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Inspiration: vintage literary afternoon tea wedding

Inspiration: vintage literary afternoon tea wedding

A beautiful Saturday in April 2015 saw the wedding of Erica and Ruby at Cogges Manor Farm.

Cogges Manor Farm is nestled in the lovely market town of Witney and offers two stunning seventeenth century barns for weddings. They were a perfect blank canvas to add loads of personalised details to the day with vintage books, afternoon tea, lots of handmade touches and accents of yellow. This wonderful vintage literary wedding was captured by a number of professional photographers (who are also close friends of the couple) who each had a different section to cover throughout the day.

The couple hadn’t heard about this wonderful venue until Erica’s sister sent them a link to Cogges’s website. They instantly fell in love with the barns when they went to see them and booked their wedding date on the spot! And from there, they produced a beautiful, creative, DIY budget rustic barn wedding. It came complete with hay bales, bunting (kindly loaned from friends & family) and the Cogges chickens running around.

Most things were either handmade, collected or sourced by the couple or their family and friends. They even held a craft session at a local pub and invited their friends and family to stamp out thousands of cat and tea pot shaped confetti from old books. They hand made photo bunting from photographs of themselves over the 5 years they’d been together, as well as hand made centrepieces of brown ale bottles (with brown string wrapped around the necks adorned with buttons), and beautiful handmade paper flowers (again from old book pages) that they held as alternative bouquets too.

The brides both made a great entrance in to the barn. Not only were their outfits stunning, with Erica’s wedding outfit (of trousers & waistcoat) handmade from design to finished garment by the amazing local Oxfordshire wedding dressmaker, Geraldine Jarell of Oxford Frocks. But they also both walked into the barn from opposite large barn doors. They were escorted by their respective fathers and walked a mesmerising figure of 8 around their 100 guests seated on hay bales. The couple met in the middle of the barn, surrounded by all their friends and family, and had an enchanting ceremony complete with the lighting of a candle.

There were lots of personal touches to decorate the barn, such as a stack of Beatrix Potter books that Erica was given as a child by her aunt (who sadly couldn’t make it from Canada on the day). There was also an old gramophone that belongs to Ruby’s dad which played records of Eva Cassidy and the like during the reception drinks in the walled garden.

Photography by Tom Weller

Photography by Tom Weller

Afterwards, the guests were treated with a ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ themed wedding favour. As they came back in to the barn, they helped themselves to a surprise book. These were a job lot of paperback books bought from eBay and each wrapped in a brown paper parcel and stacked on a table. This gave people something to chat about at their tables before and during their afternoon tea.  Many people told the couple after the wedding that the book they chose was perfect for them!

Afternoon tea has featured in this couple’s story for a while as Erica proposed to Ruby at Jane’s Enchanted Tea Garden in Oxfordshire on 29th March 2014 (the day that gay marriage was legalised). So it is fitting that afternoon tea was also the theme of their wedding day, utilising vintage mismatched china that they had collected over a year. They visited numerous charity shops and car boot sales accumulating enough tea sets to host afternoon tea for 100 guests. The afternoon tea was served inside the Wheat Barn on rustic picnic benches (Ruby wanted to avoid white table cloths at all costs!) And now all of this china is used to serve loose leaf teas and hot chocolate in their own pottery cafe, Busy Brush Café in Wallingford. Delicious sandwiches, scones and cakes accompanied their afternoon tea.

Guests were encouraged to leave a finger print on an alternative guest book tree picture, plus write a personal message to the couple on vintage postcards left in a vintage suitcase.

A beautiful ‘Thank You Tree’ was displayed in the barn with luggage tags carrying messages to thank family & friends that had helped them – from solo singing during the ceremony, to loaning fairy lights that made the barns twinkle, to taking photos at the wedding, the endless search for China teapots etc. They borrowed the tree itself from their friend Anita who owns Country Collections shop in Wheatley.

In the evening, the guests were spoilt with some of the ‘best jacket potatoes you’ve ever tasted’, cooked in an old Victorian Oven out on the veranda. Plus, the wedding cake was actually a 1.5m high cake stand stacked full of jars of retro sweets that people could nibble on throughout the evening.

Then came a brilliant spectacle as the couple’s first dance was a flash mob dance where Erica and Ruby started dancing alone to Happy by Pharrel Williams. Then 5 friends, one by one, jumped into a well learnt dance routine. Mid way through the song lots of other guests got up and joined in too. What a wonderful way to take the pressure off everyone looking at the couple and so much fun!

After this the happy couple didn’t leave the dance floor and enjoyed the songs of a local Witney band, Vinyl Daze, well into the night.

This vintage literary afternoon tea wedding proves that with some personal touches, great friends, time and creativity, a beautiful barn wedding can be produced without breaking the bank.

