Afternoon Lovelies.

We have a stunning winter shoot to share with you today. Think ethereal, think fairy tale and think bohemian all mixed together to create a beautiful yet slightly sinister styled bridal shoot.

Put together by Jo Thorne of Horseshoe Photography and Lousie Hill from Hope and Harlequin the aim of the shoot was to showcase and capture the personalities of Hope and Harlequin's beautiful made to order wedding dress collection.

What I love the most about this shoot is how varied and strong the imagery is. The first few pictures echo that of Miss Haversham and Great Expectations whilst others pay homage to The Great Gatsby. Jo and Louise have managed to capture the charisma of each individual dress perfectly resulting in a shoot that is unique, thought provoking, interesting and above all inspirational.

Look out for the AMAZING feather headdress!

Over to Jo...

Hope and Harlequin is a specialist luxury vintage shop, based in the North Lanes of Brighton. They source vintage treasures of all kinds and have an extensive wedding dress collection - some originals, some made- to- measure, which are inspired by outstanding vintage designs. Sourcing the originals both locally and abroad, - although each new dress is created in Sussex, with a finely honed attention to detail and finish, creating a truly special piece for each bride. Each and every dress in the collection has it's own personality, which was something important to me to reflect with the photography. The location for the shoot was a house that I have shot in before, belonging to the family of a mutual friend of both of ours. We both have a history with the house and knew that it would provide a stunning backdrop to the shoot, both in terms of interior shots and the beautiful grounds. The house is incredible and very "vintage " in it self - it hasn't been decorated in over 30 years. It is classic and timeless, but also dated in places, which we knew would be a perfect backdrop for the shoot.

In terms of the feel of the shoot, we wanted something classic but with a twist, reflecting Hope and Harlequin's ethos of beautiful and individual vintage pieces - bold and unfussy, but also slightly fairytale. Whilst needing to shoot the dresses for the purpose of a look book, we were both keen to build more of a narrative into the images and to use the location, models and fabulous hair (Hannah de Frateschi) and MUA (Alessia Mancini) to it's full advantages to create some fresh and creative images. The shoot itself was pretty epic...two very long days in the midst of winter - lacking in daylight - meaning as a photographer, I had to think outside of the box with how I would normally shoot wedding dresses. I think that flash has it's time and place and traditionally, the go to for wedding dresses would always be for natural light, so I was slightly out of my comfort zone when it came to losing the light at 3.30pm! However, with awesome styling and using the amazing house as a backdrop, I felt inspired to create something slightly different and a bit more edgy for some of the dresses/images.

Louise and I had created a Pintrest board together and were both on the same page, pinning ethereal and ghostly images of brides, which fitted with the backdrop of the house. There was bohemian and slightly Navajo quality to Louise's styling, whilst remaining fairly luxe, in keeping with the beautiful location. The hair was all braids and texture, as well as old school glamour, while make-up was at times modern and striking and other times soft and feminine. We were very lucky to have such a strong and creative team for the shoot.

I have to say, that I love the images using the flash, both inside and out. They are now some of my favourite images of the shoot. This is always a lovely occurrence and something for me to remember - stepping outside of your comfort zone and doing something different can produce amazing results and take you on a different creative journey - gaining further creative momentum - a brilliant thing to remember and take forward into a new year. I am excited for 2014!

Photography: Jo Thorne of Horseshoe Photography

Styling: Lousie Hill of Hope and Harlequin

Hair: Hannah de Frateschi

MUA: Alessia Mancini

Floral Crown: Hannah Best for Petal and Feast

Fascinators & Feather Headdress: Lilly Lewis Millery

Necklaces:Future Folklore