table menus.

• Pick locally grown flowers and request that your florist doesn’t use flower foam. This lovely couple cared deeply about using local vendors for their St. Louis, MO wedding. They hired the fabulous Urban Buds: City Grown Flowers who grows their beautiful blooms locally in greenhouses.

• Find an earth-friendly event space. “Sustainability-focused venues and caterers will have built best practices into the core of their mission statements and train their staff accordingly”.

  • For NYC couples, check out Ecocult’s list of 15 Coolest Sustainable Wedding Venues for Brooklyn Couples.

• Hold your wedding in one place—this cuts down on travel and fuel emissions.

For more guidance, journalist and sustainable fashion expert, Alden Wicker, shares fabulous tips on throwing a sustainable event in NYC (I photographed this event for Alden—it was SO much fun!) and how she made her Brooklyn wedding eco-friendly.

Alden points out that while electronic invitations are often a popular option, digital invites and RSVPs can get lost in cyberspace. She used Bella Figura who” uses vegetable-oil based and low-Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) inks, and low-VOC and citrus-based solvents. They recycle and compost their waste, and use recycled packaging materials. The papers themselves are made of reclaimed cotton fibers from the garment industry, and colored papers are FSC-certified. They are entirely powered by wind through the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs).”

Alden also highlights sustainable fashion, non-toxic makeup, reusable or biodegradable favors, non-disposable decor, and hiring a compost company. Read her full article here.

Featured here are photos of Urban Buds’ stunning creations at the elegant wedding of Boston-based couple, Natalie & Brice. Locations include Missouri Botanical Garden and The Caramel Room in St. Louis, Missouri (Brice’s hometown).

Do you have sustainable or eco-friendly practices in your daily life that you’re passionate about? Share in comments below!