Witchy Elopement Shoot in Accord, NY – Sea Change Farm and Flower

Oftentimes people call locally-grown flowers “wildflowers.” It’s true that farm-grown flowers can pull off that romantic, garden-style, “wildflower look” quite well!

I love the light and airy “wildflower look.” I do, however, also love me some moody, heavier-feeling florals. And I love showing that locally-grown flowers can be used for all kinds of aesthetics–not just the
“wildflower look.”

Deep and dark flowers aren’t as popular for actual weddings as I’d like to see! So to satisfy my cravings for the dark side, I contrived to use these colors in a styled shoot instead: big, bad, deep, dark flowers, with a touch of witchy magic.

Adam of Adam Okimatsu Photography and I were planning a larger styled shoot featuring moody florals in May, just as coronavirus hit. Needless to say we cancelled that original shoot.

As we saw the ways that “love wasn’t cancelled” by coronavirus, we brainstormed ways to present something on a smaller scale that would resonate with couples planning a wedding or elopement in this strange new reality.

We kept our vendor list super small and staged this elopement shoot at my home in Accord, NY. My fiancé, Brandon, and I were even the models! We never did a formal engagement photo shoot, so modeling for this shoot was extra fun for us.

This day felt really special to us, and we hope to show others that a small, simple, and safe celebration can still be filled with love and amazing and unique floral beauty.

Adam is already a friend of ours–Brandon went to high school with him–but I love working with him because his photography style is so honest and genuine-feeling. A core piece of Sea Change is using 100% locally-grown flowers that are seasonal, sustainable, and with a wild yet down-to-earth aesthetic. Adam’s wonderful eye for natural beauty and his grounded style pairs really well with our core values.

I wanted to showcase a different aesthetic than the “wildflower look” in this shoot. Rather than going for light, airy colors, I chose dark, rich, saturated colors, and layered them in the arrangements for this shoot to make full, lush pieces.

I chose an analogous color scheme with predominately Red and Red-Violet flowers and their tints and shades, with little sparkles of Red-Orange in there as well to keep things fiery instead of girly-pink.

The floral stars of this bouquet were several varieties of Lisianthus, which is a formal-looking flower and helped keep this bouquet from feeling too wildflower-y. You’ll also find a couple of Dahlias if you look closely, as well as Rudbeckia, Sedum, Scabiosa, Snapdragons, Strawflower, Statice, and even some scarlet Gladiolus.

This color palette has a jewel-tone quality, and with Adam’s skillful photography, the flowers feel ethereal and almost glow! I love these photos so much.

Since I don’t wear (or own!) much jewelry, I made myself a pair of oversized floral earrings for this shoot. I actually don’t have pierced ears, so I fashioned these earrings to hook over the tops of my ears instead.

With the amazing, super-retro beehive number that Eden of Artisan Beauty Bar created with my hair (who knew my hair could even do that??), these earrings had me feeling quite glamorous! I even completed the look with all the makeup I own: old mascara, slightly congealed black eyeliner, and vaseline “lip gloss.” What can I say? I’m a farm gal!

I had a great time working with Adam on this shoot, and Brandon and I both enjoyed modeling for it. I also grew every last stem that went into the florals, a very satisfying feeling! I hope you enjoy these photos as much as we do 🙂