On a cloudy Sunday morning, a team of like-minded and mission-driven vendors gathered at the Micro Venue in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. Masked and following timelines, the team transformed the tiny space from a blank slate to an organic garden space. The mission was to create a beautiful shoot inspired by the handcrafted details, conscious consumption, dinner parties, and flair of the 70s. The motivation was to remind their community that these focused details represent a shift in the way couples are thinking about their marriage celebrations. Taking inspiration from the revolutionary social movements of the 70s, the team wanted to shed light on the intersectional identities a woman can hold today.

FROM REVOLUTION TO TENDERNESS.

The origins of this shoot began with the photographer Karen of Kirsch Creative last June. She quickly pulled in Kate of Tapestry Event Co. to explore the bigger ideas of the shoot. As they  took in the way her city of Seattle was transformed during the Black Lives Matter protests, they reflected on what their values were as individuals and as wedding professionals. Karen says that her conclusion was “We do what matters, not what’s easy.” This connected to the wedding industry in choosing to make values-based decisions during the wedding planning process instead of the easiest or cheapest solutions. Throughout the past year, she saw how couples began to prioritize family, love, community, and gathering in meaningful ways over the traditional parties of the wedding industry. These values felt good, right, and aligned with the ways she wants to participate with couples’ marriage celebrations. “These values and social movements are not just a trend. Weddings are changing, and that’s here to stay.”

“Not just a trend.”

The 1970s weren’t just a time of bell sleeves, macrame, and vivid colors. The second wave of the feminist movement invited in conversations about gender, sexuality, race, class, and social equity. These conversations are still happening today. And as we consider the movement of the past few years, leading to the Black Lives Matter uprisings in 2020 and the protests for Asian life in 2021, as well as so many other important civil rights issues, we are seeing that these conversations need to be nurtured and continued. They aren’t over. We are still discovering parts of ourselves that, as women, we have not always been invited to talk about or consider, or that we haven’t considered because we haven’t experienced a specific point of view. And while there is so much work to be done, the work will not be worth it if we don’t also pause to celebrate ourselves and the incredible women around us along the way. We used these reflections to inspire a shoot that showed the multidimensional power of a modern woman, bringing together an inclusive collection of women vendors.

In the visuals of the shoot, Karen and Kate wanted to bring softness and femininity to a strong woman and show how it only added to her already apparent strength. This was aided by the perspective of Kat, the makeup artist of the day. She is inspired by the mission of the shoot and loves working with a good team. Her business is also mission-based, using makeup from primarily Black- and POC-owned brands created by makeup artists. For this shoot, she almost entirely used products by Pat McGrath.

Kat’s intuitive understanding of the relationship between a makeup artist and a bride was key to creating the day’s look. Her focus was both on creating an elevated beauty look for the model, Kristina, and fostering a connection with her. “You need to find people you vibe with because makeup is very intimate,” she said. Kat wanted to showcase how short hair on women can be a feminine bridal look, how the traditionally masculine can be soft and tender. The details of Kristina’s look, from the nails by Sammy Lee of Studioworks Ballard to the floral ankle applique on Kristina’s tattoo done by Kylie of Kylie Hale Designs, were all about combining the masculine with the feminine.

THE NEW MILLENNIUM'S LOVE STORY.

Through this shoot, we are telling a real Seattle love story, centering around the life and ambitions of Kristina. Kristina is a producer working for a company that creates educational yoga and wellness videos, but she is so much more than her career. She is an artist, a chef, a dog mama, a Polaroid collector, and a woman deeply in love. She has great ambitions and aims to always include her multifaceted passions into every step towards her dreams. So, when speaking on how she maintains her independence while being deeply invested in her relationship with Adam, she had to take an emotional pause. This is the work that she is doing to make sure her personal life fuels and supports her professional life. Adam is her definition of a teammate. As a woman, she has encountered many men who have been intimidated by her creativity and big dreams, but Adam has never been that person. Throughout their relationship, they have learned how to support each other and own their growth as individuals at the same time.

“RECONNECT WITH THINGS THAT YOU LOVE AND FILL YOUR CUP.”

When life gets busy, Kristina says that sometimes she feels distant from her partner. “You have to make the choice to let others in. You have to be real with your relationship...and communicate as you change every day,” she says. During COVID-19, getting wrapped up in work or various projects can be easy and taking the time for connection can be hard. She wants to tell other women, “Remember to get outside of your head and reconnect with things that you love and fill your cup. There’s a lot going on, and sometimes I feel like I have to handle everything else, but that work starts with me.”

Kristina finds a way to maintain her independence while her and Adam work from home by communicating clearly about her daily priorities. She lifts him up by pushing him and challenging him to go after what he wants. “We are both growth-mindset oriented people,” she laughs. They have learned what moments to be soft and sympathetic with each other by grounding each other in the truths they share through their relationship. He supports her by listening to her and believing in her goals of owning her own studio that produces food-based video narratives. In April, they adopted their COVID puppy Chance. He has been a big test for them, but they are all the better for the communication, patience, and sweet moments he has brought them. Chance was with Kristina on the day of the shoot, keeping her company and darting his big Chihuahua eyes at all the moving bodies.

