"Typical bridal images focus on an innocence, a sense of purity and I really wanted to bring something more sensual to bridal imagery with this shoot. Brides want their groom to be blown away by how they look on the wedding day, they want them to be irresistibly attracted to them, and that's what these images are designed to show...
...that attraction and sensuality."
Something a little different, and intimate on here on Love My Dress this morning; ‘Behind Closed Doors’ by The White Room, Bridal Boutique, photographed by Cat Hepple photography and filmed by Emma Wilson-Massey, captures that essence of the intimacy and sensuality within a marriage.
The concept is about showing off the femininity of the gown, the feelings of the woman dressing on her wedding day, her desire to be desired her need to feel as beautiful, loved and sexy...
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Cat Hepple
I have to say, I love what Cat and Chloe have done here - these ladies are brave and bold doing something that challenges the usual, comfortable format, and I think they have been triumphant in pulling it off with elegance, grace and a huge injection of sexiness! It's wonderful to see the softness of these images, they are the kind of photographs, dare I say, that possibly only a woman, could capture of a woman...
Chloe of The White Room told me...
“Marriage is beautiful, it's the meeting of mind, body and soul and as much as we celebrate the innocence of the 1st kiss, the natural beauty of the wedding day and the purity of the solemn vows, no-one can deny that relationships are also based on more than that.
Attraction, lust, sex, such powerful emotions and ones that never get spoken about really in bridal, never realised or conceptualised in photo shoots... We skirt around the sexual element of marriage, we don't embrace the rawness, the sensuality and the eroticism. Many probably feel that bridal fashion can only be showcased if done, on the whole, innocently."
"We wanted to challenge that. We wanted to work on the woman, her confidence, her sensuality, and her sexual emotions. We want to embrace the feeling of stepping in to a beautiful gown she carefully selected, her sexy underwear. We want to show that in choosing a gown, she is dressing for herself, for all the women on the guest list who she wants to make envious and most importantly, for him.
You know that one person who makes you feel sexy, beautiful and gorgeous. The one who asked you to marry him."
"Our inspiration for this shoot was very much focused around style, underwear which was so kindly loaned to us from at John Lewis, Sheffield and passion of the newlyweds, embracing sensuality and real emotion along the way”.
"It was important to still keep an air of softness and gentleness, this is afterall a shoot to inspire brides to be, but I wasn't afraid to get our couple more up close, more intimate, and to use the light to convey different emotions and more of a sense of privacy at times.
I envisaged a bride on the morning of her wedding, dreaming of her groom, lost in a world away from others. These photographs are still soft and romantic, but they feel intimate, like the viewer is being llowed in on a private time. I love that look.
Then when the couple were alone together, the imagery takes on a more heated feel. There's an intensity, an attraction, a sense of longing. I love the idea of a few shots like this for a couple on their wedding day, private, alone, madly in love. They are more erotic, more sensual than traditional wedding images, but to explore and express that side of a relationship can be fun and result in some amazing, enticing images."
Chloe Curry, owner of The White Room, chose to keep the shoot minimal on the gown front, which she explains as wanting to show off the style ability of The White Room, to show that they just don’t sell dresses.
She says "The White Room is different. We work to match personalities - to challenge with you to find the best look, the best feeling, deliver your personality through the dress and out into the group of people that you have chosen to spend your special day with. We make you push your own personal boundaries so you wear what you CAN wear to make you feel fabulous, not what you think you SHOULD wear because it happens to be in the shop.
Creating a style with a bride is so much more fun, so rewarding and so special and it comes from more than just the gown. We have some great accessory designers on board and we really wanted to strip the bride of her gown (literally) and style her with accessories only”.
Chloe used statement pieces from The White Room’s newest stockist, Polly Edwards who makes stunning jewelled and intricate pieces that have the real wow factor. Her strong designs like ‘Sassi’ and ‘Neroli’ looked amazing on our model, says Chloe.
Veils are making a comeback too! Chloe says: “It’s all about styling the right veil with the right gown to create a look each and every bride is comfortable with. We paired lace & tulle veils from HM Veils with softer pieces from our Sheffield stockist, Debbie Carlisle whose new 2013 collection are all about the colour and lace details, which looked beautiful with the lace on Stephanie Allin’s new ‘Moonlight’ gown and ‘Sunset’ from her Day and Night collection."
"We also included ‘Eden’ by Jenny Packham and ‘Genevieve’ by Claire Pettibone (pictured below) in this shoot. Chloe chose both of these beautiful gowns to express the popularity of colour and textures of a gown which was seen on the catwalks for 2013.
Speaking of 2013, this year’s collections are all about the clever blend of gloss and matt, light and colour. Lots of textures, lace, velvet and tulle plus hints of delicate pastel colours in lilac, oyster, peach and old rose are going to be popular!"
