Based on The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (published in 1911), this modern Edwardian styled wedding shoot is a perfect harmony of traditional and contemporary elements brought together with sheer glamour and sophistication. Planned and designed by Hanami Dream and wonderfully captured by Squib Photography.
This elegant and delicate wedding is set in the grounds of a local English Manor House in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds of the UK (also used in the filming of another 1910s drama, Downtown Abbey). The lush greenery of a walled garden is discovered behind a secret locked door and its unseen natural beauty is unearthed after being concealed for many years.
Complete with an intimate ceremony on the croquet lawn, drinks in a secluded corner of the garden, followed by a celebration in a stunning Cotswold stone barn, this wedding features modern twists on traditional wedding styles with a real sense of rejuvenation.
With clear acrylic ‘stationery’ and signage with white brush lettering (where the greenery of the garden can be seen through), a hoop bouquet, a fresh take on the time-honoured wedding dessert of a croquembouche, vintage pearl details, antique keys and a friendly robin redbreast motif. Mary and Colin would be proud to attend this stylish wedding.
The colour palette is soft and understated so nothing distracts from the abundance of sumptuous cascading foliage. White is accented with hints of pink Pale Dogwood and plenty of the Colour of the Year of Greenery. There’s a definite nod to the Pantone® Spring/Summer 2017 colours with some subtle inclusion of blues (a navy Lapis for the groom’s suit and a denim Niagara of the manor house internal doors), Hazelnut and more greenery in the form of Kale.
Cogges Manor Farm was the ideal location for this wedding with its very essence in this era. It is nestled in the lovely market town of Witney and offers two stunning seventeenth century barns as well as a beautiful walled garden, stunning grounds and an impressive Manor House as a remarkable backdrop.
The couple got ready in the peaceful setting of the Manor House, strolled romantically through the walled garden, encouraged their families to ‘choose a seat not a side’ on vintage chairs (from Linda’s Vintage Hire) on the croquet lawn, and enjoyed the perfect blank canvas of the Barley Barn where modern, personalised details make this wedding complete.
Hanging from one of the impressive beams is a large rustic wooden cartwheel from Oakwood Events, adorned with greenery along with stylish bulb cages around Edison type filaments, plus some added alliums (from Lark Rise Flowers).
The top table is awash with greenery running down the whole of the table and spilling off the ends to the floor, courtesy of Lark Rise Flowers. Plus, the fragrance of the foliage was a delight to the senses with hosta, hedera, honeysuckle, laurel and hebe. Along with gentle inclusion of white flowers in the form of campanula, astilbe, lady’s mantle, sweet william, viburnum, rambling rose, helleborus seedheads and valeriana.
The sturdy wooden table, along with vintage chairs from Linda’s Vintage Hire, is set simply with white crockery and silver cutlery, plus clear acrylic menus sit on green moss. Alongside each setting is a clear acrylic place name (with guest names paying homage to the character names from the book) attached to vintage keys, along with favours of charming wooden robins by Muffat Prague.
Guests are directed around the farm with stylish clear acrylic signage and find their places by referring to the reclaimed window pane table plan with white brush lettering thanks to The Paper Hare, completing the stationery suite of clear acrylic invitations and clear acrylic table number tubes.
In the garden, the couple relax and enjoy a smooth glass of brandy whilst listening to the gramophone and admiring the remarkable cake by Cotswold Baking, a reintroduction of a traditional wedding dessert. This impressive croquembouche plays on the trend of wedding cake alternatives and sits on top of a plain white cake. The choux balls are decorated with edible pearl balls of varying sizes.
The bride chicly carries a hoop bouquet by Lark Rise Flowers leaving a beautiful scent of jasmine wherever she sashays. She has strong smoky eyes, pinched cheek blush and barely-there pale lipstick reminiscent of the times and beautifully recreated by Blushing Brides.
Her hair is ornamented with a delicate pearl hair vine by Designed to Sparkle and gathered up to reveal the breathtaking backless dress.
