A uniquely beautiful editorial shoot radiating sophistication and style, and ready to inspire the most enchanting intimate countryside wedding.

With the idea to create more meaningful and enjoyable experiences for couples and their guests we created a timeless, yet contemporary set full of personalised details that combine an effortless romantic style alongside modern detailing to match this English countryside styled shoot. With a natural backdrop and the lavish aristocratic English manor to set the tone, the editorial radiated sophistication and style.

In the socially distanced world of 2021 weddings have to be reassessed to become smaller and accommodate fewer guests. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t dream big and host the perfect intimate wedding and offer an unforgettable and meaningful experience that will leave your guests raving.

To illustrate this point, we went above and beyond to create this luxurious, contemporary, yet classic editorial shoot, to show you how this English countryside setting can become an intimate, garden wedding paradise with a grand experience.

Location

Set in the majestic Beaverbrook Luxury Country House Hotel with its aristocratic French chateau- style, this mesmerising venue has the benefit of being sumptuous and spacious while still feeling welcoming and intimate; as if it were the home of an old friend.

Wonderfully nestled in 470 acres of the picturesque Surrey Hills, Beaverbrook is the quintessential British Country Estate, a peaceful haven just 20 miles from London. This late-Victorian neoclassical mansion was previously owned by Lord Beaverbrook, one of Winston Churchill’s closest confidantes, who used to own the Daily Express. Now it is the English Countryside’s hottest luxury country house hotel in the UK, with its charismatic interior paying tribute to its glamorous past.

Its elegant surroundings, remarkable facilities and charismatic ambience make this luxury estate an outstanding venue for a lavish and intimate affair.

Indeed, it’s an ideal venue for couples focused on small intimate weddings and creating meaningful experiences for their guests and who want to spend quality time with the most important people in their lives. This has become especially true now that weddings require a reduced number of guests in the light of the pandemic. More couples are looking for unique venues that offer exquisite interiors infused with design details, history and character, picturesque surroundings, and the emphasis firmly focused on exclusive and grand experiences.

The Mood

We wanted this shoot to look timeless yet modern, while at the same time evoking an intimate feel, To achieve this, we were opting for subtle, feminine and effortlessly romantic styling consisting of delicate details and soft floral touches mixing classic and modern influences.

For the ceremony, we created an intimate garden-fresh archway with a modern asymmetrical finish with lots of greenery, blush and nudes. The idea behind the ceremony and reception was to celebrate European romanticism with neutral decor elements and finely crafted details embracing the venue’s architecture and luxurious, timeless feel.

We added subtle pops of colour into the floral arrangements to “bring the table to life.” Meanwhile, the fine china tableware, beautiful handwritten calligraphy place cards and custom-made favour boxes for example, added that touch of glamour and closeness.

To compliment the look, we topped the table with the beautifully handcrafted cream & gold Venezian charger plates, which are custom gilded and hand painted in Florence, utilizing a gold-leaf finishing process dating back to the 13th century.

Matching Details

But what’s a wedding without a stellar, multi-tier cake and lavish dessert table? For the shoot, the cake maker created a customised state of the art seven-tier wedding cake featuring 2D brushed embroidery lace, kissed by gold flowers of stephanotis, petunias and open roses with golden leaves. The cake also gracefully reveals handcrafted artisan sugar roses in the lightest of blushes and gold leaves.

The cake was inspired by the stunning Muse collection of Berta Bridal reflecting the elegant and timeless beauty of the dresses. It also took inspiration from the 2 main colour tones exhibited by the coordinated flowers, charger plates, Louis chairs & beautiful table linen.

The overall cake was finished in antique white with subtle shimmers to match the blush and pearlescent hues of the day. The sugar flowers used are inspired by country garden favourites, English Rose, David Austin Rose and Ranunculi.

The accompanying dessert table was dressed creatively to complement the main cake, with harmonised colour scheme, styling and tasteful detail. 

Every little detail was carefully matched and chromatically coordinated. This includes everything from the decorations of the reception, dining and lounge spaces, to the floral arrangements, cake and stationery which were married to the dresses and accessories.

The Fashion & Styling

With this incredible location and decor as a backdrop, the model wore three distinct gowns from the Muse collection by Berta Bridal. All are a romantic dream of delicate details, with a fresh attitude of lightness designed for dynamic, fashion-conscious women.

The first dress evokes a classic sensibility in with delicate floral appliques, subtly breaking the rules with a plunging V-neckline for a touch of drama.
The second dress is an off-the-shoulder stunner with a bodice of embroidered white leaves over lace. Finally, the third dress featuring sequins, tulle bows and lace appliques is a testament to the mastery of design and construction of Berta Bridal.

As befitting for a luxury country house wedding, we wanted to inspire fashion lover brides showcasing innovative and creative wedding dress trends that are making statements on the runway.

For their part, accessories made with eye-catching gemstones and contemporary varieties of pearls serve to add the final touch of extravaganza to these daring yet timeless looks that offer a new take on bridal style. We were inspired by a contemporary, elegant bride who is not afraid to break the traditional codes, set her own rules and wants to make her mark.

The accessories gave a fresh, modern feel to the outfits, complimented the bridal look, creating effortless glamour, and added a truly romantic note.

Innovative Digital Design Experience

What’s more guests can visualise the wedding with a luxury digital design experience that we recently introduced, which includes design boards consisting of hand-drawn digital sketches, mood boards, lookbooks, digital mock-ups and CGI images to plan the perfect wedding.
This way, clients can embark on a journey that gives them a taste of the wedding planning and design process by allowing them to visualise how each piece of the design fits together, creating the customised, cohesive feel and luxury experience they are looking for.

In the end, the stark contrast of English sophistication of the Manor alongside the natural, green surroundings and sumptuous yet, delicate details of the decor, resulted in a uniquely beautiful shoot ready to inspire the most enchanting countryside wedding.

It all comes together to create a look that is luxurious, contemporary and timeless. We wanted to explore pairing of the traditional elements with modern accents to evoke feelings of opulence and intimacy, telling a unique story of a modern and sophisticated bride.

Photos by David Christopher Photography