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I’ll let you into a little secret.  I did what seemed unthinkable given how busy this wedding blogger has become, and actually took a holiday last week!  I was in Mayerhofen, Austria to celebrate/ commiserate (whisper it) my thirtieth birthday last Wednesday.  When did I get so old?  However, I’m loving the big three oh so far though, as I had the best time catching up with friends, hitting the slopes and yes – partying hard – but I’m back refreshed and even more raring to go than ever, and man, do I have some fab stuff to share this week.

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Since I’ve been enjoying a winter wonderland and have returned to a blanket of the white stuff here too, I thought we’d kick off the week in style, with a conceptual bridal shoot that’s been touched by Jack Frost himself, sent to me by friend of the wedding blog, Laura from Perfect Choice Planning.  Laura worked with a collective of brilliant North West wedding industry suppliers to bring this beautiful shoot together, with images by Joanne Spencer Photography and Neil Redfern Photography – two very talented photographers showing off two very different styles.   

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Laura of Perfect Choice Planning says: I am so pleased with the results from the “Ice Maiden” photo shoot. It all stemmed from ideas in my head so it was amazing to watch my visualisation become a realisation right in front of my eyes!

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It was a big, involved shoot, which is exactly what I wanted it to be and it came together beautifully. As winter is my favourite season (you can read my dreamy ramblings about the seasons on my blog) I wanted to create a shoot that captured the icy, sharp and freshness of winter without being “just another winter shoot” – it had to have the edge, that something different and innovative.

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The aim of the shoot was to give it a “haute couture” feel in the styling and posing whilst not straying from the bridal inspiration. I spent hours on the phone to our hair and make-up artist, constantly bouncing ideas around about how inspirational and different we could go. The brief I gave each of the models was that I wanted them to be fierce, icy, cool and powerful – I think it was a complete success!

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Let me introduce the wonderful North West suppliers who made this shoot possible:

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The Monastery Manchester was the perfect venue, its gothic architecture and grand size of it was a great compliment to the icy theme. Tom, one of the coordinators at the venue, was so helpful and always great to talk to whilst I was planning the shoot – we had the whole venue to use for the day, which meant we could change locations, styles and be as flexible as necessary, resulting in these outstanding images. When you walk into the main hall it takes your breath away.

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The two photographers on the day were Joanne Spencer Photography and Neil Redfern Photography. Their styles are a beautiful contrast to each other; Neil has a talent for lights, vivid colours and sharp clean images whereas Jo creates the most magical, ethereal shots. They were both such a pleasure to work with and brought exactly what I had in my head to print. If you haven’t already, you should definitely check out both of their websites and blogs as I couldn’t recommend them enough!

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The dresses, shoes and veils were all supplied by the lovely Nicole of Pearl Bridal Boutique. We spent three Sunday mornings choosing the best and most perfect-for-the-theme dresses from her fabulous collections and fitting the models. Nicole was also a great help both on the day, fitting the models into their dresses and helping me decide the final ones to take to the shoot.

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Groom Hire Manchester provided three beautiful complete suits for the shoot, including a silver tails with blue paisley waistcoat and cravat, a navy blue lounge suit with ivory waistcoat and cravat, and a black lounge suit with ice white waistcoat and cravat. They house a vast range of colours and styles to suit all, available to hire or buy, including shoes, cravat pins and cufflinks.

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Wrapor kindly supplied the stunning range of shrugs and wraps that looked worked perfectly with the dress. After working with Kay, the lady behind it all, on my first photo shoot, I knew that her products would fit in perfectly and really give the feel of the icy weather. My personal favourite was the cream short fur shrug, very reminiscent of the 50’s, and they are all handmade to fit. Her shrugs are perfect for all year round, not just in the winter season so you should definitely look at her website for that special something to finish your outfit off, no matter what the occasion.

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The incredible hair and make-up creativity was done by the mega talented Clare from Harry Jon MUA. With both models, we started with out of the box ideas. One had a birdcage hairstyle in place of a birdcage veil with feather eyebrows and the other was styled in a Marie Antoinette-esque way. Our male model was even transformed into Jack Frost for the day – and he was ice-cool! The second styling was more traditional but still with some edginess. Clare is such a lovely and creative person with amazing styling talent, and worked really hard on the day to create the perfect look.

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Laura from Laurel Weddings, more famously known for her creative floristry skills, provided the perfectly suited hair accessories as well as the icy choker on the first model. Not many people know that she does accessories as well so it was great to give her the opportunity to showcase this side of her business.

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Laura Coleman Flowers created the most amazing bouquets for the shoot, which lasted for two weeks afterwards! She also provided three buttonholes for the suits and a gorgeous corsage that worked perfectly with a number of dresses.

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And of course, I can’t forget to mention the three fabulous models, Mark, Leanne and Nikki, who pouted, glared and posed to perfection throughout the day. They all followed direction beautifully and worked really hard; poor Nikki was a star when it came to wearing her heavy and uncomfortable large white headpiece for hours – she couldn’t wait for us to get it off her!  Mark held his own and loved wearing the great suits we had – he was an absolute star before during and after the shoot. Leanne brought her inner-most diva out to play and also did an excellent job on the day. I appreciate all the effort they all put in and will definitely be asking them to model again.

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The photographers created over 400 images in total, telling a story through the day. Girl meets boy, boy meets other girl, girls find out, cue cat fight! What I wanted to get out of the day was a full, fun-filled session that created some intense images that everyone could be proud to be a part of. I wasn’t expecting that a bride-to-be would see the images of the first outrageous styling and want that for her winter day, but to look at them, enjoy them and gain inspiration for decoration and styling from them, which is what inspiration shoots are all about.

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2012 Joanne Spencer Photography and Neil Redfern Photography as tagged

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