Today I get to share with you a fantastic shoot from Kat Forsyth Photography who is Gwenda of Fearless Florals’ partner in crime for shoots of the more alternative persuasion (Gwenda is also modelling!) – Her ability to capture drama and mood with both intensity and refinement is exceptional.

“I have always had a huge affinity with the Steampunk aesthetic and had been waiting for the right concept and collaborators to come along to create a shoot in this genre.” explains Gwenda.

The peacock feather dress had spent time languishing in my wardrobe, waiting for it’s time to shine and, paired with a this was the perfect opportunity! Anneke of Retromorphosist took the colours of the feather as inspiration for her exquisite make-up and wrangled some rather uncooperative real feather lashes into place. She also expertly tamed an unruly wig into position allowing a top hat fascinator I made for the occasion to complete the outfit.

I used roses, hypericum, alstroemeria, waxflower and hydrangea combined with Cape Greens to create a colourful and heavily textured bouquet and table flowers.

The main feature of the table set-up was Lucie of Wonderland Bakery‘s amazing chocolate cake, standing tall as it fashioned from leather, ornamented with delicate sugar cogs. This masterpiece was accompanied with clock-face macarons and peacock feather detailed cupcakes.

They were probably the only aspects of the styling that did what they were told! The day of the shoot coincided with one of the late Autumn storms. Out in the fields of the Petrified Forest at Mundon, Essex, it was cold, windy and thoroughly miserable. The skirts of the dress were hell-bent on attaching themselves like Velcro to every surface, especially the sequin table cloth (one time when modelling and styling is a multi-tasking step too far). Claire Spake‘s fabulous clocks, butterflies and ‘Lock & Key’ garland were frequently snatched by the wind and resulted in an unexpected workout for those chasing after them.

But everyone pulled together and amidst much laughter and no small amount of swearing, it all came together. My thanks as always to the team (with special gratitude to Anneke for standing guard ready to catch me when the combination of high winds and high heels on a fallen tree trunk proved to be too much for my pathetic sense of balance!)

How amazing is this shoot? Even though there were many elements of disruption on the day, I do think that everyone involved on the day did such a fantastic job – It doesn’t even look that windy! Thank you to Gwenda & Kat Forsyth for sharing the feather and leather shoot with Marry Me Ink today! 

CREDITS

PHOTOGRAPHY – Kat Forsyth Photography
FLOWERS – Fearless Florals
HAIR AND MAKE UP – Retromorphosist
CAKE – Wonderland Bakery
PAPER DECORATIONS – Claire Spake
BUSTLE – Dornellie
TOP HAT – Top Hats & Time Machines (Coming soon!)