It’s blue skies and green fields for days in our featured countryside wedding styled shoot at Stonecroft Farm at Druridge Bay, featuring a simple white and green palette and rustic chic stylings to fall in love with.
Some of the very best days in life start with the sight of a huge tent pitched in a green field, but today it’s the decor inside the tent we’re fan-girling over. The simplicity of white flowers gathered and arranged in glass jars, placed on bare but beautiful wooden tables with traditional and chunky white church candles, then offset by gold tableware adding a spot of grown up glamour to the whole ensemble. A beautifully elegant and unembellished cake with plain white icing and olive branches, seemingly floating as it’s set atop an illusion ghost plinth for a subtle extra impact. The see-through aspects of the seating plan and that plinth really add to the element of light, and they’re framed by the balloon arch serving as an entrance, so you know this is where the party starts.
It certainly sounds like the shoot has served as a multi-layered opportunity for the suppliers to check out the new tents on offer, whilst showcasing some of their most popular props and products, evoking their individual skill sets and having a lot of fun in the process.
The planning, concept, grazing table and other furniture all came from the wonderful UNVEILED Network Member Jane at Birdcages and Dragonflies, based in Northumberland. The styling’s certainly on point too! An abundance of fresh flowers, in keeping with the elegant, light outdoorsy theme and epic grazing board of delicious looking food just begging to be eaten, while the vintage Morgan car almost steals the show. Or is the cool little addition of the cigar bar? We simply can’t make up our minds, so we’ll let you decide for yourself.
Over to Jane, to talk us through it.
With images by Joss Guest Photography and Adam Astley Photography (as tagged)
CONCEPT
Jane says: There were several different reasons for planning this shoot; firstly, the two marquees used had just been finished during lockdown by the Roaming Tent Company and we were looking to work out seating plans and obtain some photos for couples, to help them visualise the space and to check it actually went up!
We could have done this with just us and the Roaming Tent Company but due to the pandemic and the cancellation of so many wedding fairs, we decided to turn it into a full styled shoot for local creatives to get a chance to do what they love. It was also an opportunity to catch up with each other and see those we’ve missed with the postponement of all weddings. It also provides some content for suppliers and works as a shout out about the talent in the north east.
This was the second shoot of the week using these marquees. The theme was looking at how a marquee on a farm can be styled in an elegant way, rather than a festival, rustic feel which many associate with this type of venue.
LOCATION
The location for the shoot was actually our family farm, Stonecroft Farm near Druridge Bay. We needed somewhere which would allow us to put up two marquees over the ten day period. We also wanted somewhere with plenty of open space and quirky areas where the photographers could work their magic. The location was great, with the chickens and sheep getting involved!
STYLING
We chose green and white as our colour scheme for the shoot, working with the colours and the materials in the marquee and the paddock the marquees were set up in. With her 30 years experience, Moira from Moira J Florist in Amble and Miriam from Northumberland-based The Artisan Wedding House worked their magic and created stunning ceremony and table setups. Lots of texture was added with a variety of greenery and white flowers along with Miriam’s gauze runners, charger plates and cutlery. Miriam’s welcome sign and easel looked stunning at the entrance to the aisle.
Aura Events, based in Cramlington, loaned us their Chiavari chairs. Mariam then dressed them with her elegant chair drapes, finished off with olive leaf from Moira. Ashley from The Little Cakery created a stunning three tiered texture cake which she dressed with olive leaves to tie it into the theme. It was positioned on a glass cake stand which looked perfect in all the locations.
Helen from Helen Scott Design created some stunning stationery for us, including table numbers, name cards, menu and seating plan, all of which Miriam and Moira styled with an array of gorgeous flowers and greenery.
Chloe from Imaginarium Balloons creates custom balloon styling for wedding and events in and around Newcastle. She made us a stunning archway which followed the wooden entrance to the marquee. She then created some stunning clouds which she attached to the two main poles inside the market. Joanne from Vintage Twist Designs brought along her cigar bar and sweet shop which fitted perfectly within the scheme, even colour matching the sweets.
Finally, Crazy Pix brought their gorgeous giant letters, heart and tripod photo booth which created some fantastic pictures on the day. They’re a multi-award winning company based in Northumberland, supplying amazing photo booths and lights for weddings and events, and they offer a range of interactive big games to entertain all guests.
Our celebrant was Lisa Wilson, a creator of award winning original authentic ceremonies perfect for modern couples and families with romantic and rebellious souls based in Northumberland. The car was from Castle Three based on the Northumberland coast and the bar was Ugly Duckling who provide nutritious products from predominantly surplus food and raise awareness of food waste and sustainability practises.
The grazing table and other furniture was provided by us, Birdcages and Dragonflies. We are a vintage, retro and industrial furniture hire company based in Northumberland. We offer wedding planning and styling, and on-the-day coordination. Our Northumberland grazing tables for guests include local cheeses and products with homemade chutneys and dips.
ATTIRE
Jade from Rare Bridal Studio provided the dresses for the shoot. She brought two absolutely stunning dresses along; Bailey from E&W Couture is covered in a raised embroidery of leaves and berries, and the stunning Elettra from Amy Mair Couture’s Ethereal Dreams collection. Rare Bridal Studio is a wedding dress boutique based in Washington aimed at less traditional brides who don’t want to look like everyone else. They stock relaxed, cool, bohemian gowns and separates with accessories that can’t be found anywhere else in the region.
Colin from Smart As Suit in Whitley Bay provided us with the Ellwood suit from Cavani with dark green tie and handkerchief to tie the theme together.
Jewellery was by Tamara Gomez who specialise in rough diamond and gemstone fine jewellery, all crafted from their studio in central London. Their inspiration comes from nature, spirituality, intuition and working closely with clients to create pieces that mark milestones and celebrate relationships in their lives.
BEAUTY
Due to the shoot taking place during the pandemic, unfortunately makeup artists weren’t yet able to work so our bride, Philippa, did her own makeup.
Hannah from Very You Hair then created two looks to go with the two dresses Jade brought along, using a range of accessories from UNVEILED Network Member Victoria Louise Accessories in Philippa’s hair during the shoot. Very You provide professional mobile hair services using only cruelty free (and where possible, vegan) hair products.
RESULTS
Shoot day was great! The sunshine came out to play and it was lovely to catch up with so many supplier friends and make some new ones.
Philippa and Dave, our models for the day, were one of my couples who have had to postpone their wedding so it was lovely to plan this shoot with them. They were great on the day and we all had plenty of laughs.
The carrot and coriander soup, chocolate muffins and homemade cakes kept us going throughout the day, although keeping the chickens away from them was a job in itself! The aim of the shoot was more to get together with the professionals that we would usually work with during a normal wedding season and to get creative as a team. The fabulous photos that Joss and Adam captured, and the stunning video from Abigail Grace Videography were just literally the icing on the cake.
A highlight for me was the arrival of the Morgan three wheeler car! I’ve tried to shoot with this car a few times but the weather hasn’t played ball so it was a lovely sound to hear it’s engine coming down the road.
