New Beginnings

Gowns provided by:
Weddings By Armando

Congratulations to Steven & Lorina Gray.  

It was a beautiful wedding,
and we all wish you a wonderful married life.

Toes In The Sand

Saturday was my first beach wedding of the 2013 season.  The bride and groom picked a great spot and made the best of a rainy day to celebrate the start to a whole new life.  I wanted a share a little summary of the day and some of my favorite moments with you all.

Congratulations again on your marriage!

 

 

Spring Portfolio Cleaning

OneWed.com : Spring Green Wedding Shoes

It's spring, time to make my new list of photos I want to get for my portfolio while covering weddings this season.  I always consider the gaps and try to find ways to fill them without missing a moment of a bride's big day and making sure to work with her ideas.  I encourage every bride to build a profile on Pinterest and send a link while we are planning her details so that I can see the thoughts in her planning process and important moments she wants captured. 

This year I am all about the colorful brides.  The weddings I have booked are nontraditional in their color choices and I love that about these brides.  I look forward to picking up an image or two like this with color and class mixed into a different way to salute the wedding rings.  I'm a fan of shoes anyway, so it also feeding into my obsession with those things that cover a girl's toes.  

My other recent obsession is looking up wedding gowns through wholesale brokers online.  I spend a huge amount of time looking at dress designs on wholesale ordering sites to keep an eye on trends in bridal fashion.  I get to figure out if I am looking at a year full of lace or one with beading and bling.  I adore the fun of looking at lace and long flowing lines but short and flirty can be a welcome change as I book with modern brides.

I love the color and spark in this dress from MLtailor.com.  The flower detail on the waist is not my personal style, but is one of the better executions on a fabric flower that I have seen in the last few weeks.  Normally, I am also not a huge fan of peachy-pinks, but the blush tone on this is really pretty over the tulle layers in that mermaid gown, a works so well with the backdrop they selected for this shoot.  It all reminds me of spring!

Finally, I really want to play with perspective again this year.  I have a few ideas of what will work for poses, and now I just need to book enough weddings to keep up with them.  As of now, July is almost all open for bookings and one June weekend is un-filled.  I am looking to take elopements as well as large events to keep giving my all to couples on a budget for their day.  Remember to check out the new portfolio at www.AkelisStudios.com as well!

Beautiful Bride

Five years ago I was a bridesmaid at my best friend's wedding.  I remember helping her into her dress and braiding everybody's hair when the stylist canceled at the last minute and only called about two hours before the ceremony was supposed to start.  It no longer fits, but the dress I wore is still in my closet and reminds me of that day.

After five years of marriage, my college roommate finally made the choice to do some lovely boudoir as a gift for her hubby.  Taking advantage of the fact that five years and two children later she still fits her gown, she brought it along and we told a wonderful story.

Thank you so much for being an amazing friend!

Production Begins

Today is about the creative process of gowns.  This process all starts with an idea, usually one that pops into my head without warning just as I am trying to close my eyes for bed. Once they are in there I write them down and go back to it later for sketching.  I often peruse wedding gown catalogs and websites to make sure I am not copying something already on the market then go with modifications to really make it a custom design and be sure I am not copying a designer unfairly.

May favorite inspiration comes from classical art and walking around fabric mills when I get the chance.  Letting the lace or chiffon run through my hands allows me to think about how I want to sculpt with it.  

In general my work seems to have a tendency toward dropped waist and mermaid or trumpet gowns at the moment because that is the style I prefer for myself.  There is a theme of heavy lace detail and minimal beading but a little touch of feminine charm in each with a simple floral cap or lace edged veil and gloves.  

In the next few days I will make final choices on the fabrics to begin testing my concepts in the real world.  I have the ever wonderful Fox Affect working on a design for a headband.  She has an amazing eye for crystals and lace, far more skillful than I could ever hope to be with my clumsy photographer fingers. We have known each other since 2003 when we attended college together, and share a good deal of mutual weirdness.  This makes communication of otherwise very strange ideas about design much more simple.

I expect that production will start fairly soon on the first elements, and we can begin to the fruits of all this effort.  Until that point, I will share a few more rough sketches with my chicken scratch notes along the edges.

Weddings By Armando 2013 Models

Because every body is unique and every bride has her own style, we are looking for real women to model our 2013 line of gowns.  You can be married, engaged, or even single; we just want girls willing to but their best face forward and help us show off the beauty in every bride. 

We are looking for two men and five women that fit one or more of the following catagories we will showcase with our spring line for 2013:

1. Healthy Curves -  If you have a rocking body that doesn't fit the size 2 cookie cutter of the bridal boutique world this is you time to shine! We do need models here to be at least 5' 6'' and comfortable in heels.
2. Petite - Not a tall drink of water but still have curves that rock? We may still need your help.  We would like to work with at least one model willing to show her legs.  Again, comfort in heels is a must, as is a winning smile the captures the focus.
3. The Un-Bride -  If your covered in tattoos, have hair that makes old ladies stare, and want to show that even unusual looks can work at a wedding, we agree with you 100%.  Models for this section may be asked to supply shoes based on the looks chosen so prepare to wear something fun.  Couples interested in posing together for this section would be compensated with additional final images.  
4. Classic Wedding - Have the model look that every woman wants?  Well we want you too.  While we love all our full figured gals, there are some dresses that look awesome on lighter bodies.  In this case you'll need to be able to walk, pose, maybe even dance in heels and if possible we would like a model with hair below the shoulder.  This is the collection most up for scrutiny because we have had previous models show interest.  We may choose more than one person for this group and split the looks based on what looks better on each person.  
5. Ladies In Love - We are looking for a same sex couple willing to share the love of their relationship for our fantastic new complementing looks line.  This will have one gown and one pant-suit in each look and both partners will be asked to sit with our hair and make-up team.  Partners should be comfortable with their choice of partner being public, and be willing to have these images shared at events or online in our advertising where they could be seen by the public. 
6. Gentlemen - You lucky dogs.  Our needs are far less strict though you will need to be willing to wear everything from a tux to informal attire for a more laid-back event.  We do ask that males be prepared with black dress socks and formal shoes (no sneakers or loafers).  Guys will need to be available for multiple days or longer shoot times to work with models from different collections. 

Ready to join the fun?  Then you will need to prepare the following photos and answer some questions.
We will be accepting applications  February 15th - 25th

1. Two Headshots - at least one should be with no make-up or digital editing and straight to the camera.
2. Full Body - head to toe in everyday clothes and a formal look if possible.  These must be clothed, all applications with nudes will be deleted without consideration.
3. Back View - Full or 3/4 view of you from the back.  Wedding gowns are all about the train!

Step-By-Step: Design to Dress

 

Going from sketch to gown is a long process.  Having a one of a kind dress is a dream fewer brides can enjoy with tight budgets and the massive numbers of off the rack gowns.  Fewer shops offer the chance to sit with a designer and really discuss ideas on what would be perfect for that one special day.

This is one of four new sketches starting the 2013 Spring/Summer season for Weddings By Armando.  Updates on how this beauty will go from thoughts, to sketch, to being ready for a walk to the alter will be available in future updates.  Until that point our new quest for models to participate in our 2013 search continues.  Plus size, same sex couples, and anyone wanting to have a chance at being a model for a day should keep track of our updates on facebook and apply as soon as we open the information. 

Until then, we are working on big website updates, new dress designs, and a wonderful winter trash the dress idea for snowy brides to get some ideas for fun photos in the frosty outdoors!