The Flower Fairies of Askham Hall
Oh we have a treat for you today…
Hot off the back of my own styled shoot this week, I can’t tell you how much I love this creative process – from styling them to being inspired by fellow industry folks! Oh and this gorgeous styled shoot captured by Tiree Dawson Photography is a knock out!
Styled by Nina Marika at the ethereal Askham Hall, Megan from Typical Type is here with her account of the day…
Megan:
This beautiful, carefully curated, Flower Fairy inspired shoot is the third shoot Tiree Dawson Photography and I have organised together – and so far one of our favourites. Being creative little bunnies, Tiree and I always have a little pot of ideas bubbling away and much as we try to contain them sometimes one just erupts and we just have to do something!
This fabulous shoot came about after Tiree had shot a couple of weddings at Askham Hall and decided it was just too gorgeous not to go back to. We thought about various themes, but in the end stumbled upon ‘Flower Fairies’ as a starting point. The ethereal grounds at Askham Hall are beautiful, and although spring had barely sprung, the place was magical.
As ever, the first starting point for our shoots is Pinterest, and there soon emerged two distinct styles. An earthy, tweedy, natural woodland fairy, and a pinker, dip-dyed, glittery fairy. When we looked at the Pinterest board we soon realised that we could not be the only people who loved two themes, it must be something Brides struggle with all of the time! So, we set about showing how you can happily incorporate lots of inspiration into your day without it feeling dis-jointed. With the two fairy types there was also two complimentary colour schemes running alongside each other – which we linked together with a golden thread.
It’s there – if you look you will see elements of gold in both themes, but as it’s barely a touch it doesn’t scream ‘here is our linking colour’, it gently whispers to your guests that you know what you are doing. Nina, the incredibly talented stylist behind Nina Marika, waved her wand over it all to create a sophisticated and altogether sexier fairy styling, which is a long way from the childhood memories you may have of them! From antlers to dip-dyed silk ribbons, tweed to cut glass Nina truly demonstrates why hiring a stylist for your wedding is a great idea.
The dresses, oh, those dresses, were created with this shoot in mind. Legend Bridal Designs blew us away with these stunning creations. From Sophie’s dress adorned with purple petals and pearls, to Sadie’s lace and chiffon two piece and Betty’s beautiful dip-dyed, tiered beauty, they are incredible. They even created accessories to go with the dresses – I am in love. With Aimee and Katie in charge of complimenting the dresses with their make up and hair skills we knew we were on to a winner. If we were getting married again, I would be tempted to have two dresses – and WHY not? Demure by day, wild by night say I.
And of course, the shoot would be nothing without the flowers. Michelle, at Valerie Ann’s is amazing. She literally has talent dripping from her fingers, which she deftly spun into bands of ivy, berry coloured bouquets, clematis and jasmine falling into clouds of flowery goodness on the tables. The more you look, the more you see – she is a real life flower fairy.
The food, with the exception of the most perfectly made macaron tower from Medici Macarons, was supplied by Askham Hall. It looks divine. It tastes heavenly – I can assure you there was not a scrap left after we had carefully photographed it. If you love fine food, then this is a perfect venue for you.
Oh, and in case you are wondering – the little people belong to Tiree and I – well, it seemed churlish to leave them out on a shoot perfect for our own little princesses! Their dresses were from H & M, and did-dyed by the Legend team to colour co-ordinate!
Venue Askham Hall | Photography Tiree Dawson Photography | Styling Nina Marika | Bridal Fashion & Accessories Legend Bridal Designs | Makeup Aimee Chorley | Hair Katie Simpson | Venue Décor Typical Type | Florist Valerie Ann’s Florist | Cake Medici Macarons | Catering Askham Hall | Stationery Print For Love of Wood. Special thanks to the fairies – Sophie, Betty, Sadie, Summer & Farrah.
It’s all so incredibly gorgeous!
Although this is a springtime affair, the gorgeous tweed and feather elements would work perfectly for this autumnal season too don’t you think…?
Thank you so much to Megan from Typical Type for a fab write-up and of course Tiree Dawson Photography – it was a struggle to whittle down the images for this feature!
Askham Hall, our backdrop star, can be found within our collection right here.
Lots of love…