Curiouser and Curiouser!
This amazing photoshoot came about when Kirsty Hardiman
Photography
and Katy Stroud Photography
went to visit Lou and Colin, owners of The Old Milking Parlour at Cavokay House.
Walking down to the woodland, they instantly envisaged a tea-party in the woods which led them to
thinking of the Mad Hatters tea-party.
Unsure how to put a photoshoot together Lou contacted me and
asked if I would like to help Kirsty and Katy bring it altogether at their
beautiful D.I.Y venue.
Of course, I jumped at the chance and said ‘YES’!
Given a chance my mind goes into overdrive, so when I
met with Kirsty and Katy we came up with some amazing ideas!
Naturally for me only a real white rabbit would do and
amazingly one of Kirsty’s friends rabbits had just had babies with two of them
being white…perfect!
Once we figured out what shots we wanted to gain from
the shoot, I was able to contact some extremely talented Dorset
based wedding suppliers who were all super keen to join us on this quirky take
on Alice in Wonderland.
Check out this lovely bunch of suppliers!
We chose two very different dresses with Kayleigh, owner of
the quaint little bridal shop, Exclusively Yours Bridal Boutique
in Blandford.
The first one being a ‘Veromia’ ball gown which looked stunning at the tea
party and in amongst the tea-cup tree.
The second one to give the edgy whimsical feel
was a tea-length ‘Sincerity’ dress which was perfect to venture down into the
woodland.
Of course it wouldn’t be an Alice shoot if stripey tights weren’t involved, so
with this dress we could show off the blue and white tights perfectly and
teamed them with our model, Abbeys DM boots…
I
mean who wouldn’t do that?!
Alice was a sweet young girl but as we were giving our Alice an edge it gave Wendy from Sapphire Hair & Make-Up
free rein to create
something a little bit different. Wendy gave Abbey two different looks to suit
the two different styles of dress. The first look combined bouncy blonde curls
with an Alice band plait and fresh flowers to match the bouquet, with the
second hairstyle featuring a jewelled head piece. The pink and blue glitter eye
make-up was perfect for the Alice look, still keeping our model Abbey innocent looking but giving her the edge with some long dramatic lashes.
Our groom model Shane looked extremely handsome in a Wilvorst black morning jacket and striped trousers from Wedding Time
in Dorchester. Mixing it up with a tailored waistcoat and two
different coloured cravat ties gave Shane, our groom model, two different looks
to complement his Alice bride. To finish off the Mad Hatter styling Tracy also
supplied a black top hat.
Lets be honest the Mad Hatter isn’t
the Mad Hatter without a top hat!
Alice or not, every bride needs
flowers and Hanna from Flowers by Tidburydid an amazing job of creating a
perfectly fitting bouquet and floral hoop which looked beautiful in amongst the
woodland. Our Mad Hatter had a button-hole to match and Wendy was able to put
matching flowers in Abbeys hair to tie it all together.
As for the table runner, it had
to be a living one!
With some moss as the centre runner
and some gorgeous heather, parrot tulips and Muscari sprouting from it, it was
the perfect setting for the White Rabbit to explore at the tea-party!
A tea-party has to have a tea-set
and place settings, so no better person than Vicki from Grannys China Cupboard
to supply exquisite vintage china. To keep with the Alice theme, Vicki selected
cups and saucers with the classic red and white roses. Extra tea-cups were also
supplied so we could tie them in the trees to give an illusional shot.
I mean
nothing was ever normal and straight forward in Alice in Wonderland…Right?
Would a tea-party be a tea-party
without cake and biscuits?
In
my opinion…No!
So, who better to ask than Biscuits by Sarah B
to make some themed iced biscuits? With her creative head
on Sarah made a variety of biscuit styles to pick out the different features
throughout the Alice in Wonderland story, such as the flamingos, a pocket-watch,
top hat, playing cards and of course eat me and drink me biscuits! We also
needed place settings so instead of the traditional card ones, Sarah made some
edible biscuit ones…who wouldn’t love this!
Next for the cake and WOW what a
cake!
Jen was our girl from Cakey Luluswho created this masterpiece. With the cascade of red and white roses Jen
linked it to the song ‘Painting the Roses Red’ and topped it off with a stack
of hand painted sugar tea-cups. Each feature of the cake connected with our
bride Alice, with the ruffles and texture to indicate the dress and the lace
effect to show off exquisite dress detail, all topped off with the Mad-Hatters
edible pocket watch.
Not only this but Jen whipped up
some delicious ‘eat me’ cakes. Our Alice
and Mad-Hatter were extremely well behaved and did as they were told…
Your guests first hear all about
your wedding when they receive their invites and it is generally this invite
that gives them a feel for your day. For that reason personalising your
stationery set to match your theme or styling is a great idea and that is
exactly what Charlotte from Lily & Lottie Stationerydid with her laser cut
wedding invitation set. This was also matched to the table number and menu
cards listing the array of Alice themed tea-party food!
On the day a table-plan shows
your guests where to sit for your wedding breakfast which can also be matched
to your theme and styling. Matching it up to the woodland surroundings, Charlotte
used a grass backing and once again the red roses came into play alongside some
classic Alice illustrations.
Don’t be scared to ask your stationery
designer for any extra pieces you may need, you will find most are happy to
oblige. To make the Mad Hatters top hat a true likeness we needed the 10/6 card
as well as some eat me and drink me cards which finished the look off
perfectly.
Our
shots needed props and styling so Debi from Perfectly Pretty Wedding & Events Stylingwas the
answer to all our prayers. With a huge selection of props, Debi was able to
provide everything we needed from the silver candelabra, to a mini tea set,
flamingos, vintage books, giant wooden toadstools, a giant chess set and an
eclectic mix of wooden chairs. Having these props certainly brought the shoot
to life and Debi was in love with looking after the white rabbits (just to
point out we had two rabbits so they could keep each other company and also to
save them having to model too much!).
Debi
had thought of every detail including a handmade dormouse to join the
tea-party!
Naturally we had to create some
mirror shots to symbolise ‘Alice through the Looking Glass’…
Kirsty wanted to create the idea
of looking through a keyhole so she turned all Blue Peter and made herself a
super sized keyhole to photograph through.
So many wonderful photos, here are a few more of my favourites…
Not only did we get an amazing
gallery from the very talented Kirsty Hardiman we also had Katy Stroud
Photography
capture a video. Katy did a wonderful job of bringing our shoot
to life.
Just press play and see for
yourself!
Everyone worked so hard, a
complete dream team of wedding suppliers!
Check us out we also featured on Magpie
Weddingblog and received this lovely ‘featured on’ badge.
So proud as I do love a badge!
I also love feedback, so please
let me know what you think of our shoot below, I would love to hear from you.
Lots of Love
