Mellow golden hues seamlessly blend with boho vibes to create this rustic yet thoroughly stylish shoot at Cressing Temple Barns.
The vision of makeup artist, Vicky Jiggins, the shoot centred on her love for all things boho and sleek, and takes inspiration from this most endearing of venues – an historical site that dates back to the 13th century, no less.
Everything from the shimmering tablescape and earthy-toned floral displays to the bride’s bejewelled accessories – not to mention a beautiful wooden arch – all showcase the styling possibilities when it comes to crafting the boho wedding of your dreams with an ultra-contemporary edge.
With images by Kate Boston Photography
Concept
Vicky says: I named this shoot Golden Boho and really wanted to create a warm, laidback feel featuring lots of beautiful gold tones. In my work as a hair and makeup artist, I love to combine effortless, bohemian styles with a bit of a sleek modern twist, so I wanted to try and create that feeling throughout an entire styled shoot.
One of my favourite things about working in the wedding industry is seeing so many couples that are truly in love, which is why I asked the lovely Tara and Chris to be part of this shoot. As newlyweds themselves, you can tell they are madly in love with each other and we even had a few happy tears whilst shooting!
Location
Our venue was one of the first things I confirmed, so the shoot design really started to evolve to fit the venue perfectly.
Cressing Temple Barns is an historical site in Essex, with the main barns dating back to the 13th century and among some of the oldest surviving buildings in the UK. I wanted to respect the historical feel of this venue, but showcase how it can be styled for a modern wedding. The barns and their gorgeous beams were the perfect backdrop for our laidback, rustic feel and the muted colours suited our colour scheme perfectly.
The venue also has a tearoom run by the famous Wilkin & Sons Tiptree Jam Factory (the factory is based a few villages over), which inspired our afternoon tea set of photos – this was a spur of the moment idea by Kate, our photographer, on the day.
Styling
Our styling showpiece was the beautiful, wooden arch provided by Simply Rustic which fit in perfectly with the wooden beams in the barns. Dressed beautifully with flowers provided by Peggy & Patina, the muted colours with pops of gold really complemented the venue but didn’t overpower it.
We also had our tablescape put together beautifully by Love Lilly, which again kept to a muted colour scheme with pops and of gold (including gorgeous gold cutlery from Party Squared), and a few rust tones to give the table a warm, cosy feel. We used one of Lilly’s golden flower stands so we could have a statement floral display on the table, whilst bringing in a touch of that modern, sleek feel.
The stationery, beautifully designed by Design by Emily, mimicked the feel of our real flowers, and brought in more of those rust tones to add to the warm vibe I wanted to create.
For the cake, Sweet Peas Cake Boutique stuck to a clean, modern design with pops of gold – topped off with beautiful dried flowers to tie in with the rustic theme of the shoot. It was beautifully displayed on Simply Rustic’s amazing wooden cake table.
Attire
For the bridalwear, I wanted to keep things simple, bohemian and not too fussy, and Adelamour was the perfect supplier of dresses with this kind of feel.
Our first look featured a beautiful, backless lace dress which was modern and chic, and allowed us to perfectly showcase jewellery supplied by Bish Bosh Becca – especially her gorgeous lariat necklace which worked perfectly with the low back on the dress.
The second gown was a bit more flowy, and would be the perfect dress to comfortably spend an evening eating, drinking and dancing in.
The suit Chris was wearing was his own suit from his actual wedding, but the colour worked perfectly with our muted palette.
Beauty
For Tara’s makeup, I created flawless, glowing skin that still felt natural, and went for gold on her eyes to tie in with the colour scheme, and add a little hint of modern glamour to her look.
For her hair I wanted to keep things simple and chic, so I opted for a soft, twisted low bun. This was topped off with beautiful hair accessories by UNVEILED Network Member Silver Sixpence In Her Shoe – the gold beaded headband was designed specifically to go with this look.
I think this style would appeal to any bride who wants to feel modern, chic and not too overly ‘done’ for their wedding day.
Results
The shoot ran smoothly on the day, and thanks to our photographer Kate we managed to capture more than what I was expecting! We had lots of help and assistance from the lovely Poppy of Your Best Day Ever keeping things on track (especially whilst I was busy in hair and makeup). My aim was to create some beautiful images to inspire modern, bohemian brides and I think we have managed to achieve just that.
