Category Archives: Planning

Today I get to share with you this wonderful steampunk pirate perfect inspiration shoot that took place at The Historic Dockyard in Chatham from one heck of a team, photographed by the amazing Cristina Rossi Photography.

With gorgeous dresses by Ian Stuart and delicious cakes from Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, what more do you want?!

Every time Gwenda invites me to photograph a styled shoot, I know it is going to be a great one. It’s such a joy to work with a wonderful team with lots of beautiful details and great creativity. Sometimes we just stop shooting because we run out of light! We get carried away, yes mostly me, if it was light till midnight I would probably carry on shooting till then. I decided to take a bit of a fashion approach to this shoot in terms of posing, especially with the fabulous Ian Stuart’s gowns, I wanted to show them off as much as possible, particularly the boudoir one, my favourite without a doubt, and Gwenda modelled it just perfectly. 

“The moment Elizabeth asked me to co-ordinate a Steampunk-inspired shoot, I instantly thought of Ian Stuart gowns” Explained flower extraordinaire and steampunk bride Gwenda.. “They are the perfect mix of luxury and drama. For the flowers, I was seeking a similar effect, so I used intensely coloured calla lilies, astrantia, hydrangeas, eryngium, delphiniums, spray roses and berried viburnum with collars of gilded ferns.  I was fortunate enough to stumble across Jack, who kindly agreed to be my ‘groom’ – some members of his Steampunk Morris group joined in the day to be my awesome ‘bridesmaids’. It was really great to work with a full ‘bridal party’ – big thanks to all of them.”

The cake design Elizabeth envisaged for this shoot was very elegant and simple one in cream and gold.. All steampunk cakes don’t have to be brown and brass. The bottom tier of the cake was decorated with classic gold swags and drops, creating a structured look. The middle tier, an hour glass shape which was a nod to Victorian corsetry, a number of  gold gears, cogs, wheels, keys and locks were positioned right in the centre on the front and back. The top tier was a top hat decorated with edible wafer feathers and a flower corsage. The rest of the sweet treats were decorated in the same colours and decorations, showing that steampunk can be very elegant.

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