Woodland Wedding Styled Shoot

It’s not often you get to let your imagination run wild and create the woodland wedding of your dreams, without actually getting married!

Well, that’s what I created and boy did I have THE BEST bunch of wedding professionals with me.

I wanted to create a styled shoot that wasn’t editorial, didn’t scream tradition and gave the feel of a real wedding. And it’s exactly what we achieved.

The morning was a hoot… a bunch of girls and a bunch of lads all preening themselves, beautifying and dressing up to turn into my wedding party. They were awesome. For a group that didn’t know each other, they hit it off from the start and enabled me to capture what looked like a bunch of old school friends getting ready for their best friends wedding – perfect! Of course, this wouldn’t have been possible without the immense talents of Emma Morris Make Up Artist and Elly Jayne Make Up Artist who took my vision and transformed the girls into edgy, colourful delights! Equally talented dress designers Sharon Bowen-Dryden and TH&TH provided the most beautiful and intricate dresses for the shoot. Sharon’s bridal two piece’s are jaw droppingly stunning and the bridesmaids dresses from Louie at TH&TH flattered the girls perfectly.

Please let’s not forget how dapper the lads looked too, courtesy of The Vintage Suit Hire. Jess and Tom own this market leading suit hire company that supply grooms with suits that match their style and personality.

I had the super lovely Zoe and Perry for my bride and groom. A real couple that were soon to celebrate their own wedding. What a great opportunity for them to have a dry run. I roped the wedding professionals in and had them as guests, so our ceremony setting was full and we had the wonderful Kelly Hawes as our celebrant. Although it wasn’t a real marriage ceremony, some cute words were said between the two, the guests cheered and laughed and it gave the feel of a relaxed and heart felt woodland wedding.

Now to sing the praises of three of the sweetest, most creative people I know. Imaginations that know no bounds and talents that are off the chart. First up is Alice from Fleur de Lace. The master of visual treats, Alice can transform any area into a haven of colour and joy.

Next up is Becky from The Flower Bee. What Becky can’t do with flowers isn’t worth seeing. I have had the pleasure of photographing many of her bouquets and venue decor at previous weddings and she never ceases to amaze me.

And last but by no means least is Jemma from The Cakey Lady. Not only does she make the most amazing looking cakes and treats but they taste divine too. The models and suppliers all tucked in to leave not a crumb!

It goes without saying that our chosen venue, Milling Barn provided the most beautiful of settings for our woodland wedding. Newly refurbished bridal suite and guest rooms, a stunning venue and a woodland area that melted my heart. The perfect venue for a relaxed vibe and amazing scenery.

Heading into the evening, we saw another change to the look of the woodland wedding. Alice created a table setting that screamed ‘awesome tea party’, complete with an over head ribbon canopy. It wasn’t just the look of the venue that changed either. The wedding party had a quick outfit change and were then treated to another make over with fab girls, Kerry and Ali from the Cambridge Glitter Bar. They had glitter on their bodies and in their hair – it was so much fun and looked epic. Zoe got to rock an edgier look for the evening too when she popped on a beautiful hand painted leather jacket from Sophie at Elizabeth and Rose. She listened my ideas and then went above and beyond to create the perfect design.

We had the friendly ladies from The Tipsy Flute set up with their eye catching, converted horse box prosecco bar. And yes, the girls and guys did drink and yes, it did get messy… just as we planned. With prosecco and cider flowing, we headed back down into the woodland area which was now glowing from the festoon lighting supplied by Mark from Bluemark Entertainment – it looked so pretty and took the woodland wedding to another level. And no party is complete without live music. This came courtesy of SJ & The Flying Pigs. Their vibe and music gave us all we needed to let lose and dance the night away. They interacted with the wedding party and sung original songs that you couldn’t help busting out moves to.

I had amazing advice and help from the lovely Vanessa at RandF Weddings. She certainly knows a thing or two about organising a wedding and bringing everything together perfectly.

And there it is. Everyone’s flair, imagination, talent and bloody hard work came together to create this amazingly fun and quirky styled woodland wedding shoot. I couldn’t be happier!

If you are having a wedding like this, then please get in touch. I love nothing more than relaxed, informal, non-traditional weddings that let your personalities shine!

On a final note, I can’t leave you all without a HUGE shout out to the wonderful Jade of Hushabye Films. An absolute gem of a lady and uber talented when it comes to film. Magical, carefree footage. Capturing every moment in an informal and fun style. The perfect accompaniment to this woodland wedding shoot. Check out her video here.