Candles and foliage galore, today’s styled shoot is all about showing The Oakwood at Ryther and it’s suppliers’ talents in their very best light, and we can’t wait to show you this beautiful new venue IRL at our epic wedding show in October!
Natasha Jane Events is the woman behind today’s concept, along with the florals and the overall styling. A woman of many talents, Natasha has been working with The Oakwood at Ryther since its infancy, when it was a building site, and fell for the venue when she first saw it. From that moment it was the plan to set up a shoot to inspire couples and show them just how good the space could look.
With a few minor Covid-related delays (classic 2020-21 behaviour), the shoot came together in the end and, as you can see, it’s certainly a beauty! With a real life husband and wife playing the bride and groom, and an outstanding array of props, florals and pretty little touches, it’s hard not to fall in love with every detail! Over to you to talk us through it, Natasha!
With images by Sugarbird Photography
CONCEPT
Natasha says: I was originally contacted by the owners of The Oakwood at Ryther for advice around weddings and styling. It was clear from the initial site visit the venue had huge potential and we planned a styled shoot to give couples ideas and inspiration of what could be created for their dream days.
Sadly, Covid prevented this from happening when originally planned so we had to change some elements due to a change in season. Upon rearranging, we thought it would be appropriate to call our shoot ‘Love Lights’ to show weddings and the love surrounding them coming out of the dark of Covid and the restrictions imposed, back out into the light, proving love wins every single time.
Everything we designed for the shoot could be used for a wedding of 15, 30 or 150 people.
LOCATION
The Oakwood at Ryther is an exclusive wedding venue in North Yorkshire with restored barns with contemporary features and luxury accommodation for 32 people.
Yes, the venue came to me but I quickly fell in love with the place. It’s sensational and modern, with every detail thought about and is finished to a really high standard. As a new venue with no wedding under their belt at the time of the shoot it was important to create something stunning that would give potential couples a visual of how their day could look.
STYLING
We created an all-foliage moongate arch to frame the ceremony space. The Oakwood is a naturally beautiful venue and we didn’t want to take away from that so wanted to keep some elements simple yet effective with a timeless look.
We created a full candlelit aisle using glass cylinders of varying heights, with floating candles as a real statement look which we then moved to the staircase in the grain barn, showing couples how we can reuse items from their ceremony space into their reception space.
We created a foliage table runner with candles to complement the ceremony look on the top table and used a mixture of high and low centrepieces as the reception space has incredible height and this helped to create a real “wow” look for guests, while also meaning the venue looked dressed when in the upstairs bar area.
We used a selection of beautiful summer florals such as garden roses, hydrangeas, astilbe, agapanthus and (an all time favourite of mine) beautiful café au lait dahlias, again using lots of clean clear glassware to continue through from the ceremony.
These sat beautifully on our gold beaded charger plates with sage green napkins and individual macaroons from Where The Ribbon Ends really finished each place setting. Where The Ribbon Ends also made a huge five tier cake as a focal point to the staircase, finished in fresh florals, surrounded by lots of gorgeous candlelight.
Stationery was provided by UNVEILED Network Member JB Creatives Wedding Stationery, crockery was by Whitehouse Crockery in Manchester and various other props were courtesy of Typical Type and Event Prop Hire. Music was by James Hey.
ATTIRE
Our models were a real life husband and wife, Cameron and Heather Hutchinson.
All gowns used are designed by Savin London, a London based designer who has a modern twist on a classic style, using the finest silks and hand made fabrics giving a fresh unique take on bridal. They came from Chloe Jane Bridalwear, based in Howden.
The WILLA gown is a strapless bodice with relaxed A-line skirt in a hand painted floral fabric, while the LIANA gown offers a simplistic fit and flare gown with plunging neckline in a silk suede Ivory fabric.
The LORI veil, also by Savin London, was used, and the ISABELLA detachable skirt worn with a PHOEBE gown – a simplistic fit and flare gown which we paired with a detachable rose gold 3D floral appliqué detachable skirt.
The featured suit was the model’s own.
BEAUTY
Deb Chalmers creates fabulous hair for today’s modern bride. This hairstyle certainly has a wow factor (just like the venue!) with lots of volume and face framing softness, twirls and twists adding texture and definition to the hair. We think this look would appeal to brides who want to make the most of their hair. Natural glamour at its best!
Makeup was by UNVEILED Network Member Charlotte Hubbard, a british-based, vegan makeup artist who is passionate about ethical beauty. She said, “I chose a soft-glam bridal makeup to complement the hairstyle, dress and venue for this styled shoot. This look would suit a bride who likes some glamour worked into the wedding style. A smokey eye look with fuller lashes accentuates the eyes, with the lips left more natural. Her skin with light to medium coverage with subtle blush and highlight.
For the second makeup look, I went for a darker lip tone to compliment the more chic and classic dresses. The darker lip tones would suit a more sleek and chic look for your wedding day. All of my cosmetics are vegan and cruelty free.”
RESULTS
The shoot was amazing! I think the highlight for me was how everyone came together to create something really beautiful. It was lovely to all be back together working on something everyone is passionate about after such a hard year for our industry, and we achieved what we set out to create – a set of beautiful images for the venue highlighting the best in the business.
Sugarbird Photography’s James takes beautifully fresh and natural wedding photographs which made him the perfect choice for the shoot and Your Story Films accompanied the shoot perfectly, giving another dimension to the end result
I am so excited to be working with The Oakwood and Brides Up North on their upcoming wedding show in October, where we will be flowering and styling the ceremony barn. We have lots of lovely ideas planned and cannot wait to meet brides again soon and hear all about their plans for their special days!
