Summer wedding styled shoot

English summers and garden drinks were the inspiration for this stunning photoshoot at the picturesque The Rectory Hotel, Wiltshire. The shoot combines a delicate palette of pretty pastels and in-vogue coppers with classic styling to inspire brides planning their big day!

 

 

Claire Spiller, Creative Director of Garden and Wild, shares the styling secrets behind this gorgeous shoot. “To complement photographers’ Samantha and Thomas’ vision for the shoot I created orals that were loose and informal yet still refined. The stunning country house venue with its relaxed cottage-style garden borders and the blush and blue colour palette informed my designs and flower choices. The Cotswolds, where the shoot took place, is famed for its picturesque villages with pretty gardens, chocolate box thatched cottages with roses and wisteria tumbling down walls, the scent of lavender and jasmine permeating the air and miles of unspoilt English countryside with fields of wheat and barley swaying in the summer breeze.

 

 

I wanted to evoke that sense of a quintessentially English country garden within the bouquets using colours to complement the shoot. I chose roses, sweet peas, delphiniums and peonies so that the designs blended well with the setting as well as the styling created by the other talented vendors. In the small round posy I used one of my favourite roses, White Majolika. It’s a stunning silky cream with a hint of blush. It reminds me of a beautifully simple wild rose as it opens up to reveal its yellow centre. In the larger bouquet I sourced some stunning blush sweet peas sold on the vine.

 

 

These created a lovely trailing effect, adding movement to the bouquet. The peonies as well as the sweet peas added scent and the blue delphiniums provided a hint of contrasting colour and texture. I wanted to create a wild cottage garden feel but still retain some refinement and elegance to echo the venue. It’s important when choosing styling for a wedding not just to consider colour schemes and outfits but also to design with the venue itself in mind, working with it rather than creating a look that fights it or clashes.”