Earlier this year, when I styled a shoot for photography workshop The Editorial Wedding I could never have imagined the level of skill and talent I would discover that day!  A few weeks ago I shared the beautiful images capture by our students that day, and was extremely excited just a few hours later to receive a gorgeous submission from one of those students, Georgi Mabee.  If I could design the most perfectly pretty, feminine and contemporary scheme it wouldn’t be far from the look achieved by this brilliant team.  Dresses fit for a modern Princess {Suzanne Neville, Lyn Ashworth and Naomi Neoh, swoon}, soft blousy blooms, daintily decorated cakes and an abundance of the prettiest details.  The contemporary elegance of Stubton Hall, with beautiful light-filled windows and clean lines provide a stunning backdrop for the shoot.

Enjoy my loves!

The design brief for the day was ‘modern day Miss Dior’, soft and delicate in shades of pastel pinks and ivory with a hint of peach combined with contrasting, yet subtle notes of black.  We wanted to create a look inspired by indulgent love and romance and to move away from the on-going vintage theme, extravagant yet classic, something with high impact with lots of drama.  Shades of pastel pink, ivory were trimmed with black to created a modern yet romantic look.

We selected full skirted dresses from The Stamford Bridal Rooms as they made a huge comeback on the bridal catwalks this season, they also completely encapsulated the romantic and classic elements what we were trying to achieve.  The soft blush pinks and ivories worked really well together and showed how these colours can be used in a more modern context, we tried to move away from the ‘vintage’ trend by putting a fresher take on things.  We used a selection of dresses from Suzanne Neville, Lyn Ashworth and Naomi Neoh.  With the sheer scale and proportions of the dresses and venue, Alison Jenner just wanted to aim for high impact. So for the brides hair the thinking was very large and over the top, with large smokey eyes, high blush cheeks and peach tones.

Inspiration for the wedding cake came from the fabulous vintage evening dresses with intricate beading that would have been seen from French couture houses like Chanel and Lanvin. The cake itself, by Emily Harmston Cakes, was a five layer cake made with a just the faintest whisper of pink. The detailing used handmade pearlized sugar bugle beads and a single ivory rose. To complete the dessert table I made some profiteroles filled with cream patisserie with a hint of rose blossom – delicate, feminine and delicious.

Using inspiration from the elegant and beautiful Miss Dior advertisements, Elle is for Love created a soft pink stationery design with floating, white characters to replicate the romantic feel for this shoot. Subtle hints to Dior were added to this design, like the luxurious, velvet black ribbon to tie the invitation suite together. I also created drinks tickets, menus and place settings to match, and pretty labels for the sumptuous dessert table.  We also used some really big jumbo balloons tied with ribbon to add a splash of colour and extra impact.

The dresses were so pretty, for florist Rebecca from Pollen Designs the aim was to compliment them in a way that just added something rather than being too over powering.  We were able to use the divine summer flowering peonies which are so soft and blousey they really are quite perfect for the look we tried to achieve. We also used a whole array of roses included ‘majolica’ spray roses and ’sweet avalanche’ which worked beautifully with the peony and the hydrangea. To keep in tone with the feel of Stubton Hall we used lots of clear glass and simple handtied designs which allowed us to include the black in the form of satin ribbons. A large sphere of flowers was created to add some soft yet frilly drama to the table centre and we also included lots of individual flowers in small clear glassware which were dotted or clustered to create further heights and texture.

 

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Suppliers Photography: Georgi Mabee // Dresses: The Stamford Bridal Rooms // Florist: Pollen Designs // Cake & Dessert Table:  Emily Harmston Cakes // Stationery: Elle is for Love // Hair & Makeup: Alison Jenner // Venue: Stubton Hall