Boho Luxe Wedding Inspiration in Pink and Blue

Beautiful readers, oh do we have something so very special and so very beautiful to share with your eyes today. A gorgeous bohemian luxe styled wedding inspiration shoot put together by Festival Brides and featuring an incredible, and I mean INCREDIBLE, team of UK wedding suppliers. A team that were an absolute pleasure to work with from start to finish, who smashed the brief way beyond my expectations and who worked incredibly hard to bring to life my vision of fusing and uplifting different cultures and communities within the UK wedding and retail industry, as well as creating inspiring outdoor focused wedding content that I hope leads you, our awesome readers, to your own unique ideas for your wedding.

This shoot was also extra special as it features suppliers who I have built close relationships with since I started Festival Brides in 2011, especially over the past 2 years, and whose work I absolute ADORE in more ways than one. It also features suppliers who are waving the flag for sustainability, anti-racism, inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ and neuro diverse wedding communities, as well as members of our Festival Wedding Directory too.

It is also the first styled shoot I did after starting the incredible Nova Reid’s Anti-Racism course – a course that has completely transformed the way I show up in the wedding industry and in my personal life. Nova campaigned tirelessly for more inclusivity within the wedding industry for a decade through her wedding platform Nu Bride, and was exposed to layers upon layers of insidious racism from white owned wedding platforms in the process – including that of Festival Brides. This shoot would not have happened if it wasn’t for Nova and all she has taught me – both through her course and for paving the way through Nu Bride. Her lessons form the backbone of this shoot and I will be eternally grateful for all that she has opened up in me. Nova Reid – you are divine.

So, without further ado shall we get into it!!!!!!?

The shoot consists of two parts, a bohemian luxe themed yurt in pastel muted colours and an immersive autumnal experience styled within a tipi. It is the gorgeous yurt that we are sharing with you today and my goodness are you in for a treat!

Styled with the help of the incredibly talented Jaymie of Forge Events, the Yurt consisted of an upcycled shower door transformed into an intimate glass table setting for 6, stunning flowers in blue and pink, an absolutely majestic 4 tiered wedding cake by a completely self taught baker (I see you Farha of Gild Cakes), stunning bridal diracs by Dainty Nomad (which I just love love LOVE), candles galore in hues of pink and blue, sustainable stationery by Chloe Ainsley Creative, beautiful crockery by the lovely Wren Ark, sweet treats by one of my faves in the wedding industry, Vaani of Sugar Plum Bakes and so much more! All captured by the legend that is Bhavna Barratt – a photographer who is highly regarded in the Asian wedding industry and someone I feel very lucky to have worked with. It also features the work of MiaSylvia – a pioneer when it comes to sustainable wedding drapes and who worked her magic to dress the naked tipi we featured in the outdoor area – and film maker Ali of Ameer Photography whose energy and charisma was magnetic on the day and resulted in an awesome film which we will be sharing with you next week.

Finally, the shoot took place as part of an open day at our gorgeous eco-friendly wedding venue in the Yorkshire Dales, Kilnsey Park Weddings. This is an outdoor focused wedding venue with a growing passion for sustainable weddings and giving back to the environment through it’s services. Festival Brides has been working closely with Kilnsey Park for the past 5 years and adore it for so many reasons. It is an absolutely awe-inspiring natural space to hold a wedding, with views of the dales that stretch for miles, and owners who are just as awesome as the venue they own! It is a place that commands you to connect with nature and I love it so much for doing so.

The open day was in collaboration with the wonderful Bar Events UK – a Giant hat tipi and bar supplier based in Yorkshire. Laura at Bar Events helped organise the open day, as well as recommending the brilliant North Sky Yurts who provided the yurt and bell tents we are featuring today (more on them below). She was an incredible support to me in more ways than one and I really can’t recommend her enough. More to come on Laura and her brilliant business in Part 2 which we will be sharing next week.

Honestly, working on this shoot, with this incredible team of wedding suppliers, was a dream and I couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did putting it together and it leads you to your own unique and wonderful ideas for your wedding.

The Inspiration & Decor…

Wild romantic bohemian luxe in blue and pink was the main inspiration for this shoot. I love blue and pink together as a colour way and could imagine the softness of these colours complimenting the white canvas and criss cross of the wooden frame of North Sky yurts beautifully.

Like with most things in my life when I am needing inspiration, my first port of call was Pinterest. I knew in my head exactly what I wanted but it wasn’t until I started to collate these ideas through a mood board on Pinterest that the romantic wild flower bohemian theme came to life.

