Inspiration | Nostalgia, Romanticism, and my Grandfather's Ghost

My grandfather’s ancestors migrated to America from Germany at some point in the mid-19th century. A couple generations later my grandfather’s grandfather married a woman and together they took a new last name, dropping a single letter from his surname—apparently, an in vogue thing to do at the time. The name is of German dissent, meaning The Executioner, and the altered name they took is one that only 8 people have within the entire world. My grandfather took great interest in his lineage and family name. As a child he dragged me up to a graveyard high in the Rocky Mountains in search of an old family tombstone. After he died we found binders filled with research he’d done about our family, but making sense of it all is fairly difficult and overwhelming. The thing about death is that many things go with the person; stories, unanswered questions, memories of those before them. The living are left to hypothesize, to dream, to fill in the gaps for themselves. So why am I talking about all this on an inspiration wedding post? Well if you know me at all you know nothing is as simple as a pretty picture.

Last June I started working with Something Blue Journal to create an advertising spread for Issue 3. I was fairly burnt out and finding a space in Oklahoma that suited my taste proved rather difficult. I stumbled upon The Baumberhof online and was instantly drawn to it’s Bavarian influence. I causally showed it to my mother and she mentioned my grandfather's love of German food. I couldn’t separate the two after her comment. After visiting the location I knew I wanted the shoot to present itself in a very specific way; moving from the Bavarian style structures to the wide open fields, ending with a shot of a chair alone on the horizon—the chair being a family heirloom passed down to my mother from my grandfather’s mother. I wanted it to feel almost like a folktale: whimsical & nostalgic. For this reason I opted for a single model in a nontraditional gown, taking a more editorial approach but careful to stay within the constrains of “bridal.” I was fortunate to have the collaborative support of several Kansas City vendors who so graciously drove 6 hours to the location, and several local OKC vendors. They all completely brought my vision to life, and I am still blown away by how beautiful this shoot turned out.

I think in a lot of ways this editorial was a way to process my grief over my grandfather’s death, which had occurred only a few months prior. A lot of what we deal with after death is that which the person has left behind . We sift through their belongings trying to piece together who the person really was to no avail. And so, we display precious items proudly at our family celebrations, weddings, and in our homes to honor their memory. I suppose this is my way of honoring my memory of him; romantic, nostalgic, and forever wandering.

V E N D O R S
venue: The Baumberhof
publication: Something Blue Journal
concept/photography: Juliana Noelle Jumper
planning: Brick & Ivory
floral: Stella Michelle Designs
bakery: Petals & Pastries
rentals: Party Pro Rents
stationary: Scissortail Creative Co-Op
hmua: Hello Lovely KC
model: Kate Corley