Maggie O'Heran
- Nov 7, 2020
- 3 min read

Modern Styled Shoot

A venture into a new style at FAR Center for Contemporary Arts in Bloomington, Indiana

As I have been building my business, I found a niche in rustic chic and while it's a fantastic thing to have a niche, I felt it was time to stretch my creativity a bit with a styled shoot at FAR Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana. When I was envisioning how it would go, I knew I wanted to put my own spin on a styled shoot and decided I would make it a "lite" version of the traditional styled shoot and not have models. This presented its own challenges in how to tell the story I wanted to tell, but in the end it was a delight to create something outside of my box.

Another reason I wanted to create this styled shoot was to showcase how I envision my Minimony package coming to life. With the world turning on its head earlier this year, I feel we will continue to pivot to more intimate celebrations for life's big moments and thus my Minimony package was born. So, at this point, I knew a few things - I needed to stretch my creativity, I didn't want models, and I wanted to tell the story of an intimate celebration of love. When thinking on how I could stretch my creativity, I knew that a modern look and feel would be something I haven't dabbled in and be the opposite of rustic. And just like any couple at the start of the their wedding planning process, I knew I needed the right venue to tell my story at.

Being a resident of Bloomington....forever.... I knew that FAR Center for Contemporary Arts would give me the modern backdrop I needed to make this story come to life and I was excited to have a reason to utilize their space again. If you are looking for a versatile, unique venue, I cannot recommend FAR enough. Abigail is a dream to work with and answered all my little questions along the way. I really could not have asked for a better site coordinator to work with or a better venue to showcase my work at.

Once the venue was finalized, I knew it was time to find a cake to showcase. I wanted to work with someone I have never worked with before and thankfully, Amanda with Two Son's Cakery responded to my inquiry. All I told her was "I want to tell the story of two grooms, with a moody fall/gothic feel and not a lot of florals, here's my Pinterest board for this, have at it" and man, oh man, did she ever deliver! I never in my life envisioned receiving a cake with such beauty and elegance showcased in 3 tiers. I mean, it speaks for itself, just look at it!

Have you seen a more gorgeous cake? Because I don't think I have. I am still in awe of this cake, seriously. I don't think it should even be sliced into, it's just too pretty. It belongs as an art piece in the gallery! Okay, okay, we can talk about this cake any time, just ask me, but let's get back to the rest of the story.

As an event/wedding planner, I have a lot of stuff. And I mean, a lot of stuff (just ask my husband), but I don't have everything and I didn't want to add more to my hoard than I had to (which still somehow continues to grow and grow). So, I reached out to Perfect Parties Tents & Events and snagged some of their inventory to help me decorate and tell this story. I am so glad they were willing, their pieces added a touch of elegance to the tablescape I created. While I did end up adding the circle arch to my inventory and got some funky dinnerware to add in, they went above and beyond what I needed and really helped me pull it all together.

Last, but not least in any way shape or form, is my favorite photographer: Jenn Hamm with Eyemuse Photography. Without her, this day wouldn't have been captured with any justice and I am so thankful she always answers my call of "hey, are you available on this date? Can you take some photos for me?" She is just the best and I am so thankful to have her on my "team".

So, without further ado, I introduce to you, my delightful styled shoot:

The little details: