Rustic & Sweet | Scoop Me Off My Feet: Vintage Inspired Bridal Shoot

Good evening gorgeous ones! Today’s styled shoot is rather sweet but was borne out of envy! Yes, envy never looked so good.

It just goes to show that if you channel your envy productively something rather satisfying and sweet can be the end result. So please enjoy Rustic & Sweet | Scoop Me Off My Feet: Vintage Inspired Bridal Shoot.

This is what happens when some of the finest of the north west wedding industry collaborate!

“Having regularly used social media to promote my business, Glorious Tiaras, I was jealous of how effectively wedding industry professionals in the South and South West worked together to support and promote one another’s businesses.” Said Heidi

“Tweet Up’s, shout out’s and a general bigging up of good work seemed to happen every week for businesses based around Bristol and London, and yet there was virtually nothing of note happening around Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire and Manchester.”

Heidi knew that she wanted to put together a faux wedding shoot known in the industry as a ‘styled shoot’, showcasing the best of the North West’s wedding venues, accessories, styling, and photography, but with her background in photographic research and keen eye for a good image, Heidi had yet to find a photographer that she wanted to work with.

I loved looking at Janet’s work on Twitter, her pictures have a unique clarity and naturalness about them, so when she posted a throw away comment about photographing some of my brooch bouquets, I realised that she was based in the North West and pounced! 

Having met for a chat over coffee and cake in Manchester, Heidi and Janet left having planned to bring together a small group of high quality, North West based wedding professionals, passionate about what they did, to showcase their work through the medium of a styled shoot.

The shoot was to be styled along a rustic / vintage theme, making use of the dramatic backdrop of hills and rural landscapes either side of the Cheshire Plain, alongside Heidi’s vintage themed accessories.

By July the pair had secured interest from Vintage Lane Bridal Boutique: supplier of genuine vintage gowns dating from the 1930’s; the Wellbeing Farm: a newly established rural wedding venue enjoying the most amazing vistas of unspoilt hills around Ramsbottom, talented local hair and make up artists, Jaki Ann; stylist, Love My Trike, owner of Tilly the vintage ice cream trike, and Pearlie Queen Collectables, purveyor of retro, antique and vintage items.

On the day, two fantastic models were used, Madeline, who had previous experience, and James, who works at the farm, had never modeled before, but took to the task with gusto!

Unfortunately, hail, thunder, torrential downpours and high winds beset the first shoot day, but undeterred, a new date was set, and the final shoot went ahead in late September.

 “We were lucky that on the second date we got perfect weather with a little mist settled in the valley and the sun peeping through. We had a great day of sharing ideas, showing off our talents and eating Heidi’s homemade flapjacks!” Said Janet.

Both Heidi and Janet have been delighted by the success of the styled shoot. In addition to creating the social media buzz that they’d hoped for, two of Janet’s stunning images from the day have won national awards from the Guild of Photographers.

Janet and Heidi are planning a new styled wedding shoot for February 2014, and would love to hear from North West wedding industry professionals keen to collaborate!

So much rustic gorgeous and loveliness huh!? Let’s all give a big massive shout out to the following collaborators that made this shoot happen.

credits | hair accessories & brooch bouquets: glorious tiaras | photography: j broughton photography | gowns: vintage lane bridal boutique | venue: the wellbeing farm | ice cream trike: love my trike | hair & make-up: jaki ann hair and make up: | retro / vintage props: pearlie queen collectables

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