If your main aim as a bride is to be both bold and beautiful on your big day, then this styled shoot will bring you inspirational ideas which will not disappoint! It’s crammed full of rustic, vibes that will both inspire, and empower the boho bride, to make you breathtakingly confident as you sashay (or ride) down the aisle!
A Songbird Weddings creation, this fascinating and graceful shoot was inspired by Boudica and the Iceni tribe; here we catch up with Katie of Songbird Weddings and the person behind the camera photographer Rebecca Harley…
“We wanted to create a shoot that celebrated the strength in women both individually and collectively. There has been a lot in the media about women speaking out and coming together with arguments about equal pay and anti harassment filling the headlines. We have
seen the trickle effect in the wedding industry (which is female dominated) with industry
leaders starting to encourage women to come together promoting collaboration over
competition. We wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate those women that are strong and
confident and bold AND take the time to admire the men that fall in love with us.”
“The Cambridgeshire and Suffolk border is infamous for being the home of the Iceni Tribe and British folk hero Boudica. Boudica was our influence for the shoot. Boudica was the queen of the Celtic Iceni tribe and led an uprising against the Roman Empire. It was fortuitous that once we had the idea for the shoot, Hannah from Forest Lodge Weddings contacted me and invited me to visit her new outdoor wedding venue. I immediately loved it. We also wanted to incorporate a horse into our shoot as one of the things that makes Forest Lodge Weddings unique is that it has stables so you can ride your horse up to the ceremony area and then they will take care of your horse for you.”
“For our ceremony space we wanted to use grasses and natural materials coupled with
features to create an authentic but on trend wedding look. We created a triangle ceremony arch and on this Feather and Ferns used mainly pampus grass to adorn this structure which is a massive trend this year. A few bulrush stems were also used to add interest and a splash of orange brought through on one of the sides. We let the view do all the rest.”
“Finally we created a banquet style feast table with pallet backdrop from Songbird Weddings
with a calligraphy hanging sign created by Folly and Gander which said “he loved her not for
her beauty but for her strength”. We then brought textures on to the table by using log slice
chargers with matt gold plates and calligraphy feather name place.”
“We wanted to feature a banquet style feast but make it more modern so we asked Hall and Co to create a sharing platter table runner. So many of my clients are trying to find more interactive ways for their guests to enjoy the meal at their wedding and I love how sharing
platters styled in this way can be both interactive food and stunning table decoration all at
once. Above the feast table, Feather and Ferns constructed a floral hoop. A swag of foliage and kangaroo paw draped over the two skulls on the backdrop.”
“Right from the outset we had the vision of Boudica on horse back with a large tulle dress and
feather headdress but this proved tricky to create. We were struggling to source the dress
anywhere in the UK when the wonderful Rachel Lamb came to our rescue and offered to make it for us. We particularly like the fact that the floral pattern in the lace bodice looks like the pampas grass from our mood board.”
“Having researched the iceni tribe we wanted to bring in a gold head piece to resemble the
introductions of roman wealth into the tribes of this period. We were then extremely lucky to
have been lent the head pieces from Howling Moon and Liberty in Love which fitted in
perfectly with the feel of the shoot.”
“One of the biggest challenges was to create the statement feather headdress. Becky built the headdress structure from scratch the week before the shoot and added the florals on the day, which included roses as well as a gorgeous rusty flower “kangaroos paw”.
Feather and Ferns suggested that we keep the stems on Boudica’s bouquet long and that
she tied the ribbon in a way that resembled the handle on a sword.”
“The flowers used in the bouquet were an array of roses is soft caramels, neon oranges and soft peaches. A pincushion exotic flower, pampus grass and dark hints of daucus. A weird and wonderful flower called Japhtroper “firecracker” and a desert sand amaranthus. The ribbons used were Velvet which again is a big trend. We opted for a coppery velvet and dark aubergine to complement the blooms in this bouquet.”
“We wanted the cake table to tie the whole shoot together. Floral hoops have been so on trend this year and so we wanted to try the idea of using the hoop idea but with the texture of the feathers to create a back drop to our cake table. We then styled the tables with the lavish
foods from the table and lay it on a bed of moss to give it those earthy tonnes. The cake was
created by La Belle Cake Company and was designed to resemble the gold floral crowns worn by our brides.”
