A 1920's inspired wedding
July 19, 2014
Shooting to a theme
Once in a while I get asked to photograph a wedding that has been designed with a prominent theme in mind and these can be challenging but are always a huge amount of fun. So when my best friend Kelly, (also my assistant who is often to be found hiding behind a reflector!), and her now husband Mark were planning on a themed wedding, I was so excited to be involved. I was to be assisting her this time with some of the design and styling of the outfits, but mainly I would be providing the photography of course! The 1920's was the theme and I couldn't wait!
Capturing the couple in theme took a combination of careful styling and considered use of original retro props, all in the grandeur of an amazing venue. I had planned to utilise all these constituents carefully, whilst employing a few lighting techniques and composition arrangements that would reflect certain elements of the chosen era. I couldn't wait to create what was to be a very special and unique album.
Kelly and Mark's 1920's theme was specifically inspired by the Speakeasy era whereby originally retro bars in the United States sold alcoholic beverages illegally and in particular classic cocktails, a time when a whole new social culture was birthed.
A specific detail revealing to the decade and something exclusive to the bride and groom was a pair of cocktail glasses designed and made to be true to era. I photographed these containing Mark's cufflinks as a unique and personal memory for them which then did feature in their album. The couple also had sourced some original cocktail shakers and designed a bespoke cocktail menu using an Art Deco typeface, also true to theme.
The choice of wedding venue that the couple selected was The Ship Hotel in Chichester, a beautiful Grade 2 Listed building. The hotel is Georgian and boasts so many lovely interior Regency features such as a beautiful grand staircase on which I photographed Mark and his Best Man on the morning of the wedding. Many of these interior details worked perfectly to inspire a feeling of history and character within the pictures.
Other lovely features within the venue included full height sash windows, large oval windows, black metro tiles and chequered floor - all which promoted a sense of elegance and decadence and served to create the perfect backdrop for the themed couple and their wedding party.
Some ornately decorated arches ended up framing Kelly and Mark looking a little more relaxed after the ceremony, an image which was to become their favourite from the album.
Kelly designed her own dress and Mark had his suit designed and made specifically to be in keeping with their theme.
It was in capturing some of the details, such as their shoes and the pocket watch (that Kelly had given Mark as a gift), that I felt the theme really came alive. When bringing the images together as an album it became clear to me that it was these details in combination with the venue and outfits that made the theme work so well on the day.
I specifically positioned Kelly's shoes with the toes pointing inward to reflect the famous swivelling motion of the feet that you would see in a Charleston dance step. This was also an interesting way to show off the detail and curves in the shoes. I placed them between two lamps which added nice symmetry to the shot, and we felt that overall, the impression of the 1920's was really captured in this image.
The couple's family were fantastic and got on board with the 1920's theme having all individually researched the era and chosen how they wanted to represent themselves visually.
In this lovely group shot we were able to make the most of the beautiful sweeping staircase and that black and white chequered floor which I felt were so complimentary to the amazing effort that had gone into all the outfits.
So many details on the day were crucial for continuity of the theme and Kelly and Mark had spent much time gathering various retro props which enhanced the 1920's feel. Here you can see the groom Mark reflected in this Art Deco mirror at a cocktail bar.
Perhaps the biggest and best 'prop' of all was the wedding car. The image below is actually a page layout taken from the final album. I designed the album to incorporate some Art Deco graphical features and set up Kelly in a particular pose to further enhance the Jazz Age stylisation with her hand and foot flexed up, Charleston-esque.
In another page layout from the wedding album Mark is styled and posed very much to capture the 1920's theme however I designed this particular layout to have a modern edge, using key-lines to create contrast and an aspect of framing to the images.
Using authentic 1920's fashion poses was another great way to solidify the theme throughout the photography. Kelly was excellent at knowing just how to recreate the shaping and positioning typical of women you'd see in images from the actual era and her trust in me & my ideas made it easy to capture many different poses & looks of the time.
In this shot the nature of Kelly being propped up on a bar is representing the 'Speakeasy' concept but in a modern day bar, giving us the reminder that the couple do still reside in the 'Noughties' despite their passion for the Twenties!
As Kelly and Mark enjoyed their first dance, they ensured those Charleston dance moves were certainly in full swing, and the Gramophone was a perfect detail which definitely roared 1920's to all the guests!
Not only was the wedding a beautiful event for me to be a part of but just magical in terms of how well the couple accomplished continuity of the 1920's theme throughout their day so successfully.
I look forward to shooting many more themed weddings in the future and to see what else can be done, but next time I hope not to be dressed as a Flapper!
Congratulations to Kelly and Mark!
Kelly x
Kelly Hearn A.B.I.P.P - A.M.P.A.