She perfectly fits the glamourous, champagne coloured bridal gown, made from Lux Charmeuse, featuring a high neckline, flutter sleeves, low back, attached silver beaded waistline and godet train by Justin Alexander, provided by Proposals of Witney. This 1910s styling is teamed with a multi-strand bracelet and necklace by Designed to Sparkle, made with navette set Swarovski crystal stones and pearls, in creamrose light shade.
The suave, slicked-back groom suited the era with a blue three-piece suit made from a British fabric 100% wool, cut in a traditional style but more modern in shape from The Cotswold Tailor.
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.
Based on The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (published in 1911), this modern Edwardian Secret Garden styled wedding shoot is a perfect harmony of traditional and contemporary elements brought together with sheer glamour and sophistication.
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.
Thanks to all these wonderful suppliers #keepitlocal
Cogges Manor Farm is nestled in the lovely market town of Witney and offers two stunning seventeenth century barns for weddings. They are a perfect blank canvas where you can add loads of personalised details to make your special day complete. Your wedding can be as individual as you are with your own choice of catering, furniture and decoration.
The magnificent and spacious Wheat Barn can seat up to 200 guests, with refurbished stone floor, and portable heating included in the cost of hire. The more intimate and adjacent Barley Barn can seat about 60 guests or is an ideal choice to use as a dance or ceremony area. Each barn can be hired separately, or as a combined hire. Cogges offers a civil ceremony license and is next door to Cogges Parish Church.
In addition to any indoor space you hire, you and your guests can use the charming outdoor space to wander and enjoy (and after 5pm you will have exclusive use of the site). Cogges has many perfect locations for your wedding photographs, such as the Manor House lawn, the walled garden or the orchard and you can even include the farm animals in your photos.
I’m Steven, a full time professional photographer who set up Squib Photography in 2002 and is lucky enough to photograph some beautiful weddings in the Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds. I also cover pretty much the rest of the UK and have even been lucky enough to be booked to cover some destinations recently overseas.
After completing my studies at Oxford Brookes University I started Squib Photography and have photographed in excess of 450 weddings to date. I like to provide a professional, yet flexible service offering a mixture of formal and reportage photography to perfectly capture the atmosphere of a wedding day.
Every wedding is important to me and I will strive to tell the story of the day using natural light and little posing as possible. I do so in a relaxed, informal way so the couple can enjoy those special moments and leave me to document that for them.
I am always open to new ideas, input from couples and understand that every wedding day is very different, so will always work carefully with them to make sure you receive a personalized, bespoke service.
Blushing Brides Hair and Makeup, Hair and Makeup Artists are based in Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds.
With Blushing Brides you make one booking and get two artists working for you, two artists with individual skills, ideas and experience.
We are firm believers that with specialists who have honed their individual skills over many years you get a superior experience, the look you have always wanted and better value for money.
Lauren (Makeup Artist) and Laura (Hair Stylist) have many years experience working for brides and bridal parties, we bring all this to help you achieve the most beautiful look for your special day. Far better, we believe, than one person pushing themselves to do both.
The Cotswold Tailor is an award winning tailor, that takes traditional British cloths and tailors them with a contemporary twist. This results in unique, elegant designs, that stand out from the usual mass produced clothing on the high street. We emphasise the use of British manufacturers. Our British range of products include: trousers, socks, cufflinks, lambs wool jumpers, ties and all of the cloths used in the jackets.
Please take this opportunity to view our products online or alternatively if you would like to visit us, we are located in the bustling market town of Woodstock on the high street as well as our new shop located on Church Street in Shipston On Stour.
Designed to Sparkle is run by Fiona Self, creating beautiful jewellery and accessories from her studio in Bampton at the edge of the Cotswolds.
Gaining inspiration from the incredible natural beauty found all around, Fiona draws from the elements that she loves the most, and designs pieces that bring her joy!
Fiona personally hand makes each piece of jewellery using the very best materials and supplies that she can source, and paying meticulous attention to detail in the quality and finish of each and every element that she makes.
Lark Rise Flowers, are professionally qualified florists, based in the rolling countryside of North Oxfordshire. They provide flowers for weddings and events throughout Oxon, Bucks, Northants, and beyond.
