Goodfellas Inspired Micro Wedding Styled Shoot

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Oh dear readers this shoot!!!!!!!! I am completely and utterly in love with it! From the theme inspired by Martin Scorsese’s iconic film Goodfellas, to the 60s and 70s vibe to the bridal and groom party styling, the decor, the colours used, the photography edit, the location and the film. The bride’s Daughters of Simone short wedding dress coupled with that beautiful long embroidered cathedral veil is simply a dream and we are also HUGE fans of the bouquets too. The white of the bride’s contrasted with the pinky hues of the bridesmaids is so gorgeous.

‘I Like This One’ (a quote from the film – google it!) was the brainchild of Bianca Bertoli, owner of Lock and Shade Salon located in Asbury Park, New Jersey. When I asked Bianca about her inspiration behind this shoot, she said

“I have always been inspired by retro and vintage styling, particularly from the 60s and 70s. It’s why I’m so drawn to classic and iconic films. When you think of Goodfellas, Casino and that niche of movies, not only are the women glamorous and perfectly styled but they are strong female characters. They aren’t sidekicks, they make the whole film. Their roles and the imagery of those movies are always at the forefront of my brain.”

Bianca Bertoli

Strong women is not the only thing this shoot is promoting either. It also has a huge emphasis on encouraging couples to not conform to the latest internet wedding trends and instead put their own personal unique stamp on their wedding from drawing on the things they love – whether that be gangster films, music festivals, your favourite song or poem or even a special location that holds meaning to you both. This is your wedding lovely people so you do YOU.

Bianca, along with the team that helped turn this shoot into a reality, talks us through the shoot and the very important message behind it. Look out for the epic daisies in one of the bridesmaid’s hair!

Enjoy lovely people.

The Film…

Words by Dom of Simple Love Films

I drew inspiration from Martin Scorsese’s film Goodfellas for this shoot. That’s where I got the idea to bring in the red lighting you’ll see inside of the restaurant. I wanted to replicate the same mood as the Goodfellas scene at the Copacabana. I hope my film inspires both couples and vendors to look outside of the wedding industry for inspiration. Look for inspiration in movies, art, music videos, and even ad campaigns.

The Photos…

I Like This One…

Words by Bianca of Lock & Shade Salon

I decided to put together my own personal dream wedding vibe, with the goal for this shoot being to do something very different in the bridal realm and also to hopefully inspire brides to think outside the box and do something uniquely their own. This was also an opportunity to bring all of my favorite vendors together. I fully trusted them with my vision. All I asked of them was to re-watch Goodfellas and Casino, and bring whatever that meant to them to this shoot and they all completely blew me away. We shot in my favorite local Italian restaurant, Nettie’s House Of Spaghetti, which perfectly set the tone.

My hope is that when people see this shoot, not only do they feel excited and nostalgic about the style and imagery, but they remember that their wedding does not need to be based on internet trends. They can make their wedding anything they want it to be.

Vintage Wedding Portraits…

Words by Cassie Castellaw Photography

I drew inspiration from vintage wedding portraits for this shoot. I wanted the photos to have this kind of grainy, kind of fuzzy quality to them so if someone was seeing the photos out of context, they wouldn’t know if they were taken recently or 50+ years ago. I hope the shoot inspires couples to think outside the box. Get married at your favorite restaurant, wear a short dress and fun eye liner, do something different and just have fun with your wedding. I hope this shoot also inspires vendors to come up with their own “dream wedding” shoot as Bianca called it. This shoot was a day of just playing and creating with friends and it was so much fun.

The Flowers…

Words by Chelsie, Flower Child Floral

For this shoot, I gravitated towards fun things I don’t normally get to use on a wedding day. Yellow in general is such an underutilized colour! But in my opinion, yellow is THE happy colour, especially for Spring.