A few months ago, my friend Hailey told me that the first floor of her apartment building was under construction. “I think it’s a dress shop,” she said excitedly. Fast forward a few weeks, and I had offered to watch her devilishly handsome little pup, Moe, while she was out of town for work. I pulled up to sidewalk, and there it was: glitteR & gRit. A dress shop, indeed. In each window hung some of the most unique and beautiful wedding dresses I had ever seen. It was dark outside, and the delicate lighting inside made these dresses seem like they were glowing.
Fast forward a few more weeks, and Hailey and I decided that we wanted to play dress up at glitteR & gRit during Shop Late Night in Lawrenceville. No, neither of us are engaged (or even close to being engaged), but hey, we were curious. It turns out this little dress shop had also piqued the interest of my photographer friend, Rachel Tokarski, who was shooting the event that night. After an hour, Hailey and I had each tried on a few dresses, developed girl crushes on the owner, Erin Szymanski, and fell absolutely in love with glitteR & gRit.
Fast forward another few weeks, and I had volunteered to participate in a stylized bridal shoot. I arrived to the shop on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, and dove headfirst into the madness of my first ever bridal photoshoot.
I hopped into the director’s chair to have my hair done by the wonderfully talented Candice Orlandi. Next, the lovely Julie Marckisotto made me look like a brand new person in the makeup chair. I slid into a stunning Elizabeth Dye gown, grabbed a whimsical bouquet provided by Mt. Lebanon Floral, and headed out the door. Rachel chose an old red church a few blocks up the street for our first location.
After I changed into my second gown, a delicate dress designed by UPoppy, added a bohemian fascinator to my new updo, darkened my makeup, and swapped out my elegant and earthy bouquet for a more playful one, we headed out to the railroad tracks to capture the true glitter and grit of this bohemian style.
Many thanks to all of the talented women that made this wonderful Reclaiming Romance shoot a reality! I can’t wait to see what’s next!
Tiny Tales 