It’s been a week since our beautiful styled shoot at Historic Bell Hill Wedding Venue, and I would be remiss if I did not share all the details, as well as give a personal thank you, for this day.

There’s one major driving reason behind me organizing the shoot that I haven’t shared; I want to pay forward the success & opportunity that was given to me. I had been on a few photoshoots before, but not to the level of collaboration that Jessica from Caffeine Until Cocktails organized for the original Bell Hill styled shoot. You see, before I started my business, I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. And because I had been away from Southern Illinois for nearly a decade, I wasn’t sure what the business atmosphere was like. So I asked Jessica to shadow & assist on this shoot, and she gladly welcomed me. I always tell people that shows you how confident and bold, how much she gets it. I know many of us gained business from that shoot, but I don’t know if that’s ever been acknowledged on her behalf. My reach quadrupled from the tags for this shoot and never went down. I gained two clients directly after, a referral from a marketer who saw my work, and six months later I was hired by the Amy Mills to content coordinate for Southern Illinois Tourism. I met Amy at the shoot, we’ve followed each other, and she remembered me. If I could do even a fraction of that - land one person an event from this shoot, I will feel accomplished for this goal.

Historic Bell Hill Wedding Venue - Reception Barn
Photo by Kat Boyce Photography

And luckily, vendors wanted to take the opportunity too! Once I posted asking for interest, the requests started coming in hot. Historic Bell Hill Wedding Venue was the first to offer to host us for this shoot, and I could not have been luckier. Michelle made every step of the process easy - providing snacks, having the venue ready to go exactly as I described, and being available throughout the shoot for anything. The charcuterie that was provided was so beautiful, Christian thought it was fake the majority of the day!

Silk & Vine were among the first vendors to reach out, and they had the exact story I was looking for - they had not done an event, nor worked with live florals - but they were ready and eager to try! This was the perfect environment for them to test themselves, and gain amazing photography for their portfolio.

After Historic Bell Hill and Silk & Vine confirmed, The Proper Pour Company reached out. Shelby and Zach brilliantly executed photography from the last shoot into marketing materials. Shelby stayed in touch throughout the entire process, going above and beyond by creating mocktails and designing the menu pictured, as well as the floral arrangements on the mobile bar.

It was a no brainer to ask Shawnee Cake House to join; candidly, Kendall has quickly become one of my best friends. We met through this business, over social media - and now I would say I see her every other week. I asked Kendall to make a cake for my shoot with Nina Wilson and she cemented herself as my personal business baker after that. Honestly, I have a few friends who are professional level bakers, but my business friendship with Kendall is something different. The entire shoot I found myself looking for her not even because I needed anything, but because I just wanted to hang out with my friend! Kendall brought yet another amazing cake unlike anything I have had, gave me plenty of laughs, and went back to her insanely busy life. The fact she has time to do side projects for me speaks to what a good friend she is.

Hair was another no brainer, I have known Olivia (Lind) Porter almost 20 years now, and first became a client 12 years ago. We have watched each other grow both our families and business. She is one of my favorite people to text about mom & life questions. Her mother, Amy, is also a Selections box vendor! Since June 2023, I have had monthly Creative Strategy meetings with Olivia, Evan, and Audrey at the Avenue. We skipped one month, December, and truly missed each other. So, of course the Porters handled our hair.

Gracie of Glam by Gracie reached out to do makeup, and I thought it would be wise to split hair and makeup to save time. I also wanted to give as many professionals a hand in this as possible! Gracie was great from the beginning - she had a plan and jumped into action upon arrival. Her makeup kit is insanely organized. I was prepared to be quite the challenge for her; I have never worn fake lashes, my eyes/nose tend to run at the slightest bit of breeze or irritation, I am a face toucher when I have makeup on. Gracie handled me with ease, assuring me my makeup would stay put. While I did transfer some lipstick onto Christian (he needed the color!), it took over 4 makeup wipes to get through the Jessi-proof seal Gracie did for me. I was impressed! She is at a new studio and just married - congrats to Gracie! Check her out for all your makeup (and lesson) needs.

