From Russia with Love {Inspiration Shoot}

Today we are so excited to share an incredibly unique inspiration shoot full of talented vendors and amazing ideas! We’re hoping this collaboration will inspire planning brides to really consider where and how they fell in love and then make that a starting point for the overall wedding and/or the special details that make it their own. Juxtaposition of your love story and your wedding day is a must!

Inspiration behind the shoot:
“When I found out my husband would be moving to Russia for two years I swore my heart had never known such pain. We’d been high school sweethearts and had even survived a year of long distance dating while he went away to college on the East coast. But I didn’t know what his two year foreign absence would bring, especially since phone calls weren’t allowed and our communications would be restricted to one weekly email. So it was no surprise that when shortly after starting college on my own, I jumped at an opportunity to live in Russia for a semester. Though I knew I’d never see him while there, just the thought of sharing Russian soil, smelling the same scents, listening to foreign tongues & taking in all that another culture had to offer us was more than I could resist.  My favorite part of the whole experience was our love letter exchanges, sent through the Russian mail, or pochta as they call it. And true to the excitement of our joint foreign venture, it was during our Russian stay that we decided our little high school love was meant to be forever.  I’ll always cherish and preserve those letters and time in our life.

Jump ahead seven years and I’ve become a wedding photographer. I still adore my husband, but regret that our wedding didn’t highlight our unique courtship. I’ve always thought about how fun it would’ve been to incorporate our Russian love affair into the wedding details. So what’s a wedding professional to do with a good idea/challenge? Full speed ahead. I enlisted the help of Utah’s top wedding vendors on a unique collaboration entitled From Russia With Love. Though I adore the images we created and how our couple, Remey  & Justin, brought my vision of Russian romance to life, my favorite lasting detail is the love letter, penned in Russian, my husband wrote for me. He even figured out how to take plain old printer paper and antique it using soy sauce and my oven. Now that’s love!

Setting the Russian flag as our color scheme, I gave the vendors involved free reign to explore the theme. One of my favorite details was the cut white roses incorporated into the bride’s bouquet, which consequently looked like antique parchment paper. I also loved that when the bride and groom cut into their cake, they revealed a Russian flag. Many of the details incorporated are actually from Russia: coins, fur hats, matroshka dolls, books, etc. On top of that, a few DIY projects tied in our flag theme. The first was a simple tea-staining of a hand sewn Russian flag which adorned our vintage car, Buttercup. The second was a piece of old wood that we hand-painted the flag of Tsar of Russia on owing to the 1668 version. We also gathered empty alcohol bottles, including Russian vodka, from local bars. And as a special shout out to Utah’s unique religious culture, we included the toasting of non-alcoholic “wine & champagne” that would be perfect for a non-alcoholic wedding.” – Liz Frandsen

From Russia With Love from Chris McClain Productions on Vimeo.

Behind the Scenes:

From Russia With Love – Behind the Scenes from David Perry on Vimeo.

Photography: Elizabeth Taylor Frandsen Photography
Videography: Chris McClain Productions & David Perry Films
Flowers:  Studio Stems
Invitations: Pink Piggy Design
Cake: Pink Peach Cakes
Hair & Makeup: Versa Artistry
Dress & Tux: The Gallery by Lynette
Vintage Car Rental: Something Vintage Something Blue
Non-Alcoholic Wine & Champagne: Eden’s Vine
Prop Styling & DIY help: Elizabeth Taylor Frandsen, Tyra Swenson, Cheryl Clayton