As we head into mid summer, there is a magical place in the Cotswolds where the rolling hills are covered with lavender. It's a scent that's so evocative of place for me, conjuring up memories of long ago days when Al and I use to camp our away across the south of France in the summer, seeking out medieval villages and family restaurants to enjoy the best of Mediterranean life.
In the middle of a long locked down summer, I was asked to create romantic, whimsical florals for two photoshoots - one in the fields themselves and then the full editorial at Elmore Court near Gloucester. This remains one of my favourite shoots and it was lovely to see it featured on Love My Dress wedding blog.
Here's the full story from wedding dress designer Catharina Eden who planned the shoot.
"Our styled photoshoot ‘Pearlescent Lavender’ took place on the 29th of July 2020 at Elmore Court in Gloucestershire. It was inspired by my local lavender fields and the beautiful glow of pearls, both playing their part in the subtle and romantic colour scheme. I really wanted to wrap my couple together in organza and create a very romantic and soft wedding reception but sprinkled with glimpses into their real passion for one another.”
For this shoot I decided to go for a very beautifully soft and minimal colour palette of white, pearl ivory and different shades of lavender. To add a new dimension to this palette I also wanted to play with pearlescent shimmer and a bit of translucent. The table scape is possibly the best example of the palette as it features crisp white table linen with an opulent pure silk organza runner in ivory.”
In the middle of the table we have the flowers in one long, and importantly, continuous row of lavender and 'Amazing grey' poppies to evoke the lavender in the fields that first inspired me. The physical construction of the centrepiece proved to be a little challenging, but nothing that our clever florist couldn’t solve!”
Our venue Elmore Court is a quintessentially British countryside house full of charm and history. It provided us with the perfect backdrop to showcase every supplier's amazing work and bring the entire concept together. The jewellery used on this shoot is from a local family run business in Burford called The Stone Gallery, and they are made in house by the family members themselves. The bride wore pearl earrings and the stone on her ring is a Blue Chalcedony, which is a Quartz used for its healing properties.”
Our wonderful photographer Alicia is an absolute blast to work with and has the magic ability to make every shoot completely stress free and a whole lot of fun. The proof of this you will see in the happy laughter on our real model couples faces!
"Working with Fi on flowers was super easy as she always understands what I am after in a shoot and perfectly brings them to life. Even when what I have in mind hasn’t been done before! As case in point with the vessel to house the centrepiece flowers. Pearl and lavender formed the signature colour palette and we teamed classic white garden-style roses and summer flowers from the cutting garden with on-trend dried seed heads of ‘Honesty’. Textured, layered, full of interest and movement.”
Big shout out to the wonderful team on this one.
Photography and Videography - Alicia Victoria
Venue - Elmore Court
Dresses - My Eden Bridal
Flowers - Corky and Prince
Hair and Makeup - Polly Morton
Cake - Pretty Amazing Cakes
Props - Rustic Rentals
Stationery - Laura Elizabeth Patrick
Hairband - Lucy Bowler Millinery
Jewellery - The Stone Gallery
Models - Abigail and Anton
The florals on this one were so much fun to create. For the pre-shoot in the lavender fields, I made a garden gathered inspired bouquet of white roses and seasonal blooms from the cutting garden and then covered a summer parasol in real lavender and budleja blooms. We had a memorable day in the fields where dress designer Catharina modelled her own dress.
When we went to Elmore Court for the full shoot, we went big with floral towers for the impressive entrance portico and a dreamy natural cacade bouquet. The table flowers featured a long meadow runner of delicate fresh and dried flowers that blended seamlessly with the table setting and stationery.
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