Food Styling: Family Tradition Focused Wedding

Happy New Year! I'm excited to share some tasty visual inspiration for your first weekend of 2015: a full wedding food styling project I did at Oatlands Plantation a few weeks ago. The girls at Orchestrated Shoots  (which has styled photo shoots like this all over the WORLD!) asked me to style a full food spread with the theme family and traditions for their "Interlocked" wedding shoot. So of course, I arrived on set with two chickens and a Prius full of healthy seasonal food to make GORGEOUS. What you totally don't see is how the rental truck with all of my platters and table was two hours late and I was working like a full speed train to pull this off in about 45 minutes (since I couldn't style without the surface!). Total real life, behind the scenes crazy. 

For the food: did I have to make the menu and food healthy? NO. But can we talk about how BEAUTIFUL healthy, nutritious food is in pictures? Why would I not?! I did a gorgeous rotisserie chicken platter with seasonal herbs and fruit, autumn grain stuffed acorn squash, maple glazed carrots, haricot verts and winter spiced pears. Probably the question I was asked most frequently from the models, photographers and a random tour group (historic plantation in Virginia...it's bound to happen) is 'Is all of this edible? Or is it fake?'. 

Great question. EDIBLE. All of the food I style I try to make as natural as possible. It's totally not food safe to eat these chickens five hours after they're being styled to be photographed, but there's nothing fake or gross on them to make them pretty. My food styling is real within reason. Like the carrots? I actually coat them in vegetable oil to keep them looking hydrated. Edible, but probably not great tasting. 

Want to see more? Check out some of my favorite food shots below and go see the full feature on Glamour and Grace to ooh and ahh over Holly Chapple's Flowers and the crazy vintage rentals for the ceremony! 

/// Photos by Bit of Ivory Photography ///