Stock is sourced from the major flower markets, and if seasonally available from an expanding group of British growers. The Eco commitment continues with a policy of recycling waste packaging and surplus green material.
Sandra, the Proprietor, is happy to meet with you for personal consultations and site visits. She will work with your brief, budget, or theme, to create a unique day for you both.
The Lark Rise team have a wealth of experience, having provided many wedding flowers, and decorated most of the major wedding venues in the area. They take pride and care in their work, from the simplest buttonhole through to beautiful bridal bouquets and venue décor.
We provide a stress free vintage hire service for all occasions. If you are organising an event with a vintage flare we can supply furniture, crockery and a range of props and accessories to give your event that much loved nostalgic vintage feel.
We work with theatres, corporations, event and wedding planners, caterers, photographers and festivals to mention but a few.
So if you’re planning your vintage event whether it’s afternoon tea, the wedding of your dreams, a magazine shoot or creating something inspirational for a large festival there is no end to what can be achieved with the help of Linda’s Vintage Hire. We can deliver up and down the country.
MuffatPrague started life as a sonic and visual arts blog in 2011.
After a lifetime’s love of the letterform, all things typographic and a couple of decades of working independently in creative spheres, designer-maker team Rob and Hils decided to start hand-craft letters from their garden studio in 2014. Their Oiseaux, a simple bird form designed by Rob has now become their brand identity and signature design. Their work is handmade from locally sourced reclaimed ply, walnut and oak, finished with Farrow & Ball Eggshell and Oxfordshire beeswax.
They were voted Best Creative Producer (Bucks/Oxon) in the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2016 and have new ideas coming this year – keep an eye on their website and Instagram feed for more info.
The birds are available in 4 sizes with a single brass leg fitting or bakers twine loop.
Proposals is a family run business established in 2004. Our philosophy is to take personal responsibility and to provide an unforgettable exquisite experience. We pride ourselves on listening and understanding the desires of each bride and her party.
Since opening in 2004 we have grown in our expertise by constantly researching the requirements and expectations of all our customers having listened and learnt from each and everyone and pride ourselves on our excellent and enviable personal service.
Dreams really do come true at Proposals with over 100 wedding gowns to chose from including designers Ian Stuart, Justin Alexander, Essense of Australia, La Sposa and Maggie Sottero, you are sure to find your perfect gown.
The Paper Hare is an illustration and lettering design studio based in the North Cotswolds.
Specialising in adding memorable adornments to special occasions with hand lettered touches, watercolour art prints for homes and nurseries and brushlettering workshops for those hoping to uncover their own creative style.
Take a look at a behind the scenes look at the briefs that were given to these fabulous suppliers and how the Secret Garden theme came to life with their designs and products.
I was delighted to find a new photography partner to work with on a styled bridal shoot this May half term. It was wonderful to work alongside Steve from Squib Photography – another fellow Witney business and we discovered that unbeknown we had even lived next to each other in halls at University! We collaborated to produce an amazing bridal styled shoot based around The Secret Garden. It was also an honour to be able to showcase some amazing products from some fantastic local suppliers.
Theme I chose the Secret Garden theme as it is another classic story with a sense of much needed rejuvenation in current times (see some of my previous styled shoots based on classics books). Published in the 1910s, The Secret Garden focuses on an orphan who is sent to live with her uncle at his mansion. She befriends a robin and discovers a neglected garden that she is determined to bring back to life. I wanted to hint at this theme with slight nods to the book with the name places, wooden robin favours and vintage keys.
Originally my next shoot was going to focus on a stunning local location with beautiful blossom trees in full bloom and falling down like confetti (which obviously stems from my love of cherry blossom). A local jeweller, Designed to Sparkle, wanted to be involved in one of my shoots and she had some stunning blossom pieces that would have fitted this theme perfectly.
However, as planning continued I realised that timings meant that not only would the trees have already had their hanami but also that I wanted to focus more on foliage and really make the most of the Greenery Pantone® colour of the year 2017. I wanted to show case the lush greenery of a stunning garden.
Styled shoot A styled shoot takes almost as much time and effort to produce as a wedding day and entails bringing together the theme from many different suppliers.
