Jan 29, 20234 min read

Decadent Wedding, Styled Shoot

Wedding styling: Gustav Klimt inspired

Wed Magazine said of it "Opulent tones, a flurry of florals, to-die-for dresses and a country Manor House oozing elegance - welcome to an autumn wedding with style..." and I love it - what a good summary for this shoot!

Originally for an 8 page feature in Bride Magazine that went to print in 2020, this styled shoot was conceptualised, planned and of course shot, by yours truly to showcase some of the best wedding suppliers in the south west. We had a selection of amazing dresses (the hours I spent picking those out is still one of my favourite career highlights to date haha), a beautiful venue, a stunning model, super talented hair and makeup, jewellery, flowers, cake, a grazing table, a horse box bar, and furnishings/decorations, all set up and styled for a wedding. All their links are at the bottom of this post if you're interested in recreating anything you see here.

My inspiration was loosely centred around my fave artist, Gustav Klimt, hence the gilded cake and decadent pops of colour everywhere... lots of gold and peacock feathers and teals and rich colour palettes.. otherwise known on the day as an 'Aladdin's Cave' vibe for those who didn't know who Klimt is.

If you scroll down and keep going (there's a lot, but its worth it!) I'll put each section of the shoot into individual galleries for you to see more clearly each 'part' of the day - the various scenes and dresses changing each time - it was a BIG shoot!

This image was given the front cover for Devon & Cornwall's Bride Magazine 2020

The whole day I worked entirely with natural light - which is my preferred way to work usually. No fancy rigs and no teams of assistants following me around with equipment - just me and my camera. Given I was then shooting on Canon, the shots in Pengenna's new wedding barn were a bit of a challenge, but the festoon lights, candles and natural light from the window were just enough, and the lack of artificial light means my photos accurately represent what that barn is like - cosy, rustic and dark! I do wish I'd shot it now though - now that I work on Sony dark spaces are no challenge at all, and that's the reason I never need flash - unless I'm wanting to be creative with some shutter drag of course.

Sadly, very shortly after this shoot I suffered a miscarriage, and that combined with the emergence of Covid in early 2020 meant that this feature never really got the attention it deserved - I edited it whilst not exactly in a good place personally, and although it went to print, all the wedding fairs were cancelled and very few people ever actually saw it.. we were all very distracted that year that's for sure!

The GREAT thing is that 3 years on life is full of light again (hoorah!) and I've just sat here in 2023 and re-edited the original photos, as my skill set, focus, style (and equipment) has changed quite significantly since then, and now I love them all over again!!

Stunning Makeup by Harriet Lucille (link below)

It's also reminded me how much I absolutely LOVE fashion photography and working with models - so if anyone reading this is keen to collaborate let me know as I'm itching to do more and have a lot of new ideas brimming to the surface!

I really owe so much to the incredible team I pulled together that day, not just for the incredible shoot we pulled off in the middle of wedding season but for all humouring my creative ideas and trusting me to take full control of the entire project. The full credits are at the end of this post and you really should check them all out as I only ever work with the best and if you ask me, they really showcased their magic on this one!

THE RECEPTION STYLING, CAKE & FOOD

The cake was INSANE. Sarah (aka the Cornish Cakery) really is the most talented cake maker - and decorator - ever - and clearly 100% understood the assignment. The flowers in the middle of that cage are all sugar which blew us all away, she's an absolute wizard! And it tasted as good as it looked - I asked that she make a real cake for this and not a polystyrene one for show - so by the end of the day we were all feasting on baileys chocolate cake - what a legend!

The grazing table was equally divine, from the Cornish Grazing Co. and offset the cake table amazingly. This was before I became vegan too I might add - and the meat and cheeses were a very welcome treat that day for us all that's for sure! Since then I've seen them growing in popularity and can safely say grazing tables ALWAYS go down well at weddings.

The reception decoration, cuterly, crockery, arches and centre pieces were put together by Unique Designs by Tina - who have a whole treasure trove in Exeter to explore if you're looking to style your big day in a way that makes a real statement.

THE BAR