A.E. Fletcher Photography creates an event where everyone is a VIP.
By Nneoma Njoku and Emily Fraser Voigt
PICTURE THIS: You gather all your best girlfriends for an evening of drinks, hors d’oeuvres and light music. As you walk through the door, a photographer captures your “before” shot. Then each lady gets professional hair and make-up done, and you all pull out your fancy threads. Throughout the evening, the photographer quietly works the room and captures candid pictures of you with perfect make-up and hair, laughing at a good joke, in the middle of that big I’ve-missed-you hug, or perhaps listening intently to your girlfriend talk about her last vacation to the Alps. Everyone gets the opportunity to sit for fabulous individual and group portraits like the ones you see in the big fashion magazines.
Nneoma Njoku, a corporate communications and PR specialist, had the opportunity to do just this. “At the end of the day, everyone had something to show for it—gorgeous photos fit for any fashion, socialite, or life-and-style magazine out there.” Njoku says she only wishes she had thought of this sooner, as it would have been a perfect gift to her bridesmaids before her wedding. “It’s better than a spa day because it lasts a lifetime, and my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be proud to have these photos. Priceless!”
The portrait party concept is aimed at anyone looking for a chance to feel like the most glamorous version of themselves. Even if it is just for a day, or an evening, the photos will last for a lifetime. It could be for a bridal shower, or before going out for a bachelorette evening. It could be for a special birthday or anniversary, or just a good excuse to get together with some special friends over wine and cocktails and for everyone to let their hair down.
“It’s better than a spa day because it lasts a lifetime, and my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be proud to have these photos. Priceless!”
THE INSPIRATION: Photographer Amy Fletcher makes her living photographing real people. For certain photo shoots she calls in hair and makeup specialists, and over the years has been amazed by the transformations that occur. “People turn into models for what looks like editorial fashion spreads—and their confidence improves dramatically,” she says. All this from a simple application of professional makeup- and maybe some killer eyelashes.
She decided to recreate this feeling of glamour in the form of private parties with top-notch everything—hair, make-up, location, and fashion and prop stylists who know what’s in style and have an eye for detail. “A host or a group books the event and provides the location—we do the rest,” she says.
*Originally published in Issue 1, Volume 1 of A.E. Fletcher Photography’s FOCUSED