Sentimental wedding inspiration
Venue: Chateau de Caumont, Cazaux-Savès
Florist, decor: Amy Tymon, Amy’space
Model: Lucy Barber
Make up: Deb Stewart, Natural Beauty
Hair: Annette Carr, English Hairdresser France
Dress: Vintage dress from Siobhan Caldwell
Jewelry: Caitlin Harper, Distinctly Caitlin Designs
Macaroons: Le Petit Coquin, Tournefeuille
Stationery: Anna Ramsay, Anna Ramsay Art
Production management and photography: Pattie Fellowes
Featured in Vogue and French Wedding Style, Bronze at the Guild of Photographers
[fictional bride] She was a big hearted girl who loved people and the world. She was always seeing beauty in simple and everyday things. Romantic and delicate, she was a dreamer, but strong in her beliefs and not afraid to express her own style. She preferred simplicity and didn’t like being in the spotlight. She loved her family and was looking back nostalgically at her childhood memories. She’s been dreaming of a wedding in an old French castle since her first childhood holidays. We all knew her wedding day was going to be very special…
Our idea was to create a sentimental wedding look, and to achieve it in an organic and natural way. To do so, we agreed to use vintage objects, seasonal flowers and the support of local businesses. We were looking for beauty in old and forgotten, or everyday and simple objects and aiming to create an elegant and glamorous look, vintage but contemporary.
The stunning Chateau de Caumont in Gers was the perfect place for the set up. This historic Renaissance castle and its beautiful gardens charmed us immediatly with its mysterious yet welcoming character. Resembling a Sleeping Beauty castle, abandoned but re-loved and beautifully restored, it became the perfect venue for our project. For the photos, we used the bridal suite, the Roman-styled saloon, the staircase, the courtyard and the garden.
A beautiful but long-forgotten grandma’s wedding dress was quietly resting at the back of a cupboard. 50 years later it’s re-loved and precious again. Its beautiful lace, bohemian style and long cape hit the 2019 wedding fashion trends (according to Vogue). We chose a sentimental grandma’s engagement ring – why should such beautiful rings have to hide in a drawer? We love the idea of re-loving the precious objects, now rediscovered.
Simple and natural was our theme. Using seasonal garden and meadow flowers was crucial for the style. We love the idea of using what’s available rather than farmed. Luckily it was rose season, and Amy Tymon used roses for the floral and candle arrangements. For the bridal bouquet Amy used white lilies from her garden, which added the extra vintage feel to the bridal look.
One of our special features was a jasmine hair vine, hand-made by Amy. A talented local hairdresser, Annette Carr, tied it precisely into the bride’s long, curled hair.
She wanted minimal make up, but we loved her lips. The local make up artist, Deb Stewart, helped with a beautiful nude make up, with a red lips accent. To balance the colour, we added red nails and toes.
This beautiful dress needs beautiful jewellery. A creative local jewellery designer, Caitlin Harper, makes unique jewellery inspired by meadow flowers. We opted for another colour pop – red jade earrings and an oversized ring, complemented by a silver floral bracelet.
Instead of the traditional wedding cake, we decided to go for a family favourite and French special – macaroons. Made by Le Petit Coquin, Chocolatier et Pâtissier, in red, white and green, served on a log tray, they looked especially delicate and natural.
Hand made was important for the theme. All wedding stationery was created by a talented local artist, Anna Ramsay. Anna used real meadow flowers and foliage to print the cards with their unique designs.
For the photographs I decided to make the most of the natural light inside the chateau, which created dramatic chiaroscuro effects and resembled baroque paintings. To highlight the vintage and sentimental look, I opted for deadpans and dis-attachment of the subject, to evoke even stronger emotion in the viewers. It happened to be a rainy and dark day, but I was happy to photograph in the rain to show it can look beautiful too.
We hope that this story will inspire some couples in looking for beauty in simple, everyday or vintage objects.
This is so beautiful Pattie, you are very talented. Amazing photos to treasure.