It’s that time of immense excitement for me again, when I finally get to share with you a ‘lil project I’ve been busying myself with behind the scenes. Unbelievably this shoot has been in the pipeline for over a year but it’s only now that I’ve had the time to get it all organised properly!
The Photographer
I first met Eliza Claire just over a year ago at the very first ‘Rock n Roll Bride meet’. We met in a teeny cocktail bar in central London. We drank cosmopolitans and mojitos and talked way into the night about business, photography and changing the face of the UK wedding industry…and look how far we’ve come in only a year! At this first meeting we talked about doing a photo shoot together and would you believe it’s actually taken this long to get it together. However, as always, the wait was so worth it as within the past 12 months we’ve got to know so many more amazing people in the industry, a few of which we asked along to join in the fun.
“My thoughts on the shoot were to do something different, bring out the softer side of Rock n Roll Bride!” Eliza explained to me. “You’ve done a gothic shoot and a punk-rock shoot, I wanted to show your softer, feminine side. Tiffany and I were definitely on the same page when it came to ideas for this, and the Whitstable location really grew from that – getting you out of the city, and wanting beach huts!”
Eliza is now taking wedding bookings for 2011 and she still has a few Winter 2010 dates available now. Email her on info@elizaclairephotography.com for more info
The Stylist
Tiffany Grant-Riley is the genius Vintage Wedding Planner behind Grant-Riley Weddings. With a penchant and a passion for all things vintage, she has planned some of the most glamorous and funky weddings all over the country so we were really really excited when she agreed to join us on our little seaside adventure. Tiffany came up with a killer concept of candy, beach huts, vintage signs, sunshine and general quintessential British loveliness…with a twist of course.
“I wanted to convey the romance of an old fashioned, traditional seaside get-away with emphasis on Kat’s softer side” Tiffany told me. “Having recently (and very bravely!) started her Rock n Roll tattoo, Kat was keen to show it off so the bright colours of Whitstable provided the perfect backdrop. By introducing soft, feminine textures using two very different dresses, this was a fun, vibrant and deliciously colourful story of a carefree bride!” Tiffany was amazing throughout the whole process and organised things to a tee. Plus she was a total blast to hang out with all day!
In addition to wedding planning Tiffany also offers theme design and specialist vintage styling from the 1920s to 1960s throughout the UK. Check out her website for all her latest work, and drop her an email to tiff@grantriley.co.uk to discuss further.
The Hair & Make Up Artist
I fell in love with Elbie Van Eaden’s wacky and creative hair and make up creations when I saw her work in photographer Kirsty Mitchell’s amazing ‘Wonderland’ Series (I even featured one of my favourite shots on a previous Thursday Treats post.) So when I was tasked with finding someone to come and help out with making me look glamorous, I knew who I wanted to ask first. As someone who loves doing anything a bit ‘out-there’ Elbie was well up for the challenge and channeled her inner feminine and romantic goddess to come up with the hair and make up ideas.
“The inspiration behind the hair came from candyfloss” Elbie explained. “I wanted to create something girly and fresh, but not too contrived. After prepping the hair with heat styler Redken Spray Starch, I curled the hair using different techniques to add different textures. For the second look I backcombed the curls and used a couple of grips to keep it in place to create an unfussy updo, which we vamped up with more dramatic lips for a more evening look”
With a shimmer of gold and a poof of glitter I was ready to go, and with hair like this who could stop me?! The Mad Hatter look actually wasn’t a planned one, however when we plonked that pink top hat (which she shaped out of foam and made especially for the shoot) I got right into character!
Elbie is available for hair and make up all over the UK, you can contact her via her website to discuss your needs.
The Fashion
Eliza sourced the dresses which she was able get at total bargains. She found the gorgeous ex-sample Amanda Wakeley ‘Betty’ dress on ebay and the shorter dress was from Monsoon Bridal in the sale at about £40!
I had originally planned to wear the cuuute new Vivienne Westwood cherry shoes (anyone what follows me on Twitter would have seen me raving about their gorgeousness!) but unfortunately the day before the shoot I got an email from the online store I’d ordered them from saying they were out of stock. Gaaah, stress! I darted into town at the last minute and luckily I found these little Irregular Choice beauties in Schuh (called Cortesan Patty Patchwork)…and don’t let Vivienne hear me say this, but they may have even been more perfect (and ahem half the price!) With their cute homage to the Union Jack in adorable vintage-style floral fabric, they actually couldn’t have fitted out vintage seaside adventure theme more. I have now sat them on my bedroom windowsill as the are definitely too pretty to keep in a box.
The ‘bird’ jewellery was lent to us by Chain of Daisies but for a few shots I put on a vintage marcasite and pearl necklace that belonged to my Grandmother who died earlier this year. My Mum gave it to me last week and I thought wearing it would be a really nice thing for my family to see…plus, again it fitted in with our vintage theme perfectly.
I wore…
Summer Garden earrings
Swallows Tale bracelet
Swallows Tale necklace
Caroline of Chain of Daisies would like to offer all readers of Rock n Roll Bride FREE POSTAGE up until the end of July. Enter promotional code ‘RocknRollBride’ at the paypal checkout
The Location
Eliza and Tiffany came up with the seaside/beach idea so we all headed to Whitstable in Kent. With it’s adorable high street and it’s quirky shops we were in seventh heaven (yes that is an oyster shop I’m standing in the door of and even though it was very very pretty it did smell! It was a really hot day too…eww). We also headed to a sweet shop, sat outside a bingo hall, stood outside the gorgeous bright blue door of a church (we were quite a staring point!) hung out with the lifeguard & at the beach huts and finally took a stroll around a park in Herne Bay.
(haha I have just noticed the workman in the reflection of the oyster shop window looking over with a puzzled look – that’s pretty much the look I got all day from people. Brilliant!)
The Signage
Tiffany wanted some caption boards in the style of 1920s silent movies to illustrate different themes so she asked the very lovely Lucy of Lucy Ledger Designs if she would make some for us. “I did some research into fonts and frames etc and did a few samples” Lucy told me. “The most challenging thing was to distress the background of the board to give it that lovely effect of an old film reel – I wanted it to look like I had literally pulled a still from an old movie.”
Not only were they beautiful but the quality was amazing and Tiffany even gave me my favourite one, ‘Rock n Romance’ to take home with me. It now sits very proudly next to my desk.
Lucy would like to offer anybody that places an order before July 31st 2010 and quotes ‘RocknRollBride’, 10% off the full price of their order
A huge huge huge thank you to everyone who was involved with the shoot. It was so much fun…and you know what, I’ve got an inkling that people are gonna like these…
Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments. Comments make us happy!
The Gallery
Credit: Eliza Claire Photography
Styling: Grant-Riley Weddings
Hair & Make Up: Elbie Van Eaden
Shoes: Irregular Choice
Jewellery: Chain of Daisies and vintage
Long Dress: Amanda Wakeley ‘Betty’
Short Dress: Monsoon Bridal
Signs: Lucy Ledger Designs
Pink Hat: made by Elbie Van Eaden