Woodland Luxe Wedding Inspiration

It's Friday afternoon, so a little escapism is most definitely in order and it doesn't get much prettier than this woodland luxe inspiration shoot from Darima Frampton. Every detail has been executed perfectly and I love the sumptuous Autumnal styling - like the team say below, it's great to see a tipi or marquee styled for the colder months as lots of people enjoy tent weddings throughout the festive season. I think they look super cosy :) I'm totally swooning over the red bridal gown too - I'd love to feature a wedding where the bride wore something so striking. All of the dresses in this shoot come from the wonderful Minna Hepburn, even the lace flower girl dresses which I have a feeling you're going to love. One of our most pinned flower girl looks is a simple white lace dress with a foliage crown and these little beauties are sporting that exact look. Right, let's get started shall we?

The Inspiration

The Team Behind The Shoot: This Woodland Luxe photoshoot was born of the desire of a group of passionate Dorset wedding creatives, to harness the natural autumnal beauty of their surrounding countryside with a styled photoshoot featuring the stunning dresses of Minna Hepburn.

The Bridal Looks

As an eco-luxe dress designer, Minna was chosen for her clever combination of vintage simplicity and timeless glamour. Three different bridal looks were created using Minna’s elegant beaded Effie dress, glamorous Anya dress in heavy lace and sister company Indiebride’s vivid Holly dress in red. The flower-girls are wearing Tilda and Edie from Minna’s children’s range.

The Venue

The venue chosen for the shoot was new wedding venue Knighton House, a Georgian manor house and school nestled amongst the rolling Dorset hills and woodlands. Knighton House provides a sumptuous backdrop to the shoot with its vibrant, Virginia creeper-clad façade, woodland and meadow locations. The interior of the shoot is housed within three majestic Nordic tipis belonging to Coastal Tents pitched on the front lawn. As wedding tipis are traditionally dressed in a spring/summer bohemian-festival style, the creative team were keen to showcase an alternative décor style, using rich, opulent colours and tones, inspired by the wealth of natural beauty found within the surrounding countryside, where woodland paths and hedgerows are laden with berries and lichen. The team also set out to demonstrate the seasonal versatility of the tipis, creating a warm and cosy environment for an autumn / winter wedding.

The Styling

The brief was to create a look that embraced the natural woodland surroundings of Knighton House but moving away from rustic, with flourishes of lavish vintage glamour and lashings of romance. The team set out to juxtapose the earthy, natural tones of the tipis with rich, seasonal colours and textures. The colour palette of berry-reds, plums and tones of blackberry is tempered with fresh greens and enriched with accents of gold throughout, creating a feel of decadence pitched against the simplistic raw wood and biscuit canvas interior of the tipis. The tipi interior is lavishly accessorised with large scale floral designs, a whisky bar with leather wingback armchairs and a sumptuous berry-banquet table dressed with vintage tableware and linens in the rich tones used throughout the shoot styling, flanked by elegant glass chandeliers, all in contrast with the bare-wood trestles beneath. The cake and dessert table features a two tier cake with a bronze lustre base, complementary ganache single tiers, black forest mini cakes and chocolate gems all adorned with fresh flowers and gold dusted fruit and berries.

The Details

The wedding stationery is comprised of a feature hoop seating plan, name cards and menu cards featuring copper calligraphy and a further touch of natural elegance is provided with the use of hand-dyed silk ribbons and runners. The floral styling uses deep burgundy foliage whilst offering up blooms in a range of crimsons through to dusky pinks, and a mixture of fruits and berries, creating light and shade within the arrangements. The scale of the arrangements on the banquet table adds to the air of heady extravagance within the tipis and forms the illusion of a tree top canopy overlooking the banquet beneath.