Today’s styled shoot, with a concept and planning by celebrant Penny of Penelope Jayne, is set at new venue Larpool Mill near Whitby and really brings the very best of the new space to life.
If you’re tying the knot in October but don’t fancy pumpkins and spice and all things… well, predictable, then you might want to have a little peek through today’s featured snaps. We’re bringing you seasonal yet sustainable floral inspo, bold jewel-toned colours, rich berry tones and not a pumpkin in sight!
Being an independent celebrant, Penny certainly knows a thing or two about how to make your wedding bespoke to you as a couple. So, when the opportunity arose for her to join forces with Larpool Mill and work with them to craft a unique wedding venue in the heart of the Yorkshire Moors, she knew this place would offer couples something incredible. The first shoot had to focus on and showcase the venue’s natural woodland and fairy-tale setting, emphasised by the pretty palette and exquisite styling. And make sure you keep your eye out for that incredible cake!
With images by UNVEILED Network Member Paylor Photography
CONCEPT
Penny says: As a brand-new venue, Larpool Mill was launching at what was going to be one of the worst years for the wedding industry on record. Talk about bad timing! But regardless of the global pandemic and having already had to postpone our first couple to the following year, we did not want the launch to be on hold. Knowing that what we have at the Mill is incredibly unique, the decision was quickly made to get the place dressed for a wedding and celebrate some of the local suppliers we already knew or were super keen to work with in a showcase of what the Mill can offer, with a styled shoot.
Due to Larpool Mill’s location and the change in the season from summer to autumn, it seemed fitting that we embraced the natural surroundings and the Mills fairy tale feel and encompassed them in our first ever shoot entitled ‘Bejewelled Hideaway’.
LOCATION
Having known about Larpool’s recent new ownership and major refurbishment for some time, and then securing our Local Authority License for marriages, it seemed the perfect time to go public. After a turbulent start to 2020 and a number of plans changing, bookings postponing and rearranging viewings until our diary looked like a drawing of the underground rail network, we wanted to make our first shoot incredibly special.
Larpool Mill has a certain air of history, combined with a modern luxurious vibe. Nestled deep in a valley and usually assumed by passers-by as a private residence, there is a feel of ‘home from home’ about the place. and, with wedding numbers being increasingly reduced, our hidden gem sat perfectly placed to offer a solution for smaller gatherings. Plus, the bonus of exclusive use with on site accommodation. I mean, what’s not to love?
STYLING
Having sent all our wonderful suppliers mood boards with our Bejewelled Hideaway theme inspiration, we left them to create something fitting with no restrictions. They were given free reign to use all their skills and this made for the most incredible collaboration. The stationery provided by UNVEILED Network Member Raspberry Toast set the colour theme perfectly. Those deep, heavy greens with a flash of shining gold really set our hearts racing. They perfectly echoed the darkness of the forest and the contrast of the Mill lit up on a night against it. The flowers chosen by Wonderland Blooms brought the jewel tones. With stunning pinks, mellow maroons and foliage that looked like it had been picked from right outside Larpool Mill’s front door.
Grace Eva Cakes then brought us a showstopping, four tier cake with an electric eye-popping colour. With the most intricate handmade flowers (that no one could believe were not real) adorning it. Everything just came together like magic does in fairy tales. Considering no one had seen what anyone else was supplying it was something to behold.
The florals used for our Larpool Mill shoot were a combination of flowers from UNVEILED Network Member Wonderland Blooms homegrown picking patch, making our shoot more sustainable, eco-friendly and better for the bees. The mood boards for our style shoot had sultry rich tones in burgundy, red orange, peach and velvet green. Wonderland Blooms really wanted to complement this to tie all the elements in. The style they went for was of a loose, elegant yet whimsical hand tied bridal posy, creating a smaller posy for our stunning flower girl. They went for a statement set up on the wedding breakfast table to show how you can have all the glamour in October. They very much enjoyed creating the pocket meadow, this really stood out from the grooms navy suit and adds a complete uniqueness. Wonderland Bloom spent most of lockdown 2020 creating and perfecting their picking patch to use in their weddings, and this year they aim to have their very own colony of bumblebees. More bees mean more flowers, more flowers mean less flower miles.