Jaymie of Forge Events was the talented lady behind the flowers for the yurt and also helped me to develop the overall theme through her styling advice and use of props. The main focus of the yurt, my dream of having a glass table filled with flowers underneath, was brought to fruition by Jaymie who, after being sent numerous pictures of glass tables from me, upcycled an old shower glass door and made it into a table. The result was simply incredible. We were able to create an intimate table setting using flowers in a way I have only seen once before whilst researching for this shoot. The flowers underneath not only looked beautiful as you were standing in front of the table, but as you sat and looked through the glass you saw a completely different perspective that created the perfect majestic floral backdrop for the decor on top. I love love LOVED it! I think it is a brilliant idea for a top table and will certainly result in some stunning pictures from your wedding. I also love that Jaymie upcycled something that would have otherwise been thrown away – another example of how creating a more sustainable wedding can simply come from repurposing an item in your home that you no longer need.

As well as creating the glass ‘top table’ luxe boho setting, Jaymie and I also wanted to create a more budget friendly table setting option and did this by dressing one of North Sky Yurts trestle wooden tables with a more simple flower and decor arrangement. We filled this space with coloured candles by Smith And The Magpie, a sustainable candle and prop supplier local to the venue. Their coloured candles were also used on the main glass table along with some twisted textured and vased candles by Ish Candles, CR1B and Wax Atelier. We also asked the brilliant Orna Hand Painted Candles to paint some unique candles for us too which she did beautifully using the mood board as her inspiration.

We are predicting candles to be bigger than ever for the 2022 wedding season, which is why I wanted to used them in this shoot, with coloured, textured and hand painted candles being up there as the most used in 2022. We are all about being ahead of the trend at Festival Brides and coloured, twisted, patterned and hand painted candles are where it is at for 2022 wedding decor trends and beyond!!

The Sweet Treats…

Where do I start with the talented ladies behind the sweet treats for this shoot. From the marble affect on those gorgeous pale blue iced biscuits to the incredible cake that brought the grandeur to the space, I was in awe of what Gild Cakes and Sugar Plum Bakes created for this shoot. Their interpretation of the brief and mood board was spot on and the shoot would not have been the same without the elements they created.

Sitting pretty on top of the pale pink sustainable napkins provided by MiaSylvia, and completing the intricate detail of the table setting so beautifully, were Sugar Plum Bakes’ marble affect biscuits and pale pink meringues. Aimed to provide sweet favour inspiration for couples, these tasty treats elevated the table setting by bringing just the right amount of wedding luxe illustrated through the biscuits hint of gold and the perfectly executed swirls of those dried edible flower dusted meringues.

I loved the way these treats complimented the overall table settings. How the colours worked so perfectly with the flowers and the pink and gold of the crockery. I also loved that the design matched the petal style of the plates and the overall luxe vibe found from the etched glasses, candle holders and candle light.

Our main wedding cake was provided by the incredibly talented Farha of Gild Cakes. If ever there was a lady who defines natural talent it would be Farha. She is completely self taught, creating gorgeous designs from experimenting in her kitchen and researching online. She is a sugar fondant genius and I am so excited to see what the future has in store for her.

Farha was recommended to me by MiaSylvia after Mia worked with her on a previous shoot. Like I did with all of the suppliers on this shoot, I sent Farha the mood board and let her do her thing by interpreting the stimulus in her own unique way. The result – a four tiered masterpiece of a cake decorated with delicate handcrafted fondant flowers that cascaded down the tiers, icing that had a creamy stone marble effect and paper thin edible flowers that bloomed out from the cake on stem wires. It looked so good against the backdrop of textile designer Eva Sonaike’s African inspired blue fabric and certainly brought the show stopping factor to the yurt.

The Crockery…

Nestled away in a beautiful rural showroom near Clifton Reynes sits Wren Ark – a treasure trove of eclectic, modern and bohemian crockery and table decor inspired by the owners own passion and love for all things crockery.

Wren Ark is owned by the lovely Kate, a lady who clearly has an eye for wedding table decor and another supplier who I loved to get to know through the organisation of this shoot. Visiting her showroom was like a dream come true for me!! Her tastes are so similar to my own so finding pieces to use for this shoot was easy. We were exactly on the same page as to what we thought would work well and the peices she provided couldn’t have been more perfect.

I loved her pale pink etched water glasses, petal plates, glass candle holders, pink and gold cutlery (brand new and used for the first time on the shoot) and gold rimmed wine glasses. She brought the perfect amount of bohemian elegance to the shoot and is another supplier I really can’t recommend more highly.

