A dark moody wedding shoot with a painted leather jacket

A painted leather jacket seems to be here to stay – they have definitely had a “moment” in 2017 and I am sure they will carry on. I personally have one that I wear daily, and it gets commented on all the time. They look awesome with a wedding dress which by the end of this post, I am sure you will agree! So when I saw this wedding styled shoot I couldn’t wait to share it with you all….read on though as this shoot is not just about the leather jacket!

Not only do I love the painted leather jacket and wedding dress combo, I totally love the styling and the table decorations. The colours are amazing and very on brand for us here at Magpie Wedding.

I caught up with Rebecca Searle, the photographer on this shoot, to find out more about the inspiration:

The Bridal Look:

This shoot is dedicated to the bride who is not afraid to celebrate her inner rock chick but who also wants a beautifully polished bridal look. Our original inspiration stemmed from seeing the incredible painted leather jackets created by Wolf & Rosie. We knew they would pair perfectly with the understated elegance of the Kate Edmondson dresses which we have had our eye on for some time and which have such a contemporary grace about them. Once we stumbled across the totally unique, and rather provocative and fun ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’ lace boots by House of Elliot, we knew they would all fit together perfectly. We topped off the look with some striking diamond wave creeper earrings by fine jeweler Harrington Brookshaw. We love this modern, unique way to wear diamonds.

The inspiration for the look and feel was a “seductively dark editorial featuring a painted leather jacket, handmade lace boots and fabulously quirky, luxe meets industrial dark tableware.”

Wearing a painted leather jacket with your wedding dress

The Flowers:

The bride’s bouquets and table flowers were designed by floral artist and stylist Cassandra King. Cassandra loves creating unique bouquets for original brides. Too often the bouquet can be an afterthought – and it is such an integral part of a whole brides look. All three bouquets were large loose and wild. Displaying the table flowers in quirky containers like the kitsch vintage swan vase stamp the look as really individual – and helps shake up some of the usual bridal flower traditions! Cassandra is also not averse to using faux florals within the styling and design; the personalised bell jar she created for instance uses artificial blooms. It means it is a visual part of the day the couple get to hang on to forever. Some of the artificial flowers out there now are gobsmackingly realistic. You really would just never know!

A dark, moody wedding shoot with a painted leather jacket

The Table:

Cassandra suggested approaching eclectic homeware company Rockett St George for the tableware as she wanted to continue the whole look of the day as being one that was fearlessly stylish and unique; the general dark and expressive vibe bucking the usual white on white theme. Using lots of gold accents and pops of bright florals against dark and earthy backdrops created a magic and personal feel that ties in with the whole bride and groom’s personal style, right down to the fabulous bike helmet ice cooler working alongside that leather jacket

The Hair:

Cindy and Candra both run their own hair styling businesses but always collaborate for Braid & Bloom and work seamlessly together. They had a very clear plan for the hair for each dress change in this shoot, to demonstrate how easily styles can transform for a bride that has a change of dress on her wedding day; from walking down the aisle with to changing into their evening look, they wanted to show how the hair can be altered to compliment each dress.

To begin with they created full extended low curls with a side twist to compliment the chic gown. This enabled them to next transform the hairstyle into a more rock and roll feel with volume, precise back combing and twists to complement the incredibly cool Wolf & Rosie Jacket.

For the final look we transformed the volumous hair into 4 twist knots with a side twist for the full up style that gave a super modern take on this exquisite and timeless collared dress.

The Make Up:

Domini’s makeup was created by the very talented Kerry of Blue Vanilla Beauty. As soon as Kerry saw the fabulous dresses and painted leather jacket, she knew the make-up had to be somewhere between grungy rock chick and pretty modern bride. Kerry created a strong smokey eye using MAC carbon black eyeshadow and Mac blacktrack eyeliner, Lancôme Miracle Teint foundation over Niod photography fluid gave the skin a flawless glow and MAC peony petal blush for a fresh faced flush on Domini’s cheeks. A matte lip would have been too heavy for this look so she opted for a Kiko pink gloss to complement the cheeks and her icy blond hair. We wish more brides would be brave enough for a statement make-up look like this!

Kerry isn’t only a talented make up artist. She also creates beautiful artwork and drew this wonderful piece surrounded in a wash of moody watercolour inspired by the shoot