Find yourself in the woodlands of stunning Northumberland with today’s beautiful styled rustic wedding shoot, taking things back to basics and all the while keeping it environmentally conscious.
Today’s team of amazingly skilled wedding industry suppliers have created a laid back, slow woodland wedding concept, championing taking things at your own pace. One of the perks of this year is that there are no rules. Covid has seen to that. Weddings can absolutely be whatever and wherever you want them to be, but that doesn’t mean you have to lose out on any of the style or drama you’d expect from your biggest of big days.
We’re seeing a lot of extra woodland textures and materials; from the willow moongate to the potted ferns, the foraged decorations indiginous to the area and the pheasant feathers collected from the forest floor. The styling and the venue are together proving once again that it’s certainly not bleak up North!
We speak to planner (and UNVEILED Network Member) Jane of Birdcages & Dragonflies and get all the inspo and details you need to recreate this look yourself.
With images by Unfurl Photography
Woodland Micro Wedding | STYLED SHOOT from Craig Crouchman on Vimeo
CONCEPT
Jane and the team say: The shoot took place during the initial lifting of the nationwide lockdown the country found itself in. The aim was to show couples how, using only a few suppliers, they could have their wedding in an outdoor space with the same drama and intimacy and style of any venue. The theme was led very much by the woodland area and the concept of causing a minimal impact on the environment, but using its beauty and colour and texture to dress and inspire.
LOCATION
There’s a small copse at Barn on the Bay, a secret woodland area between their farm and my parent’s house. We had played there when we were younger and it’s a real secret location, seemingly far away from everything else going on in the world and it gave a great sense of drama, fitting into the eco theme perfectly.
STYLING
We tried very much to work with the materials and textures found naturally in the surrounding area. I made a willow moongate, which Sharon from Wild With Love decorated with a mixture of flowers and greenery, adding in some dyed pieces. We used a lot of potted ferns and foraged in the wooded area, using elderflower, fir cones and berries to decorate the tables and the aisle.
The wooded area is used for breeding pheasants and the feathers we found looked great in the vintage brass vases on the tables to add height amongst the coloured candles. Ellie Davison Archer produced some amazing screen printed organic cotton napkins, again using pheasant feathers as her inspiration. These added a finishing touch to the tables along with the individual wooden grazing boards and cut glass.
ATTIRE
Along with the theme of reducing the impact on the environment of the shoot, we used a vintage dress from Love Jean Bridal. Its high neck and flared arms showed off the jewellery provided by Izzy Mc D perfectly. We also used a denim jacket and an alpaca knitted shawl to bring the theme together. Smart As Suit provided the perfect tweet brown suit, which worked great in the wooded area and allowed the necktie provided by Izzy to really stand out. The aim was to have the pretty standard tone of colours throughout the shoot with the brightness of the blue Topaz jewellery and dyed flowers in Sharon’s pieces to stand out.
BEAUTY
As this shoot took place during the lockdown and before hair and makeup artists were able to work, Emily, our model did her own hair and makeup. Her hair was a silver grey tone and she wore it down to show off the flower and cotton crown which Sharon made. We kept the makeup quite natural with deeper tones focused around Emily’s eyes. We wanted a natural, slightly wild feel to the makeup, allowing the dress and accessories to work together well.
RESULTS
The shoot was great on the day. It was slightly different to normal with only six people present! The location is a little bit off the beaten track so it was an early morning set up with a quad bike and trailer to get us to the location. We staggered arrival times, ensuring that props and flowers were set up before the photographer and videographer arrived. The models were then collected in the quad bike and suppliers who weren’t needed during the shooting left.
The aim was to show that even in a location not designed to hold a wedding that a ceremony table and relaxing area could be set up with little impact on the environment. You can have a micro wedding which looks amazing and is very unique to the couple. We definitely achieved this.
I loved every aspect of the setup, from the colours and textures Sharon used in the flowers to the idea of having the grazing table inside the writing desk, enabling us to protect it from the elements.