Venue | Cogges Manor Farm | Witney, Oxfordshire | www.cogges.org.uk
Photography | Nick Bradbury | Mark Carroll | Alan Glasspool | Thomas Phillips | Robin Smith | Tom Weller
Bride’s outfit | trousers & waistcoat | made by Geraldine Jarell | Oxford Frocks
Flowers | handmade
Hay bales | provided by venue
Thank you tree | Country Collections , Wheatley | https://www.facebook.com/Country-Collections-762549283781067
Band | Vinyl Daze | www.vinyldaze.co.uk

Photography by Thomas Phillips

Photography by Thomas Phillips

Inspiration: autumnal marsala & gold Wind in the Willows wedding

Inspiration: autumnal marsala & gold Wind in the Willows wedding

Set in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside of the Cotswolds, this Wind in the Willows styled bridal shoot is an outdoor, autumnal adventure. Complete with vintage transport alongside a picturesque river, followed by a celebration in a grand hall dressed in marsala and gold, with chalk board and marble design features plus tactile fabrics like tweed, corduroy and suede. Planned and designed by Hanami Dream and wonderfully captured by Farrow Photography.

img_1352It is a true celebration of the beauty of nature and encapsulates the sense of an outdoors adventure as typified by the Wind in the Willows book by Kenneth Grahame. This is a chance to get away from the hectic, crowded city to a stunning and tranquil setting. Mole, Ratty, Toad and Badger would be proud to attend this relaxed bohemian wedding. Bride & groom on bridge | Wind in the Willows | marsala & gold | autumnal | Old Swan & Minster Mill | Witney | October 2016 | Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.co.uk

The Old Swan and Minster Mill was a perfect location for this wedding where the bride and groom gazed at one another during their wedding ceremony whilst on the love seats under the Temple Garden. This had the amazing backdrop of a splendid willow tree draping it’s branches in to the River Windrush, flowing on it’s way to join the River Thames. Couple under temple garden | Wind in the Willows | marsala & gold | autumnal | Old Swan & Minster Mill | Witney | October 2016 | Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.co.uk

The couple moored their rowing boat by a disused boat house, explored the peaceful setting with treks down the river, over bridges, carefree on a tree swing and enjoyed a sumptuous, rustic picnic sat on a blanket with their hamper on the riverbank.Bride & groom picnic by boat | Mae Bridal | Keates of Witney | Classic Flowers | The Pretty Cake Company | Wind in the Willows | marsala & gold | autumnal | Old Swan & Minster Mill | Witney | October 2016 | Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.co.uk

Mr Toad would have approved of the vintage Humber car (from British Classic Car Hire) to experience the open road before entering the Great Hall through a paper floral archway (by Paper Tree Design) to feast on a mouthwatering banquet.

Couple by car | British Classic Car Hire | Wind in the Willows | marsala & gold | autumnal | Old Swan & Minster Mill | Witney | October 2016 | Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.co.uk

Once inside the happy couple sat in pride of place at the top table, in front of an impressive fireplace with a mantelpiece adorned with swashes of forest green foliage (from Classic Flowers) and fairy lights. The table was luxurious and tactile complete with a suede cream table cloth, copious amounts of marsala coloured candles in gold candlesticks and geometric copper tea light holders (from Talking Tables). Gold beaded charger plates were topped with gold vintage crockery (from Vintage Gold China), marsala coloured silk napkins and a chalk board design menu card (by Paper Tree Design), besides gold vintage cutlery (from Vintage Gold China).

Couple at banquet in grand hall | Wind in the Willows | marsala & gold | autumnal | Old Swan & Minster Mill | Witney | October 2016 | Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.co.uk

Guests found their places by referencing the chalk board style table plan and name cards (with guest names paying homage to the character names and table were named after chapters from the book by Paper Tree Design) and were given an opulent, marsala marbled soap as their fragrant favour (by Stonesfield Soap Company).

Place setting | Menu by Paper Tree Design | Cutlery & Crockery by Vintage Gold China | Wind in the Willows | marsala & gold | autumnal | Old Swan & Minster Mill | Witney | October 2016 | Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.co.uk

The top table was swathed in a striking floral table runner with a loose relaxed vibe containing lots of greenery along with burgundy dahlias, flowing amaranthus (mirroring the weeping willow tree outside), ranunculas, hypericum berries, snow berries, skimmia and bombastic roses. These flowers (from Classic Flowers) featured in the remarkable bouquet that the bride cradled, as well as in her loose braided hair (by Lucy Beesley Bridal), her corsage and the groom’s buttonhole. Bouquet by couple next to river | Classic Flowers | Wind in the Willows | marsala & gold | autumnal | Old Swan & Minster Mill | Witney | October 2016 | Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.co.uk

These florals were beautiful replicated on the cake (by The Pretty Cake Company) which also combined other on trend themes such as marbling, metallic gold lustre, drip effects and a chalkboard tier, which was sympathetic to the stationery and a nod to the author of the book. img_1206

