All the World Will be in Love with Night - Victoria Warehouse Wedding Inspiration - Manchester Wedding Photography
“Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow’d night, Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun.”
When I was eleven years old my sister Sarah went to see Baz Luhrmann’s newest take on Romeo & Juliet. I mean, I IDOLISED my big sister in part because she was always just SO cool, too cool to lose her mind with enthusiasm like I constantly did as the hyperactive (annoying) little sister. But Sarah came home from the movie theatre and as soon as she was out of earshot from her equally impossible cool friends, her eyes lit up and she told me all about this amazing movie and how it wasn’t a stuffy old-fashioned take on Shakespeare but Juliet was so cool and beautiful and Angela from My So-Called Life and had a killer wardrobe and Romeo was the hot guy from Growing Pains that we had plastered on our walls in posters from Teen Beat and he drove a convertible and it was fun and fast and the best movie she’d ever seen. I had to wait an excruciating year before I was FINALLY allowed to rent the vhs from our local video store - and thus my mind was blown. I became OBSESSED, I had the soundtrack CD, and the pre-teen angst over my love of Leonardo DiCaprio was constantly challenged by my equally devoted friends - there were SO many arguments over who would get to marry him - the glamour, the romance, the literal tragedy of it all sent me swooning.
As time has gone on, I have remained a devotee to Baz Luhrmann (I’m certain his latest iteration of Elvis’s life has sent a new generation of pre-teen girls into a similar reverie) and I’ve always appreciated his commitment to maximalism. Like fellow auteur Wes Anderson, BA has such a distinct signature to his work, it’s instantly recognisable, even polarising (my husband says his films exhaust him) and from the beginning of my career, I have also strived to maintain a signature, a throughline. Whilst all weddings are unique and magical, I like to think my photos are imbued with a thread of romance, a little nostalgia, a bit of whimsy and unflinching honesty. At the start of every wedding season, I bring together my merry band of extraordinary women to stretch our legs creatively and sink our teeth into a confection of a styled shoot. This year, I wanted to push myself outside of my comfort zone, explore the spaces in the shadows, and artificial light and with a nod to BA’s R&J, our shoot was borne.
I first contacted my regular collaborator and style genius Kate of Florence & Vera Events with a rough sketch of my ideas (and a rather chaotic Pinterest board) and she was instantly buzzing. Whilst we try not to stray too far from achievable wedding inspiration, for this year’s shoot went decided to broaden the spectrum of what a wedding can be - because now the sky is literally the limit (and only just). I’m a recommended supplier at the iconic Victoria Warehouse so I knew it was the perfect blank canvas to unleash our vision on. Eve and Freya and the whole of the events team at VW are SO supportive and collaborative, it made the shoot day such a dream. Foundations in place, we called upon our regular collaborators: Ali of Diddibox Flowers, Lauren Poole MUA, Jen of Wildflower Hair Company, Stacy at Love Lights the Way, Nat at Jellypress, Sarah of Pink Cocoa, Whitehouse Crockery, Whitfield & Ward Suits, Helen of In Love Club Bridal, Heidi of Glorious by Heidi accessories, magical Celebrant SJ and my muses, the dreamy Fish duo, my Zakk & my Nina modelling.
What followed was a shoot day of dreams, soundtracked by our usual playlist of 90s hip hop and the R&J soundtrack, a creative bubble of energy and ideas and bonkers design. We work so so beautifully as a team and I can only hope my photos have done all of their incredible, magical, extraordinary work credit. I came away inspired and energised with a few new tricks up my sleeves and the unbelievable feeling of being uplifted by so many AMAZINGLY talented women in this mind-blowing industry.
I cannot thank our incredible team enough, my queens who make me always want to work harder and be better at what I do. Here’s to you.
Dream Team
Venue - Victoria Warehouse
Styling & Coordination - Florence & Vera Events
Florals - Diddibox Flowers
Neon & Set Pieces - Love Lights the Way
Hair - Wildflower Hair Company
Makeup - Lauren Poole
Dresses - In Love Club
Suits - Whitfield & Ward
Cake - Pink Cocoa
Accessories - Glorious by Heidi
Stationary - Jellypress
Crockery - Whitehouse Crockery
Celebrant - Celebrant SJ
Models - Nina & Zakk FIsh