“We asked Barberalla Bridal to create a wild hair style that would work with both the feather
headpiece and the stunning gold hair crown from Liberty in Love worn by Boudica later on in
the shoot. Claire used a variety of patterns and textures to complement the crown and added multiple curling techniques and incorporated some crimping for extra detail. Flash Kate went bold and created warrior make up with a bridal twist, by adding gems to the under eye to create a glamorous war paint look. The brown and gold eyeshadow complimented the fair redhead and made the eyes more dramatic. She kept the lips nude and matte.”
“We loved the idea of creating a picture of the three girls emerging from the woodland. We
wanted the other two brides to have a fierce boho vibe and asked them to carry flame
torches to represent the infamous Boudica flame battle. The Iceni tribe were well known
for painting themselves with blue body paint (actually made out of sperm) so we decided
to incorporate this in a fun way by using blue smoke bombs in our picture and later with
blue tribal glitter body paint by Luna Glitter Bar.”
Both brides wore dresses from the Rembo Styling collection from bridal store Lara B. Our blonde bride wore “First” which is a chiffon dress with modern lace. Here Barberella bridal created a relaxed bridal look using a knotting technique to create loose curls which blended into a large side braid. The fishtail plaits were enhanced with a slight pink hue woven through. The style was embellished with a hair crown from Howling Moon and green foliage. Flash Kate gave this bride a more traditional bridal feel with smoky brown eyes and nude lips which we changed up to a bright coral lip to match the flowers later on.”
“Our brunette boho bride wore Louka which is a pretty boho style dress with a stunning low dip lace back. With this bride we wanted to create an edgy tribal feel. Claire created a mow hawk effect with different braiding down the sides and loose curl texture throughout. Accessorised with a light gold comb from Liberty in Love and finished with strands of leather, fur and feathers to complete the look. Flash Kate created very dramatic warrior eye makeup to compliment the incredible hair design, again with gems added along the brows. She went with pink flushed cheeks to replicate her being outdoors and a neutral lip.”
“The groom wore Sand trousers and a brown tweed waistcoat with red paisley braces
and a red and black (Hunt & Holditch) bow tie from Chimney Formal Menswear. Feather and
Ferns created boutinneres from a mixture of feathers and clusters/pips of floral materials in
keeping with the colours and feel of this shoot.”
Photography
“When I met with Katie to plan the shoot we discussed our theme and how all the elements would come together to make the shoot work. I had several ideas for key shots that I wanted to capture, particularly those featuring our Boudica bride. I wanted to capture her power and strength amongst a rustic woodland backdrop, and I also envisaged a shot of Boudica emerging proudly from the woods on horseback.”
“I was keen to make use of smoke bombs to frame our brides and create drama in the shot, so I brought orange and blue smoke grenades to the shoot. I loved the blue smoke bombs, which were inspired by the blue warpaint that the Iceni tribe are said to have worn. The blue contrasted really well with the orange smoke, which in turn tied in with the rustic orange theme throughout the shoot.”
Suppliers:
Planning and Styling: Songbird Weddings and Events @songbird_weddings
Venue: Forest Lodge Weddings @Forestlodgeweddings
Photography: Becky Harley Photography @beckyharleyphotog
Floristry and Feather Headpiece: Feather and Ferns @Featherandferns
Stationary and Caligraphy: Folly and Gander @follyandgander
Hair: Barberella Bridal @Clairebarberella
Make Up Artist: Flash Kate @flashkatemua
Catering and Food Styling: Hall and Co Event Design @hallandcoeventdesign
Glitter Bar: Luna Glitter Bar @lunaglitterbar
Feather Wreaths: Made by Andrea Parish
Feathers: Sourced by Plucking Fabulous @pluckingfabulous
Cake: La Belle Cake Company @labellecakecompany
Concept Creation Assistant: Bride and Bailey @brideandbailey
Jewellery and Headpieces: Howling Moon @howlingmoonuk and Liberty in Love @libertyinlove_style
Boudica Dress: Rachel Lamb @rachellambdesign
Other Brides Dresses: Lara B @larab_bridal
Groom: Chimneys Formal Menswear @chimneyformalmenswear
Bench (Table Set up): Cambridge Tipi Company @Cambridge_tent_company
Some of the floral grasses and dried artichokes were sourced locally from: The Bee Flower
Garden
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