The beauty of styled shoots (versus a real life wedding) is that it is a great opportunity to be a little more extravagant and really show off what you’ve always wanted to do. You can indulge your fantasies with new trends or products that couples may not have seen yet or something really unusual.
This styled shoot is a collaboration of like minded people that can create great things together but perhaps don’t have the budgets to produce this kind of work if they all worked independently.
Brief I am very lucky to live in a beautiful part of the UK and am surrounded by some seriously talented wedding venues, professionals and suppliers. I was honoured that so many wanted to be involved in this shoot and they certainly didn’t disappoint with the products that they provided.
I gave them all the same brief that I was trying to achieve:
bring the beauty of nature inside for a secret garden wedding brimming with lush green foliage, clear Perspex signage and modern twists on wedding traditions
I also provided them with my collated vision and ideas on my Pinterest board.
The themes I wanted to encapsulate included:
Modern
Edwardian
Delicate
Elegant
Greenery
Clear Perspex
Pearl
Hoops
Keys
Robins
I wanted the use of colour to be kept to a minimum with hints of colour and an abundance of green with a focus on white and the following spring/summer 2017 colours:
Greenery (Pantone® 2017 colour of the year)
Pale Dogwood (a really pale ‘barely there’ pink)
Hazelnut (almost a champagne / pearl colour)
Lapis Blue & Niagara (blues to act almost like cooling neutral colours)
Designs The creative suppliers worked wonders in transforming my overflowing pot of ideas and pairing it down in to realistic and achievable products for us to showcase.
Stationery designs – One of the first ideas for this shoot came from an image that I saw of clear acrylic stationery and I fell in love with the current trend for Perspex furniture and modern ways to present stationery. I was concerned with how this could be photographed but Squib Photography used the natural light to make sure there wasn’t too much glare on the acrylic.
My vision was to present lovely modern, clear acrylic ‘stationery’ and signage with white brush lettering, where the greenery of the garden can be seen through the clear acrylic – bringing the outside inside.
I sourced the acrylic from a local builder’s merchants (and my favourite go to place for any materials) who kindly cut the acrylic to size and drilled holes in the right places. The reclaimed window pane was to be the table plan which my best friend kindly donated (or rather retrieved from the skip outside her house!) which she had going spare as a result of her building project.
Next in stepped the highly talented The Paper Hare to wave her magic brush lettering over this raw material and make it look beautiful. The modern stationery included: menus A6 x6 (105mm x 148mm), invitation square (105mm x 105mm) with moss between 2 sheets, place names x6 (50mm x 50mm) attached to vintage keys from a local hardware shop with ribbon, ‘ceremony’ signage (297mm x 105mm), ‘garden’ signage (297mm x 105mm), ‘choose a seat not a side’ signage (297mm x 420mm), table plan on window pane (whole window is 600mm x 1060mm, each pane is 250mm x 300mm), table number on an acrylic tube (70mm diameter x 150mm tall).
Cake design – I was really keen to reintroduce the traditional wedding dessert of a croquembouche to play on the trend of wedding cake alternatives at the moment. Producers of these pièce montée are few and far between in the Cotswolds, but I was delighted to discover the amazing Paul from Cotswold Baking who rose to the challenge (#sorry #notsorry for the cake related pun!) of creating this masterpiece for the shoot.
A topic close to my heart is cake (do I mention it a lot?!) and I’ve written a bit on the history of wedding cakes. So I was intrigued to learn more about this style of French wedding dessert. Meaning crunch in the mouth, a croquembouche is made of choux pastry profiteroles piled into a cone and bound with spun sugar. Our dessert was made the traditional (and harder way) of being self supporting rather than being attached to another structure. An amazing and decadent centre piece, created in the late 1700s by a French pastry chef. Traditionally, the croquembouche used to be hit by a sword and the bridesmaids would catch the falling profiteroles in a tablecloth.
Our impressive cake cone stood aloft a plain white cake adorned giving it yet more height and a great modern twist. Several of the little choux were decorated with pearls to tie in with the jewellery worn by the bride.
