Tropics In The City

I've been really, really, REALLY looking forward to sharing this fun, flirty and oh-so fashion forward shoot with you lovely lot. When a submission from stylish ladies Emma at Coco Wedding Venues and Katrina from Katrina Otter Weddings hits your inbox you just know it's going to be something special and this time they've got the fabulous Rebecca Goddard taking the photos, AND it's at Wimbourne House, an achingly cool East London venue run by Snap Studios. There's a kind of cool Copacabana meets 60s Siren vibe going on that I'm struggling to define - all I know is that I really like it!!! If you're a Pinterest fan, you *may* be a little sick of seeing all those floaty and whimsical shoots with a sullen faced Bride standing on the edge of a cliff - I know I am - so it's very refreshing to share something that is industrial, vibrant, a bit cheeky and a whole lot sexy... And all of the suppliers who collaborated in this shoot are some of the very best in the business, so make sure you check out the links at the bottom of the post if any of the gorgeous details catch your eye!

Coco wedding venues x Katrina Otter behind the scenes from Insta Wedding on Vimeo.

The Venue

Emma at Coco Venues At Wimbourne House in East London, you can absolutely let your imagination run wild...and that’s what we did. Channeling the hot, sultry tropics for our City Chic styled shoot, this vast loft space provided us with so much inspiration. From the man’s corner complete with brick wall, boxing gloves and a gym horse (because every Groom needs one on their wedding day right...?) to the elegant grey panelled ‘room’ with the most beautiful parquet floor; this studio-space-come-wedding-venue was the perfect canvas for our vibrant styling.

Tropics in the City



To us, Tropics in the City meant industrial vibes, flashes of pink, luscious botanicals and hot love...Katrina and I adore working with Rebecca Goddard Fine Art Photography and this is now the fourth shoot we’ve worked on together as a team (in fact you can see our very first shoot here on Rock My Wedding!) Beccy never disappoints and we adore how she’s captured the grit of the surroundings whilst still being soft, feminine and totally gorgeous. 



The Flowers

Our florist, Sarah from Hiding in the City, is a total dream to work with. She’s creative, inspirational and her signature style was the perfect match for our shoot. Her ceremonial botanical arch, set against the backdrop of Shoreditch, was so much more than we had originally pictured and was perfectly placed amongst the simple white café chairs from Hire It. The mix of tropical leaves, heritage roses and Pampas Grass created the prettiest of bouquets for our Bride. However, the real WOW factor had to be the final installation, with our Bride emerging from the jungle, sitting on her Peacock throne.

The Gowns

I’m so lucky to work closely with the ladies at Perfect Day Bride in Bradford-on-Avon, they’re beautifully stylish and of course they carry covetable bridal brands. Charlie Brear was our chosen designer and we were over the moon to have four of her dresses to play with...Yes FOUR. 

The first was the Paita, which is a simple silk t-shirt dress. Paired with silver brogues and loose hair inspired by the ‘Hun’, all this bridal look needed was a pop of pink from the abundance of roses in our first bridal bouquet.

 This dress is rather clever as teamed with a tumbling silk & tulle layered skirt it can create a completely different look. The Merletti Skirt is the stuff of dreams and if you want that full on bridal experience whilst still coveting a chic and simple style then this t-shirt top/skirt combo is perfection. We teamed ours with some 70’s platforms, a glossy metallic eye and a flash of leg...we are in the tropics after all! The next dress was a statement palm lace swing top and skirt with fitted hip and scalloped hem. The Livonia top & skirt was teamed with nude Chloe platforms and layered, gold geometric jewellery by London Rocks. Jo Adams, our talented Hair & Make-up Artist, opted for a bolder eye and defined eyebrows. Perfect if you want your boy to be looking into your eyes as you walk down the aisle!

The Groom

It’s here our Groom makes his appearance...looking rather dashing in a dark green 3-piece suit from ASOS and a vintage suede tie in a soft buttery caramel. Burgundy brogues, an air-plant bout and a smouldering look finish him off nicely, don’t you think...? For the final look we wanted to add some colour – step in orange lips, hot pink booties and a tasseled accessory by Bubblegum Balloons! We also dialled up the jewels with this dramatic Maud Traon ring! Our Bride wore the Demi Voulaire dress and the pale duck-egg-blue Corio leather jacket. Her hair was plaited into a messy Mohawk and this updo worked perfectly with the strapless cut of the gown.

The Decor

Cutture carried through our hot pink hues in the stationery. A bespoke, laser-cut envelope with our tropical leaf motif and a simple suite was enough to tell guests they were in for a tropical treat! This Cutture creation continued through to our tablescape with tent card place names and a delicious menu. Oh and you see those neon Perspex signs...? Yep, made by the folks at Cutture. Our tablescape was created using a mixture of West Elm and our own home décor! But the real details came from the gorgeous Laura of Hey Style fame. (Whose stylish wedding you can see here on Rock My Wedding). We used her awesome props throughout this shoot – from the cinema bench, to the tableplan, to the light boxes through to the gold dipped parrot that sat at the head of the table! Laura has so many amazing props for you to play with and they absolutely made our shoot. The cinema sign looked incredible styled with flowers by Friend of Faux. I simply must mention the cakes made by Reshmi from Anges de Sucre. They were EPIC. Not only did they look amazing but they also tasted incredible! Reshmi creates show-stopping wedding cakes and she created a number of naughty treats, which included the main event and seven smaller versions! Think buttery vanilla nakedness, chocolate ganache drips, delicate macarons and salty golden popcorn.

The Film

To finish, we had the absolutely delightful Sarah from Insta-Wedding capturing all of the behind-the-scenes goodness from the day...a fab reminder of an epic team and a pretty awesome day.