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design trail: a wedding in memphis (part 2)

The current trend among couples is to have a concept pre-nup wedding shoot. But for Ken and Jessie, they decided to have a day-after shoot instead.

“Our photographer came up with the idea of the day after shoot. Usually she does bridal shoots like that before the wedding but we opted to do it after, mostly because it was so hectic beforehand,” Ken explained.

The couple chose Downtown Memphis as their location. They casually walked the streets, while their photographer, Annabella of Asian Bees Photography, took candid photos of the couple. They hopped around the historic district, stopping by some famous spots like the Peabody Hotel and Beal Street.

Here are some interesting tidbits about the location [texts via wikipedia]:

Downtown Memphis in Tennessee is located on the Mississippi River and is the oldest part of the city. The area includes the riverfront and the bluffs overlooking the river. The upper riverfront became the site of the river landing where steamboats were loaded with cotton and other goods during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Between 1844 and 1886 the river landing was paved with limestone and granite cobblestones brought in from the upper Midwest. This created what is today the largest intact Mississippi River landing still in existence, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

One famous site here is the Peabody Hotel, a luxury hotel in Downtown Memphis. It is well known for its “Peabody Ducks” that live on the hotel rooftop, but which make daily treks to the hotel’s lobby in a daily “March of Ducks” celebration.

What Downtown Memphis is most known for is its role in the development of music genres particularly blues, jazz, and rock’ n roll. It is the home of Beale Street, world famous for being the “Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock ‘n Roll”. For this reason, the clubs and restaurants that line Beale are major tourist attractions. Popular names such as Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Memphis Minnie, B. B. King, Rufus Thomas, Rosco Gordon and other blues and jazz legends played on Beale Street and helped develop the style known as Memphis Blues.

Beautiful couple in an equally beautiful setting!

*Photos by Annabella Jackson-Brandon courtesy of Ken & Jessie.

i saw design: a wedding in memphis (part 1)

We’re extending the love theme a bit for a few more days!

Last week, we featured three romantic white homes to give you ideas for your space. Now, we move on to romantic events and venues. For this, we have prepared two inspiring wedding features–one from Memphis and the other one from Manila.

Weddings have now become more and more creative. From the theme and venue, down to the décor and even the photography, couples are being very open to unique (and sometimes outrageous) ideas to make the event personal and memorable.

Last December, while watching some wedding videos by Jason Magbanua with a couple of friends, Practical Princess told us about the interesting wedding of her friend, Ken, in Memphis. Instead of the usual hotel ballroom or garden setting, Ken and his wife Jessie decided to have the wedding in the zoo!

“We chose the zoo specifically because of the uniqueness and our love of wildlife,” Ken said when I asked him how they came up with the idea.

The setting is in the Northwest Passage of the Memphis Zoo where the sea lions and the polar bears are viewed. This part of the zoo is a tribute to the culture of the First Nations people and the animals and horticulture of the Pacific Northwest.

Here, the couple exchanged vows by the rocks while their guests stayed at the viewing deck (photo above).  

The place was beautifully decorated to complement the lovely young couple. It came alive with bursts of warm, cheerful colors like orange, fuchsia, yellow, and turquoise from the flowers and candles. Even the food served during the reception followed the summery color palette.

Everything about the wedding feels young, warm and spontaneous! Here are the people who made it all possible:

Catering: Wade and Company

Flowers: L and J

Wedding planner: Southern Event Planners

Photography: Annabella Jackson-Brandon

I’m sure you got several ideas from these adorable photos. But we’re not done yet!  Tomorrow, we’ll share with you part 2, as Ken and Jessie take us on a walk to downtown Memphis.

*Photos by Annabella Jackson-Brandon courtesy of Ken & Jessie

giveaway!: the heirloom manila

Henry & Chriselle by Erwin Buencamino

I’m loving these pre-nup pictures from Heirloom Manila! It’s just amazing how one house can provide different looks for different pictorial concepts. You can just be cool and causal like this cute couple above…

…or, maybe, go vintage in black & white.

Jose & Jakie by Extreme Details Photography

Heirloom Manila also has nooks and crannies that are perfect for a glam rock concept…

Maricon’s Pre-debut shoot by Beyond Digital Photography

…or a dark, quirky photo shoot.

Romeo & Bernadette by Mango Red

(This one is my favorite! Very interesting. I wonder if they have a version with their eyes closed, ala The Others. Hmmm, not a bad idea. Or is that too dark for a pre-nup???)

As an early Christmas gift, Heirloom Manila is giving away a gift certificate to our df readers! This covers a four-hour use of the venue worth P5,000. Perfect for soon-to-be-wed couples, debutantes, models, photographers, and anyone who wants to have a fun and unique photo shoot.

To enter the raffle, leave a comment on this post with your email address (don’t worry, your addresses won’t be published and the df team will keep them confidential), plus your ideas/concept on how you would style your photo shoot if you happen to win the draw. Or, you can share with us your favorite feature of Heirloom Manila based on  our df post here.

The giveaway ends next Monday (12/14/09) at 8am, Manila time. One lucky Design Folder reader will be selected by a random number generator, announced on a post on that same day, and contacted via email.

*Photos courtesy of The Heirloom Manila