Flowers – I wanted this shoot to really highlight the modern use of florals including a circle bouquet and floral chandeliers (along with edison lighting). In doing so, it almost became an ‘anti flowers’ brief, as I wanted the emphasis to be on the foliage and greenery with just subtle hints of white or pale pink (either on the foliage or with minimal flowers). There was also moss under the menus and between the sheets of the invitation so the brush lettering popped out. Plus foliage in the acrylic tubes so guests could read their table numbers. More greenery was used to dress the window pane table plan and fragrant jasmine on the cake stand. Lark Rise Flowers really went to town with my brief of having a lush cascading table runner pouring off the ends of the tablescape. Here are the flowers that were used in the shoot:
Bridal hoop – made from twisted stems of salix, entwined with Jasminum polyanthum, Hedera, and Lonicera japonica aureoreticulta. Embellished with flowers of Paeonia “Alertie”, Rosa spray “Sweet Avalanche”, Ornithogalum thyrsoides, Helleborus orientalis, Phlomis
Cartwheel chandelier – Hanging blooms of Allium “Mount Everest”
Jewellery – I was delighted to work with the incredible Fiona at Designed to Sparkle. Despite my brief evolving from cherry blossom to modern Edwardian, she developed some perfect pieces to fit the theme and echoing the pearl accents of the shoot. She created the following pieces for the shoot:
Estrella multi-strand bracelet and necklace, made with navette set Swarovski crystal stones and pearls, in creamrose light shade. Estrella means ‘Star’, which is the real essence of the burst of sparkle in these beautiful pieces of jewellery.
Avanna hair vine with Swarovski pearls in creamrose light shade. ‘Avanna’ means beautiful flower, which is so perfect for these clusters of tiny blooms along the length of the hair vine.
Classic Fresh water pearl earrings on sterling silver posts.
Suppliers I couldn’t have been happier (and luckily) with the products that all the suppliers produced and provided.
Venue – The venue that I chose to use has an amazing walled garden (complete with green door) – an under-used aspect of a brilliant blank canvas of a local venue. Along with this, Cogges Manor Farm also has a stunning Manor House and grounds that have been used in the filming of Downtown Abbey. The Edwardian connections seemed to be adding up and I took the opportunity to combine traditional 1910s styled wedding elements with up to date modern twists. The barns are a great blank canvas – just look at the transformation!
before
after
Hair and Makeup – I was delighted that Lauren and Laura from Blushing Brides Hair and Makeup were another supplier to approach me to be involved in a styled shoot. They brilliantly interpreted my Edwardian brief complete with smoky eyes, pinched cheek blush and barely-there pale lipstick and even ensured that the groom’s hair was slicked back.
Dress – I saw exactly the dress I wanted for this shoot in the window of Proposals of Witney – I walk past their window nearly every day and when I saw it I instantly knew this was the one! A beautiful champagne colour, perfect styling for the theme and, most importantly, looked like it was made for our stunning model. Fabulous high neckline, flutter sleeves, exquisite low back and amazing train.
Groom clothing – The Cotswold Tailor provided a brilliant outfit for our suave groom. The blue suit is actually their own label based on the success of another blue suit they had last year through their ultimate formal hire. They have created their own suits as they were fed up of the cheap poly blends that most hirewear companies offer. It’s a British fabric 100% wool. Cut in traditional style but more modern in shape.
Lighting – Oakwood Events are an absolutely amazing company – friendly, reliable and highly sought after. Despite their really busy schedule, I was fortunate enough to involve their services in this shoot and show case a brand new addition to their portfolio. They’ve now added a large rustic wooden cartwheel hung with 10 squirrel filament bulbs in various shapes, with stylish bulb cages and adorned with greenery. It certainly made the statement that I wanted over the table and fit the theme and surroundings perfectly. I love the Edison style lights which added another modern/traditional element to the décor.
Chairs, glasses & gramophone – To complete the tablescape in the Barley Barn, I called upon the services of Linda’s Vintage Hire who kindly provided their brilliant vintage mismatched chairs. They also lent their brandy glasses, decanter and gramophone to help style the garden scenes. I think the models were a bit disappointed that the glasses were only filled with apple juice though!