The Stationery…

Choosing a stationery designer for this aspect of the shoot was easy. I have been a huge fan of Chloe Ainsley Creative’s work ever since I first featured her on Festival Brides back in 2019 when she created some gorgeous etched wooden feathers as part of a stationery suite for a woodland styled wedding shoot. She was the first designer I contacted and was so pleased she said yes! Like many of the suppliers we worked with on this shoot, Chloe has a focus on sustainability and this very much influenced the design and curatation of her stationery. She says…

“Designed in my modern, type-led style, the stationery maximises every inch of paper whilst reducing waste shining a light on the beauty of less is more. Both the invitation set and menu cards were printed on FSC certified paper (sourced from sustainably managed forests) covering a small overall paper surface area with postcard-size invitation and details card alongside a mini rsvp card. Absent of any extraneous embellishments or unnecessary flourishes these are all about the words on paper.

A curated colour palette of earthy tones featuring soft beiges and a powdery blue with subtle flecks were used to compliment the colour palette found amongst the spring flowers and edible treats. The reverse of the invitation displays a beautiful quote about friendship offering the invitee a sense of connection. Personal touches like this are a simple yet lovely way for couples to express the value of their relationships with their family and friends. The guest names were printed directly onto slim line menu cards eliminating the need for separate name cards.“

Dainty Nomad…

When I first started to plan this shoot and began to discuss ideas with my two main stylists, Hilaal of Mama Bear and Mia of MiaSylvia (whose work is featured more heavily in Part 2), I was hesitant to use models due to time restraints and budget. Hilaal however came to my rescue when she contacted the amazing ladies behind Dainty Nomad, a modern UK based bridal Dirac (pronounced Dir’ā) brand whose roots derive from Somalia, Africa. Through intricate crystal beading and elegant sophisticated design, they are redefining the traditional African Dirac through their own in house designed bridal and bridesmaid Dirac’s and accessories.

The team behind Dainty Nomad offered to look after the entire model aspect of the shoot and brought with them a team of hair and makeup artists as well as their beautifully designed collections.

I was in absolute awe of the collection of Dirac’s Dainty Nomad brought to the shoot, and the talent of their team. For the Yurt, they chose pieces from their Guntiino collection and the colours and beaded design couldn’t have been more perfect for the luxe bohemian vibe of Part 1. Models Hibaq and Ugbad looked absolutely stunning and despite the rain and wind worked with the magic of the venue, and the decor spaces created, brilliantly.

North Sky Yurts…

Lovely people, if you are thinking of hiring a yurt for your wedding, or a glamping village of Bell Tents, then you have to contact Becca and Charlotte of North Sky Yurts. From the moment I made first contact with them to now, they have been an absolute pleasure to work with. They are accommodating, incredibly efficient, compassionate, empathetic, offer excellent customer service and have the patience of a saint! They genuinely are such lovely people to work with and I really can’t recommend them enough.

Another brilliant recommendation from Laura of Bar Events, North Sky Yurts brought their 24ft Yurt, Honeymoon Suite bell tent and 3 other bell tents to illustrate to visitors of the open day, and viewers of this shoot, how a wedding day can look at Kilnsey Park.

A relatively new business, the ladies brought attention to detail in the products they supplied for the shoot. Their tents have clearly been well looked after and a lot of thought has gone into increasing their couples and guests overall experience by providing unique little touches and additional elements that can be hired as part of an overall package.

I loved working with them on this shoot. They were open and accommodating to all of my ideas and even offered the core members of the styling team a place to stay during the open day and shoot. Ladies – you rock!

Their yurt and bell tents looked fabulous against the backdrop of the Yorkshire Dales and offered more fabulous photo opportunities for Bhavna and Ali to work their magic in capturing the shoot.

The Line Up

Concept, Coordination & Creative Direction: Festival Brides; Photography: Bhavna Barratt; Videography: Ameer Photography; Venue: Kilnsey Estate Weddings; Fabric Installations, Textile Design + Styling: MiaSylvia; Styling, Glass Table, Candle Holders + Florals: Forge Events; Tablescape Styling: Festival Brides; Yurt & Bell Tents: North Sky Yurts; Stationery: Chloe Ainsley Creative; Biscuits and Meringues: Sugar Plum Bakes; Cake: Gild Cakes; Cake Fabric Backdrop + Soft Furnishings: Eva Sonaike; Crockery: Wren Ark; Cathedral Candles: Smith And The Magpie; Sage Green Candles: Ish Candles; Groovy Candles: CR1B; Twisted Candles: Wax Atelier; Hand Painted Candles: Orna Hand Painted Candles; Outdoor Flowers: Moody Petals; Naked Tipi: Bar Events; Bridal Diracs + Jewellery: Dainty Nomad; Makeup Artist: Saul Beauty; Hair: Aylin Hair; Models: Hibaq & Ugbad; Bridal Bouquet: Mama Bear & Co.