The gorgeous bride braved the cold autumnal weather, with a beautiful smile complete with marsala coloured lipstick (with makeup by Lucy Beesley Bridal) and perfectly fitted the romantic A line wedding gown with lace sleeves, sweeping net train and floral appliqued bodice by Watters (provided by Mae Bridal). She completed her look with a short veil (by Richard Designs) worn low below a delicate hair vine (by Miranda Templeton) and gold coloured Blake shoes (by Benjamin Adams). Bride with bouquet by river | Mae Bridal | Classic Flowers | Wind in the Willows | marsala & gold | autumnal | Old Swan & Minster Mill | Witney | October 2016 | Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.co.uk

Our handsome, bearded groom suited the countryside surroundings with the dapper tweed jacket and waistcoat, coupled with a checked shirt, marsala bow tie and plush red corduroy trousers that he wore (from Keates of Witney). Groom on swing | Keates of Witney | Wind in the Willows | marsala & gold | autumnal | Old Swan & Minster Mill | Witney | October 2016 | Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.co.uk

It’s the little details that bring any event to life and this was made possible by the wonderful local suppliers who provided their time, services, venue and products for free. Together we have showcased the amazing talent that our part of the UK has to offer the wedding industry.

Take a look at the fabulous suppliers that were involved in this styled shoot – ‘Keeping it local with suppliers for the Wind in the Willows shoot’

And take a glimpse behind the scenes at the how the theme and designs came to life – Behind the scenes: Wind in the Willows shoot

#keepitlocal

Planning & Design | Hanami Dream | www.hanamidream.co.uk
Location | Old Swan & Minster Mill | www.oldswanminstermill.co.uk
Photographer | Farrow Photography | www.farrowphotography.com
Models | Jess & Henry
Hair & Make up | Lucy Beesley Bridal | www.lucybeesleybridal.co.uk
Bridal dress and accessories | Mae Bridal | http://maebridal.co.uk
Groom clothing | Keates of Witney | www.keatesmenswear.co.uk
Florist | Classic Flowers | www.witneyflorist.co.uk
Cake | The Pretty Cake Company | www.theprettycakecompany.com
Stationery (including paper floral arch) | Paper Tree Design | www.papertreedesign.co.uk
Cutlery & Crockery | Vintage Gold China | www.vintagegoldchina.com
Copper geometric tea lights | Talking Tables | www.talkingtables.co.uk | sourced by Lark Rise Flowers | http://larkriseflowers.com
Favours | Stonesfield Soap Company | www.stonesfieldsoap.com
Transport | British Classic Car Hire | www.britishclassiccarhire.co.uk

Inspiration: rustic pink rose barn wedding

Inspiration: rustic pink rose barn wedding

A beautiful sunny late August bank holiday saw the wedding of Vikki and Dan at Cogges Manor Farm in 2015.

Cogges Manor Farm is nestled in the lovely market town of Witney and offers two stunning seventeenth century barns for weddings. This is a special location for the happy couple who are regular visitors to this local venue. Plus it was a perfect blank canvas for them to add loads of personalised details to the day with hessian, white lace, dusky pink ribbons and roses. This wonderful rustic rose pink barn wedding was captured by Neil Hanson Photography.

The bride and her attendants arrived in style in a white carriage pulled by two pristine white horses courtesy of Fabulous Occasions – what a way to make an entrance! The bride wore an exquisite low back white wedding dress which consisted of a figure hugging satin underdress with a lace overlay which had a beautiful V-neck as well as a breath taking deep V-back. This was purchased from Proposals in Witney and is by Essence of Australia. The bride searched for a long time to perfectly colour match the ribbon sash herself, in order to coordinate it with the colour scheme of the day, and then attached a lace appliqué to the new ribbon.

She carried a magnificent bouquet by Distinctive Petals which included peonies, David Austin roses, wheat, gypsophila (baby’s breath), astilbe (false goat’s beard) and amnesia roses. The wheat echoed the venue’s wheat barn heritage and featured in several of the displays during the day. The peonies were also a pleasant surprise for the bride – these are her favourite flower but she wasn’t sure if she would be able to get them out of season but the wonderful florist pulled it out of the bag on the day!

The wedding continued to wow as the bride entered the picturesque barns adorned with hand-made bunting in vintage floral material, fairy lights strewn over the beams from UBE Lighting and she walked down an aisle made of straw bales covered in the same coordinating pink and white fabric. Once the ceremony was over, the guests mingled around the courtyard of the farm and enjoyed the glorious sunshine. They were able to find their names on an ingenious floral seating plan with potted plants of hydrangeas, lavender and roses stood in a wooden crate pyramid.

The table names were named after the bride and groom’s favourite local walks (their own pet names for the walks rather than their official names). For example, Fields of Love was the name of the top table which is the name they gave to the field where they were walking their dogs when they said they loved each other for the first time! The guests all sat down to enjoy a picnic courtesy of local caterer, Abigail’s Kitchen. Tables had a rustic feel and flowers were displayed in clear glass jam jars and milk bottles decorated with twine and fabric and stood on wooden slices (all supplied by the florist).

All the stationery was put together by the bride using recycled card, tags and twine bought from Razzle Dazzle Rose (who also printed their invite cards). Another wonderful personal touch was the carrot seed favours which were a nod to their romantic proposal of carrots spelling out ‘Will you marry me’ in an allotment. Read more about how the groom spelt it out in this real life romantic proposal stories blog post.

