The Princess Collection - Disney-Inspired Flower Crowns for the Modern-Day Princess
I knew when I wrapped up filming with Disney that I wanted to do more. Creatively, I felt it. I felt this inspiration come from within wanting to come out and I had this idea to expand on my experience of creating Disney-inspired flower crowns.
I have actually been wanting to create collections of crowns inspired by the things I loved most, so the show was a perfect catalyst in creating The Princess Collection, inspired by Disney and designed with our TCC touch. I was excited for this vision to actualize and knew that I would not be able to do it on my own if I wanted to create something magical. I connected with Crowned Princess Parties on Instagram. Interestingly enough, I was looking at other flower crowns and when I saw their name, I immediately was interested and found it as a sign to reach out. When Susana, owner of Crowned Princess Parties was open to working together on this project, I knew that this would be something different from anything I have experienced creatively.
From there, I knew I needed my colleague and friend David Cano to capture the images for this shoot. Although we just met at the beginning of this year, I have developed a wonderful relationship with him and absolutely love his way of seeing the world and capturing it on film. With all elements in place with talent, location and overall vision, David was the final piece I knew would bring what we needed to this shoot.
From there, the focus was on creating the crowns and coordinating for the shoot location. I decided on Echo Park lake for the diversity of land and water elements - both of which we needed for the characters on the shoot. What I did not realize was how amazing this park was and how diverse the elements at this park were, which was a benefit in shooting many looks without needed to drive around town to get different backgrounds.
The crowns were created with each princess in mind. I made sure to take the time to really understand each princess and what she represented in her character. Who was she? What was her purpose and drive? How did nature play an element in her experience? These were some questions I reflected on prior to creating each crown. Having a clear essence of each princess, the creative process of designing and developing each crown began.
Ariel of The Little Mermaid - The theme of her crown was fun-loving and free-spirited. I think of Ariel and immediately think of playfulness and youth. I wanted to create this crown with that energy and the focus was trying to incorporate elements of sea-related florals without making it look tropical. I found these amazing coral toned sea shells that I needed to use in the crown as the bright pop of color. With the crown itself, I designed it to be full, vibrant with two shades of purple and even used anemones which were a perfect flower for this crown to be feminine and it tied it in nicely with representing elements of the sea.
Aurora - The theme of her crown was gentle and graceful. She represented a feminine energy that was soft, sweet and delicate. We used soft blue iris, baby pink ranunculus and a soft glow of yellow lisianthus as the color palate, as well as, the texture in the crown. When I saw Aurora in person and placed her crown on, it was immediately a magical moment where I got chills as to how perfect the pairing was. These softer, almost Disney princess color themed, was perfect for Aurora's beautiful blonde curls.
Belle of Beauty and the Beast - The theme of her crown was independent and imaginative. The bold colors of yellow, blue and of course, incorporating the red roses was something I had in mind. These colors usually have a hard time going together so I focused on using just two of the three colors. With bold colors that aren't traditionally seen together, this crown was designed exactly for Belle's personality - which is her exploring beyond what is traditional and doing something different from the rest of her peers.
Elena of Avalor - The theme of her crown was confident and compassionate. I wanted strong Spanish tones of reds and oranges, but not as structured as Belle's crown. I wanted a slight softness to balance her confidence, while still highlighting that characteristic in her that makes her who she is. We found some beautiful tri-colored ranunculus with all the colors I was looking for, as well as, hints of small red spray roses.
Moana - The theme of her crown was brave and bold. I needed to capture the island feel and incorporate Haku elements from the movie, but also, wanted to find a way to incorporate Te Fiti's presence as well. So colorful tones with orange hues was my focus for this crown. I wanted hints of purple with a soft lime green tone, so that's what I focused on for her island crown.
Pocohantas - The theme of her crown was creative and caring. I knew that I wanted to create a more harvest-influenced crown with oranges, browns and darker elements without it being heavy or dark. I also knew that I wanted to create her look to be interesting and less traditional, so the flowers and varietals in her crown were hand-selected specifically to create an energy of being outdoors that had lightness to it while really capturing the fall tones of the movie.
With all the girls together, it was a dream come true to see this idea actualize into reality. From the wigs and wardrobe to the details of how each girl posed as their character, the details that each person brought to the table was exactly what made this shoot one of my favorite ones I have ever done.
Thanks to Susana of Crowned Princess Parties, Alysia with the wigs and wardrobe, David Cano as photographer and all the girls who modeled for the shoot...you guys are beyond my own imagination and expectations for this shoot!
