Cool, Contemporary Modern Bridal Glamour with Bowen Dryden

40 Bowen Dryden bridal captured in a pink Marrakech inspired courtyard at Port Lympne Hotel

Take a look at these images – would you believe they weren’t actually shot in Marrakech, but the courtyard of a beautiful Moroccan inspired hotel right here in Blighty instead?

These images were sent in by stylist Luke Reene, whose work I was already familiar with as he worked with the Most Curious Wedding Fair team last March in styling their catwalk shows. By the way, if you haven’t read about the upcoming Most Curious event in March 2019 yet, you can do so here. Get it in your diaries – this is without any doubt the wedding event to attend if you’re going to attend any. Innovative, modern and full of wonderful friendly suppliers. It’s brilliantly organised, exciting, vibrant and attending it is a genuine highlight of my year.

This is Luke’s first foray into styling himself, away from the Most Curious team, and I love the results. Cool, modern and relatable bridal fashion that will appeal to all those brides seeking something less traditional, more contemporary. Luke tells us more..

Jessica Hawkins, the makeup artist for this shoot sent me some photos and a video of the venue when a client was getting married at the Port Lympne hotel and right away I knew it was somewhere we had to shoot in.  The Moroccan inspired Courtyard is an extension of the Port Lympne Hotel at Port Lympne Zoo, Kent.  This hidden gem has been boarded off and hidden for nearly 30 years until its recent renovation, which was finished 18 months ago.”

Images by Samuel Wiles

39 Bowen Dryden bridal captured in a pink Marrakech inspired courtyard at Port Lympne Hotel

“Everything within the courtyard and the Moroccan lounge area has been imported from Morocco to be as true to the original architect’s plans from the early 1900s as possible.  It really is an all encompassing experience, with Rosemary growing in flower pots around the upper balcony and the smell of dried lavender complementing it from beautiful patterned bowls dotted around the courtyard.”

“Given the colours of the environment, I really wanted to compliment and contrast, both in colour and statement.  With this in mind I used designs from Bowen Dryden. I was lucky enough to work with Bowen Dryden’s founder and designer, Sharon, at the Most Curious catwalk shows earlier this year where we bonded over her history in the industry and her time at Lesage Embroidery.”

“I used the beautiful green embroidered ‘Rose of the Forest’ gown as a start point for the shoot, trying to capture the more romantic side of the environment.”

12 Bowen Dryden bridal captured in a pink Marrakech inspired courtyard at Port Lympne Hotel

“We then moved into the second look, using ‘Lilac Time’. Having worked with the Photographer Samuel Wiles before when he did some backstage work for me at Most Curious I love the way he uses colour and angles to elevate the subject, his experience as a product photographer comes into play and one of my favourite photos of this shoot is taken on the balcony with Emily the model, below being almost swallowed up by the hurricane like positioning of the dress around her feet.”

30 Bowen Dryden bridal captured in a pink Marrakech inspired courtyard at Port Lympne Hotel

“The final look, is a separates look, using Sharon’s classic Dior inspired flares and peplum jacket, the stark white of the almost swan like peplum jacket as a contrast to the colour of the walls and the flowers surrounding the courtyard.  I adore strong women and I think these pieces really speak to that.”

Jess and I had lengthy conversations about the direction of the makeup, we opted for a dewy, clean, very innocent look for the “Rose of the Forest” gown to really let the detail in the dress speak for itself.  The model Emily has absolutely fantastic features so for “Lilac time” we really wanted to work with them, a really peachy lip with brushed up eyebrows and a luminescent glow, my favourite makeup has to be the separates look that Jess created with the gorgeous Papaya lip and tight hair up to play up the power dressing aspect of these gorgeous pieces.”

41 Bowen Dryden bridal captured in a pink Marrakech inspired courtyard at Port Lympne Hotel

“Paired with the looks were shoes from Sharon’s collaboration with Diane Hassall, ‘Kookychu Shoes’ using Greenery and the pink ballet ribbon heels Sugar Plum.  I reached out to local Jewellery institution Fitzgerald Jewellers in Canterbury for pieces for this shoot and they were amazing in loaning some absolutely stunning 18c gold and diamond pieces from Marco Bicego’s Marrakech collection the pieces are hand hammered and twisted to give the unique contemporary feel of the necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings.”

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“This was my first editorial photoshoot – my experience is based around catwalk styling within the wedding industry with Most Curious. It has been really strange working without the safety net of the Most Curious family, but also really liberating at the same time working without the time constraints and million miles a minute pace that catwalk shows have!

Credits & Thanks

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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