We love our Spring 2014 fairs promo shoot, I know you may have seen them quite a few times now (sorry!) but the Norwich fair is in JUST TWO DAYS, so don't worry they will soon be submitted to the archives :) It's one we are super proud of though and big thanks to Joanna Millington for going with the vision on this one. And Jo Flowers for the amazing floral creations as well.
We also had the lovely May Chung, a Norwich based up and coming photographer on the set too and we wanted to share the BTS shots she captured. Thanks to you too May!
So, borrowed from a piece stylist and founder of the fair Becky Hoh-Hale wrote for Love My Dress, here's how we put together a shoot that would blaize a trail for all you style savvy brides and grooms. We can't wait to meet more of you on Saturday!
To create a shoot that encapsulated the Most Curious ethos, was ahead of the bridal curve, inspirational and still accessible to REAL brides was not without its challenges.
Weddings have come a little bit full circle, rather than choosing your theme or look for the wedding and hurriedly, slavishly, trying to find a dress that fits in with it, Brides are thinking, how do I actually want to look? What do I feel is beautiful? And once again returning to that being the focal point.
So I put down the hipster mags, woke up one morning and thought ‘all I need are beautiful girls in beautiful dresses with beautiful, inspiring photography.’ So I scrapped the storyboards and gave Joanna Millington a call - my original partner in crime on the Most Curious shoots - and thankfully she was said yes and the world seemed to be on the right axis once again!
Having said that, when it came to making sure the cool factor shone through, the special factor couples have come to rely on Most Curious for, I have one word and that word is HAIM. For me, HAIM encapsulate the intelligent, creative, independent, hip style that intelligent, creative, hip woman identify with - aesthetically a mix of 90s grunge, 70s Fleetwood Mac references, long California sun highlighted hair, willowy long legs and leather jackets. We knew this look it would strike a chord with our brides.
Brides who were worried they might need to give up their everyday cool for their big day - well fear not, we are here to represent! It’s not that we are saying stick a leather jacket on when you are saying your vows, it’s what the leather jacket represents. But also we if you DO want to wear it while you say your vows, we are saying gosh darn go for it! Yes, there’s a few contradictions going on we do realise, but that’s the open nature of Most Curious - mix it up and make it cool, what ever you feel cool is of course.
So in some ways, the dresses are quite modest and timeless and don’t scream and shout, it is more a feeling of simplicity and beauty, open to interpretation.
The longer gowns were supplied by Parisian designer Delphine Manivet and the short dress is bohemian but cute number from Topshop! There wasn’t a crazy set design, with elaborate table settings and decor, it was very stripped back but we did chose to have statement flowers as I think that remains to be a big trend for 2014.
Joanna Millington and I discussed the idea that jewellery should feature as heavily as the flowers - flowers were so huge last year, we also wanted to give other accessories some limelight this time around. We love the current resurgence of 90s styles that are coming back, so gem stones alongside more contemporary geometric shapes came from design-led brand Eclectic Eccentricity to give a feeling of less obviously bridal jewellery.
These brought in gold accents, mirrored in the bronze boots by another classically cool French fashion brand Sezane.
Hair was by Sophie Morter at Flint Salon, who ensured we got the all important long, soft locked look we needed as well as some beautiful loose braids for the up dos. Bella Simonsen was the make up artist keeping the feel pared back and beautiful before adding a dark lip and heavy brows and eyes for that 90s grunge feel.
Obviously floral crowns have dominated the wedding scene over the past year or two so we wanted to scale them back to a simple circlet and then go a bit ‘most curious’ nuts with one and just have it uber huge, and to take away the big blousey florals and strip it back to branches and a little blossom to give it that harder edge, both offsetting and complimenting the jackets. Jo Flowers, an amazing Norwich based florist who has been featured in Harpers Bazaar, supplied the pieces, including over sized bouquets, another trend we are seeing and some cute magnolia blossom branches, and chrysthanimums with floppy foliage to use in more softly styled shots. For those we also used a beautiful white goose feather cape by Rogue Pony.
To emphasise the importance of the party that couples are feeling, we added a little sparkle and a touch of deco inspiration with amazing handmade hanging star clusters by UK-based Argentinian designer-maker La bicicleta de Anakleta. We also wanted to bring in even more glitter with an alternative bridal look, that challenged traditional ideas of the dress, something that seemed more red carpet and evening party but still ultra cool, a new, ballsier take on the art deco gatsby glamour that saturated the wedding world last year too. T
he amazing sequin mermaid tail skirt and cream velvet top is by previous bridalNEXT! contestant Lizzie O Boutique, paired with a glittery cuff from DC Bouquets.
It is one of the simplest but most beautiful shoots we have ever done and it might just be my favourite because of that. Bring on the Saturday, we can’t wait to meet you!
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