Modern Industrial Elegance at 100 Barrington in Brixton

We’re introducing one of newest wedding venues today, 100 Barrington, with this modern monochrome romance, offering inspiration to contemporary couples. Natalie Ellen Weddings was inspired by the venue and wanted to add a touch of elegance to this blank canvas wedding space in Brixton, London.

Natalie says…

The inspiration and the venue

The inspiration behind the shoot stemmed from the desire to demonstrate the potential to turn an industrial setting into a beautifully elegant wedding, from the bridal wear and beauty right down to the stationery and signage. We wanted to show that having a modern wedding doesn’t mean shunning the delicate details and elegant touches often associated with country house weddings. Our goal was to infuse modern monochrome with lilacs, nudes and hints of gold to inject femininity and romance into the brick-heavy Brixton setting of 100 Barrington.

Inspiration was taken from the venue itself – we utilised the raw and painted brick walls and introduced industrial elements to act as a juxtaposition to the delicately adorned gowns from Morgan Davies Bridal. I knew 100 Barrington Road was the perfect venue as soon as I walked through the door. It’s an edgy blank space which lends itself beautifully to the modern, laid-back vibe we wanted to achieve, allowing us complete creative control to curate a cool and contemporary wedding.

As a lover of all-things monochrome and modern, I was keen that every element of the shoot oozed a stylish, contemporary edge. From the stunning models to the dreamy bespoke signage, it was so important that everything tied together perfectly to create a wedding scene fit for the coolest of couples. We used an abundance of flowers throughout to bring in pretty femininity and wedding signage and props that added a real industrial twist.

Fashion, hair & beauty

The gowns can truly speak for themselves, but we wanted the brides to really own them – that’s where the hair & make up came in. Jenna Marie Shafer opted for a gorgeous tousled style for both brides, adding the hand-crafted hairpieces from the super-modern Lilley Studio for a twist to the traditional bridal look.

Our brides are effortlessly beautiful, so make-up was used by Meg Lindow to enhance their features and to give a bold edge to their look. I absolutely love a bride that dares to go for a deep red lip and strong brows!

For accessories, we loved moving away from the norm and playing around with high-street jewellery from H&M and Topshop to add touches of contemporary but affordable fashion to the mix.

The result was stunning. Our models truly encapsulated a delicate but powerful beauty that I hope future brides will take inspiration from. I’m a firm believer that brides should build their bridal look based on their personality, rather than conform to what bridal beauty ‘should be’.

The cake

The epic cake was the brainchild of the artistically brilliant Katie from Malarkey Cakes. Kate says “Inspired by the moodboard, I wanted to create something textured using fondant, as this is a finish I specialise in. I love exploring what’s possible with different ingredients and brought in an idea of layering chocolate to get a textured effect and adding edible gold leaf to give it a further layer of depth. My signature designs all feature wafer paper in some form. I wanted to create a decoration that would add impact and be utterly unique, so the idea of this large gathered wafer paper sculpture was born.”

The flowers

Although a simple black and white look appeals to me, I wanted to add touches of femininity & elegance with subtle injections of colour. That’s where the amazing florals from the uber-talented Lizzie at Monstera Floral came in. She took a simple moodboard and colour palette and truly brought it to life with beautiful blooms. She created a modern mix of anemones, clematis, sweet-peas, nigella, scabiosa lavender and wax flower, with touches of astilbe to add texture, and greenery to add depth. Her luscious and overflowing take on the floral cloud added a gorgeous pop of green to the tablescape and tied in perfectly with the laid-back floral displays dotted along the table.

The tablescape

Philippa of Fleur & Fig beautifully styled the shoot: “To be in keeping with the look and feel of the shoot, we wanted to ensure that the styling was modern but still had a timeless and pretty feel. We kept the tablescape simple and to the colour palette, keeping gold and black as our key stand-out colours with highlights of lilac in the linen and the flowers and touches of nude in the tapered Ester & Erik candles. We loved matching the jet-black coupe plates with the gold glass charger plates and elegant glassware, keeping the vibe clean and modern.”

Signage & stationery

The wedding stationery suite was something that had to work perfectly on the tables, adding impact and subtle styling to the place-settings. Everything that Nat from Nat’s Paper Studio creates is so fresh and original, particularly the little touches she adds which instantly inject personality.

Marrying perfectly with the stationery suite was the bespoke monochrome signage from Made by Wood & Wood. Husband and wife team Chloe & Tom expertly transformed the initial concepts into three contemporary signs for the day: a matte black circular welcome sign beautifully adorned with flowers, our romantic quote board on a black steel frame and a hanging fabric table plan which we surrounded with pillar candles and flowers to create an elegant backdrop for our bride and groom.

Venue 100 Barrington

Planning Natalie Ellen Weddings

Photography Rebecca Carpenter Photography

Styling Fleur & Fig Styling

Flowers Monstera Floral Design

Dresses Morgan Davies Bridal

Make-up Meg Lindow

Hair Jenna Marie Shafer

Hair Accessories Lilley Studio

Cake Malarkey Cakes

Stationery Nat’s Paper Studio

Signage Made by Wood & Wood

Furniture and Tableware Crystal Hire

Linen Just 4 Linen

With thanks to Models Tierney, Shaunagh and Kevin