Spring 2014 sees the launch of a wedding event that every bride has to have etched into their wedding planning diaries – the Great Lancashire Wedding Show’s Big Wedding Weekender! It’s a two-day event taking place on Saturday 26th April & Sunday 27th April 2014 at Bolton Arena; a weekend filled with fun, inspiration, entertainment, catwalk shows, quirkiness and gorgeousness all in one amazing weekend.
The organisers of the Great Lancashire Wedding Show, Little White Books, told Everyday Bride exclusively how they put together their photoshoot to promote the Wedding Weekender.
‘We send a weekly newsletter to all our brides and one week we ran a very small feature saying ‘Could you be the face of the 2014?’ – the response was unbelievable! People shared on Facebook within minutes and before we knew it, we were trawling through so many entries and we had such a tough decision on our hands. Kirsty Smith was our winner, and she’s been so good at keeping everything under wraps!
‘Our team was Joanne from One Beautiful Day (make up), hair by Kristina of Bella Vida, jewellery & accessories by Sparkle Designer, flowers, props & styling by Clare of Blush Rose Events, and our photographer was Mick Cookson. Kirsty’s dress was supplied by Brides Gallery of Eccleston, ‘Sasha Anne’ from Romantica.
‘It was early June and we were having some beautiful weather so we planned a late afternoon shoot to capture hazy sunlight and romantic sunsets. Unfortunately though, when the day came, so did the clouds and the incessant rain. Our venue was Beeston Manor in Hoghton near Preston and we planned to take advantage of their acres of meadows and woodland landscapes. Beeston Manor is an enchanting venue, brimming with rural & rustic charm and with endless photographic opportunities. And this was a Great Lancashire Wedding Show photoshoot, so grey clouds and rain wouldn’t deter us from rolling the sleeves up and just getting on with it!
Joanne from One Beautiful Day tells us how she chose Kirsty’s make up: ‘I wanted to achieve a bohemian look as this was an outside-based shoot. I gave her eyes a sensual, smokey look and applied Pearlgide intense eye liner from MAC under her eyelids and blended out. For Kirsty’s foundation I wanted her skin to look flawless, radiant and glowing so I used another fab product from MAC called Face and Body Foundation on her face and used setting powder just on her T-zone. On her cheeks I used a lovely cream blush from MAC called Something Special. I wanted her lips to stand out and I had a brilliant product for that which was a lip gloss by MUA from Superdrug.’
Kirsty’s hair was styled by Kristina of Bella Vida hair salon, Horwich. ‘Kirsty had a natural wave to her hair so I worked with it using label.m Souffle to define the wave and add texture. I used the Cloud9 curling wand and irons to create that tousled loose curl effect and gently brushed it out with my fingers. Finally I completed the look with label.m Sea Salt Spray and label.m Hold & Gloss spray. It’s always best to use a lightweight product that will last throughout the day and will look fabulous on every photo!’
Kirsty’s jewellery was kindly provided by Andrew at Sparkle Designer. Andrew says; ‘We added a 3 Dimensional heart in 18ct Rose gold on Kirsty’s neckline – you can’t help but be drawn into the sweeping angles captured by this powerful symbol of love… this necklace is also available in hallmarked silver. The engagement ring has sweeping double bands emerging from one to be married together with the perfectly proportioned certified Luére cut Diamond in a 4 prong setting side set with 2 princess cut diamonds. Her wedding band, simple at first glance, yet look closer to see it follows the contoured shape of the engagement ring, echoing it’s profile and mirroring the sweep around her finger.
Our shoot was styled by Clare of Blush Rose Manchester Wedding Flowers. Clare has such a creative eye for detail, and once again she provided a whole wealth of flora & props to create our image. The floral crown was an inspired addition to the shoot. Clare says ‘We wanted something natural and cheery so we chose yellow Freesia and Sunny roses. We added a scattering of meadow flowers for the bouquet and finished it off by binding it with natural Hessian as this is a very popular trend at the moment. For the hair crown we chose simple daisies and added buttercups to create a lovely Spring look; hair crowns and loosely-styled flowers in the brides hair are a firm favourite this wedding season and very much on-trend.’
And in between the cloudbursts, our photographer Mick Cookson worked miracles to turn this grey, dour day into a luscious Spring evening. Another absolutely amazing team effort, and another example of the richness of landscapes that Lancashire has to offer in all weathers.
The Great Lancashire Wedding Show’s ‘Big Wedding Weekender’ takes place on Saturday 26th April & Sunday 27th April 2014 at Bolton Arena, BL6 6LB.
Contributors:
Photography: www.mickcookson.com
Flowers & Props: www.blushrose.co.uk
Make-Up: www.onebeautifulday.info
Hair: www.bella-vida.co.uk
Jewellery: www.sparkledesigner.co.uk
Dress: www.bridesgallery.co.uk
Venue: www.beestonmanor.com