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A Shore Thing: Elegant Ocean-Inspired Photo Shoot by Mood Events

By Tessa Woolf August 17, 2012

If you love the coast and easy, elegant California style, then you'll love the inspiration shoot we're spotlighting today from Mood Events and Heather Nan Photography. You may have seen an image or two from this photo shoot floating around on the web, but we're lucky enough to be sharing the complete feature with you today!

Mood Events teamed up with some of Utah's best vendors to bring a touch of the surf, sand, and sea to Salt Lake City for this stylish shoot. Read on for more details about the venue, fashion, flowers, and decor from Mood Events' Garrett Soong (one part of Mood's talented trio), and enjoy the beautiful images. Don't be surprised if you find yourself daydreaming about a beach vacation or destination wedding...

Our idea for this photo shoot was to showcase an intimate wedding dinner between the bride and groom, and their wedding party. The venue was appropriately named Sea Salt--an Italian restaurant in Salt Lake City featuring organic ingredients and comfort dishes inspired by the Mediterranean. Sea Salt's white marble and stainless steel interior offered a real sense of casual, beach elegance. The large floor-to-ceiling wall of windows allowed for the beautiful afternoon sunlight to pour into the space, casting a beautiful glow throughout the restaurant.

Three identical sunburst centerpieces created by Kado Designs incorporated beautiful metallic bronze vases and a sunburst of jade roses, white ranunculus, lillies, reeds, and red hypericum berries on top. These centerpieces provided height and drama to the overall look of the tablescape. Kado also designed smaller sunburst arrangements for the cocktail and outdoor dessert lounge areas. The contemporary bridal bouquet featured white ranunculus, white roses, jade roses, green eye roses, dianthus green balls, knots of red ti leaf, a twisting reed stem and green sea glass gems finished with gold wire accents. The groom's boutonniere was designed to match the bouquet and featured a white ranunculus, red ti leaf knot, and a reed base.

Guest favors were beautiful dark green bottles of olive oil displayed in antique wooden fruit crates. Each bottle of olive oil was wrapped in a band of natural linen and tied off with twine to achieve that perfect balance of rustic chic and simple elegance.

The invitation suite, signage for the favors and desserts, and all of the name cards and menu cards were provided by The Write Image. Inspired by the wavy pattern found on the fabric used in our outdoor lounge pillows, we incorporated the wave motif into all of the paper goods produced for the photo shoot. The invitation suite not only included the wave motif, but also incorporated the bronze jewel tones set against a natural cream background and a soft blue pattern.

Choosing to forgo a standard escort card table with name card tents and a floral arrangement, we incorporated a large gold lacquer frame to greet guests with their seating assignments indicated right next to their name.

The bride and bridesmaids wore dresses that invoked the cool, blue tones of the ocean, and also that of the golden, metallic sand. All of the dresses were provided by Lily & Iris. The groom and his groomsmen wore classic black suits and neckties by Beckett & Robb, lending a cool, young, and casual vibe. Hair and makeup by Enizio was kept simple, natural, and elegant. The gold necklaces, bracelets, and jewels by Katie Waltman Jewelry provided the perfect sparkling finish to the overall look.

The dinner tablescape included wooden farmhouse tables at bar height (provided by Alpine Event Rentals) paired with rustic wooden bar stools on either side. The natural rustic feel of the table and stools was a nod to the weathered and smooth driftwood one would find washed up on the beach. The tables were situated directly in front of the restaurant's custom-built bar, which provided a beautiful focal backdrop for the dinner. Sea-glass green dinner plates (from Susan's Party Rentals), rolled champagne silk napkins with metallic gold- and bronze-tiled napkin rings, and a wooden base and glass name card holder completed the place settings.

The night ended with a dessert hour on Sea Salt's outdoor patio complete with bistro lighting and a fire pit. We created a gourmet s'mores station with pizzelle wafer cookies, three different flavors of gourmet fudge, and homemade marshmallows to roast over the open fire.

Thank you, Garrett! Such a fantastic inspiration shoot! The style and feel of this shoot would be perfect for a late summer engagement party, rehearsal dinner, or intimate wedding celebration.

Again, a big thank you to Mood Events, Heather Nan Photography, and all the wonderful vendors who contributed to this shoot for letting us spotlight your talents today!