Geometric Wedding Styling by Mad Philomena

Geometric Wedding Styling by Mad Philomena

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Afternoon Lovely Peeps,

It's snowing! I have just got stupidly excited when I saw the snowflakes falling first thing this morning as this is the first time India has seen snow! Honestly, it's like reliving your youth when you have a baby. She is of course oblivious to what's going on (she's only 8 months) and is more interested in pulling herself up on absolutely everything rather than marveling at the snow with Mummy! Still - seeing snow for the first time must be pretty cool right? Bring on next year when she can actually appreciate it.

Back in November, Kelly visited the beautiful Kedleston Hall where Peaktipis, one of our lovely suppliers, was holding an open day to showcase their magnificent giant tipi tents and to promote the crème de la crème of the East Midlands wedding industry. It was here that Kelly witnessed first hand the AMAZING talents of award winning wedding stylist Liz of Mad Philomena.

Liz had created a very modern geometric inspired wedding theme for the event which drew inspiration from the triangular profile of the tipis as well as the emerging trend of angular intersecting shapes and bold and confident colours. Creating a theme that is the complete opposite to the 'outdoor' nature of the tipis was something Liz was very brave to do but my goodness did she make it work! In fact, she managed to incorporate the tipis more wild side by infusing wild thistles and foilage into the theme which worked beautifully. The result was something quite striking and completely different to what we have seen before.

We can hand on heart say that we were completely blown away by Mad Philomena. Liz's passion and drive to bring something different to the wedding industry was addictive and her quirky approach to wedding styling left us feeling inspired and excited. There was no question in our mind that we HAD to share this scheme with you all. Lucky for us, Liz along with Peaktipis organised a styled shoot the morning of the open day and we have it to share with you lovely people today.

Liz talks us through the inspiration and planning for her Geometric Designs....

When I first started Mad Philomena at the beginning of 2014 I received a call from Peaktipis asking me if I would like to style their tipis for an open weekend. Having got married in a tipi the year before I jumped at the chance, and since then I have been working with Peaktipis at every opportunity. The second of their open weekends at Kedelston Hall in Derbyshire presented an opportunity to be brave. For the first weekend back in March I had styled a rustic daisy theme and I wanted to move forward with a more trend led scheme that challenged traditional wedding styling and delivered a new contemporary style. The structure and form of the tipis themselves was an inspiration, and coupled with an emerging trend for all things geometric a scheme was born which relied on the visual lines of triangles, hexagons and intersecting shapes! One of the many unique attributes of a tipi is the aerial space, and I knew for the styling to be successful this space needed wow factor! Geometric shapes presented opportunities to suspend and decorate! As a very proactive and forward thinking business I knew Peaktipis would be supportive of a look that pushed the boundaries of everyday wedding styling. They were equally excited by the concept and worked alongside all suppliers involved to make sure the event was a success. I started with an initial mood board, and then developed this into a detailed approach with sketches of key areas and styling treatments. I like to work this way so that everyone involved can see the end vision and can take that on board to shape their part of the overall look.

The colour palette evolved to include blues (which work really well against the natural tone of the tipi canvas), and integrated trend led coral, with a twist of neon yellow as a quirky accent. Metallic tones also played a part in adding sophistication. They acted as an undertone to the scheme and sat harmoniously in the warm light of the tents. It sounds mad but I always have music in my head when I develop a styling direction. For me the visual look always has an associated song or tune and from the start with this project it was Alt J - Tessellate. I incorporated this thought using lyrics in the artwork along with creating a whole suite of stationery combining metallic finishes, the established colour palette and geometric elements. Hexagonal cut place names carried the theme throughout each table setting.

Together with my husband Paul, we started to create structures for the tipis - 12 hanging angular wooden frames - sprayed up in the colour palette, 12 hollow hexagons and 48 miniature triangular structures to sit on the tables. Nadia Di Tullio, the amazingly talented florist who worked on this open weekend, took the styling plan and created spiky beautiful florals, based around succulents and Protea King flowers which have huge impact. These sat inside angular glass vases which I had sprayed a combination of copper and gold. Nadia took the suspended structures and interwove moss, ferns and orchids to bring together the handmade and the organic. This also tapped into a strong emerging trend in wedding flowers, which sees a move towards the more natural rugged wild ferns and natural moss bringing a wilderness element. This looseness was the perfect counterbalance to the structure of the geometrics. We also made a huge suspended hexagonal wreath, covered in bracken and branches which Nadia added flowers too as well. Mini homemade geometric shapes constructed from card dropped down from the wreath, suspended on barely-there wires.

The main tables were finished off with metallic tea lights and single flower heads in medicine style glass bottles which I had colour dipped to match the scheme. Handmade table numbers were encased in geometric structures and rose up on poles into the space above the tables. Favours were colour-coordinated sherbets in mini jam jars - hexagonal of course! The cake table always represents an opportunity to add statement and a great focal point for a Wedding. Working with Ivory Owl Cakes we created a fun geometric style table with hexagonal signs and a little bit of sparkle. Vicky from Ivory Owl took inspiration from the original artwork and literally recreated elements of it in icing. This resulted in the most striking of cakes, and a whole host of delicious and colourful biscuits, cake pops and sweets!

I like to treat the top table differently as I believe it should stand out as the most important table in the room. Ramping up the metallic element here I used sequin runners from Pudding Bridge. These added a sumptuous base upon which assorted brass candlesticks sat amongst flowers, blue tinted glasses and bespoke artwork for the bride and groom. Perhaps one of the biggest showpieces was the amazing web of intersecting colour created above the dance floor. This visual statement was created by the talented Nicky & Jan at Fabric theatre who took the geometric inspiration and interpreted as only they can in a beautiful array of ribbons. This created a magical canopy overhead and our gold LOVE letters sat below ready for the arrival of the first dance.

The team at Peaktipis were totally involved in the whole scheme, and trusting of the direction and visual look. The shoot that took place in the tipis was an opportunity to put a bride into the picture and really brought the whole vision to life. Our beautiful boho bride - Hannah Lois perfectly suited this trend led look and still conveyed the boho festival spirit of the tipis. Her relaxed yet elegant dress was from Lori G Bridal Studio. Photography perfectly captured the day, the scheme, the details and the essence, thanks to Oehlers Photography.

Photographer: Oehlers Photography
Wedding Planning, Kedleston Tours & Super Hostesses' with the most-ess: Honeysuckle & Castle
Styling, Props & Stationery: Mad Philomena
Flowers: Nadia Di Tullio
Cakes & Sweets: The Ivory Owl Cake Company
Tasty Treats: Black Peppermint Food Company
Deckchairs & Outdoor lounging: Vintage Deckchair Hire
Ribbon Display: Fabric Theatre Company
Sequin Table Runners: Pudding Bridge
Paper Lanterns: The Hanging Lantern Company
Hair & Makeup: Claire Lowe
Wedding Dress: Lori G Bridal Studio

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