The styling was inspired by the beautiful jewel tones of autumn, working closely with Wonderland Blooms to tie everything together with the florals and adding pops of gold through the plates, candles and holders. To add a touch of luxury and class Spectacular Scenes used the crystal candle holders too. They went for an autumnal touch of luxury in the style, bringing the outdoors in, mixed with a really cosy luxurious feel in the beautiful Larpool Mill dining space.
It is important for The Dusty Barn to address the issues we face today in this ‘throw away’ culture, and give an old, outdated pieces of furniture a new lease of life as something you will treasure for a lifetime, using reclaimed and sustainably sourced materials and handcrafting them into stunning pieces of art. Yorkshire Confetti creates 100% natural, biodegradable confetti made from real flowers. The flowers are home grown and then dried in Yorkshire.
ATTIRE
The groom’s attire is the model’s own purchased from Slaters Menswear in Hull. A navy slim fit suit with a gorgeous tweed waistcoat, brown brogues and simply a crisp white shirt, finished with a claret tie.
Amber at Quinlan Couture Bridal created the gown to show off our models amazing figure. It was fitted down to below the hips and flared out into a train. The back is open and surrounded by hand stitched applique. From the top of the dress, down to the bottom of the train, covered buttons are hand sewn on. The rest of the dress was kept relatively plain to accentuate the detail of the back. The fabric is one of her favourites to use, it is actually made from recycled plastic bottles, as are the buttons.
As she’s based in Reading, Marie Chandler Bridal’s stunning bridesmaid gown was posted to us for the shoot.
BEAUTY
With such an opulent jewelled theme for the shoot, our MUA Paula Pace wanted to reflect those rich jade, berry and rustic tones with the makeup look. She covered the eyes with Anthony Braden eye primer and set about building the colour with rich bronze and neural browns, then introduced the deep jade on the lid. This look complemented Jess’ stunning porcelain skin and beautiful red hair. She finished with a deep berry shade which she tried to match up with the stunning berry-toned cake. It is often assumed that bridal makeup has to be neutral, but Paula finds it can be quite exciting to use colours that are featured within the theme.
Hair stylist Amy at Scissor Sisters got the inspiration for this hair as soon as she saw the dress, it had so much detail on the back it would have been such a shame to cover it. This gave her a starting point and then she worked from there, creating twists and curls which were truly shown by the bride’s beautiful coloured hair to create an elegant but soft hair style to complement the handmade headpieces by Bunny Loves Evie. To create this style Amy used Maria Nila products, they are all vegan and cruelty free products which leave your hair feeling amazing and gives your hair the hold you need to keep the style in place all day.
RESULTS
On the day, the shoot was limited to just a handful of necessary suppliers, keeping the working numbers within the strict Covid-19 secure guidelines. Many suppliers who could post their items did so. A particular highlight was watching the Mill owners’ faces when their venue was transformed into a magical hideaway filled with colour. Having worked with many of the suppliers before, I knew we would be creating something pretty epic, but I had not anticipated the physical coming together of people in the industry doing a job they love after being unable to actually work. It was like a gathering of creatives letting loose months of pent-up creativeness loose in one place. The social interaction of simply being together and working really was infectious on the shoot.
It was imperative to me that the suppliers involved were able to limit their time on location and enable them all to travel in daylight hours, so the shoot was kept to half a day. There is nothing worse than being held up waiting around on a shoot all day. We stuck to the plan and the detailed timeline, and everyone worked together setting up areas and moving items from inside to out. We were all packed away and on the road home just after lunch.
As a team we wanted to showcase everything the Mill had to offer, be able to show how talented our suppliers are, as well as show couples that small can be beautiful, winter weddings do not have to have limited palettes and, even in darkest October, you can marry without a pumpkin in sight!