Favours – Another item I was keen to use from the outset were the wooden robins crafted by those clever folks at MuffatPrague. I first spotted these at an Oxfordshire Makers’ Market at Relics in Witney and previously featured them in a wedding favour blog knowing that these cute fellows would make the perfect accompaniment for this Secret Garden shoot – in fact it wouldn’t have been complete without these guys!
Models – And lastly, but by no means least, the shoot was brought beautifully to life by the stunning models. I advertised for ‘the boy and girl next door’ type models(think Lady Mary Crawley in Downtown Abbey and Harry Styles with his new short hair in the Dunkirk movie) and was not disappointed with the lovely Úna and Daryl. They are a real life engaged couple and this was great practice for their upcoming wedding in Ireland shortly. Hope you’ve managed to trick your family with these ‘wedding’ photos. I can’t wait to see pictures from their real wedding in due course. Thanks guys for being such great sports!
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.
It 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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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).
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.
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.
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).
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).
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.
I was really pleased to work with Farrow Photography on another styled shoot this autumn. We first joined forces in 2014 to bring to life some inspirational themes to show how you can enhance your milestone events. Following the success of our previous themed photo shoots, we collaborated once again to produce an amazing bridal styled shoot based around another well known story, The Wind in the Willows. It was also an honour to be able to showcase some amazing products from some fantastic local suppliers.
Theme I choose the Wind in the Willows theme as it is another classic story with it’s roots firmly based in and around Oxfordshire. The book by Kenneth Grahame was written 108 years ago (published on 15th June 1908) and he took inspiration from the River Thames from his child hood and also from when he lived in Oxford when he was at school. In later life, he lived in Blewbury with his own family and The Wind in the Willows was based on stories that he used to tell to his son Alistair. It is even claimed that Mapeldurham was the vision for Toad Hall.
This book evokes such beautiful natural scenes of being beside the riverbank – a relaxing setting, which allows characters rustic picnics and peaceful treks down the river, all to contrast with hectic, crowded city life. Many cite that the book has a common theme of struggling with a sense of place. Whether it’s being comfortable with where you are or facing things that need to be changed.
For me, it typifies a sense of adventure and the great open road. So initially, I really wanted to focus on getting as many different modes of transport involved in this bridal shoot, including a rowing boat, a vintage car (poop poop!), a colourful old fashioned bow top caravan and even a barge, if possible.
There’s also a running theme of hospitality in the book, so I wanted to get across the feel of a decadent banquet in the Grand Hall as well as a sumptuous picnic.
I wanted to hint at the theme with slight nods to the book in place names, the table plan and on the cake. I certainly didn’t want to focus on the weasels at Toad Hall as their laughs and noises used to scare me when I listened to the cassette story as a child!
The final thing that I really wanted to capture was stunning, rich autumnal colours.
Styled shoot A styled shoot takes almost as much time and effort to produce as a wedding day and entails bringing together the theme from many different suppliers.
The beauty of styled shoots (versus a real life wedding) is that it is a great opportunity to be a little more extravagant and really show off what you’ve always wanted to do. You can indulge your fantasies with new trends or products that couples may not have seen yet or something really unusual.
This styled shoot is a collaboration of like minded people that can create great things together but perhaps don’t have the budgets to produce this kind of work if they all worked independently.
Brief I am very lucky to live in a beautiful part of the UK and am surrounded by some seriously talented wedding venues, professionals and suppliers. I was honoured that so many wanted to be involved in this shoot and they certainly didn’t disappoint with the products that they provided.
I gave them all the same brief that I was trying to achieve:
an outdoors adventure with vintage transport along the beautiful riverside, followed by celebrations in a grand hall dressed in marsala and tweed with chalk board signs
I also provided them with my collated vision and ideas on my Pinterest board.