Before their first dance, the happy couple cut the charming ivory four tier wedding cake, with hand piped filigree highlighted with pearl lustre and decorated with a selection of varying shades of dusty pink sugar roses, beautifully made by The Pretty Cake Company.

The guests enjoyed a succulent hog roast from The Oxfordshire Pig Company, then danced the night away whilst Mark Cortez sang and the sun set on an amazing and truly memorable wedding day!

Photography by Neil Hanson www.nordicpics.co.uk

 

Inspiration: I do…beside the seaside

Inspiration: I do…beside the seaside

where the brass band plays… a sugary, sweet retro British seaside wedding complete with pink and blue pastels galore plus beach huts, candy floss, a giant french fancy tiered cake, stripy deck chairs, ice creams, marshmallows, mix & match bridesmaid dresses and his & hers camper vans to arrive in style

Oh, I do love to be beside the seaside, beside the prom!

Hanami Dream | I do beside the seaside

Images curated on Pinterest

credits:
(left from top to bottom)
Candy floss – Tumblr via  http://Tumblr via http://bestfriendsforfrosting.com/2014/06/nine-ways-to-celebrate-the-everyday/

Stationery – http://www.postcalligraphy.com/ via http://www.stylemepretty.com/vault/gallery/22688

Dress and shoes – Photography by Tiffany Hughes via http://ruffledblog.com/1950s-inspired-auburn-wedding/

French fancies – Photography by Phil Wood Photo via https://www.flickr.com/photos/philwoodphoto/8464589943/

(middle from top to bottom)
Camper vans – Photography by Katleen via http://www.ministyleblog.com/?offset=1414530000000

Beach huts – via @beccadv1 Pinterest

(right from top to bottom)
Suit – by Kat Braman via http://southernweddings.com/2014/12/30/2014-memorable-menswear/

Bridesmaids’ dresses – Photography by Jen Huang via http://www.greylikesweddings.com/real-weddings/by-style/romantic/nantucket-wedding-the-white-elephant-inn/

Marshmallows – Macaronn via http://macaronn.tumblr.com/post/37109227732

Deckchairs – Snap Ginger via http://www.snapginger.com/blog/2014/6/16/pick-my-up-playlist7-9-14

How we went somewhere over the rainbow with our Wizard of Oz party

How we went somewhere over the rainbow with our Wizard of Oz party

Photography by Farrow Photography

Photography by Farrow Photography

We decided to follow the yellow brick road as the next theme in our series of joint ventures to bring to life some inspirational themes for special occasions. These are to showcase how you can use a theme to enhance your milestone events, whatever the age of the guest.

1. red – follow your heart
Our inspiration was sparked this time with the build up to the 75th anniversary of the film release of the Wizard of Oz. We also learnt that apparently L. Frank Braum (who wrote the Wonderful Wizard of Oz book in 1900) was inspired by Lewis Caroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland so it seemed like a natural progression in our journey.

We loved the idea of lots of fun, friendship and camaraderie in our event and as we were using children as our models again we wanted to ensure we had lots of things to entertain them and keep their attention. Plus we wanted to capture a sunny summer vibe with bright on trend rainbow colours and we wanted to include sunflowers, balloons and emerald city inspired décor.

Other things that inspired this shoot included:Photography by Farrow Photography
• Tin cans – it seems that my obsession with all the things you can do with tin cans has led my husband to worry that I’ll soon appear on the Hoarder Next Door programme on television. Yes, I saved A LOT of used tin cans in the build up to this event. But they are so versatile and really add to any rustic décor scheme – as lanterns, flower pots, adorned with tassels, with holes punched in or painted to suit any colour palette.
• Posters – we’ve recently been decorating our son’s bedroom and spotted a poster of a lion that we loved in a home decorating magazine. We searched high and low and eventually found the exact one from The Kid Who. So our son is now the proud owner of the lion poster by Ingela P Arrhenius, a great Swedish graphic designer and illustrator, and we are trying to decide what our next lovely purchase will be by Ingela.
• Strawberries – you might wonder how strawberries inspired this shoot. Well, it was actually in the act of trying to protect our strawberries from naughty birds scrumping our lovely fruit in the early summer. We were searching for netting to buy to put over the strawberries and came across various sizes of smiling scarecrows to buy. Hope we have more success protecting the blueberries from the predators this month!Photography by Farrow Photography
• Paint – I’m currently in love with the chalk coloured paints by Annie Sloane (who incidentally resides in our part of the country). Some beautifully painted stools in the Old Pill Factory, in Witney, ignited my fascination with rainbow colours.
• Vogue – another fabulous shoot by Annie Leibovitz in Vogue in 2005 featured Keira Knightley as Dorothy and shows how subtle theming of the characters can still give a great affect.
• Scottie Dogs – okay so the dog in the film version of the Wizard of Oz was a Cairn Terrier, but how could we not love the dogs used in the recent Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow and wish there was a way to use them in this shoot?
• Old fashioned sweet shops – the Shake Shop in Witney is an awesome place to visit and, as well as shakes and smoothies, has loads of great sweets to chose from like giant rainbow lolly pops.
• Cakes – these are never far from my thoughts at the best of times but recently I’ve loved all the cake pops that are so popular and amazing rainbow layer cakes. We had a slice at a Photography by Farrow Photographyrecent christening and were fascinated by the time and effort gone in to making a wonderfully impressive cake.
• Emerald green – this was Pantone colour of the year in 2013 and still seems to be everywhere (or is it just because we’re thinking about the Emerald City that we’re seeing it more?!) and we really liked the emerald furniture in the Relics of Witney recently.

