Wes Anderson Wedding Inspiration in Brooklyn, NY
/This post contains affiliate links. Catalyst Wedding Co. may receive compensation or products from companies linked to or mentioned in this article. This helps support our site.
As a wedding florist who receives a LOT of blush floral requests (don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful), all I knew is that I wanted to do a styled shoot with bold color as a way to personally explore something different in the wedding inspiration world, and perhaps something more me, really. Other than my personal pursuit of bold color and the desire to be thoughtful about who were our models, I was totally open on how it all would shake out design-wise.
I reached out to Berg’n first, my studio’s next door neighborhood bar and event space in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. They were in. Then I reached out to Karen with Karen Obrist Photography, because — well, of course! She is kind, cares about inclusivity and diversity, is a great collaborator, and simply captures highly creative, jaw-dropping images, ones you can honestly see a difference in. She was in. Then, we asked Amy, founder of Modern Rebel Co — a feminist, smash-the-patriarchy kind of wedding planning company that we genuinely respect, to be our fearless leader in planning this shoot to seamlessly weave together all the details. She was almost in, but wanted to make sure the shoot included someone typically not represented in the over-pinned images of the wedding industrial complex. Karen and I were both like, “Exactly! We love you.” We were all in.
Design-wise, Amy suggested a Wes Anderson inspired shoot, and I felt that worked perfectly with my hope of a bold, all encompassing color scheme as well as a fitting theme for a fun-loving, artsy BK couple getting married in a bar. Not to mention, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a top five favorite film for me. Amy then reached out to the remaining incredible vendors once we had dreamed up a visual direction, as well as our real couple, Da’ja and ODalis.
Futura, distinct colors (we chose canary yellow to match March’s seasonal forsythia branches, robin’s egg blue, rusty orangey-red, and a neutral taupe), a symmetrical living room “scene,” and simple vintage style set the scene for this styled-shoot dream-land. Specific prop choices and 60s mod funky wedding attire and furniture choices allowed a real couple to step into a world inspired by Wes Anderson while in the heart of Brooklyn at Berg'n Beer Hall. We even invited Haiku Guys + Gals to collaborate and write Wes Anderson inspired poems for our couple to further add to the eclectic feel of this unique event shoot.
To top it all off, it snowed… A LOT! The falling snow easily became the best detail of the entire shoot, tying everything together just perfectly with a touch of city winter magic.
What I found to be inspiring about Wes Anderson’s use of color is that each of his movies (or mini self contained worlds) has its own specific color palette, nodding to vintage tones, but each uniquely different. We followed suit here by not merely copying the palette or theme of one movie, but rather being inspired by his creative practice of layering a unique palette and seeing it through all the details with great attention.
We also decided to include a wide-spread, fun eclectic mix of references to various movies via the invitations by Black Lab Studio (The Royal Tenenbaums), the hand-lettered a-frame (The Darjeeling Limited), the insanely well designed cake by Rose McAdoo with Whisk Me Away Cakes (Moonrise Kingdom), Letterfolk sign (Rushmore), the circular submarine-like “windows” in set (The Life Aquatic), Mendl’s cream puffs (The Grand Budapest Hotel), and the escort cards (all various movie characters).
Words by IndyFASO. Photos by Karen Obrist.
VENDORS
Photography | Karen Obrist Photography
Planner | Modern Rebel Co
Venue | Berg’n
Florals & hand-lettering | IndyFASO
Real couple as models | Da’ja + O’Dalis
Furniture | Rent Patina
Poetry | Haiku Guys + Gals
Hair/makeup | She Said Yes! Beauty
Cake/dessert | Whisk Me Away Cakes
Invites | Black Lab Studio
KAREN OBRIST
Connections. The places we go, the people we meet, and the experience we have along the way are what we remember most in life. I have a passion for traveling and exploring the world, and my life is filled with a lot of laughter, incredible food and wine, and photo adventures with clients turned friends. Memories are such a vivid representation of our lives and capturing the spirit of each couple, family or individual in that sliver of time is an opportunity I am very proud to call my work. The one thing we will have left in this world besides our memories are our photographs. Providing people with tangible items they can touch, feel and pass onto their loved ones through the years will always be part of my photography. I’m a Nebraska native, I’ve lived in Seattle and Santa Barbara, but now call New York City home. I’ve available to travel coast to coast and worldwide, so no matter where you are located, please get in touch! Have I mentioned that I LOVE to travel?!
