Your West Midlands Wedding - Dec/Jan 2019 (Issue 65)

66 Rustic yet contemporary, bold yet sophisticated Images courtesy of Still Light Photography U pon hearing of a new wedding venue opening near Malvern in Worcestershire, photographer Katie Whitburn of Still Light Photography was excited to visit. “I contacted them about holding a collaborative wedding styled shoot there and Lisi, one of the owners, was very excited to host what turned out to be an amazing day,” shares Katie. “We decided to go with a bold, contemporary look – something that had never been done there before and something a little different. I researched current trends and liaised with the other suppliers involved to decide on the style and colours for the shoot. “I wanted to create images that worked with this, using the contrast between dark and light and between rustic and modern. I kept coming back to the black architecture contrasting with the wood and I just felt that this was such an amazing look. “I spoke to Lydia at Floral Roundabout about incorporating black flowers into the floral displays however she advised that these were hard to come by and not in season. We chose to go down the route of dark burgundies and purples instead with heavy foliage and ostrich feathers dyed black to give a very bold exotic feel. When I first saw the display that Lydia had created I was blown away. “The rest of the shoot styling was heavily based around the flowers as we wanted to have a consistent look and feel. The dresses and suit were borrowed from the award-winning The Dressing Rooms, using modern styles that we felt gave the ‘wow’ factor without overpowering the boldness of the bouquet and floral displays. Ana wore a bespoke veil from Adorn by Ashley, which complemented the bouquet beautifully. “With regards to the venue styling we kept it quite minimal; we chose to use just the floral displays and then some laser-engraved wooden signage from Timber Things. Laura at The Nuthouse Bakery provided an amazing semi naked cake using dark berries and figs to match the colours of the shoot. “One element which added a bit of uniqueness was China Grey’s vintage horsebox bar – it suited the venue perfectly and really brought out the ‘rustic’ side of the brief.” BOLD Beautifully