We also read the Wonderful Wizard of Oz book by L. Frank Braum and realised how many differences there were between the book and the 1939 film adaption. This made us realise that whatever the theme, we could adjust it to suit our occasion anyway.

You can see more of our inspiration for this party and follow Hanami Dream’s Wizard of Oz board on Pinterest.

 

2. orange – good communication
For this event we also involved a great team of local suppliers to showcase their products and enhance our theme further. So as well as partnering with the wonderful Farrow Photography, we also shared our vision to go somewhere over the rainbow with 8 other suppliers each offering different products.

Our partners for this shoot were:

Caked in it logo

Caked In It – who supplied the rainbow layer cake and rainbow push pops
www.facebook.com/pages/Caked-In-It/159983567354526
@cakeditin

 

Cotswold Kids colour logo

Cotswold Kids – who provided the ruby red sequin shoes worn by Dorothy
www.facebook.com/cotswold.kids
@cotswoldkids

 

Distinctive Petals logo

Distinctive Petals – who gave the flowers in a sunflower bouquet, on the table, hanging in trees and in the hot air balloon basket
www.facebook.com/#!/distinctivepetals.florist
@D_Petals

 

Fairford balloons logo

Fairford Balloons – who offered the bunches of latex balloons, rainbow balloon arch and the hot air balloon
www.facebook.com/fairfordballoons
@fairfordballoon

 

Mrs W Tutus logo

Mrs W Tutus – who made the white tutu and blue gingham apron that Dorothy wore
www.facebook.com/pages/Mrs-W-Tutus/199071030217068
@MrsWTutus

 

Pedal Car logo

Pedal Car Parties – who lent the vintage pedal tractor for the Kansas farm scene
www.facebook.com/PedalCarParties
@pedalcarparties

 

Teddy Bears of Witney – who loaned us the Toto and Mini Dorothy Steiff bears
http://www.teddybears.co.uk/
www.facebook.com/pages/Teddy-Bears-of-Witney/107426666094204

 

New stationery company launching soon – who produced the name place cards
Contact Hanami Dream for more details.

 

Photography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow Photography

We love the opportunity to be able to support local independent companies and have some amazing ones right on our doorstep in and around the Cotswolds.  #indieretail

For more information on the suppliers that supported this shoot and showcased their products, take a look at our No Place Like Home blog post too.

 

3. yellow – have couragePhotography by Farrow Photography
We had to make some tough decisions whilst planning the shoot and had to be realistic with what we could deliver in the time and budget. In addition, whilst not an ideal time of year, we had chosen to do it during the peak summer months when everyone is busy with lots of events. So this meant that some suppliers were not available or couldn’t sadly commit to this project. Plus, with any event that you want to hold outside, we were once again at the mercy of the elements. Despite a glorious few weeks of amazing sunny and hot weather, the week of our shoot was when things looked like breaking. We knew that we could postpone the shoot by a few days but some of the suppliers’ products would start to fade if we couldn’t use them when we planned. We were brave and continued with our plan of shooting one Friday morning and the weather was brilliant until lunchtime. Thankfully by this time we had luckily finished and packed everything away.

 

4. green – be resourceful
As well as having some amazing products supplied by our partners for this shoot, we also produced a number of the props and decorations ourselves. Funds, availability and suitability often mean that making things yourself (or having them commissioned) will ensure that they match and are completely tailored to your occasion.
The things we made included:Photography by Farrow Photography
• Green teepees for the Emerald City – triangles of different material sewn together with a heavier duty material hexagon base, held up by inserting and tying dowels, then finished off with doors with material tie backs.
• Gingham bunting – my mum has an amazing stash of material including the blue gingham that I used to sew the bunting. This was from the remnants from my primary school summer uniform that she’d made for me!
• Pin wheels – made from card in the seven different colours of the rainbow. Relatively easy to construct with squares of card, scissors and split pins. Then hung in rainbow order for lots of impact. Photography by Farrow Photography
• Tin man – lots of sweet corn, chickpeas and tinned tomatoes were consumed to leave some different sized empty tins held together with wire and split pins to make the tin man. Finished off with a silver hat made from a circle of card and a red card heart.
• Painted tins – whilst I had a grasp on how to mix colours to achieve 6 of the 7 colours of the rainbow, I had to do research to discover the proportions for making indigo! I used a one coat, all surface paint suitable to go on a number of materials without a base coat.
• Crows – these were made with some simple origami skills of twirling birds from black card for the scarecrow to chase away.Photography by Farrow Photography
• Net for hot air balloon – we plaited some wool together and tied it around the big 16″ balloon (supplied by Fairford Balloons) at the top, middle and bottom. Then tied long strands from the top band, through the middle band and to the bottom band and then attached them to a painted tin can full of flowers (provided by Distinctive Petals).

