PHOTOGRAPHY BY SABRINA L. GREENE
Photographer Sabrina L. Greene was driving by her local dentist’s office in Waynesville, North Carolina, late last summer when she was struck by the beauty of the massive strawberry vanilla hydrangeas out front. Frost was quickening the next week, so she decided to save them. After contacting the office for permission, she and her husband spent an entire week harvesting and preserving the blooms. It took them a whole week of work in the evenings to hang them to dry, and they ended up with more than 630 flowers.
Meanwhile, in Maryland, artist Brenna Mills was also gathering and drying hydrangeas. When the online friends realized their mutual obsession, they hatched a plan for a photo-shoot meetup. Mandy Tweed of Mountain Flower Fantasies agreed to create a fae-worthy gown, and after hand-dying and cutting fabric, she mailed remnants to Mills for her to use in creating “a Southern-garden-style witch’s hat that would make Aunt Frances and Aunt Jet proud.” Inspired by Kirsty Mitchell’s amazing photography, Mills (and her late grandfather’s glue gun from the 1980s) created the hat seen here, with dried hydrangeas spilling forth and over the brim.
In the midst of this hydrangea madness, Dallas and Andrea Eubanks imagined summer bursting from a fireplace as a summer witch longed for the season and nature rewarded her by blooming indoors. Summer blessed the witch’s hat and adorned it with flowers.
And so this Hydrangea Witch was born.
Photographer: Sabrina L. Greene Photography @sabrinalgreenenc
Photographer Assistant: Sara Cline
Model/Hat Design: Brenna Mills @thewillowandthevine
Gown Design: Mandy Tweed of Mountain Flower Fantasies @mountain.flower.fantasies
Venue Host: The Yellow House Bed & Breakfast, Waynesville, North Carolina @theyellowhousenc
Set Design/Makeup: Dallas & Andrea Eubanks @dallaseubanks and @you_can_call_me_dre
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