The spread of COVID-19 has meant that many weddings have been put on hold, but you can’t cancel love and lots of couples are pivoting to smaller celebrations to commemorate their love. The ones we’ve interviewed have all shared the sentiment that this difficult and at times very stressful experience of changing their plans has ultimately emphasized just how special and lucky they are to have found their future husbands and wives, and that their original date was worth memorializing in some way. With this top of mind, we stumbled upon this editorial shoot from January, featuring a real-life couple, that made us swoon.
Photographer Kristen Kilpatrick was looking for new portfolio work and was inspired to create images that she would like to see more of when it comes to love and weddings—photos that feel authentic and real. “I had visions, involving ‘the modern couple,’—the couple not afraid to push the stylistic norms, to break the barrier [and do something more low-key] even if it doesn’t comply with the guidelines of society,” she explains. She wrangled her favorite creatives together and set a date in January to shoot with models Sloan Byrd and Ossie Foster.
“I met Ossie through our modeling agency, Kim Dawson, on Instagram,” Sloan says. “I guess you could say that I ‘slid in the DMs?’ I messaged him to say congratulations and good luck on being a finalist in Kim Dawson’s model search, and we just hit it off from there—the conversation never ended. We will be celebrating our one year anniversary this September!”
For the shoot, they wanted a clean, light-filled, blank canvas, so the team chose SHDW Studios in Austin. As for styling, Kaki Gaines, with her assistant, Cole Miller, wanted to create bridal inspiration that wasn’t traditional. “We focused on a more casual vibe that was still elegant enough for a courthouse wedding or intimate backyard setting. We wanted to convey that the modern bride shouldn’t have to shy away from things such as separates or suits—even for the ceremony!” she says. “As for Ossie, we chose a green suit to bring out the beautiful color of his eyes and dressed down some of his looks a bit by using denim and suede.”
On the day-of, Makenzi Laine glammed up the two, and these gorgeous images were created. We particularly love the accessories—who doesn’t envy a good hat or statement earring moment? For future intimate and modern weddings, Kristin wants to communicate that a couple should never be afraid to execute their photo vision or collaborate with their photographer because that’s how moments outside of the norm are formed.
