This gorgeous russet-toned styled shoot is brought to you by the clever team at Birdcages & Dragonflies – headed up by Jane – and her band of merry local suppliers and, let us tell you, it is the farm wedding shoot of dreams!
Bringing you lots of burnt oranges and warmth, unbelievable edible and paper creations, and an abundance of pretty florals, the shoot also showcases an element of awareness by involving environmentally conscious suppliers, proving you can still throw an amazing wedding but with a low environmental impact. Despite the autumnal palette, the rain held off for the whole shoot and we just love that the crew kept themselves going with copious amounts of homemade vegetable soup!
After the long break due to Covid19, the venue are delighted to be able to start showing couples around again, albeit whilst adhering to social distancing rules! If you like what you see here then get in touch to book your visit and make a start on planning your big day at Lough House Farm. Don’t forget to report back so we can feature your wedding on the Brides Up North site too!
With images by Laura Beasley and Joss Guest Photography
INSPIRATION
Jane says: Lough House Farm is a new venue in the North East of England. It’s a blank canvas on a family run farm, so the idea of the shoot was to dress the whole venue as inspiration for couples to show how each area could be used. We opted to stay away from the traditional ‘rustic barn theme’ to show how versatile the space is. The farm has been in the family for many years and owners loved the idea of a shoot engaging local suppliers and having low environmental impact. The shoot was planned to run during the day, finishing around 4pm. All suppliers then took a break and set up small exhibition stations for an Elite Wedding Open Evening. We welcomed many prospective couples who loved how the barn was dressed and relished the opportunity to talk to environmentally conscious suppliers about their wedding days.
LOCATION
Lough House Farm is a tantalizingly beautiful, exclusive-use wedding venue near Morpeth, Northumberland. Featuring a converted barn, bar, chill-out room, quirky corners for a powder room, cloak room or creative photographs, this private venue is available to hire for your wedding reception of between 50 and 150 guests. With enough outside space to let your imagination run wild, you could include fairground rides, naked tipis or a silent disco under the stars. The possibilities are endless!
STYLING
The barn is made of some many amazing materials, from the rustic bricks and stunning wooden beams to the raw stone walls. We used burnt oranges and creams as our colour pallet, which complimented perfectly. The furniture was a mix of trestle tables made from reclaimed doors and 6ft round reclaimed tables. They were dressed with simple organic cotton runners, candlesticks made from old stair spindles and vintage bottles and home-made clay votives. The candles were made from natural beeswax by a company in Cumbria. A mix of dried flowers, grasses and grains were used to fill the bottles and simple white crockery, linen napkins with willow rings and amber water glasses finished the tables.
Moira J Florist used a mix of dried and fresh flowers to create a range of foam-free floral arrangements, including a beautiful beam garland, stunning wall wreath and gorgeous split arch ceremony backdrop. She also created three bouquets, two buttonholes, a bridal floral crown and smaller hair pieces for the bridesmaids. Some of these flowers and potted plants were re-used to decorate the top table, the end of the trestle table springs and the seating areas – a great trick to reduce the overall number of arrangements needed at a wedding! Sian from Don’t Dream It Print It and Ashley from The Little Cakery used the same colours and dried flowers to create their stunning stationery pieces and a gorgeous cake. Lollypops and macaroons were also added, which complimented the theme perfectly.
ATTIRE
The wedding dress worn by our model, Nicky, was a pre-loved Monsoon dress. With the ivory colouring and simple gold detailing, it worked perfectly with the theme. Laura from Love Jean Bridal also provided the bridesmaid dresses. Bought from the high street as two matching white cotton dresses with crochet detail, they were hand-dyed, using only natural materials, to a mustard yellow and earthy green. The idea behind this was to show that with some creativity, you can find everything for your wedding locally.
The suits from Smart As Suits complimented the dresses perfectly – blue tweed with orange accessories for the groom and a brown and green tweed with green accessories for the groomsman.
BEAUTY
Hannah from Studio HR did the makeup for the shoot. Living just a couple of miles from Lough House, Hannah did an amazing job on all three models, providing a natural and gentle glow which complemented the up-dos for the two bridesmaids and gentle curls for the bridal hair. The styles worked well with the floral crown and hair pieces that the florist created and they were strong enough to stay in place, even in the windy conditions!
RESULTS
The shoot went so well! As the venue is available as a full hire, we had access the day before and moved in, quite literally, two wagons worth of chairs, tables and props including a vintage door screen, whiskey barrels, chesterfield sofas, peacock chairs, rugs… the list goes on. The florist also worked the day before and created her amazing focal pieces while we hung lights, set tables and dressed the ceremony space.
On the morning of the shoot, we arrived early. I borrowed my parent’s campervan and this became Beauty Central for hair and makeup and a space where the models could get changed. The Beverage Box arrived to set up their Rice Horsebox Bar and Ashley and Emily arrived to set up the cake and grazing boards.
We were lucky to have two photographers, Laura and Joss, as well as Abigail, a videographer. They took plenty of behind the scenes shots for the different suppliers to use on their social media.
We started shooting at 1pm and, with homemade, hot vegetable soup to keep us going, we worked our way through what would be a normal wedding day. The weather was kind to us and, although it kept threatening rain, it stayed away enabling us to get plenty of outdoor shots. There are so many fab photo opportunities at this venue!