The themes I wanted to encapsulate included:
Transportation
Autumn
Bo-ho / 1970s
Chalk board
Marbling
Greenery
I wanted to focus on the following autumnal colours:
Marsala (colour of the year in 2015 and still going strong)
Pale pink/coral (Rose Quartaz is one of the colours of the year in 2016 and I wanted to have a dress that wasn’t a traditional white dress)
Gold (using the current metallic trend along with copper and a welcome alternative to silver)
Tweed (casual men’s wear perfect for the country setting)
Forest Green (focusing on lots of greenery and foliage)
Designs The creative suppliers worked wonders in transforming my overflowing pot of ideas and pairing it down in to realistic and achievable products for us to showcase.
Stationery designs – One of the first ideas for this shoot came from an image that I saw of a floral archway bursting with rich dark coloured flowers. Having spoken to Paper Tree Design about my vision, they were excited about making this floral arch from paper and card including lots of dark green foliage and some metallic and pearlised paper. The stationery had to synchronise up with lots of other elements such as the font and date of the wedding used on the invitation and cake, the flower illustrations used are ladies smock, wild rose and pink, and white campion, the menu used is a sample from the venue, plus the envelope liner was tweed inside a marsala coloured envelope.Then the theme came alive with the inclusion of the author and character names on the place cards (Mr Grahame, Mrs Grahame, Mr Toad, Mr Badger, Mr Mole, Mr Rat), and the seating plan had table names displayed on a chalk board which were named after the first 9 chapters of the book (1. The River Bank, 2. The Open Road, 3. The Wild Wood, 4. Mr Badger, 5. Dulce Domum, 6. Mr Toad, 7. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 8. Toad’s Adventures, 9. Wayfarers All).
Cake design – The Pretty Cake Company helped to combine a few ‘on trend’ themes for this photo shoot, whilst combining the floral themes too. Marble wedding cakes are a revived trend that are becoming very popular and combined with the ongoing popularity of metallic effects, this shoot was perfect to experiment with both. The top and bottom tier were covered using a hand mixed grey marbled sugarpaste. The top tier had a subtle splattering of edible gold lustre paint and the bottom tier had the gold drip effect which looked like it poured from the second gold lustred tier. The chalkboard effect on the third tier was sympathetic to the stationery used and with a nod to Kenneth Grahame whose book ‘The Wind in The Willows’ inspired this shoot. The cake was finished with a selection of arrangements of sugar flowers such as burgundy dahlias, coral ranunculus, sweet avalanche roses, snowberries and green viburnum.
Flowers – Classic Flowers really went to town with my brief of having loose and flowing displays along with the colour themes running throughout the shoot. The green amaranthus especially in the bouquet worked in beautiful harmony with the weeping willow at the venue.Here are the flowers that were used in the shoot:
Brides bouquet – Mustard roses, Astrantia, Green and Coral Hypericum, Bombastic spray roses, Green Amaranthus, Burgundy Dahlia, Skimmia, flowering eucalyptus, ivy and fatsia leaves.
Buttonhole – Mustard rose, Bombastic spray roses, Burgundy Dahlia, Green and coral hypericum, flowering eucalyptus and skimmia leaves.
Table arrangement – flowers as brides bouquet PLUS green orchids and soft ruscus.
Swag on fireplace – Flowering eucalyptus, ivy, skimmia and soft ruscus.
Temple – Peach roses
Love Seat – ivy, flowering eucalyptus and skimmia
Despite getting stuck in Calais (due to the migrant camp closing), the flowers thankfully made their way from the Dutch supplier in time for the shoot!
Soap favours – the beautiful Marsala Peacock soap favours were an equistite addition to the beautifully laid tablescape in the banquet scene. Stonesfield Soap Company were amazing at making these bespoke soaps to match the colour theme of the shoot and they added a great aroma to the room whilst we were shooting! They are all made by hand and these images give an idea of the amount of processes that go in to making these favours. Here are the ingredients of the soaps that were used on this shoot:
Other inclusions: goat milk yogurt, tapioca starch, kaolin clay
Suppliers I couldn’t have been happier (and luckily) with the products that all the suppliers produced and provided.
Venue – I picked the Old Swan and Minster Mill based on it’s riverside location and it’s glorious weeping willow tree. How fortuitous that we also discovered that they had an old disused boat house and moored rowing boat that just so happened to be painted in red to match our theme perfectly! Also the chairs in the dining room were also a perfect colour match. It seemed like fate to bring the venue and colour palettes together in one amazing venue.