 

5. blue – use support
Most of our band of party goers were dressed in clothing to give a subtle hint of the theme, apart from Dorothy who had an amazing outfit.

The costumes consisted of:
• Dorothy Gale – white full length tutu with blue gingham apron and red ribbons (made by Mrs W Tutus), red ruby sequin shoes (provided by Cotswold Kids), blue gingham ribbons for plaited hair, wicker basket and Toto Steiff teddy bear (borrowed from Teddy Bears of Witney).
• Tin Woodman – grey cords (from H&M), light grey t-shirt (from Next) with red felt heart sewn to pocket and silver card pointy hat with red card heart.
• Cowardly Lion – brown cords, yellow t-shirt and ribbon ‘medal’ badge.
• Scarecrow – denim dungarees, check shirt (from Baby Bird at Mothercare), straw hat (from Fat Face) and prefect’s badge.

Photography by Farrow Photography

 

6. indigo – trust your head
So with our party visualised it was then just a case of bringing everything together and coordinating all the products coming from different suppliers and sources:

• Collected shoes, teddy bears, name place cards, balloons and flowers from suppliers
• Received deliveries of the tutu, cakes and vintage pedal tractor from suppliers
• Borrowed straw bails, prefect badges and table from friends
• Made tin man, sign for Emerald City, table runners, gingham bunting, costume accessories, pin wheel decorations, black crows and hot air balloon netting
• Collated all other props and costumes
• Ironed linen (why is it I find myself doing more ironing for work than I ever do in real life?!)
• Prepared and pruned garden
• Dressed the scenes by stringing up pin wheels, flowers in tins and crows, setting the table, tying rainbow ribbons round cutlery and the most important job of creating the yellow brick road with yellow chalk on a garden path.

Photography by Farrow Photography
7. violet – enjoy your creation
With everything set up, it was time for our party to begin. Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow enjoyed playing in the following scenes:

a. No place like home – the farm in Kansas consisted of:
• Straw bails
• Wooden toy farm
• Hanging black crows
• Vintage pedal tractor (provided by Pedal Car Parties)
• Bunches of balloons (supplied by Fairford Balloons)

Photography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow Photography

b. The Witch is dead! – the Wicked Witch of the East got crushed ‘under the house’ and all that could be seen of her was her:
• Black and white tights and
• Shiny red shoes

Photography by Farrow Photography

c. Follow the yellow brick road – off to see the wizard and along the way the friends played with:
• Chalk on the yellow brick road
• Pinwheels in the ground (from Cargo)
• Basket
• Dorothy and Toto teddy bears (borrowed from Teddy Bears of Witney)
• Rainbow balloon arch (supplied by Fairford Balloons)

Photography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow Photography

d. Emerald city
• Two green teepees complete with ‘bell not working’ sign at the end of the yellow brick road.

Photography by Farrow Photography

e. Somewhere over the rainbow
• The party table consisted of:
○ Rainbow cups, cutlery and crockery
○ Table runner of burlap material, ‘yellow brick road’ and rainbow painted tin cans filled with gypsophila (flowers provided by Distinctive Petals)
○ Name place cards
○ Rainbow layer cake (created by Caked In It)
○ Rainbow cake push pops (created by Caked In It)
○ Heart, medal and prefect’s badge
○ Toto teddy bear (borrowed from Teddy Bears of Witney)

Photography by Farrow Photography

• The other décor included:
○ Pin wheel bunting
○ Tin man out of cans in tree
○ Lion poster
○ Scarecrow in tree
○ Hot air balloon (balloon supplied by Fairford Balloons and flowers provided by Distinctive Petals)
○ Tin cans filled with sunflowers (flowers provided by Distinctive Petals).

Then it was time to enjoy and capture our party somewhere over the rainbow.

Photography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow Photography

Photography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow PhotographyPhotography by Farrow Photography

To see all the photos from the shoot please go to www.hanamidream.co.uk/wizard-of-oz/

 

Farrow Photography & Hanami Dream

Farrow Photography & Hanami Dream

 

 

How we organised our Alice in Wonderland tea party

How we organised our Alice in Wonderland tea party

http://www.farrowphotography.com

Photography by Farrow Photography

1. Pick a theme

We’ve found inspiration in many different areas (isn’t Pinterest great for sparking the imagination and losing a few hours in the making?!) but lots of things kept leading us back to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. So this is the theme we picked for our first joint venture. (By the way, you can see more of our inspiration on our Pinterest board.)