Two of the bodies supporting and communicating with the vendors were Laura and Sean Vergara, the founders of Micro Venue. They are a COVID couple who found themselves without a space to be able to hold the type of intimate ceremony they wanted during 2020. In September, they found the little space in Ballard, got married, and decided to begin offering all-inclusive packages to couples who want an intimate wedding. Sean focuses his energy on a lot of the creative parts of the venue, while Laura focuses on the logistics and styling. Together, they are a collaborative force to be reckoned with.

Laura and Sean were drawn to the values of the shoot because of their untraditional quality. It resonated with their propensity for untraditional solutions for weddings. “At this time we have to start thinking untraditionally. You have to prioritize who is important to you. You have to prioritize the safety of your loved ones,” Laura says in talking about the way Micro Venue serves couples. As a small space, they often are managing the COVID safety of the events they host. The space meets all the requirements needed for a beautifully intimate setting.

SUSTAINABLE + INTENTIONAL DETAILS.

Kate of Tapestry Event Co. knew that one of the priorities of the shoot was to be inclusive of backgrounds with sustainable focuses. Kate reached out to Nicole of Mosshound Designs to rent an oversized table runner and napkins made of linen to play with in the tiny space. She created a waterfall with it, bringing attention to the height of the space. She also brought in jewelry designs from Valerie Madison, a local, black- and woman-owned sustainable jeweler for Kristina’s earrings and ring. She rented the gorgeous blue dress from Eleanors Bridal, as well as renting table top elements from CORT Party Rentals and furniture from Vintage Ambiance. Renting (locally!) is one of the best ways to remain sustainable during celebrations. Couples sometimes have trouble investing in renting something when they could purchase elements for possibly cheaper. If sustainability and conscious-consumption is one of your core celebration values, she definitely recommends renting as many pieces as make sense for your event.

A key element of celebrations that can so easily affect your celebration’s footprint is florals. Kylie of Kylie Hale Designs was inspired by the sustainable values of the shoot and 70s flair. She loves putting colors together that shouldn’t work together, as the 70s are well known for. She believes that floral design should be more sustainable as an industry-wide practice and made sure that all her designs were foam free and planned on drying and reusing the flowers later. Stylistically, she wanted to bring the organic movement of plants into the inside, creating a meadowy scene for a community to sit in and feel embraced by nature.

“SOMETHING SWEET FOR YOU AND SOMETHING YOU CAN SAVOR.”

By handpicking and reaching out to vendors with curiosity about their investment in the values of the shoot, Kate and Karen were able to build a comprehensive vendor team that was aligned in their approach to design. Details that were important to include for the creative team were the inclusion of food. Food is the focal point of so many intimate weddings today, and they wanted to make sure that the warmth that food brings was included. They contacted Kristi of That Brown Girl Cooks and Aliyah of Black Magic Sweets, two local and delicious food creators. Aaliyah’s talents are focused on macarons, creating beautiful designs and bold flavors based on her grandfather’s recipe. On top of owning her own catering company, Kristi is the head chef and co-owner of Communion, a restaurant in the Seattle’s Central District celebrating community and Seattle Soul cuisine. While the vendors were setting up the space, Kristi was prepping dishes in the back room. Her motivation was to create the type of culinary experience that would be shared and could be a talking piece. Food is a part of her, and she loves to bring warmth and life of it to intimate moments. “Food is memories,” she says, “Have a wedding represent something sweet for you and something you can savor.”

OWN YOUR CELEBRATION.

When the set up was complete and the details were in place, Karen began to direct and shoot Kristina. She interacted with the small space, posing and smiling, but most importantly, she played. The creativity and meaningful features filled the space with a fun and joyful energy that Kristina was able to move into by showing up as herself. She laid on the rugs, flittered through the curtains, and snacked on the food prepared for the shoot. When she sat down at the loveseat at the table, Karen reminded her, “The fantasy is that you did this. You brought the people together. This is all you.” And Kristina smiled, gestured to the table, and owned her celebration.

— Kelleen, Tapestry Content Manager

THE VENDOR TEAM.

Designer + Planner + Officiant: Kate + Bri // Tapestry Event Co. // @tapestryeventco // Seattle, WA + Beyond

Photographer: Karen // Karen Leann Kirsch // @karenleannkirsch // Seattle, WA + Beyond

Florist: Kylie // Kylie Hale Designs // @kyliehaledesigns // Seattle, Snohomish, PNW

Hair + Makeup Artist: Kat // Kat St. John // @ms.kitten // Seattle, WA

Caterer: Kristi Brown // That Brown Girl Cooks // @thatbrowngirlcooks // Seattle, WA

Dessert Chef: Aliyah Davis // Black Magic Sweets // @blackmagicsweets // Seattle, WA

Calligrapher: Rosie Chhun // Wander Crafter // @wandercrafter // Los Angeles, CA

Jeweler: Valerie Madison // @valeriemadisonjewelry // Seattle, WA

Linen Designer: Nicole // Mosshound Designs // @mosshound_designs // Niceville, FL

Dress Renter: Eleanor’s Bridal // @eleanorsbridal // Oahu, HI

Nail Designer: Sammy Lee // Sammy Lee Nails // @studioworksballard // Seattle, WA

Rental Provider (Furniture): Vintage Ambiance // @vintageambiance // Seattle, WA

Rental Provider (Tabletop): CORT Party Rental // @cortpartyrental // Everett, WA

Venue: The Micro Venue // @microvenueseattle // Seattle, WA

Bride: Kristina // @kristinamcap