Hair – I was incredibily pleased that Lucy Beesley Bridal were available to do the bride’s hair and make up for this shoot. She actually did my hair at my own wedding 5 years – surely you can’t get a better recommendation! She brilliantly included the colour theme in the marsala lipstick and green/black eye liner and ensured the braided hair followed the loose and flowing themes.
Dress – Originally, I really wanted to use a non-white dress for this shoot – like a pale pink or coral colour. Plus I wanted to get away from the strapless dresses we see all too often. So I briefed Mae Bridal that I wanted to use something that covered the shoulders (which I think our cold bride was appreciative on the day!) and that had embroidery on it. The Watters Amelia dress hit the brief bang on with a nude coloured under skirt, amazing embroidered back and sleeves, plus a nice bo-ho vibe to fit in with the laid back theme.
Menswear – Keates of Witney provided a brilliant tweed jacket and waistcoat with pops of red to bring together the bow tie, cords and red of the checked shirt. Our groom looked like a proper country gent!
Cutlery – I wanted to get away from all the silver cutlery adorning tables and push towards the mixed metallic trends that are appearing. I was also really keen to use local suppliers for this shoot and searched extensively for gold cutlery. I was delighted to find the Vintage Gold China whilst networking on a wedding Twitter hour one night. They seem to be the only supplier locally to have an extensive selection of modern and traditional styled gold cutlery as well as crockery to hire. Plus they were a font of knowledge and extremely happy to help with my quest for finding marsala coloured candles to go in their lovely selection of gold coloured candlesticks. Even after a tiring night washing up the products from the night before, they turned up with such enthusiasm and encouragement that it was a delight to have them involved in the shoot.
Tea light holders – Another trend I wanted to include an element of geometric terrariums or candle holders. Just by chance, I was talking to Larkrise Flowers at the Cogges Wedding Open Day about my search and they were able to very kindly source some brilliant geometric copper candle holders from Talking Tables on my behalf.
Car – The shoot’s main inspiration was always about different modes of transport, so it wouldn’t have been complete without the stunning Humber from British Classic Car Hire. And a stroke of luck that the interior of ‘Hester’ was a luxurious marsala coloured leather – it was meant to be! ‘Hester’ is stunning in Black and White, with her beautiful, almost Art Deco lines, lots of chrome detailing and huge headlights, Hester turns heads wherever she goes. A comfortable ride, sliding sun-roof and lovely drop down tables in the rear, she’s a real beauty.
Models – And lastly the shoot was brought beautifully to life by the stunning models. I advertised for waves and beards and was so pleased that Jess and Henry were not only able to play our bride and groom but fitted the bill perfectly (his beard was so well coiffured!) They are a real life couple and this really showed in the way that they interacted and came across on camera. Not yet married, but very much in love, they were just right as the happy couple (even if it was a fake wedding!) I, for one, can’t wait to hear if playing the parts has sown any seeds and I look forward to hearing any engagement news in due course!
I’m still loving the trend for all white minimalist weddings at the moment.
Here are my top ten tips for achieving maximum impact the minimal way:
Clean – ensure everything is pristine and sleek for a sophisticated finish
Cover up – make sure that any existing or fussy elements of a venue space or furniture are hidden to ensure a consistent theme with nothing to distract the eye
Clutter free – keep decor, florals and styling to a few key pieces and remember that less is more
Contemporary – keep things modern and don’t mix and match styles
Clever lighting – hide, enhance or highlight features with the use of spots, gobos or uplighting
Create reflection – use metallic decor, silverware or mirrors to bounce natural light around the space
Colour – stick to one colour for maximum impact with white making an amazing statement
Clear – use Perspex tables and chairs with no fussy table cloths or chair covers
Cacti –consider foliage instead of flowers in displays and use alternatives to traditional flowers such as succulents in bouquets, on tables and given away as favours
Clothing – ask guests to wear a certain colour to create a theme and the use of minimal colours throughout
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!
It 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. 
