Hello all! We’ve got a bit of a different kind of post for you today and are so thrilled to share it! We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect Autumn day for this special gathering with good friends in the industry, new and old. This special gathering took place in the beautiful pasture out at my (Jessica) papas house last month and was just so amazing. Orchestrating this gathering was a complete first for us and fulfilling to no end. Relationships and building community is something Brett and I truly have a passion for.
With the way many of us communicate these days, thanks to social media and the internet in general, we have established many friendships with other photographers and creatives that we’ve never met face to face. The notion that had we not had the luxury of instagram, facebook, etc., we would of never met these beautiful people. As full time photographers, we don’t have coworkers in the traditional sense – we mostly work from home and often times we work alone.
It was back in May, when we met up with our good friend and fellow photographer Michelle Lyerly for some beers and just talked about how thankful and blessed we are to have the friends that we do in the industry and how we wanted to have an evening of coming together with these beautiful souls to celebrate all of these friendships. We dreamed of an evening full of telling stories around the table, enjoying yummy local fare, tasty drinks. and a night under the stars by the bonfire enjoying yummy smores. We envisioned something along the lines of the Kinfolk Gatherings or Simple Evenings. We wanted to treat everyone and make them all feel special and include thoughtful and detailed preparations. From there, we started to plan the perfect evening.
It was a lot of hard work, but with so many generous and all around great people helping, it truly made this a community event. Our dear friend Elizabeth Boyette, who also happens to be half of the duo, Good South, that did our branding, helped style the evening and execute things. Everything was placed so pretty and perfectly because of this amazing girl. She also made all the beautiful linen napkins and forged berries around my papas land for the table! Her husband, Chris is so awesome for being such a huge help with the set up process which included hanging those darn pretty lights (that refused to work and had to be re-hung last minute because of a blown string/segment) with Brett. Michelle made her delicious, now famous, Rosemary butter spread. Chris, Michelle’s husband made the huge, beautiful wood table and all the log seating. We couldn’t be more thankful for his all his hard work. He was such a blessing and so gracious to go above and beyond to make our night so special. Our new, sweet friend Erica Berry helped us out with taking photos during the evening so that we could really focus on the hosting duties. The delicious farm-to-table meal was provided by Following The Field. We also had some of favorites, like our friends at Yellow Dog Bread Co were so awesome to donate all the mini baguettes, handmade graham crackers and marshmallows for the s’mores while Videri Chocolate Factory, our favorite local chocolatiers, donated their delicious classic dark chocolate for the s’mores. Yum! The beautiful calligraphy for the menu’s, invites and banner were done by Sarah Morales and were perfect.
We wanted to share this in hopes that it inspires you to hold gatherings of your own with those near and dear to your heart. It is by creating these memories and forming such soul-nourishing bonds that help sustain us and grow us.
