Back in January (!!) I had the opportunity to art direct my first marketing campaign for BHLDN. One of the most rewarding experiences of my career thus far, I was immensely proud of the results (see more here). I've often been asked what it means to "art direct" something and my answer to this is that they should imagine every aspect of a photo shoot from conception to completion and that it was my job to see it through every step of the way.

For the location, we decided to rent the Penthouse in the Ludlow Hotel. A small perk of this decision is that I actually got to stay in the Penthouse the night before the shoot! The next morning I snapped this short series of images to commemorate such a momentous occasion in my life. Let's get real, it's not every day I get to stay in such a lavish place.

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My favorite part of the stay was without a doubt, the extra-deep bathtub. Talk about a luxe bath, I soaked in the hot water for at least an hour before emerging a new woman. To complete your picture of over indulgence, I'll leave you with an image of some of the dress styles from the shoot. Note: these are not my clothes (wink). - b. 

Oh the life of a BHLDN stylist- From the outside looking in it's all sunshine and roses but they work hard, really hard. Sure they get to play with dreamy wedding dresses and crystal bridal accessories, but they also put in long hours answering customer inquiries, working with store staff, shuffling paperwork (it is a desk job after all), and carefully measuring and fitting each product to different body types so they can complete all the aforementioned tasks. There are endless to-dos to complete at their perfectly styled desks each day. But, of course it's the fun stuff we want to hear about...

Every month or so the web stylists gather up the gowns, dresses, and accessories we're preparing to launch and hold a day long fit session. I've started tagging along on some of these and capturing the rare behind-the-scenes moments we all die over. The tulle! The lace! The perfect pair of shoes! It's exhausting work for them but a bridal fan dream. Here's a look at some of the images I've captured for our most recent launches (the Fall 2015 Collection is on-site now!):

The stylists try to imagine and reimagine each dress for all types of wedding venues- courthouses, city lofts, rustic woodland paradises, destination weddings, churches, vineyards, backyards...all of them. It's their job to anticipate the questions our brides will ask even before they ask them, and to challenge the popular trends of the day to encourage our customer to be the best versions of themselves on their big day. It's a big job and I'm constantly amazed at their commitment and love for all things bridal. A love that includes BHLDN, but also transcends it. If you're ever in need of wedding advice, I highly recommend the BHLDN stylists free services. Oh right, I forgot to mention they do all of this for free- as if they weren't awesome enough. - b.

I put my growing flower knowledge to use recently by hosting my very first flower workshop! I focused on bouquet basics, offering entry level tips and tricks for flower arranging novices. We had 25 attendees and everyone walked away with an adorable centerpiece. Talk about a rewarding experience.

I still can't believe it and looking back at these photos makes me realize just how nervous I was because I don't remember any of it. I hosted the workshop as part of a lunchtime "Brown Bag" series at work. It's an opportunity for the different URBN brands and local business to offer up their expertise on a variety of topics to employees. The hour long break from the work week is often a welcome relief from the normal hustle bustle. Here's a look at what went down:

Because BHLDN is the special occasion brand it only makes sense that we would teach something having to do with entertainment and elevating the everyday. Flowers bring so much beauty and joy to life and it was thrilling to watch the "students" happily chat with one another, select their flowers and slowly create their mini masterpieces (you snap their vases here). Every so often I'd look out and see someone smelling the roses or grin uncontrollably at their creation. 

I'm honored that I was asked to host the workshop and more than one person asked when we would do it again. I'll take that as a sign that they liked it too. - b.