An Inspired Shoot: American Gothic

January 27, 2026

The Vision:

My vision for my branding shoot came from a real wedding shot by Nikki Daskalakis. The wedding was held on the family’s blueberry farm in Maine and it felt earnest and so uniquely who the couple was. There was not a single photo of a flower in site but it is one of my favorite weddings I have ever seen.

The vibe of the day was american gothic. It lacked every embellishment that we have become accustomed to in the wedding world. There was a white dress, a nice suit, family present, probably some good food, and lots of love. Just what you need. And maybe you’re thinking now, “Isabelle… you are a FLORIST, and you’re supposed to be selling your services!”. And yes, I do want to sell my services, to the people who WANT my services, not because they feel like they need to check florals of the list of things they need to get for the wedding they are already spending too much on.

I think florals are extremely powerful and can bring a wedding to life if that is the goal of the day. So I thought…what would I create for this couple, my dream couple, who have Christina’s World hanging in the kitchen(!), who live on a blueberry farm in Maine(!) , who aren’t afraid to do their wedding the way they want(!), and you have my first solo branding shoot…

Featured Florals:

The part of Massachusetts I live in is very populated but still is home to a lot of farms. One night, I drove by a farm in early October that had left all the sunflowers that were not cut during season, go to seed and were left standing, very ominous looking against the blues and oranges of the setting night sky and it hit me. There is nothing more american gothic than a giant ominous sunflower, picked and eaten by the birds. And so I was obsessed with the idea of obtaining the largest, most gruesome looking sunflower for this shoot.

I reached out to my wholesaler pleading that she might have a connect to a farm and was responded to with a singular worded email that simply said “no”. I was not deterred. As I drove, I would keep my eyes peeled for neighbors that had forgotten about their gardens or were just to lazy to prune them. Luckily, my search was made extremely easy by one of my closest (and coolest) friends who still had one in her backyard. Thank goodness I didn’t need to knock on a stranger’s door to explain that I was in love with their dead flowers. When the day came to cut, the sun’s stem was so thick that I wasn’t able to cut it with my shears. I had to saw and hack at the stem with a serrated kitchen knife. It was perfect.

Flowers + Color Palette:

I wanted the color palette to feel worn. Neutrals, and golden grasses, with hints of deep purples and browns and a little bit of green.

Disconnected Arbor:

A monstrous, gruesome half dead giant sunflower
Sunflowers, sans petals.
Another type of monstrous sun lays to the left side.
Dried tree hydrangea
Cosmos
Dahlia named “Blizzard”
Ninebark
Apple of Peru

Bouquet:

Small Suns sans petals
Buttery yellow mums
Lunaria
Dahlia’s named “Blizzard”
Apple of peru

Final Notes:

The photos were taken by the lovely Dominique Holliday. They shoot completely in film which feels to me more grounded and nostalgic. Memories are more romantic when shot with film. But that’s just what I think They did such an amazing job, I wish that I could work with them for every event.