We are from beautiful Oxfordshire and Alice’s story has lots of connection with Oxford. There’s an Alice’s Shop in Oxford and for one day every year, the Story Museum turns Oxford into Wonderland to celebrate the first telling of the story. Alice Pleasance Liddell and her sisters enjoyed listening to Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll), when she asked him to tell her a story on a boating trip in Oxford on 4th July 1862. So it’s not just the Americans who get to celebrate a special occasion on the 4th July! Other things that inspired this shoot were:

  • A fantastic installation at Burford Garden Company. One day their tea shop had lots of teacups hanging from a tree and it looked like a perfect backdrop to a mad hatter’s tea party. Tea Tree at Burford Garden CompanyI just hope they had enough teacups left over for all their thirsty customers!
  • Tim Burton’s gothic inspired Alice story. We liked that this was a different take on the usual Disney cartoon images that usually spring to mind.
  • Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, a recent short lived US spin off show that featured modern day fairy tale characters based around the Alice story. Okay, we’re not necessarily all over the cheesier aspects of this but liked a modern day twist on the classic tale.
  • Annie Leibovitz did an Alice shoot for US Vogue in 2010 which absolutely rocks – not a stereotypical Disney character in sight!
  • US stylist Alexandria LaNier also did a wonderful shoot.
  • Ruby & Stardust do amazing inspirational wedding photo shoots to help couples visualise the day of their dreams. We love their extravagant attention to detail.
  • Whittards currently have a lovely Alice collection that attracted our attention too – it’s all about Alice right now!
  • The Old Pill Factory in Witney always has brilliant visual merchandising and we love the eclectic mix of vintage products on display. Recently we were inspired by an old kid’s top hat that we saw with some tweed jackets. So we wanted to mention it as we love this place and are big supporters of local independent retailers (especially as this month is Independent Retailer Month).

However most of the imagery that inspired us featured adult models and we wanted to do something with young children.

 

2. Set the time, place and location

We decided we wanted to be able to share our inspirational shoot with the world to coincide with Alice in Wonderland Day on the 4th July. It’s when people are celebrating thPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.come day when the story was first told. If everyone is talking about Alice on that day then we want to be too! So our shoot was planned for the week before Alice’s Day and we held it outside in a residential garden so we could maximise the wonderful green lushness that’s around at this time of year. We let the lawn grow so all the pretty daisies came through, after all Alice did debate at the beginning of the story whether to make a daisy chain or not before she saw the white rabbit. We watched as the garden changed on a daily basis praying that the red peonies would bloom in time. Annoyingly the red ones came and went and then we were stuck with only pink ones but even these had gone over by the day of the shoot. And sadly no sign of any roses in time. Not even any white ones that we could paint! But luckily we found a post on Let’s Eat Grandpa about how to make really realistic looking tissue paper flowers so our production crew sprung in to action instead.

 

3. Make a guest list and send out invitations

As mums of little ones ourselves, we know how much fun children are but we also know how quickly they can flag and their attention dwindles. So we decided on a small ensemble to encapsulate some of the most well know characters from the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland story. We had 5 brilliant models who thoroughly got in to their roles and all enjoyed pouring pretend tea (like most children seem to). So we invited:

  • Alice
  • Queen of Hearts
  • Mad Hatter
  • White Rabbit (at one point we even considered borrowing a real life white rabbit!)
  • Cheshire Cat

 

4. Source suppliers for decorations, party favours & music

For this shoot, we begged, borrowed and made a lot of our own props. However, the first of these I already had – an old vintage tea set that my Mad Nan gave to me (yes, this is the name that she has titled herself!) She bought it years ago when she first got a credit card and got a bit carried away at an auction. She hid it under her bed and never told my Grampy about it as she didn’t want to tell him how much she spent on it. So when he passed away a few years ago, I inherited the tea set. Not being a tea drinker myself, it sat unused in a box in the shed. So I was pleased that it could take pride of place in this Alice shoot.

Here some other behind the scenes snippets of how we made or sourced some of the props:Template from Next to nicx

