Styled Shoot

Forest Bride. A Styled Woodland Wedding Shoot at Hazlewood Castle

Sarah Symonds

If you’ve ever fancied being the ruler of your own glen, this might just be the woodland wedding shoot for you. Think pretty, boho forest vibes with major style. Rustic and regal – what’s not to like?

Are you ready for this? We’re bringing you lots of greenery, which is to be expected, but also a perfectly plum palette of rich, deep purples and gold for that extravagant, royal touch. The powerful red wine colours are just perfect for the coming seasons but, as the photos show, we’ve still got so much summer warmth left in that golden light. We’ve gone from regular wood to enchanted forest in the blink of an eye.

Erika and Sam, of UNVEILED Network Member Tweedle Floral Design in Yorkshire, have honed their ‘go big or go home’ ethos when it comes to the floral designs in this shoot and we. are. here. for. it. The crown in particular is a thing of beauty and something no queen should be without. We’re swooning over all the gowns, seeing both Willowby by Watters and Beautiful by Enzoani lace to die for, and don’t miss the bold pink, deep purple and gold ombre watercolour cake creation, which is a spectacle in itself.

We’ve been chatting to the girls to find out how the grand plans came together…

With images by UNVEILED Network Member Anna Beth Photography

INSPIRATION

Sam & Erika say: The theme our shoot followed was ‘woodland luxe’ and with our bridal look we wanted to achieve a true Queen of the Forest. Our mood board consisted of golds, lots of greenery, boho lace and deep pops of purples and pinks for an enchanted, whimsical feel. This was the design vision that we had in mind to reflect on our brand of Tweedle Floral Design and, with the lack of weddings through the pandemic, it gave us the opportunity and time to be truly creative, hopefully showcasing to our couples what can be possible for wedding florals.

LOCATION

Hazlewood Castle’s woodland area was a perfect fit for our shoot. It is a more intimate, outdoor space, perfect for couples who are looking to host smaller weddings because of the pandemic. We wanted to showcase that wedding setups, even for intimate, smaller weddings, can still be designed with statement pieces and can still reflect couples’ imaginations through the colours, textures and backdrops used. The woodland area at Hazlewood Castle had a very relaxed and whimsical feel and with the shoot taking place late afternoon and into the evening, it allowed us to capture the natural lighting of the woodland.

STYLING

Another reason we chose the shoot to be set up in a woodland area was to demonstrate how our foam free florals can work for natural environments, by being either compostable or recyclable. We used seasonal flowers to tie in with what would naturally be growing at that time and, as we were designing with deep and bold pinks, purples and maroons with highlights of gold, our flower choices steered away from tradition by providing variety and texture in our natural and free-flowing designs. As the colours we chose gave a look and feel of magical and enchanting, Karen from the Vintage Cake Fairy took this concept and created a deep purple and gold ombre watercolour cake to be decorated with florals and accompanying macaroons. These were placed on gold stands and decorated with mini floral meadows. Stacey from Love Paper Co. created the design-led stationery, going along with Karen’s cake design, by using gold foil touches with tassel fringes and wax seals set against deep purples and greens for the card of the invites, menus and place names to complete the table set up. We really wanted to introduce the idea of attending a grand high tea party in wonderland.

ATTIRE

Kim from Elizabeth Kate Bridal was able to offer us a wide range of handpicked wedding dresses and talk us through which dresses would or would not be best suited to our bride model and our mood board. Our chosen shoot dresses were the Willowby by Watters Maudie gown, which we picked for its botanical embroidery and romantic detail for a whimsical feel, and the Beautiful by Enzoani BT20-05 for our evening shots, chosen for the boho lace, draped sleeves and mermaid fit, giving a more relaxed styling. The groom’s suit from Haworth Menswear consisted of different tones of golden browns and rust accents on the tie and pocket square. Our tweed style suit was chosen to reflect the natural colours and tones of the woodland but to still give a sophisticated but comfortable style.

BEAUTY

We asked Kelly from Kelly Hanks Hair Design to go with her gut when it came to our bride’s hair. Our model, Mellisa, had thick mid-length blonde hair which was perfect for creating our Queen of the Forest look. Kelly stepped away from a traditional up-do to create soft waves, still with a luxe feel for a statement bride. Her soft waves were perfect for Rachel Chaprunne’s handmade luxury bridal crowns. The gold Levana crown screamed romance, with its vintage style and decadent sparkle, and the gold Indira crown with its beautiful double halo and flower vines is perfect for brides who would love a statement piece with a boho twist. From the colour palette of the flowers and design of the Enzoani Beautiful dress, Kelly also suggested for us to create a flower crown to complete the boho luxe style and showcase a different idea to styling bridal hair. Jess from FACES provided a makeup tutorial for our bride model, set up in our outdoor woodland space, to help achieve a classic soft and glowy look with golden tones that suited both of our bridal dress styles. Under the current guidelines at the time of the shoot, makeup artists were unable to operate fully in the circumstances, however Jess was able to cleverly adapt the way she worked to still showcase her work.

RESULTS

When we received the images back from Hannah at Anna Beth Photography we knew straight away that our vision had been achieved and that she had managed to capture all of the perfect moments from the day. Hannah suggested the right times for our shoot so that we would get that perfect woodland lighting and mood, with golden dreamy vibes. Our bride and groom models, Mellisa and James, were a real-life couple so Hannah was able to capture the real essence of the fun and romance between them.

We were a group of suppliers that hadn’t previously met or worked together but the day ran smoothly as we were all able to enjoy ourselves and create together to bring our shared visions to life. It was lovely to get together with other like-minded wedding suppliers in our network, and to showcase that smaller intimate weddings, which may become more frequent in current times, can still be created beautifully with big visions in mind. Couples don’t necessarily need to reduce their original designs and ideas; they can still be created in different ways.

Due to the success of our day, and how we all got on with each other as wedding suppliers, we are already in talks to collaborate again with a winter mystical shoot. We can’t wait!

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