Hello All
As promised, I'm thrilled to bring you my photo shoot as promised ...
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As promised, I'm thrilled to bring you my photo shoot as promised ...
The Very Best of
British – A Floral Tale
At the end of March I met photographer Niel Stewart at a
wedding fayre and during a bit of a lull we talked about flowers, his love of
natural, pared-down photography and our mutual passion for our surrounding countryside.
When I also expressed a desire to work more
closely with British grown flowers, the germ of an idea was born.
That evening, Niel took one of my bouquets home and sent me
a few early shots, so I could see his approach. I couldn’t have been more blown away - it was
exactly what I was looking for. Simple,
beautiful, emotive, photography. No
bells and whistles, just all very honest. Over the next couple of weeks our
idea developed from a styled shoot to a narrative with a real concept. The story was to champion local design, creativity
and entrepreneurial spirit, with British grown flowers at the heart of the
tale.
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So, we decided in one packed day we would attempt to showcase
the talents of a number of small British businesses and photograph a flower
farmer, transport the cut flowers to my workshop, photograph me designing various
pieces and then move location to a styled bridal shoot. I’ll just say that
again … in one day!
I spent quite a number of late nights researching flower
farmers in the UK
and even spoke one evening to the very lovely Georgie Newbery, flower farmer
and florist, who was fantastically helpful.
Eventually I found what I was looking for, a flower farmer literally
just on the outskirts of our home city of Sheffield ,
in the glorious Peak District. I set up
a meeting with Rachel Dyson of Surrey Farm, in the romantically named Hollow
Meadows. We hit it off immediately, partly
because of our mutual love of naturally grown flowers and, partly because it
was also her first year of business and she too had left her job to follow her
dream. She was delighted to be part of
the shoot and agreed to provide us with as many flowers as she could.
Things moved really quickly from then on. I set a date and found a gorgeous new licensed
wedding venue in the heart of Ecclesall Woods. Being a member of Chloe Curry’s ‘Wedding
Mafia’ meant that The White Room would lend me gowns and Wigs + Warpaint would style
the hair. I even contacted James at
Clowance in Cornwall
who agreed to let me have a few extra British blooms if needed, as Rachel had
found the dreadful weather was really against us poor beleaguered Northerners! We
were all set.
I really wanted the shoot to be as honest, simple and direct
as possible; keeping styling to an absolute minimum. Niel and I agreed that only the models would
be styled and benefit from professional hair and make-up and that Rachel and I
would wear our normal work clothes – anyone who farms or is a florist will know
that these aren’t terribly glamorous. Nor would anyone benefit from a few little
adjustments in Photoshop! I have to say
the prospect of all this ‘honesty’ was terrifying.
We kept the shots at the farm as natural and candid as
possible amidst the most beautiful backdrop of rolling countryside, focussing
on the flowers and Rachel herself. Although, when I spotted a beautiful Art
Nouveau style jardinière I couldn’t resist asking Niel to take a few shots –
she was so incongruously glamorous, in her farm setting! As I wanted the story to play out as fully as
possible, we incorporated shots of us cutting the flowers and placed them in an
old veg box for transportation.
Once we arrived at my workroom, I designed three pieces to
camera – a white bridal crown using Allium from Rachel’s farm, a simple,
understated, but exquisitely scented Sweet Pea bouquet finished with antique
lace and, finally, a mixed seasonal
bouquet using varieties of Allium, Aqueligia and Alchemilla Mollis. Niel also
captured perfectly the real essence of my workroom, it’s a very calm, peaceful
haven which Brides love and immediately feel at home in, during consultations.
Finally, we moved on to an incredible location set in the
heart of the woods - complete with wooden buildings, lily ponds, naturally
constructed benches, woodpiles and stunning architectural sculptures.
In keeping with the woodland surroundings, I styled Sophie
to have an almost ethereal, will-o’-the-wisp quality and dressed her in
‘Foxglove’ by Jenny Packham. Inspired by
next season’s Oscar de la Renta catwalk show, her hair was crimped to full, gorgeous,
boho volume and accessorised with either my floral bridal crown or ‘Daisy’ by DC Bouquets. Alice
wore ‘Bardot’ by Stephanie Allin and her messy up-do was accessorised by ‘Eva’.
Both the girls are naturally very pale
and so make-up by Eleanor Gott was kept to a soft, natural palette of browns
and golds with a glossy, neutral lip.
I designed a few bouquets and arrangements in my usual
romantic design-style, using the gorgeous seasonal flowers from Clowance the
day before. I really concentrated on
letting the flowers shine through and finished the designs with simple bands of
twine, wool, lace or ribbon at the binding point. I even added quintessentially English
strawberries to one arrangement, to create vibrant colour against the muted
tones of moss and sempervivum, nurtured in my garden. The containers were chosen for their muted,
slightly distressed, old-world charm.
Happily, the current interest in natural, unstructured
wedding flowers with a ‘hand picked’ look has helped to create a resurgence in
demand for locally grown flowers and I’m really hoping that this trend will
have a positive impact on British grown flowers in the next few years. I’ve always loved working with really creative
people and this experience really highlighted what fantastic talent we have on
our doorstep. Huge thanks and hugs go
out to everyone who contributed – especially the really rather marvellous NielStewart.
Creative Team
Floral Design: Tracey at Campbell's Flowers
Photographer:
Niel Stewart
Flower Farmer:
Rachel Dyson hollowmeadows@gmail.com
Gowns & Accessories:
Chloe Curry, The White Room
Gowns 'Bardot' by Stephanie
Allin and 'Foxglove'
by Jenny Packham
Head pieces 'Eva' and 'Daisy'
by Debbie
Carlisle
Hair:
Wigs
& Warpaint by stylists Junior Lafayette,
Lauren Smith and Luke Beaumont
Make Up:
Eleanor Gott
Models:
Sophie Murray & Alice Lindley
Venue:
JG
Graves Woodland Discovery Centre,
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