With every wedding I shoot, every styled shoot I work on I'm always surprised and delighted by the collaboration and hours of work that goes into a wedding.  Leaving aside the DIY weddings which are a whole other level of amazing, when a couple enlists professionals to put together their vision of what can be arguably one of the most beautiful days of their life together, weddings can be an elaborate production.  The cogs need to turn just so and everyone needs to play their part perfectly to pull off something that will then be captured for all eternity.  I've talked about this before, how weddings are like theatre in that we are all working to fulfill the couples' ideal of their dream wedding. 

At this stage in my career, I'm so very lucky to be working with wedding professionals at the very top of their game.  I could give a list of florists that create pure magic by turning a rather uninspired function room into a space that rivals fairyland.  I have talked about the tireless makeup artists, hairstylists, entertainers, bakers, calligraphers, the sheer village it takes to put together this production and my praise for them is endless.  When the grunt work is done and the heavy lifting completed, it's then my job to show this artistry off and make sure every detail gets equal billing as the star of the show.  It's a privilege I don't take lightly but one I LOVE and work so hard to find new ways to stay with trends whilst also staying true to the classics and my personal style that I've been hired for. 

One such unsung hero of the wedding industry that seems to be gaining more (and rightly so) traction and popularity is the wedding stylist.  The name evokes a sort of exclusivity and can be deliberately vague but the idea of the wedding stylist is to take your ideas, your personal vision and to enhance it and pull it off in such a way that it becomes beyond your wildest dreams.  Stylists are creative and ahead of the trend curve, they can take your wedding to a whole other level without you having to stress about every minor detail.  They're clued in to the very best suppliers, can often give recommendations on nearly every aspect of the planning process and can act as the glue that binds the whole day together with their foresight and eye for the most minute details. 

Louise from One Stylish Day contacted me at the start of the summer with the idea for a styled shoot, using local wedding suppliers, styling a space with three very distinct looks.  She wanted to show the possibilities using her considerable talent to transform a wedding based on colour, theme, time of year, etc.  The catch was that we weren't using models for the shoot.  The setups were to speak for themselves.  The idea was so refreshing and I was thrilled to be involved.  We met at a slightly run-down Victorian home in Cheadle and when I turned the corner, I was absolutely blown away by Louise's work.  She had literally thought of everything.  Below are my images of the incredible work that came together that afternoon, with a huge thank you to Louise for pinning me down, Charlotte from Verity & Thyme florals and Rachel from Marie Antoinette Cakes.  What an amazing day, and please check out the work of everyone involved including:

Blush & Grey
Table runner & Napkins - Lancaster & Cornish
Stationery - Bonjour Laura J
Confetti - Shropshire Petals

Moody Hues
Glassware & cutlery - Whitehouse Events
Stationery - Emily Rollings
Confetti - Shropshire Petals

Copper Bottles
Foiled silk ribbon - Lancaster & Cornish
Stationery - Sincerely May