Beach? Check. Perfect golden hour lighting? Check. Cake? Check. Fizz? Check. Two beautiful brides? Check. All the elements for the perfect beach shoot at Cleethorpes beach, Lincolnshire, came together earlier in the year for the perfect coastal elopement shoot. I wanted to create an LGBTQ+ shoot to showcase LGBTQ+ love and create some beautiful inspo for engaged couples. The beach is such a romantic back drop, along with the warm golden hour lighting and I love the idea of a post elopement beach picnic with cake and fizz as an alternative relaxed and intimate wedding celebration.
It was such a fun shoot on the day with lots of laughing, some Baywatch running, renditions of ‘My Heart Will Go On’, shouts of congratulations from passers by and all important cake eating and fizz drinking! Work was definitely the wrong description of this shoot!
I wanted to choose suppliers who are allies and in the queer community to be behind the camera as well as infront and an incredible team was formed from this. It was a small but brilliant team involved in this shoot who all hold the same values in regards to the importance of inclusivity in the wedding industry. There is a lack of LGBTQ+ weddings showcased within the wedding industry in general with it being such a heteronormative industry so it’s important for it to be showcased throughout the UK. Lincolnshire, with it being particularly rural and not very progressive, I feel its even more important to showcase LGBTQ+ love. LGBTQ+ couples want to know that their love is accepted and more importantly, celebrated, with a certain supplier, so representation is important. With representation lacking in the Lincolnshire area, wedding planning for LGBTQ+ couples in Lincolnshire may be more difficult as they may be unsure whether they will come up against any discrimination.
Here's a little from the suppliers on how they created their piece for the shoot.
As soon as I heard the general objective for this shoot was a golden hour, beach shoot, I knew that a relaxed, boho style cake would suit.
I opted to use a natural buttercream, smoothing around the single-tier sponge cake to give it a semi-naked covering, meaning you can see some of the cake through the buttercream, and gave it a rustic edge to the top.
I attached a statement gold hoop with neutral foliage to the front of the cake, which mimicked the dune grasses around the beach and worked with the colours and styling for the shoot.
We also displayed the cake on a clear glass stand, helping to elevate the cake in the picnic setting.
It was important that the dresses complemented each other but still allowed the brides to show their own individual styles. As it was a beach shoot, I wanted to choose something with a boho vibe for Théa. The Lillian West gown was perfect with its sweetheart bust and lace bodice. It had a floor-length tulle skirt with a train complete with lace detail. We added puffed sleeves to bring it bang up to date. Sophie doesn’t generally wear dresses so we looked for a different style for her. Our White Rose dress with lace and chiffon was perfect with a v neckline and short sleeves. We teamed it with a cropped denim jacket to retain her own unique style.
I wanted to keep the hair styling very relaxed and boho to carry through the theme of the shoot. So for Thea I went for soft beachy waves to compliment her off the shoulder dress and also keep it simple for the flower crown to do all the talking! For Sophie, with her having an outfit that covered her shoulders I opted for a soft textured updo so as not to cover any of the outfit and as she mostly wears it up day to day, I wanted to create something she would feel comfortable with. The pearl star pins from Love2Sparkle (www.love2sparkle.co.uk @love2sparkleuk) finished it perfectly and kept it understated.
I decided to keep the makeup soft glowy, to go more with the beach vibe. I used soft warm tones and added pops of pigment to really enhance the golden hour theme which it just match perfectly to the shoot.
We were given the brief of “golden hour photo shoot” along with a Pinterest board with some inspiration and ideas for the shoot. From this we chose complimentary flowers and foliage in nudes and whites to compliment the beach vibe. We included grasses and some dried flowers to give the bouquets and flower crown a rustic boho look.
As we were lucky enough to have a real married couple to photograph, it made things so special. You know that every kiss, every moment is real and I think this comes across in the photos. With the shoot having a real couple I approached it like I would a real wedding, shooting with minimal equipment and making the couple feel comfortable in front of the camera. It started with them feeling a little nervous and ended with them fully relaxed, laughing & dancing on the beach as we all serenaded them with a (terrible) rendition of “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic.
Hair – Perfect Silhouette Hairdressing (www.perfectsilhouettehairdressing.com @perfectsilhouettehairdressing)
Cake– The Cake Queen Lincoln (www.cakequeenlincoln.com @thecakequeenlincoln)
Dresses – Bridal Reloved Caistor (www.bridalreloved.co.uk/shops/caistor @bridalrelovedcaistor)
Makeup – Thea Elizabeth MUA (www.facebook.com/theaelizabethmua @theaelizabethmua)
Photography – 166 Photography – (www.166photography.co.uk @166photography)
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