  • Miniature door – this was one of the first things that I made for the shoot. I saw these fairy doors on Roots Nursery and knew they would look great amongst the ivy at the base of one of the tree stumps in the garden for Alice to peer through.
  • What tea party would be complete without teacups? Along with my Mad Nan’s vintage cups, we also made some paper teacups to really enhance the whole décor. We found an ingenious and really stunning template and tutorial by Next to nicx and we hear that they’re also in the process of setting up a store so you’ll soon be able to buy these nifty tea cups in kit form too.
  • My in-laws sourced the next prop when they were enjoying afternoon tea in the Mad Hatters Tea Shop in Longton, Lancastershire. (Actually this theme was perfect for them as I think they spend quite a bit of time researching this pastime!) They found a beautiful paper teapot decoration in rose by Miss Etoile.
  • Other things that we made included:
    • Chequered floor – we bought some checked flooring tiles and stuck them to a bit of ply wood
    • Hearts bunting – we stuck lots of red hearts on to fishing line (and got them tangled up too many times!)
    • Big clocks – just some cardboard and cut out printed numbers (the roman numerals really tested our GCSE maths skills!) which were perfect for the background to dress the scene
    • Various sizes of playing cards including two big ones made into a tunnel for the children to run through – again just painted cardboard and then we stuck hearts/spades on to them
    • Playing cards garland – hope that no one in our house wants to play cards any time soon as I stripped out all the hearts suits from a couple of packs to string these on fishing line
    • Queen of Hearts wand – bought a wicker looking heart from Sainsburys and painted the top red to finish off her outfit
  • Other paper decorations and lanterns were bought from Cargo out of their last year’s stock. I’m loving all the honeycomb paper décor around at the moment though.
  • The final significant prop that we used was the brass key the White Rabbit and Alice hold. This was a gift to my late father on his 21st birthday which he gave to me when I also hit that milestone age. It’s engraved with the dates when we both reached 21 so it was special to feature this in the shoot.
  • Friends and family also have to be thanked for lending us other props such as: the old clock, carriage clocks, pocket watches (we were stunned by how many of our friends owned one of these!), various cuddly animals (such as rabbits and mice), croquet set and a treasure chest.

IMG_3988 IMG_3989  IMG_4039IMG_4038

 

5. Plan party games and entertainmentPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.com

With small children you need to have lots of things to entertain them lined up as their concentration doesn’t last too long for each activity. We had lots of bubbles to hand, a croquet set to play (complete with flamingos), lots of dancing, endless fun pouring glitter into teacups, running through playing card tunnels, hiding the dormouse in the teapot and eating all the lovely sweets. 

 

6. Make the food and a cake

We didn’t put on a full spread for this special occasion but no Alice party would be complete without some jam tartsPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.com. The hearts theme continued with Love Heart sweets and some real fruit juice heart sweets from The Fruit Factory. They’re made from concentrated fruit juice so we thought they’d be better for our sugar deprived kids!!!

 

7. Set the table & decorate your venue

The only thing we couldn’t organise for the day was the weather. We should’ve guessed that anything set around the time of Wimbledon would have a chance of rain closing play. With the power of 10 day weather forecasts we could see that the weather might not be on our side and finally made a last minute decision to postpone by a day. It was a good call, as the day we’d planned had really heavy downpours but we had glorious sunshine for the actually day of our shoot. Everyone needs a good back up plan and thanks to all cast and crew for being so accommodating to change the day.

It was actually good that it rained before the shoot as it watered the garden and made it much greener again after all the beautiful sunny days we’ve been having. So all that was left was to:

  • cover the chairs and the rose arch with ivy and our home made flowers
  • hang all the tea cups and other decorations Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.com
  • dress the table with cups, saucers, teapots, clocks, hearts, flowers, cake tins, pearls, sweets, tiny playing cards, stuffed animals and glitter
  • hang playing card bunting in rose arch and heart bunting in Cheshire Cat’s tree
  • pin up signs
  • hide fairy door
  • set up the Queen’s palace
  • get Alice’s rocking chair in place
  • arrange all props and toys for entertainment

 

8. Dress the part

As our models arrived, they each got dressed in their costumes for the day. We’d been inspired by some Handpicked Handmade girls dresses which are so sumptuous and voluminous that we had to make some similar for our Alice, Queen and Cat. We went for a no sewing route (like the Hair Bow Company ones) and simply tied strips of tulle netting around ribbons to create wonderful skirts.

The costumes consisted of:

  • Alice – daisy headband, white t-shirt, blue handmade tulle skirt, white apron
  • Queen of Hearts – gold crown (from H&M), black t-shirt, white handmade tulle skirt complete with felt hearts, red shoes, heart wand
  • Mad Hatter – top hat with 10/6 sign (actually it was really hard to source a top hat as we were getting costumes together around the time of Ascot but found a great one on Oxfam’s online store), grey waistcoat and trousers (from Florence and Fred at Tesco), check shirt, cravat
  • White Rabbit – rabbit ears (from Claire’s Accessories but these didn’t stay on for long!), cream waistcoat and trousers (from M&S), white shirt, pocket watch, white rabbit toy (from JellyCat)
  • Cheshire Cat – cat ears (also from H&M), purple t-shirt, pink and purple handmade tulle skirt, purple shoes

And no one is fully dressed without a smile, so we also made some Cheshire Cat smiles on sticks for everyone to hold although everyone seemed to be full of smiles anyway.  

Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.comPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.comPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.comPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.com

 

9. Make the tea when your guests arrive Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.com
Obviously we didn’t have real tea for the children to pour at our party but they still had loads of fun pouring ‘tea’ for each other.

 

 

 

10. Serve the food and enjoy spending time with your guests

Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.com  Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.com    Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.comPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.comPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.comPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.comPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.comPhotography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.com

As you can see our tea party was lots of fun. To see all the photos from the shoot please go to www.hanamidream.co.uk/alice-in-wonderland/

Photography by Farrow Photography www.farrowphotography.com

Farrow Photography & Hanami Dream