Betty of Betty’s Vintage and Curiosities has been a friend for I don’t even know how long. Our paths have always crossed, our parents ran in the same circles and there are aspects about my life that only Betty truly gets. She has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders, and when I saw an opportunity to involve her business I did not even think twice. I only asked if she had time. I stopped in Betty’s one day before the gym to browse the racks, found my dress. I walked out and said “I think I need a necklace?” Betty scanned only briefly before expertly picking the best possible necklace to go with that dress. We both agreed the coat necessary. Betty drove from her shop in Carterville all the way to Cobden TWICE on this day to take care of my wardrobe. In case you didn’t know, Betty’s has vintage formal wear… and rental options!

Daniel Dean’s immediately reached out for menswear, and Chelsea made this process so seamless. We stopped in with our toddler one day and she talked us through the options, showing us textures and measuring Christian with skill. He went for a try on a week or two out, she did her magic, and on the day of shoot we had the first tuxedo jacket to ever fit him correctly. They were so much fun to work with, the Maynors truly love Southern Illinois and have an immense amount of enthusiasm for community building. I can’t wait to see how much they continue to grow.

Party Scoopers joined us next, which was super exciting because if you know us, we love ice cream. We told everyone they did not have to bring their actual products just enough to stage it, but Party Scoopers came out in full force! She even made sure I had some put away in the freezer because I kept getting pulled away before I could eat my ice cream. This concept is so cool, so us. I can see this mobile ice cream station at weddings, Church events, town events, children’s birthday parties, retirement parties…where can’t I see them?! And I still vote for a The Proper Pour Company x Party Scoopers boozy shake collab, just saying!

Kelsey of Kodax Photobooth let me know they were about to launch a selfie booth. I agreed this shoot would be a perfect trial run and marketing solution to assist with the launch! We had so much fun trying the different features on the machine, and I loved being able to download everyone’s photos just from a link that was text to me.

I decided I wanted just one more florist; I had given Silk & Vine a big task with this archway, and not much time to complete it. Florals by MJ’s Place answered that request and agreed to do the bouquet and boutonniere. When consulting with MJ, it was apparent she knew what she was talking about! She had so many creative ideas and visions - she even brought two bouquets, in case I wanted to alter styles.

I made a point to repeat I wanted photos of all vendors - in action, chatting, or at the selfie booth. An important component of marketing is letting your customer see you, especially in action, so they can imagine what a service with you is like. The photographers and behind the scenes came THROUGH with this!

I’d like to thank them individually. Devin was the first photographer I reached out to, because we had worked together on the last shoot and we have always had a good parasocial relationship on IG. Devin’s photography had that dark & moody edge I knew would be perfect for this concept.

Evelyn joined in shortly after, she was a guest at the previous shoot and felt ready to dip her toes in. Evelyn absolutely shined at behind the scenes photography, as well as designing the invitations.

Lauren reached out next, and I couldn’t stop trying to figure out where I knew her from because she just made me so comfortable. I can’t wait to see her shots; she wasn’t afraid to try different things.

I believe Sabryn messaged me next, after looking at her portfolio I knew that light and beautiful style would add to the variety I wanted in this shoot. Sabryn was shy about getting her own photo taken, but we got her 🙂.

Carey Bramlet reached out via email - they were interested in getting back into photography, and while they didn’t have a business social media they thought this would be a good opportunity to get a toe back in. I welcomed them with open arms!

We had two other photographers, but unfortunately they were unable to attend. Crazy enough, within 5 minutes of the last cancellation Kat Boyce reached out. I love Kat’s style and fangirled a bit to my husband - she had only heard of the shoot the day before it took place, and wanted to work with me?! It felt as dreamy as her photography.

I spent the two months before the shoot making the most thorough Google Document one could hope to receive. I think that and communication helped make this day go so smoothly, but truly it was also having amazing vendors. We were on time for everything, the weather was perfect, Mae cooperated with getting in our shot. Some of us even decided after the shoot we didn’t want the good time to end, and went to Giant City Lodge for dinner.

All in all…I had a really, really good day.

For more information on vendors, photo images, or this shoot, visit my Instagram and Facebook accounts: Southern Illinois Social Media (&more!) and @soillsocial.

The Styled Shoot Recap

Stay Informed

The Styled Shoot Recap

Giant City State Park

The Redo Wedding

Stay Informed