Bohemian styled shoot

Bohemian styled shoot

I love all the potential elements of a bohemian wedding.  So, I was delighted when Rachael of The Burtons Photography invited me to collaborate on a bohemian styled shoot jointly hosted by her and Jade Maguire Photography.

The wedding suppliers

Rachael and Jade had already gathered together some talented suppliers…

• Styling: Wild at Heart Hire and Styling, alternative wedding hire and styling, were to dress the venue.
• Flowers: Bizzi Lizzi was to provide the floral styling.
• Dresses: Also on board was cool independent dress designer and founder of Kindling Bridal, Kerri Walton.  Kerri provided two of her beautiful dresses for the shoot.
• Stationery: Vanilla Retro, Wedding Stationery Designer was to design the table plan.
• Make-up: Amy George Make Up Artist was to perform her magic!
• Hair: With her 20+ years experience in the hairdressing and fashion industry, Emily Hawkes Bridal Hair Stylist, was to create the beautiful hairstyles.

A lot of creative talent in one room!

The venue

East Riddlesden Hall – a stunning, rustic Grade II listed barn wedding venue on a National Trust site in Keighley, West Yorkshire.  ‘A little oasis in a busy urban area’ with intimate gardens and an historic house.  Above all, the perfect place for a bohemian styled shoot…

The inspiration

To enable me to get a feel for the shoot, Rachael directed me to their bohemian styled shoot Pinterest Board.  Following my own research I created this mood board…

The design process

The venue was to be styled with calligraphy wall hangings, peacock chairs, macramé chair back covers, brass tableware, and lots of foliage!

Firstly, taking inspiration from the floral wreaths within the pinterest board, I decided my cake would have, not one, but, three! flower and foliage wreaths.  Of course, I made sure they were graduated and on the diagonal to avoid a traffic-light-look!  Next, to make it informal and eclectic I wanted to include a variety of foliage.  Ultimately, being led by the Pinterest board, I chose eucalyptus, olive, monstera and hydrangea leaves.  For the flowers, I kept it simple and elegant with pale peach and white roses along with a few rose leaves.  Not only does peach go well with brassware but also, design-wise, a three-colour combination (peach/green/white) is always good.

Then, on to my absolute favourite element – the macramé.  I adore macramé, its intricacy, its informality, its seemingly limitless variations and its cosiness.  (Takes me back to all my macramé plant hangers in my first house.)  So, taking inspiration from this image I found on Pinterest…  I piped some on the top tier!

The dress(es)

Again, continuing the botanical theme, I took inspiration from Kindling Bridal ‘Pegasus‘ wedding dress.  To quote Kerri, “The Pegasus is a bohemian rhapsody of high neckline, trumpet sleeves and open backed beauty… stunning botanical lace that has slight stretch for comfort, with a slinky, figure-hugging fit and dramatic raw-edged puddle train… delicate scalloped lace collar, and a layered open back with beautiful scalloped edging…”

For the shoot the model actually wore Kindling Bridal’s ‘Aquarius‘, featuring the same botanical lace, and ‘Aurora‘ with a delicate floral lace.

And finally, to complement the brass tableware, I added accents in 24ct edible gold leaf… Here’s my cake sketch…

Creating

To begin with, I started with the foliage.  Surprisingly, this takes a while.  Indeed, any cake makers reading this will know never to underestimate just how long it takes to create an abundance of sugar foliage.  After a whole day of rolling, cutting, thinning, veining and wiring here are a few leaves…

Similarly, assembling them together… to create these wreaths takes some time…

The cake

Here’s ‘Luna’, all complete…

Closer…

The shoot

A frosty, cold morning in early February…

The photographers

Thank you so much to Rachael for providing me with the opportunity of creating a cake for their bohemian styled shoot.  And thank you to both The Burtons Photography and Jade Maguire Photography (and, subsequently, Siobhan Amy Photography) for their gorgeous images!  As always, I cannot overstate the importance of choosing a good professional photographer for your wedding day.  You’ll have the images to cherish forever…

The Burtons Photography

A married couple whose style is fun and relaxed.  They shoot in a documentary style, capturing your story in their own edgy way.  Here are my favourites of theirs from the shoot…

Styling by Wild at Heart Hire and Styling…

Cake by me!

Stationery by Vanilla Retro…

Floral hoop by Bizzi Lizzi

Kindling Bridal ‘Aquarius’ gown…

Bouquet by Bizzi Lizzi…

Hair by Emily Hawkes Bridal Hair Stylist, make up by Amy George Make Up Artist…

Kindling Bridal ‘Aurora’ wedding dress…

Jade Maguire Photography

Jade’s documentary style and skillful approach of capturing the quirky, alternative messy moments, with cool relaxed portraiture, all teamed with unique editing style, blends modern creations with good honest images…

Siobhan Amy Photography & Film

Fast forward to April 2018.  I’ve now received some glorious images from Siobhan Amy Photography & Film, one of the photographers on the shoot.  Siobhan, a destination wedding photographer who loves travelling the world photographing amazing weddings & elopements, uses soft, natural lighting, with minimal editing and always looks to capture natural, happy moments!  Here are my favourite styling, flower, stationery, dress and cake shots…

Bespoke wedding cake design

Are you planning your own Yorkshire wedding – bohemian-styled or otherwise?  Feel free to browse my Portfolio to see if my style is a good fit for you.  Then, if you’d would like to commission me to design and create your bespoke wedding cake, taking inspiration from all the carefully chosen elements of your wedding day, get in touch!

With love, Amanda x