Beautiful blues for an elegant wedding, inspiration from Apton Hall

Published by Claire Gould on April 22, 2020April 22, 2020

I’m a HUGE fan of blues in wedding decor, and I love today’s feature to bits! The soft blue tones are just wonderful, and the photography absolutely perfect. I need all those fabulous florals in my life right now!

As joint co-ordinators, hair stylist Jennie and photographer Laura came up with the concept for the shoot, which took place at Apton Hall in Essex. They focused primarily on the Pantone colour of the year – blue, and the idea of hinting toward an eco-friendly wedding. They began involving other wedding suppliers and the idea behind an environmental wedding grew into this beauty of an editorial. I’ll hand over to the girls to tell you more!

With love,

Laura photographed the day in her usual light & airy look, aiming to portray a romantic-luxe feel, and timeless beauty in a floaty boho-style. Laura’s images are created using natural light, showing romance and beauty, which appeal to many Brides for its elegant and relaxed nature. We both agreed that we wanted to show genuine emotion and for our models to portray ‘fun on their wedding day’, so we made efforts to have our couples laugh and enjoy the simple elements of a real wedding.

We found local wedding dress designer, Indie Bride London, who focuses on the idea of eco- friendly wedding gowns made in silk or lace with zero waste cutting techniques.

The hair and make-up team, Jennie from Bridal Hair by Jennie and Katie Poole MUA, put together a kit of ‘clean’ cruelty free products that were also ethically sourced or manufactured. Jennie wanted to show just how easy it is to have a vegan friendly-kit and completed the Brides look with a reinvented hair jewellery piece from Hey Jules, plus a hand-made ombre veil designed by Sash & Veil.

After discussing the ‘eco’ idea for the shoot, it was important for Katie to use products that reflected this, and she even made efforts to create her own cheek stain by infusing red berry tea and mixing it with coconut oil. The colours of the models eyes & skin were a big influence on the makeup used, to ensure they accentuated her features.

With the multipurpose décor idea in mind, we asked Lauren from The Honey Bee Wedding Cake Co. to create a cake that served as part of the statement wedding décor. She created a collection of stacked geometric shaped cakes, fondant covered, each with its own décor aesthetic. The bottom tier was heavily textured and hand painted, the top tier gave the appearance of torn recycled paper and the middle tier included an artistic water coloured surface, all made with vegan products and brought together with the creation of delicate grouping of tiny sugar leaves.

The cake was styled on a repurposed painted dresser by Victoria, stylist from Party Squared. Completing the cake table set up with hand dyed draped fabrics in different tones and décor to add interest and further texture to the set-up, giving it a whimsical and boho luxe styled look. All of the décor styling items were repurposed from existing collections and are included in the current hire collection.

Our on the day wedding stationery was created from handmade recycled paper and written out by calligraphy artist Heather, from Leigh Calligraphy.

Sarah from Smoke & Ash Jewellery added the perfect finish to our eco-friendly shoot with her beautiful jewellery lovingly handmade from recycled sterling silver. Inspired by her rural surroundings, Sarah’s environmentally friendly pieces incorporate a mix of all types of finery for couples to choose to wear for their wedding day.

Our floral design team, Raynor and Harriet from Stock Florist designed a contemporary arch backdrop that is created on a portable structure and could be moved from ceremony to reception. We asked the floral design team to create an installation and bouquet that could work throughout the day; multipurpose décor if you like. Their foam free design was created using seasonal flowers such as white Ranunculus, Eyringium Thistle, Delphinium, White Wax flowers and eucalyptus foliage, and included a range of textures and shapes, whilst combining subtle hues from the chosen colour palette. The floral arch was used as a civil ceremony backdrop and then again in the function suite behind the table framing the couple and adding a statement focal point.

Victoria dressed the dining table with white table linen and a pale blue linen fabric overlay. Each place setting was laid with handmade luxury textured glass charger plates with a painted gold rim, colour glassware and gold cutlery. A combination of coloured napkins and hand lettered on the day stationery added a different dimension to the soft colour palette made for a unique yet achievable tablescape. Our spring bridal bouquet was repurposed as a centrepiece in a beautiful stone urn with a bronze finish.

Our local formal wear company, Dapper Chaps stepped in to finish our Groom’s look with an on-trend ‘lounge suit’ from their recent collection. The tweed waistcoat was spot-on for our modern country-barn venue, Apton Hall, and the navy suit blended with the rest of the day bringing the whole look together perfectly.