Great Gatsby Inspired Wedding Photo-Shoot – A Bride Club ME Collaboration
Written by on August 19, 2013.
Tagged under: Bride Club ME, Dubai, Dubai Weddings, Gatsby inspired wedding, Great Gatsby, Great Gatsby wedding, Little Miss Cup Cakes, M7 Bespoke, Make up by Dee and Dal, Orkalia Haute Couture, O’My Glamour!, THE PALM, Tasneem Al Sutlan, The MusicHall, Vintage Bloom, Vintagesouq.com, Zabeel Saray, iGifts JLT, vintage weddings, wedding photo shoot
Great Gatsby Inspired Photo-Shoot
The recent film ‘The Great Gatsby’, starring the gorgeous Leonardo DiCaprio, is full of glamour and glitz and has inspired brides and wedding planners around the globe – and of course, our team here at Bride Club ME.
The era of the 1920s lended itself beautifully to our chosen venue for the shoot, The MusicHall at the Zabeel Saray on Dubai’s Palm. When I first visited the venue on a night out with friends, I instantly wanted to organise our first styled shoot there, since the venue has so much natural style, personality and charm. I thought it would make for a fabulous alternative wedding venue (food for thought brides to-be) – and so it began! I started to call up my clients and within a week I had a team of professionals ready to make the vision a reality.
One of Bride Club ME’s favourite photographers, Tasneem Al Sultan, brought the shoot to life with her gorgeous images below, while all the wonderful partners involved are listed at the end of the feature. Tasneem told me that one of her favourite era’s for inspiration were the 1920’s and she was delighted to be part of our team. This was Bride Club ME’s first styled shoot since our launch last November and I have to admit I was nervous, wondering if I had bitten off more than I could chew. In my humble opinion, with the help of some extremely professional and creative wedding professionals, we pulled it off. So, sit back, relax and prepare for a visual feast of 1920s glamour, glitz and wedding bliss.
XO~ Rio
Styling and décor: Touche D’or by Al Wazzan L.L.C. aspired to create something glamorous and opulent with a modern twist on the Gatsby era. The colour scheme was gold, silver, black and white, with lots of sparkle. Glass, crystals, pearls and feathers added to the decor. All this was juxtaposed with black chiffon table linens from rosette textured fabric and stunning flowers so that rich textures were the defining element, with colour taking on an almost secondary roll. Strands of pearls accentuated the linens between the florals and candle holders. The black satin napkins with jewelled rings countered the gold charger plates and added sparkle and glitz. Added to the plates where black lace wrapped chocolate favors, provided by Igifts JTL. Gold chiavari chairs were a great accent piece to bring out the gold tones complimenting the floral bunches.
Touche D’or by Al Wazzan L.L.C. collaborated and liaised with key partners such as Vintage Bloom, Little Miss Cupcakes, Design by Louma, vintagesouq.com – who provided vintage cameras – and myself to ensure the theme was fluent throughout. They added personal touches from their stock, such as vintage frames with black and white photos of 1920s icons, antique silver mirrors (which anchored the table), a large white vintage mirror on an easel (which framed the escort cards) and a gold vintage chaise longue – a vintage twist on the current kosha designs we often see here in the Middle East.
Flowers: The flower centrepieces, designed and styled by Vintage Bloom were 1920s and art deco-inspired, to reflect the opulence and glamour of the era. Vintage Bloom used white hydrangeas, orchids and vandella roses with white feathers for an added wow factor. The arrangements were also laden with strings of faux pearls and crystals to add a touch of glamour. The chair backs were draped with white florals and pearls offering an air of romance.
Cake: Farah from Little Miss Cupcakes took our project on with so much passion and enthusiasm, so I was itching to see what she produced. Vintage glamour is one of Farah’s favourite themes to work with, so designing the cake for our shoot came naturally. Farah wanted to use classic whites and a hint of black as the cake’s primary colours. Edible feathers were brushed with metallic silver and gold. Handmade brooches anchored the feathers.
Gold pearls adorned the fish scale border and Swarovski crystals, taken from bride’s gown as inspiration, were also used for the larger fish design in the middle tier. Inspired by Louma’s horizontal black and white invitations, Farah made up the bottom tier of the cake using the same design. A monogram of the bride and groom was placed on the cake in a creative way. The result? A simply breathtaking Gatsby-inspired cake.
