An Urban Arabesque Styled Shoot By BCME
Written by on January 31, 2018.
Tagged under: Enchanté Studios, Innovative Hiring, Prêt à Papier Invitations and Stationery, Styled Shoot, remarkable events, the shower tower company, urban arabesque styled shoot
An Urban Arabesque Styled Shoot By BCME
It has been a while since we planned our last styled shoot here at BCME, and so we were thrilled when we recently teamed up with an array of multi-talented vendors to create something that was bold, daring and ultra modern. Today, we are really excited to finally reveal the fruits of all of our hard work in our urban Arabesque styled shoot.
Below, BCME’s founder, Rio, explained how the shoot came about, and how, with the help from Rikki Webster at Remarkable Events, she brought her vision to life. Learn more below and be inspired by the accompanying images by Enchanté Studios. Enjoy!
2017 saw team BCME end the year with a unique flourish as we put together one of our most unique styled shoots yet. Entitled ‘Urban Arabesque’, the shoot was the result of a collaboration of a dream team of amazing UAE based vendors. The concept behind this shoot came to fruition after a meeting with one of my favourite ladies, Astrid, of The Shower Tower Company. I really wanted to see her ‘soapenirs’ set up as a give away at weddings, and thought the concept of her products was quite edgy, suited to a Dubai based wedding. A daring styled shoot featuring Arabic elements with a modern twist immediately sprung to mind, inspired by the city of Dubai and the Burj Khalifa, on which Astrid’s ‘soapenirs’ are based.
And so, the brainstorming began. I called upon the assistance of wedding planning duo Rikki and Victoria of Remarkable Events. I was keen to include Arabic calligraphy in the mix and bold, adventurous colours. A few days later, Rikki emailed me a professional mood board which perfectly manifested my thoughts via visuals. The colours he chose were unlike any we have ever used before, such as electric blue, burnt oranges, mustard yellow, and gold. This colour scheme would ordinarily be quite a clash, but we felt that if we combined the colours well, they would be suited to the current Autumn/Winter season. It was a risk, but we knew that the overall set up would look phenomenal if it was done correctly.
Our backdrop for these slightly alternative autumnal colours was the crisp white city-studio venue of Enchanté Studios. With the added bonus of Enchanté being our official photographers, we knew that the shoot would be in good hands, and the vibrant palette was a recipe for all things gorgeous!
The tablescape provided a focal point for the shoot. Seating wise, the mix and match trend is set to continue throughout 2018, and so we selected a range of seating options, using Innovative Hiring’s stunning new gold Arrowe and black Tolix chairs. This complimented their hairpin table, which gave us a great opportunity to add plenty of colour with the décor.
Large gold geometric candle holders, sourced by Rikki from Remarkable in a sale at Home Centre made a statement when placed at varying heights on top of our bold fabrics provided by Party Social. These fabrics consisted of maroon linen which was ‘ruffled’ across the hairpin table and electric blue napkins. Scattered paper flowers, provided by Balushka, complimented the maroon linen, whilst an electric blue table runner designed by E-Walls provided an extra jolt of colour and vibrancy.
The bold yellow-gold cutlery and the black slate charger plates, as well as the mustard yellow and aqua blue glasses, were also provided by Party Social.
As much as I personally adore flowers, I wanted to push boundaries and see if we could pull off this shoot without using a single bloom. Instead, we got crafty and worked with Balushka to create the most beautiful faux paper florals in addition to those that were placed on the table. The statement piece was the gorgeous maroon coloured giant flower, featuring a black, pure silk, draping ribbon.
The modern stationery suite for this shoot was nailed to perfection by the very talented Reesha of Prêt à Papier. With her keen eye for detail and style, she perfectly aligned the paper details with our colour scheme and theme, using striking hues and modern geometric lines. The inside of the envelope helped to pull the theme together, as it featured the same Arabic graffiti calligraphy that appears on the wall. The bold, daring colours also made an appearance on the menus and name tags.
