Little White Books have long been admirers of the bespoke bridal couture company, Legend Bridal Designs, and so we jumped at the opportunity to work with them to promote the Autumn 2014 Great Lancashire Wedding Show, Sunday 9th November at USN Bolton Arena.
Charlotte of Legend suggested a mystical shoot location – Wycoller Village & Country Park, a historic Lancashire village situated close to Colne, slowly being brought back to life after virtual abandonment. The weather on the day of the October shoot was quite hostile, very cold and not in the least bit golden & Autumnal. Our thanks & appreciation goes to our models Michelle & Rowan who persevered with such awful conditions, and our photographer Mick Cookson who once again has produced a portfolio of the most incredible & evocative images.
Our chosen promotional image for November’s Great Lancashire Wedding Show is taken within Wycoller Hall, thought by some to be the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in the Charlotte Bronte novel, Jane Eyre.
Charlotte of Legend Bridal Designs takes up the story:
‘It has been said from time to time that we can be ‘away with the faeries’ so you will not be surprised that we LOVE myth and fairytale. You can easily see the influence in our designs; left to our own devices we can’t help but get lost in the magic and weave a ‘long forgotten’ feel for our wedding dresses.
The ideas for this shoot didn’t evolve so much as jump into place; an autumnal theme in the ruins of Wycollar Hall spoke to us of secret trysts and romance… so much about this idea is completely ‘Legend Bridal’.
Having chosen the venue easily we struggled over which dress to showcase. We have a full collection of dresses at our boutique ranging from demure vintage lace to dramatic gothic ball gowns, yet the history and setting of Wycoller Hall demanded a new design. We wanted to capture something of a time gone by, of romance and love letters and snatched moments together. The gown we created is Faylinn; the corset bodice of ivory corded lace over latte duchess satin with asymmetric tulle and lace neckline. We completed the gown with high/low duchess satin skirt with layers of tatty tulle which make soft clouds. We wanted to capture the fairytale feel of the forgotten village and this gown is both romantic and whimsical with classic sweetheart bodice in contrast to the quirky and capricious skirt.
We love to be inspired. We love hearing the first kernel of an idea and working with our brides to create a wedding dress that is entirely original and uniquely them. The process of designing a bespoke gown is amazing and we are privileged to be able to help our brides create the look that they’ve always had in their minds eye.’
Our make-up artist was the excellent Kerry Baker. Kerry describes how she achieved Michelle’s look: ‘I love being creative with make-up, but on this shoot I decided to take it back to basics. For Michelle’s look I really wanted to capture a feel of untamed elegance: a relaxed bridal make-up which focused more on natural beauty than a perfectly polished result. Using Illamasqua s Skin Base foundation I was able to create a natural, dewy base which allowed Michelle s beautiful skin tone and gorgeous freckles to show through.
Eyes were given a subtle wash of colour using taupe and champagne shades, framed with a chocolate brown liner and finished with lashings of mascara. Michelle’s cheeks were softly sculpted using a soft biscuit brown blush while her lips were given a cheeky hint of colour using a berry tone lip stain. The finished make up looked great and really complimented Michelle s tousled hair and stunning dress. During the shoot the elements certainly tested us, but other than a simple touch up here and there, the make-up lasted perfectly. Which was lucky really as the location wasn’t the easiest to negotiate!’
Michelle’s hair was styled by the talented freelance hair stylist Duncan Fisher of L’Hairport. ‘As a specialist in bridal hair I love to work with the whole bridal look and take into consideration the flawless make-up, gorgeous accessories and of course the stunning dress. On the day of the shoot these helped me to bring my hairstyle in to place working closely with Kerry Baker make-up artist and Charlotte from Legend Bridal Designs. For our lovely model Michelle I wanted to create a very romantic yet fresh and organic look, taking into consideration the Earthy backdrop and flowing dress. I set Michelle’s hair on big hot tongs using ‘Schwarzkopf Session Label flexible hold hairspray’ (used on the runway of New York fashion week). I wanted to create soft, natural, yet gorgeous waves rather than curls. The waves where then dressed out using a brilliant shine serum ‘Magic Gloss’, complimenting the rusticness of the beautiful bouquet. For the male model Rowan’s hair I wanted it to look smart yet not too groomed so I worked ‘Moulding Paste’ into the hair taken from the 3D Men Sion range by Schwarzkopf. This gave a slightly rough, yet cool, smart look.
‘It was great to work with a team of highly talented professionals, and we battled against the cold, but luckily the rain held off and we are all very pleased with the result!’
Finally, our flowers were provided by Clare Evers of Blush Rose: ‘I have worked previously with Charlotte from Legend Brides and I know she likes something that doesn’t look normal so with the bridal flower bouquet I decided to use an adventurous combination of florals. The 2014 Brides are wanting rustic more natural approach to their wedding flowers, so we incorporated this into the look that was to be tied together with the dress and style of the shoot. We added Winter flowers, and lots of different rich green foliage, Winter berries and my all-time favourite filler flower Waxflower which I use so much.’
The Great Lancashire Wedding Show’s Autumn 2014 exhibition takes place at the USN Bolton Arena, BL6 6LB, on Sunday 9th November. Tickets will be available to download after the Big Wedding Weekender, Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th April, and Legend Bridal Designs, Kerry Baker and Duncan Fisher are all exhibiting at this event. Free entry tickets for the April event can be downloaded from http://bigweddingweekender.eventbrite.com
Huge thanks to Mick Cookson, our photographer for the shoot www.mickcookson.com Look out for Mick’s own technical-blog coming soon.
Legend Bridal Designs – by appointment only 07936 660569 www.LegendBridalDesigns.co.uk
Kerry Baker – Professional Freelance Makeup Artist www.kerrybakermakeup.co.uk
L’Hairport By Duncan Fisher – Professional Freelance Hair Designer 07928 631278 https://www.facebook.com/LHairport
Blush Rose by Clare Evers www.blushrose.co.uk
Little White Books, organisers of the Great Lancashire Wedding Show www.littlewhitebooks.co.uk
The photography works magic in this shoot… Well done x