Stationery: Louma from Design by Louma created the gorgeous wedding stationery pictured below. Her thought process was, “When you set up a Gatsby-themed wedding in a fabulous venue like The MusicHall, the thinking behind the invitations and stationery must have musical references and 1920s glamour incorporated”. For the wedding invitation, a black and white striped fabric wrap adorned with a Swarovski-incrusted tag held together an invitation and ticket entry. Design style and typography, meanwhile, were all influenced by the Gatsby’s bold lines and touches of gold, black and white.
The escort cards were inspired by miniature vintage perfume bottles and placed on a grand 1920s mirror that set an impressive welcome for guests. The menu was cut into a hexagon as opposed to the standard rectangler shape, while the colour was in keeping with the black and white theme and the menu was adorned with Swarovski crystals.
For the table numbers, dark glass wine bottles were embellished with stripy black and white numbered tags and lastly the ‘Sweet Heart’ chair signs for the bride and groom were made using real vintage vinyl records, supplied by vintagesouq.com. The text “Performing tonight”, along with the names of the bride and groom, were written on the vinyl and attached with black satin ribbon to the chairs, so clearly showed who were the “starlets of the night”.
The Details
Model styling: Professional models participated in this shoot and were styled with ‘vintage glam’ in mind by Christina Karachaliou from O’ My Glamour! – one of Dubai’s top stylists. Just like any wedding, the pièce de résistance is the wedding gown. After visiting a number of couture houses in Dubai in search of the ideal 1920s-style wedding dress (itself a challenge), Christina eventually found ‘the one!’ Designed by Orchid Ganji from Orkalia Haute Couture, the dress was made from white duchess satin with a deep V décolletage, emphasizing the intricate crystal embellishments around the waist leading to a diamond shaped back – the overall look and silhouette of the dress combines to be the perfect mélange of vintage glamour in a contemporary design. Orchid also designed the custom-made headband to match the dress and theme, giving it the finishing touch for our 1920s look!
For the groom’s suit, Christina decided to opt for a classic tuxedo in black with a white shirt and black bow tie. Moni Nanda from M7 Bespoke designed the groom’s attire, which fitted our male model perfectly. Christina’s father’s vintage mother of pearl and diamond cufflinks also added a personal touch to the groom’s look.
The gorgeous twins and professional make-up/hair artists, Dee and Dal, got to work styling both our models hair and applying the perfect Gatsby make-up to our bride. They used ethical make-up products from The Body Shop and opted for a simple grey smokey eye with wine stained lips and flawless skin. For the bride’s hair, the twins styled a 1920s-inspired faux-bob, complete with finger waves on the side of the hair, wrapped perfectly in a custom-made head band by Orkalia Haute Couture. The model was wearing imPRESS Press-On Manicure by Broadway Nails.
One of the most exciting aspects of styling this shoot was selecting the jewellery which was provided by LIALI. Myself and Christina hand-picked the wedding rings for our models, as well as the diamond earrings and bracelet for the bride. Once again, we selected timeless pieces, which complimented the vintage theme of our photo shoot. For the bride’s shoes, a pair of white satin heels with bejeweled straps (a contemporary version of the 1920s T-strap) from Loriblu were chosen, while the groom wore a pair of classic black cap toe Oxford shoes from Valencia.
***The Starring Cast***
Conceptualized and organized by: Rhiannon at Bride Club ME | Photography: Tasneem Al Sultan | Décor and set-up styling: Touche D’or by Al Wazzan L.L.C. | Wardrobe and model styling: Christina from O’ My Glamour! | Bridal Gown and Hair Accessories: Orkalia Haute Couture | Groom’s tuxedo and shirt (custom made): Moni Nanda at M7 Bespoke | Hair + Makeup: Make-up by Dee & Dal | Floral and décor contributions: Vintage Bloom | Wedding Cake Designer: Little Miss Cupcakes by Farah Rehman | Stationery: Design By Louma | Rentals: Chiavari Chairs/MINT Furniture | Vintage Props (Viynl and cameras): Vintagesouq.com | Models: Vimal Vijayan and Antonia (Diva Models) | Jewelry: LIALLI | Shoes: Loriblu (bride) and Valencia (groom) | Venue and special lighting: The MusicHall, Zabeel Saray, The Palm, Dubai. Special thanks to: Nawal and Maha.
Bride Club ME was extremely proud to have worked with so many creative vendors on our first ever styled photo-shoot, most of whom are also members of our vendor club. All partners who took part in the shoot were professional and a pleasure to work with. Be sure to check out each and every one of them listed above if you are looking for vendors for your own special day. We can’t wait to work on our next styled shoot, so watch this space!
Leave a Reply