Diverse, Alternative Elegance Celestial Styled Shoot at Redbank Barn

While this gorgeous styled shoot focuses on the celestial elements, we thought there was lots of festive winter inspiration too! From the gorgeous red bouquets, to the rich colour bridal furs and glamorous makeup. Priya of SORRISO Wedding Photography tells us all about the concept, inspiration and details. 

Theme

For this styled shoot project, it was important to have a very real and relatable feel to “the wedding”, while keeping it romantic and timeless. We decided on a Autumnal Celestial theme to be held in a beautiful barn venue. We wanted to keep the majority of the colour scheme quite neutral, using features that remind us of a cosy Autumn throughout, such as dried curly willow, pinecones, reindeer antlers and white faux fur bench throws. I have an unhealthy obsession with gold, which screams luxury and elegance. We featured gold throughout the shoot with candles, hair accessories, jewellery and other accents. We also used contrasting tones, such as midnight blues and firey red colour pops to marry well with the rusted barn walls and theme overall.  

Inspiration 

Olivia of Olivia’s Wedding Planning and myself have worked together before on other styled shoots and we were really excited to collaborate again with suppliers we had worked with before, along with new wedding professionals. We wanted focus on an autumn shoot with a Celestial vibe. During the research around the common celestial themes, we noticed that many of the shoots had a dark and moody feel about them, which we do love but isn’t quite our thing. SORRISO Wedding Photography is known for capturing light, romantic, natural photographs and we wanted to show a different way of incorporating Autumnal and Celestial into brighter imagery.  

Generally, I work with a diverse set of couples, which shows throughout my work. I get to experience many cultures and backgrounds uniting for a couples’ wedding and I felt this shoot needed to reflect my work and stay true to its routes along with my values.  We had two beautiful ladies with their own fabulous quirks join us on the shoot as our Brides (one of which was a real Bride preparing for her own wedding) along with the Burch brothers who stepped in as our Grooms. 

We also didn’t want to overkill on the celestial theme but keep it minimalistic, with hints of night sky features through the props and accessories. We had handmade gold star and moon jewellery created for the shoot, as well as hand painted signage and our beautiful designed stationary, which all gelled well with the theme.  

Stationery

We have worked with the lovely Brittany of Pigment & Paper before and adore her vision. It was a no brainer to have her on this shoot again to create our beautiful stationery such as the place cards, wedding invites and menus.  All of the stationary was handmade with the celestial theme in mind. The place cards and menus included gold foiling details for that extra added luxury feel. We also had wooden signs hand painted by the lovely Made By Little Chip, which were the perfect opportunity for our models to pose with.

Styling

Olivia of Olivia Wedding Planning styled the shoot. Her vision explored the Celestial theme using cool and neutral tones and textures. The venue kindly supplied some of the décor, which fit perfectly with the end goal we had in mind.  We used navy and gold colours to reflect the richness of the night sky, with added star and moon symbols. The navy charger plates and gold cutlery fit into this very well and framed our stunning handmade stationary. The models also wore gold hair pieces and make-up the blend with the theme. 

Flowers

To tie up the theme, we decided on dark flower colours, such as navy’s and deep reds. We also used dried flowers and thistles to reflect an Autumn/Winter season. We also collected pinecones and featured curly willows on some of the tables. 

Venue

The venue, Redbank Barn, was chosen for its rustic interior and use of raw materials, such as industrial metals and wood furnishings. The venue worked perfectly for our theme and gave our shoot something a little different to the common wood and stone barn converted venues.  

Bridal Style

We also considered a wintery theme for the bridal wear. We decided on lace wedding dresses teamed with navy and dusty rose fur shawls. All of the jewellery and accessories for this shoot were handmade by Julieann Bird. She created a beautiful gold tiara with matching earrings, and a pear earing and tiara set too.  

Hair and Makeup

We had quiet the glam squad help us on this shoot. Both Jenni and Hilary lent us their magic hands on a previous shoot and so we knew we wanted them to glam up our girls again. We also had the lovely Sami Preston join us on this shoot as we had 2 bride models this time around. For Lashawn’s look, we loved the idea of heavier midnight hues on her eyelids with a neutral lip. Lashawn had the most beautiful long locks which Hilary curled and styled to the side. Ellis had stunning firey locks so we decided a warm makeup tones would complete her overall look.  

Suppliers

As creatives, we believe in the importance of creating for ourselves. In the corporate world, members of staff may be sent on training courses to keep their knowledge fresh and skills up to date. Teaming together with other wedding industry professionals is our way of keeping our skills and creativity fresh and up to date. We love to branch out and work with a different combination of wedding suppliers. We feel this not only helps us scope out different ideas, but is also a great networking opportunity. We scoped out the suppliers on recommendations and people we had worked with before on weddings, shoots and other events. 

We wanted to be sure that each supplier could offer a their take on the theme so we created a group to add everyone into and posted mood-boards on the theme, the makeup and the décor. This helped us keep to a brief and draw out the creativity in each supplier. We were so pleased with the final look and how it had all come together and cannot thank all those involved enough. We feel very fortunate to have had such a supportive group join us on this shoot. 

Photographer: SORRISO Wedding Photography

Wedding Planner: Olivia's Wedding Planning

Stationery: Pigment + Paper

Wedding Cake: Vics Vegan Bakes

Florist: May Rose Floral Design

Hair Artist: Hilary Read

Make Up Artist 1: Jenni Moran

Make Up Artist 2: Samantha Price

Jewellery & Accessories: Julieann Bird

Bridal Wear: Gatehouse Brides

Menswear: Bill Childs Formal Wear

Wedding Signage: Made By Little Chipp

Model: Lashawn Ellis

Model: Ellis Gerton

Model: Dave Burc

Model: Chris Burch

From Brides, With Love xo