The backdrop injected a burst of colour with an edge, reading ‘love’ in Arabic. This design was also featured on our bride’s leather jacket, providing an ultra-modern take on Arabic calligraphy.
Our eye-catching cake was designed and created by Chateaux Blanc, whose intricate sugar flowers replaced our original idea of decorating the cake with paper flowers. Once we saw the beautiful flowers on this cake, it became immediately obvious that we could not leave them out, so a slight change was made to the original idea. As many brides-to-be will testify, this can happen several times during the wedding planning process! The black three-tier cake, which features dashes of gold leaf as well as cascading baby blue florals and gold leaf, is bang on trend and is a real talking point of the overall set up. The black oil drum on which the cake rests, provided by Innovative Hiring, really added an urban edge, whilst the gold chair and candle holders with which we chose to style the setup complimented the decoration and added flashes of colour.
For the bridal look, stylist Selina Safar ensured we went edgy while still maintaining an air of femininity. Black accents will be a big 2018 wedding trend, so this classic colour was introduced using a plain black sash, striking shoes and a faux leather jacket jazzed up by Charlotte Hudders with wearable art. Charlotte played with the word ‘Love’ using Arabic style graffiti calligraphy.
The shoot showcased two separate hair looks, expertly styled by Be Bar Blow Dry Bar. The updo featured a very delicate aqua blue hairband to link to the colour scheme, whilst the down do added edginess with its sweeping side parting and curls. Makeup artist Dhalia at DHD Beauty enhanced our model’s natural beauty with lashings of eyeliner. The overall look was completed with nails by Project Beauty and jewellery designed for the shoot by Vitrine Designs. The aqua blue and gold stone ring and the drop earrings once again tied the entire theme together in the most subtle of ways.
In terms of wedding favours, we wanted to do something totally unique and came up with the idea of a ‘wedding favour box’ full of different homegrown brands. A glittery gold mini suitcase showcased the selection of favours whilst conveniently fitting our theme perfectly. The suitcase was then filled with Soap Wedding Favours by The Shower Tower Company, dolls by Dumye, mini mocktail bottles by Creative Patch, succulents by Moss and Myrtle and blue Geode coasters with ‘love’ calligraphy by Kaushali Design.
A Note From The Wedding Planner/Stylist
For this shoot, my aim was to create something truly different. I wanted to speak to young Arabic brides who were looking to put their own 21st century twist on traditional Arabic culture when planning their big day. Taking Bride Club ME’s brief, I created a colour palette of strong, urban colours not necessarily associated with typical wedding tones. I was keen to show that an urban aesthetic can be beautiful and that there is a host of stunning options available for today’s modern, Arabic bride. The mood board was a real mix of textures, materials, patterns and finishes, all layered together to create a feeling of vibrancy and cohesion. The shoot highlights that brides shouldn’t be afraid to embrace colour and modern influences when planning their big day and that the UAE has a whole host of stylists, planners and suppliers offering some very exciting alternatives.”
Rikki Webster, Co-founder and Director, Remarkable
The Dream Team
Conceptualised and organised by Rio at Bride Club ME / Styled by Rikki Webster at Remarkable Events / Wall Art & Table runner by Ewalls Studio / Tableware & Linens by Party Social / Furniture by Innovative Hiring / Make up by DHD Beauty / Hair by My Be Bar / Model Lady Laila Jane / Dress provided by Vanila Wedding Boutique / Jewellery by Vitrine Designs / Faux leather jacket art by Charlotte Hudders / Nail art by Project Beauty/ Photography by Enchanté Studios/ Styling by Selina at Selina Safar / Cake provided by Chateau Blanc/ Stationery provided by Pret a Papier Invitations & Stationery/ Paper Florals by Balushka / Soap Wedding Favours by The Shower Tower Company/ Dolls by Dumye /Coasters by Kaushali Design / Succulents by Moss and Myrtle/ Mini Sparkly mocktail bottle by Creative Patch/ Cufflinks by My List
Vanila Wedding Boutique in Dubai says
Such amazing colors!
Great photoshoot!