We took flower beards to a beautiful new dimension with this same-sex wedding shoot—their cat included!
NYC Gay Wedding Photographer | Beard Decorations | Gay Couples’ Photos
Beardaments. Flower Beards. Beard Decorations. Never heard of these? You’re not alone! While doing this gay couples’ photoshoot in Queens, my floral design colleague and I decided to see how flower beards—or beard decorations, if you want to be fancy—looked in practicality.
The result? Stunning, beautiful, soft, but still masculine.
Flowers in beards are an awesome men’s wedding accessory for ALL guys with beards, no matter their sexual orientation.
I loved how the colors and textures really drew us into their faces rather than taking away from them. Oh, and the beautiful couple? It’s Queens residents and #GayCouplesGoals Tre and Zack.
Zack and Tre own Portmanteau New York, a curated vintage store in Queens, NY that does in-person and online selling. The second you meet these two, you know they’ve got style. Plus, with their own store at their disposal, they can accessorize like nobody’s business. I loved the color everywhere, and when floral designer Edith of Garden of Edith Floral Design came in to add the flowers, we knew we had to go with our flowers in beards theme.
You may have heard about glitter beards, beard ornaments, or Christmas light beards, but we wanted to try more subtle, complimentary types of beardaments: The glue-less flower beard. A lovely neutral flower crown added dimension.
We started outside and walked around this quiet part of Queens. The industrial background provided a simple element with Tre and Zack’s bold reds and purples standing out. There were so few people around that no one even stared at the beard flowers! Every NY wedding photographer knows how rare it is to have 0 people in the background of their shots, so this was quite the treat!
After the chilliness of the December air set in, we headed inside for some more unique pet photos. Our couple changed stylish outfits and got a flower crown on a hat, a boutonniere, and a second flower beard! Edith again put every single little sprig in Tre’s beard, by hand, as we coordinated colors and Christina Dior scarves.
Being a creative wedding photographer / nontraditional wedding photographer means I’m used to dreaming up unique wedding photos for my clients. This was no different, and Edith’s floral design was an integral part of the day.
Several other flower wedding ideas for guys that we incorporated, thanks to Edith’s gorgeous designs:
- A guy’s bouquet. Why do only females usually get bouquets, while guys can’t even see their own boutonnieres? Each guy had a bouquet—and they looked beautiful.
- Cool men’s wedding accessories: A flower crown hat!
- Pocket boutonnieres that slide right into your breast pocket (no pins required!).
- A men’s flower crown. Isn’t it a great men’s wedding accessory? Especially if you’re having a bad hair day…
Flower beards and flower accessories weren’t the only awesome part of this shoot: We were joined by Dax, their beautiful cat!
He also was adorned with a flower crown made specially by Edith. (Yes, I melted inside when I saw the 6” cat flower crown.) Flower wreaths, flower crowns, hat flowers, pocket boutonnieres, and beard flowers all made an appearance, with each little sprig painstakingly and beautifully applied by Edith herself.
While I can’t say Dax was the biggest fan of posing for photos, I still think he did a great job for his first professional photoshoot. Look, being a cat model isn’t easy! Plus, you try signing autographs with paws ‘n’ claws and let’s see how well you do.
Still, hysterical expression.
We’ll call it an outtake.
But I digress. This photoshoot with Zack and Tre was really fun, and even during Covid times we were able to get some really unique, artistic images while wearing masks. And without the creative vision of Edith’s incredible floral design, we would have had 0 flower beards!
Not everyone can pull of wedding flowers in beards, but hopefully these colorful ideas can inspire some other wedding accessories for grooms—or simply for fun guy couples’ photoshoots. Having a moustache certainly helps, but is not necessary.
Some fancy lighting, and we ended the evening with a romantic and mysterious image (below) in their Long Island City loft. Dax the cat, meanwhile, took a well-deserved nap.
As a New York wedding photographer, I rarely get to do in-studio sessions with cats involved–so this was a real treat to work with a wonderful group and a feline whose career may be on the rise.
Photographer: www.KathrynCooperWeddings.com
Flowers and floral design: www.GardenOfEdithFD.com
Vintage store & accessories: www.PortmanteauNewYork.com
Location: Long Island City
As seen on LA wedding group SBSN Bride, who called it “boutonbeards.” 🤣 (Love it!)
Long Island City Wedding Photographer | Gay Wedding Photographer | Cats in Weddings | Queens Wedding Photographer
Wow– I have NEVER heard of this idea before!!! How wonderful and unique! And you did such an amazing job capturing them. LOVE the kitty!!! <3
Thank you, Heather! I can’t take credit for making it up, but it’s not super common so I’m so glad you loved it (and the cat!!)