“I love you to the moon and back,” “I love you more than there are stars in the sky” — there’s something about the expansiveness of the skies and the unlimited nature of love that makes these expressions work so well. With that in mind, the talented team of Bri Costello Photography,Jitters & Cocktails, The Arrangement Co., and Vintage Indulgence set to work on this stylish shoot inspired by all things celestial, incorporating beautiful shades of blue and gold for a look that makes us dream of starry nights, which took place at The Gallery in Houston.
From the photographer, Bri Costello: I live in Houston, the largest city in Texas, and 3rd largest in the continental US (expected to surpass Chicago by 2020); although, Houston kind of gets a bad rep sometimes. I mean, for the first 4 years I lived here as an adult, I had pledged to move to Austin first chance I got. To be fair, we are quite spread out, neighboring suburbs often spanning up to 45 miles in distance. And there isn’t a major distinguishing factor of Houston. We aren’t weird like Austin, posh like Dallas, nor historical like San Antonio or artisanal like Marfa. And although it took me a hot second to discover, our city is actually kind of funky and awesome.
Houston is the southern epicenter for great museums, opera, ballet, fine art, theatre arts, we have a deep heritage in blues music, great international cuisine, and… we have NASA. Houston, we do not have a problem. For a city whose sport’s team names are: Astros, Rockets, Comets, and Aeros (NHL, folks. We have hockey in Houston), space exploration has become a large aspect of Houston’s identity. Being a lover of the night sky and space and space travel myself, I was a bit inspired by our city’s connection and curiosity for what exists beyond. As I have grown to truly love this city and now proudly claim Houston as my home, I began to develop the idea of creating a project that would highlight this niche of Houston’s makeup in such a way that would be creative, relevant, and authentic, without being too thematically hokie. I felt compelled to give a nod to Houston’s heart for the sun, moon, and stars. So from there, I then teamed up with an amazing crew, largely based here in Houston, and began the Pinterest boards, conversations, style boards, colors schemes, and all the coordination that go in to a styled shoot.
On the day of the shoot, Aubrey with The Arrangement Co. showed up with buckets of the most gorgeous flowers I have seen in a long time. She jumped right in and found such creative ways to incorporate florals in to the decor. Lauren with Vintage Indulgence is a worker and a doer. She has an incredible inventory, and pulled up, truck packed to the brim, and took-off creating some of these beautiful spaces to shoot. As a team, we had a strong vision for a shoot that I can only describe as a mash-up of Galileo’s workspace, except his wife decided to clean-up a bit and throw a fancy dinner party. With that in mind, we tried to avoid too much vintage, anything too modern or too thematic, and/or designs that read more of a garden party. Mixing metals and materials and textures was key in creating a cohesive look that didn’t feel too forced. The backdrop for the ceremony is a late-night creation I thought of in my head. We went back and forth between 100 different ideas for something for the altar, but when I came down to it, we wanted the altar to be centralizing piece that brought the rest of the shoot together. So I found a spare sheet of plywood in my father’s garage and went to town with scrap paints from a local paint store’s “mess-up.” We all love what we created and had a blast working together. Our models were so on-point, and all of the details really just came together so beautifully, and we had fun playing and creating. And isn’t that what this is all about anyhow?
