A luxe winter barn wedding shoot

It’s another frosty morning here and we’re starting to feel very festive. So what better time to share this luxurious winter-themed barn wedding shoot. Inspired by decadent floral installations, with masses of mixed seasonal foliage and flowers, it took our breath away the moment we set eyes on it.

Inspired by the full on glamour of San Diego-based event designer Karen Tran, Susan of Narcissus Wedding Flowers by Susan, envisioned a shoot with over the top floral displays, lush linens and place settings, combined with the more rustic barn style surroundings.

“Most couples having barn weddings tend to go for a more laid back, natural style of flowers and décor, with lots of simple jars and tea lights, I wanted to showcase something a bit more luxurious, but still in keeping with the more rustic surroundings,” she says.

When looking for the perfect venue to stage the shoot, Susan remembered hearing of a re-purposed Tin Shed. With a little research, she found Knockraich Farm, a family run, working farm located in the beautiful heart of Central Scotland between the Trossachs and the Campsie Fells.

She then set about bringing together a talented team of creatives to bring her vision to life, including Tandem Photo’s Audrey Russell.

“Having worked with Susan before, I knew she would create something beautiful for me to photograph and with a great team and venue on board it made my job easy. My only worry on the day was the fading sun as we were shooting indoors,” says Audrey.

“We had the most gorgeous light coming through a high window in the shed, that lit up the ceremony circle perfectly. With winter weddings you have to work quickly and search for the best light, so my advice to any couples getting married in winter is to have your ceremony as early as possible. If you’re surrounded by hills or tall buildings you often lose the sun behind them long before the sun sets, so you can miss out on that gorgeous golden light.”

When it came to designing the top table set up, the aim was to create height and drama without using glass vases or candelabra.

“I came across an old Charles Rennie Macintosh inspired railing in the garage and just knew I could recycle it to make the perfect stand,” says Susan. She then used masses of mixed seasonal foliage and flowers to create a decadent floral display, finished with gold decorations, hanging tea lights and glass baubles filled with pine cones, mirrored at the base with church candles and foliage.”

For the ceremony set up, she wanted to steer away from the traditional aisle set up and came up with the idea of staging the nuptials inside a large ring of winter foliage and candles.

The bouquets and floral head dress were designed to compliment the simple lines of the Flossy and Dossy dresses, with trailing ribbons to bring the rich burgundy shades through the whole look.

The cake was inspired by rustic winter glamour, to fit in with the spectacular floral base and floating candle stand. “The tiers were a combination of mixed shape and textured matt and shimmer white icing, keeping the otherwise simple design on-trend yet classic,” says Edwina of Rosewood Cakes. “The shimmer icing effect with ruffles represented the frostiness of winter. The sugar flowers were kept neutral to tie in with the wintry style, however dried red flowers were incorporated to bring in the rustic theme with a festive twist.”

Fiona Park, make up artist, wanted to add a touch of winter glamour. “The shoot was bursting with vibrant red and berry colours so I reached for two of my favourite lipsticks, Sara Hill ‘Marilyn’ and MAC ‘Captive’, which complemented the flowers perfectly.” she says. “Knochraich is lovely and rustic so I couldn’t wait to use some warm brown tones on the eyes and of course a little gold, which popped against the beautiful Flossy and Dossy gold detailed wedding gown. Our two models looked simply stunning!”

Following on from the rustic winter theme of the shoot, Natasha of Blushing Brides Hair and Make up created a classic yet soft chignon and beautiful bouncy big curls.

Model Olivia wears the ‘Georgia’ dress, from Flossy and Dossy’s New Wave collection, fashioned in matt crepe, with bell sleeves, A line skirt and open back. Sue wears the ‘Karis’ dress, also from the New Wave collection, this is a beaded kaftan style over dress, worn over a bias cut silk slip. Sue also wore the ‘Fleur’ dress, from the Gibson Girl collection, a gold French lace overdress with guipure and beaded appliques worn over a buttermilk silk slip.

The hairpieces created by Louise at LHG Design, were made to tie in with the winter theme of red, gold and green. Focusing mainly on the trend for gold accessories and this lovely time of year when the stars are shining bright, she looked to the constellations as her inspiration.

Finally, the finishing touches came in the form of quaichs (the Scottish cup of friendship), by The Family Stone, who create bespoke quaichs and jewellery from stone. The quaichs pictured are the Kilmory Quaich, made from stone found on Kilmory beach, Isle of Arran, and the white quaich is the Leim Quaich, made from Gigha quartz found on Leim beach on the Isle of Gigha. The rings pictured are ‘Sand & Sea’ textured/frosted sterling silver ring with 18ct gold detail and ‘Torrylinn’ textured sterling silver ring with Isle of Arran beach stone.

We love how the team came together to create this incredible shoot – so much to inspire! Christina x