I want to share with you today some of the most beautiful photos I have seen! In the summer I was lucky enough to be part of a styled shoot which took place at Coombe Lodge, in Blagdon near Bristol, with some of the South West’s finest wedding suppliers. This was my first experience of a styled shoot and was excited to get involved when I saw the mood board and the aims of the day.
Ashley (Taylor Barnes Photography) and Jessie (Jessie Thomson Wedding and Events) did the hard work in setting the scene and providing me with a relaxed brief when it came to the flowers of ivory with a hint of plum, to be natural and relaxed and above all the prettiest of pretty!
There were two models during the day wearing a selection of dresses from The Mews, Clifton Village, so I decided on creating a trailing relaxed, natural looking bouquet which contained olive, honeysuckle, jasmine, dahlias, astrantia and the most amazing blousy peonies. This is the perfect look for a laid back summer bride, and there has been an increased trend in this style of beautiful bouquet. Make up for the girls was expertly provided by the lovely Nina Norman.
I then created a gorgeous hand tied bouquet which had the same relaxed feel to the bouquet, just in a rounded more traditional hand tied shape which would work better with certain dresses. This bouquet was filled with ivory, blousy peonies, avalanche roses, astrantia, ascepias, stachys, olive foliage and a various amount of wild grasses. I definietely paid the price for picking these grasses as my hay fever was in full swing at this stage of the summer and me and grass pollen do not get on! I think it is worth it though, just look at these beautiful pictures!
On to these mighty fine dahlias ‘café au lait’ is the variety and they are as big as a dinner plate! Such a soft, blush colour they work wonderfully in the soft, pastel wedding themes and are such a striking flower! Here the model is just holding one, a simple effect and shows off the beauty of the individual flower. I am always amazed by nature, but even more so looking at the exquisite detail of this flower.
Hair flowers have always been popular with brides but the rise of the trend for brides wanting ‘floral crown’ has meant more impact, statement type floral headdresses. Here I used blousy peonies amongst eucalyptus, olive foliage and the natural grasses and the effect is quite magical. It looks fab against the model’s beautiful, long blonde hair. It didn’t quite look the same on my short brown locks, so hair type is definitely something to consider if you are looking to wear a statement flower crown.
When it came to designing the guy’s buttonhole I just used a small selection of foliage including stachys, eucalyptus, grasses and seed heads. This is ever so simple, but the various shades of green to pale grey give the buttonhole interest and the different textures make this stand out! Tied with some cotton lace to finish off.
The table setting required a low arrangement and I used all of the above flowers arranged in a loose style in a low glass pedestal bowl. The honeysuckle, grass and olive foliage trailed out along the table while the main stars of the show the dahlias and peonies sat nestles in amongst the lush foliage. A perfect summer table arrangement!
Thanks for asking me to help out, I had a great day and it was lovely to work with some very talented wedding folk… The photos also got featured on Style Me Pretty which is a big time US wedding blog. This was so exciting and made all the hard work everyone put in pay off! If you want to see the shoot in full here is the link https://www.stylemepretty.com/2013/11/25/fig-and-florals-shoot-from-belle-and-beau-photography/ https://www.stylemepretty.com/destination-weddings/2013/11/15/uk-inspiration-shoot-from-taylor-barnes-jessie-thomson-wedding-planning/ Thanks to the three photographers for letting me use their pics! Ashley, https://ashleetaylor.com/ Belle and Beau, https://belleandbeaublog.com/ and Alex Miller Weddings, www. alexmillerweddings.co.uk
