Festival weddings have been popular for a few years now – and they are gorgeous. Generally outdoors, with tipis or barn venues, they are relaxed and fun. But what if the outdoor part doesn’t work for you? How do you get the same relaxed, grounded atmosphere, still stay within a budget, and keep an eye on sustainability?
These were the questions that we asked ourselves when we decided to do a styled shoot at The Subscription Rooms in Stroud. A popular events venue slap bang in the heart of the town, it’s a great location for a celebrant led wedding. The room we used for this shoot is the George Room. It is on the ground floor and fully wheelchair accessible. All the suppliers involved are local independent businesses who have sustainability as part of their approach to their work.
All photos are from Camilla Reynolds, our fantastic photographer. Rizpah’s playful makeup on a flawless base was from our hair and make up artist, Florence Wear. Isn’t this adorable? With the dress in the bold and beautiful fushia colour our Rebecca - Dress was the Center of attention as wedding dresses should be! With an asymmetric hem, which is on trend for this summer It makes a fantastic alternative to a white wedding and has a more playful vibe for a fun summer festival wedding!
The shoot was in early March, so we couldn’t rely on fresh British-grown flowers. We wanted to use a sustainable alternative to imported flowers. So we decided to go with colourful pompoms as a base for the bouquet, headdress and buttonhole. Gemma Sangwine got busy putting pompoms, fabric flowers and pinecones together and came up with the most joyous, colourful creations. Dried local flowers from Cotswold Country Flowers, along with Anthie & Hons, added impact. A striking wall hung wreath and brightly coloured meadow arrangements, show that British grown flowers are an option all year round.
In lieu of a traditional wedding dress, we chose a simple, colourful dress from us a local sustainable fashion designer Madia & Matilda. This made for a comfortable relaxed bride and maid of honour. And the dress can be worn over and over again, our Made of Honour Langa wore Tanya - Mutton Sleeve Dress. The groom wore British made clothing from James Lear of Arundel. The longer style blue tweed jacket, floral shirt and chinos can all be worn for years after the big day.
 |
| Rebecca - Dress |
As confetti is very much an outdoors thing, we decided to try out alternatives. Pompom confetti was a lot of fun to throw! And I made ribbon wands from the fabric strips I also use to make handfasting cords.
The Sub Rooms have two bars onsite and their catering is delicious! Their interpretation of a street food feast didn’t go to waste, as it was happily hoovered up by the models and suppliers. Delicious! And all served on vintage tableware – check out the gorgeous styling that Delight Vintage Teaset Hire put together (with the assistance of Vintage Mary Stroud – it’s always worth checking their stall on a monday morning for vintage treasures. My favourite teapot came from there <3)
We decided that a formal wedding cake didn’t fit our theme, and Shani from Hampton Cakes came up with the idea of making colourful decorated dougnuts, arranged on pretty vintage glassware.
While we were considering sustainability, we thought about transport too – and what’s more eco friendly than a bicycle made for two?
We loved creating this fun, informal wedding inspiration shoot – and I’ll share more of the ceremony inspiration in another post. Hope it’s given you some ideas for how you can make your wedding a perfect fit. Thanks to Rizpah, Langa and David for being such amazing models.
If you have invites rolling in for summer weddings we have more styles available to shop
