Behind the Scenes at Amy Atlas Events with InStyle Magazine

This week seems to be the Magazine behind the scenes week, doesn't it? Yesterday I took you behind-the-scenes with The Knot Magazine and today I'm here with a behind-the-scenes of our InStyle Magazine shoot. A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of working with the editors at InStyle on a fabulous ice cream story. InStyle Magazine (who doesn't love it?) + ice cream! Can this be a girl's dream? Well, the editors sent me over a copy and the five page spread looks amazing. I'll share the full spread with you here this afternoon!

A little bit about the story...the story shows creative ways to serve up ice cream for the summer. An ice cream party is the perfect way to kick off your summer entertaining. I worked with the editors to develop the story (including color story, recipe and flavor ideas, tips, products, concepts) and then propped and styled the whole story for the shoot.

Okay, not many can say they get a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at an InStyle Magazine shoot. Lucky for you, we photographed the behind-the-scenes so you can get a sneak peek into our shoot.

As you'll see this afternoon, this is a very colorful story. It is the summer issue of InStyle so we needed it to really pop. A few days before the shoot, we gathered some colorful props such as vessels, linens and paper. You can get a sense of the powerful palette we were working with.


Lots of bright linens...


Fabric and oilcloths packed for the shoot...


Here is a peek into the Real Simple Studio, where the shoot took place.


We propped a lot of paper and ribbon options...


We also propped colorful plates, trays, and bowls...


And we found gorgeous napkins, wax paper, and tissue paper, which we ultimately used for ice cream cone jackets.


The tables of colorful props were all over the studio...


Syrups for the shoot. We decanted these and wrapped decanters with ribbon and tags from Kim The TomKat Studio.


Sauces for the shoot...


A peek into the kitchen. It was buzzing in here...


Food props...


The freezer was jam packed with pints of Haagen-Dazs ice cream...


Caramel simmering on the stove...


Warm baked cupcakes for our gelato cupcake shot...


Delicious brioche...these were too big for our cute brioche ice cream sandwiches so I cut out the middle and we used the top and bottom for the sandwiches. The leftover pieces can be used for breakfast. We ate ours on set!


Getting our "pre-made sundae" shot ready. This is a mess-free alternative to a make your own sundae bar. Food stylists and hostesses - be careful when using dry ice, as it can burn you if you touch it.


Getting the ice cream sandwich shot ready. The vibrant fuchsia linen really made this shot pop.


We created diy flags for the ice cream sandwiches using scrapbooking paper and lollipop sticks. You can also see a peek of the patterned tissue paper liners and ginger cookies we used for the ice cream sandwiches.


This is a peek into the opening shot. We used a bright sunny yellow wallpaper as a backdrop. You can see the how-to on how we assembled the ice cream cones in the story this afternoon.


We created diy ice cream cone jackets using the napkins and tissue paper from the pictures at the top of this post. We layered the paper and napkins to make it more eye-catching and functional as well since ice cream can be drippy! I'll share the ice cream cone jacket template with you this afternoon!


This gelato cupcake shot was one of my favorites. I love how the lime green cloth worked with the lavender ice cream, the metallic cupcake holders, and the slab of grey granite. The bright pink sweet peas peeking out in the background were also a nice touch. We also found adorable custom ice cream spoons which you will see this afternoon in the article.


We created diy coasters for our milk shake shot by simply cutting decorative gift wrap paper into circles. This can instantly (and inexpensively) bring design into your ice cream party. We paired the decorative coasters with colorful straws.


Here is a peek of us getting ready for the milk shake shot...


It was an absolute pleasure working with the sweet and talented editors at InStyle Magazine. Come back later to see the full spread!

Behind the Scenes at Amy Atlas Events with The Knot Magazine

I'm here today with another behind-the-scenes at Amy Atlas Events. Today we had a shoot with The Knot for their magazine issue next year. We took a lot of sneak peek photos, but I can only share a few for now since the story isn't out yet. I'll share the rest of the photos when the issue hits the stands next year. This was a REALLY fun shoot and I was thrilled to have my friend and amazing stylist Randi Brookman Harris on set with me. I have to say...we knocked this one out of the park and you are all going to be thrilled when you see the final product. In the meantime, here is a sneak peek...

If you follow me on twitter, then you probably knew that we propped all over Manhattan for desserts and props for the shoot. We first hit the west village to visit Pure Dark, a chocolate shop that makes insanely good nature harvested chocolate.


Here I am with our intern Rachael. We were trying to finish up Friday's blog post as we were propping around the city. That mac is attached to my hip.


Here is a peek at their incredible chocolate bark. The island bark is my personal fave.


Next stop was the fabric district to pick up some fabric options for the shoot. Here is my gal Carmen cutting some fabric for us.


The pooch from the shop. He was too cute not to share with you.


Walls of fabric rolls. Oh...so many options!


Next stop was the Upper East Side to visit one of my fave chocolate shops Vosges Haut-Chocolat. Vosges specializes in gourmet exotic chocolate bars like Applewood Bacon Milk Chocolate and Sweet Indian Curry Coconut Chocolate. We left with amazing goodies!


Here are our bins at the loading dock of the studio this morning. This is the less glamorous part of setting up.


A peek inside the studio as the photographers start setting up.


Here I am getting some items ready for the shoot.


Some of the props we used for the shoot.


Here are some more props. The blow torch and chalkboard paint came in handy.


Here I am piping pastry cream onto a dessert. It was pretty delicious!


Here I am getting some desserts ready.


Kelly from the Knot, Randi and I checking out the shot on screen.


Randi and I after a long day's work. We were pretty happy with the results!


Here is the Amy Atlas team, Randi's team, and The Knot team. Yes, I am a big cheeseball and forced us all to take the shot. After, we enjoyed lots of treats. Cannot wait for you to see this story next year!


xoxo-a

Behind the Scenes - Magazine Shoot Prep

It is another photo shoot day for us at Amy Atlas. We are putting together three dessert tables for an upcoming magazine spread. Above is a picture of my staff crafting away in preparation for the shoot. I'm off to the studio and can't post about much right now, but I will be back to fill you in with some behind-the-scenes photographs!