Let’s head over to the Combs Valley campsite near High Peak today for an amazing eco-friendly, up-cycled and sustainable wedding styled shoot with a point to prove.
Sustainability has never been more important, and people haven’t ever been as aware of how and why they could be making changes as they are in 2020. With that in mind, it’s become something of a prerequisite for businesses and suppliers to really consider where they can ensure that their offerings are eco-friendly – and the wedding industry is no different! We’re proud that so many of the industry pros (and our beloved UNVEILED Network members!) are tweaking their methods and materials to be more green. Today’s shoot in particular highlights how easily this can be done without compromising one iota of style and romance for your big day. Props to everyone involved in creating this eco chic masterpiece!
The bright, bold and happy colour choices ensure that the vibe is fun under the sun and, although the laid back, rustic style takes the edge off nicely, it’s been brought bang up to date with a modern flair to inspire and engage couples who want to do something similar themselves. The gals behind the shoot, Helen of UNVEILED Network Member stationery and styling company T.ink and Sally, of Toast Celebrant a fun-loving celebrant from Macclesfield, have done a wonderful job of showing us just how good it can be. Let’s catch up with them to find out how they achieved this look and kept things environmentally conscious all the way.
With images by UNVEILED Network Member Charlotte Palazzo Photography
CONCEPT
Helen says: For this shoot, I really wanted to emphasise sustainability in the wedding industry, and also be able to modernise what a rustic wedding can look like. Having the majestic tipis with the stunning backdrop of the High Peak, by the reservoir, was perfect. Using as many local suppliers using as many eco-friendly ideas that was still stylish and epic.
LOCATION
The shoot was the second one we did in one day, with our other shoot – Pastel Glitzival. It was held at the year-round Combs Valley campsite at High Peak. With the tipis only being up for a few weeks and none of us knowing how much the pandemic would affect the next few months, we wanted to make the most of the day. Again, the venue and location came first, so the inspiration for this shoot came from there. Couples looking for a tipi are potentially looking for that rustic look but it has been done so much. We wanted to switch it up a notch and get creative with it to bring in some new enthusiasm. Part of my business ethos is sustainability so I really wanted to make that shine. Tipis in the Peak, run by Megan and Jack, is a family-owned tipi and bar business based locally. Keep an eye on Tipis in the Peak to see much more than just weddings for the future!
STYLING
Being a stylist, I have lots of up-cycled or vintage decorations and props that can be used again and again, and can also look totally different in various settings.
The grazing table products, by Sweet Caroline’s Catering, were all locally sourced and limited on meat. I use recycled paper, card and textiles for my stationery. Even the place names on propagated leaves can be put back into water after the wedding for the guests to take home and grow. The florals are mostly faux flowers so can be used again. Any real flowers were dried or seasonal, so available in abundance locally and mostly wild. The Flower Decorative, based at Whaley Bridge, offer a fusion of beautiful boho wildstyle natural florals and rustic decorative interiors.
The favours are from Cumbria so not as local, but all of Hayley’s products and packaging are sustainably made and sourced, and she uses natural herb based ingredients. Little Lake District Luxuries in Kendal provide luxury miniature handmade pamper products and wedding favours.
I chose a very eclectic colour palette that I hadn’t seen used this way before and added the unique twist on what rustic could look like. It was a risk, but we are thrilled with how the bold yellows, greens, orange, black and gold came together. I love Whitehouse Event Crockery and they had the perfect tableware we needed to really make the scenes we created pop. I would absolutely advise clients to consider this as part of their styling. It can really make a difference if you don’t want to go all out on the table decorations.
The horse box bar was supplied by Megan and Jack too, and the cake was by UNVEILED Network Member Grace Emily Cakes who offers modern and minimalist high end wedding cakes and dessert treats. With the cake I wanted to make sure we didn’t lose the style aspect – a rustic naked cake just wasn’t going to work, we needed something much more special to appeal to the stylish bride. Grace absolutely nailed the brief and created the most stunning minimalist take on the subtle wild floral theme we had. The colour was amazing!
ATTIRE
The dresses absolutely made this shoot for us. We were looking around for ages to get something different that would match our punchy colours but with style. Then we found Sweet Caroline Styles in America. We found out that she was having a trunk show with Rock The Frock, ending on the day we would need them for. Perfect. We couldn’t believe it, but we got them and luckily the dresses fit the model too.
Head Pieces were created by Geraldine at Folky Dokey in Glossop, a dried floral specialist.
BEAUTY
The model did her own makeup. We wanted a natural and almost ‘not wearing makeup’ look so this worked perfectly. Jen at UNVEILED Network Member Wildflower Hair Company is a boho stylist so we wanted that wilderness to show in the hair too. Brides who like to have a low key regime and shine naturally would love this vibe.
Our models are a real couple, Megan Armswood and her partner Josh.
RESULTS
The sun shone amazingly for us in this afternoon shoot and we even got some incredible shots right on the water’s edge just as the golden hour was setting in. After the manic morning of the other shoot being busy, this shoot was almost peaceful. I was slightly worried about all the big and bold colours all working together, but it turned out to be a favourite for a lot of the suppliers. It was so different and unique but worked. Hopefully we’ve achieved an eco rustic look with modern style and attitude.
