Golden Autumn light at the Woodland Wedding festival

If you always thought that summer would yield the most beautiful wedding photographs with the best light, I implore you to think again. Can you just take a moment to drink in this stunning early morning shoot in the woodlands at the Field and Forest site at Yoxall, through the ever creative lens of the mighty (and recently published no less) HBA Photography.

As you may recall from my post about our previous shoot around the woodlands in Yoxall – you can see that here – the process of a shoot can generate stunning, inspirational and trend setting images, but the behind the scenes isn’t always quite so… glamourous. Kudos to the gorgeous Rebecca who dutifully made up her own face (she’s a hugely talented Make Up Artist in her own right) and arrived on site in that stunning dress from The Ivory Chapter at…wait for it … 6.45 a.m. Yep, that was in the dark, before dawn, dirty rude 6.45 a.m. What a trooper!

Sadly the breaking dawn shoot, in front of the tipis, we had planned was not to be as the sun rise didn’t really happen, it just spluttered a bit behind the clouds and then it was light. Agghh well, undeterred Ben took Rebecca and Steve (her dashing groom for the day) on a wedding walk around the site and just look at the magic. And the light. It’s all about the light!

Texture and colour

For me, some of the most important things about autumn styling are based around colours and textures. This season is so spectacular and has a wealth of interest through the changing face of nature. The quirky looking seed heads and gnarly gourds, the shiny conkers and the brittle orange leaves, the low moody sun and the long stretched shadows. You just have to embrace everything season has to offer. So with this in mind I set out to create a scheme that was warm, inviting, with colour and texture being key.

The mother of all bouquets

Often I use the bouquet designs as my starting point for the actual florals, and I was SO excited to put together the bouquet for Rebecca. It was maaaahooosive! And I loved it. I teamed King Protea and ornamental Artichoke with brambles, wine and brown eustoma and Dara ammi. It was such fun and something a little different – perfect for a Field and Forest Wedding! Once I’d finished the bouquet I couldn’t resist making a fresh flower crown out of that stunning eustoma to complete ‘the look’. I was really keen to keep the grooms look to a minimum. No need to go crazy with excess details. I selected an under ripe bramble and it was perfect. Texture and colour.

Stunning autumn light with bride and groom

Be our guest

Charlotte, from Field and Forest, was keen to keep an natural and organic feel inside the tipis, but mindful of the chance of a cooler day wanted to make sure it felt as tempting as possible inside the tents. So we decided to line the tables with hessian runners, covered with foliages, guilded gourds and mixed metallic votives, and the top table was a mix of growing designs, individual bottle bud vases and a host of different candles and votives. We also created a feature foliage chandelier with a mix of hops and soft ruscus. The entrance to the tents was lined with my lovely shepherds crooks and some stunning lanterns from Laura Loves, little touches like this really help the welcome feel warm!

The hostesses with the most(ess)

So, as with many things in life, great things are seldom the work of a just one person. And effortless execution is often down to advance planning. Charlotte (and Dave) had already decided who they would like to join their crew to bring this first festival to life by early summer, and she really created a dream team. We had Hannah Bake on cakes. Hannah Yellowstone Paperworks on stationary. Hannah and Ben HBA on photography. (That’s all the Hannahs’!) All crucial in helping to make the event look the way it did. Dani from In My Life prop hire and Laura from Laura Loves also added their unique touches throughout the venue and location. It all came together perfectly and we were all thrilled with the feedback from the festival go-ers on the day.

Yellowstone Paperworks design and Laura Loves Frame

Full circle

When we worked on the shoot in April, we were keen to focus on the Bluebells and everything the season had to offer. But this time I felt we could pay a little more attention to the Blessing circle and the dreamy woodland walk leading up to it. We created a candle dell, then decorated the over hanging trees with hoops, ribbons and lanterns. It felt really quite lovely as you turned the corner and there were these cute flashes of colour and interest. To offer a sense of consistency we added co-ordinating ribbons on to the blessing circle willow arch, and an accent of hops – just like the hoop in the tipi. Another hit of texture and colour.

So after the shoot the gates were thrown open and we were able to welcome lots of festival go-ers on to the site. It was the first time the site has been showcased as a wedding venue and the feedback was overwhelming good. For the real festival feel the fab entertainers and food trucks arrived, the lawn games were out and the bell tents were showcasing the notion of a super cute glamping village. If you haven’t booked your site yet, and this weekend wedding festival vibe is your thing, I seriously recommend you look at Field and Forest Weddings and I’m really confident you’ll be impressed.