Mexican Wedding Shoot In Dubai

To bid a final farewell to a long, hot summer, I’m delighted to share with you our latest bold and beautiful styled shoot, created in collaboration with some of Bride Club ME’s vendor club members. The stunning images below were captured by the incredibly talented Liz at Liz JvR Photography, and I’m sure you’ll agree they are pretty darn gorgeous!

I’ve always been a huge fan of Frida Kahlo’s eccentric beauty. One day, over coffee with my fellow wedding lovely, BCME vendor and make-up artist Monica at Mhg Beauty, we both shared our enthusiasm for the fabulous Mexican artist. We agreed that a Frida/Mexican-inspired styled shoot would be a unique concept, especially in this region. My vision was to create a shoot that embraced the bold and vibrant colours Mexico is so famous for and to add a touch of Fridaesque chic to the bridal look and attire. As always, my imagination ran wild with ideas and must-have elements, and the only way to incorporate all these was to call upon the talents of our Bride Club ME vendor club members, two of whom are Mexican and played a vital role in ensuring we added the right touches.

If you love colour and are not afraid to step out of the blush-pink comfort zone, then this one’s for you.

Our styled shoots are created to showcase the incredible work of some of our vendors and to also bring new and fresh ideas to the UAE wedding industry. We don’t expect brides to see these as a benchmark for their own wedding, but if an element or two inspires you, then yay, we would love to see how you incorporate the ideas into your own wedding day.

The Story Behind The Shoot

Our shoot took place at one of my favourite boutique stores, O’de Rose. The venue is so pretty and full of vibrant colours. I immediately knew their gorgeous outdoor space would provide a perfect backdrop. As always, I provided a detailed brief to the vendors involved and allowed them to work their magic and make suggestions based on their individual expertise. The final look of the shoot created a Mexican Bohemian vibe, infused with a touch of Arabesque charm.

We had no attire stylist (I always forget this vital element), so, once again, I used my imagination to ensure the jewellery, supplied by O’de Rose, and the hairpiece, by ANAQA, complemented the beautiful Tadashi dresses supplied by Contessa Boutique. Over to Contessa and ANAQA …

Mohammed Al Haj – Contessa Bridal

The shoot depicts a self-confident, artistic painter. To reflect this, both dresses, designed by Tadashi Shoji, are very couture. Each piece has different details such as Guipere lace with a high neck, while the other is blue with lace embroidered on the dress in a very artistic, unique way.

Megan McCague – ANAQA

The colours I chose were from the mood images Rio sent me. Finding the flowers was difficult as I couldn’t actually get what I originally envisioned on time, so I had to use the only flowers I could find in that time frame, which thank goodness were available in the colours I needed! I actually found every colour Rio mentioned, which was great! I then ended up making two pieces which were quite similar, but the colours were a little different in each one. It was really easy to put together once I had the flowers.

I love collaborating with so many people and it’s always fun to make something different and to use styles and colours that you wouldn’t ordinarily pick.

The impressive cake and giveaway cookies, by the Nice Ribbon Atelier, were inspired by the  Mexican “Sagrado Corazon” (Sacred Heart).

Ana Lemaitre – Nice Ribbon Atelier

As a graphic designer, I love combining my two passions in life: cooking and designing. I’m Mexican and always so proud to showcase my culture and traditions. I worked around a design that shows and represents my beautiful culture in the best possible way. I therefore chose a vibrant colour pallet and traditional patterns.

I went straight to the “Sagrado Corazon” (Sacred Heart), which acted as the centrepiece in the cake and cookies. The Sagrado Corazon, for us, is a symbol that truly represents our culture, showing the love and passion you can have for something you really believe in. You can see the Sagrado Corazon in Frida Kahlo’s amazing paintings and on many handicrafts by local artisans.

As I grew up in this beautiful culture full of colours and bright elements, it was a fantastic experience to work with so many talented people on something that is a part of you in every way.

Providing the perfect backdrop for the cake, were aztec like, blue and pink prints, created and placed professionally by E-walls Studio, Dubai.

Lilliam Pollard – E Walls Studio

I got a call from Liz about the Mexican photo-shoot and I couldn’t have been more excited to be part of it! I mean, I love Mexico and boldness! The mood board was very geometric and vibrant, so I looked for a pattern that would work on the actual wall of the venue and would match the cake as well. I could have come up with cactus and such, but that was too cliché. ;)

I absolutely adored working with such talented people who made the whole ambiance so stunning! Actually, when I got home, I told my husband that we had to get married again (to each other, of course) and have a Mexican themed wedding!

The florals and fauna for this shoot were supplied by one of my favourite florists, Vintage Bloom (who I used for my wedding). A floral trend setter in Dubai, founder Nada and her team worked with my brief like a dream and supplied the boldest and most beautiful flowers I’ve seen in a while.

Nada – Vintage Bloom

From the very beginning, we were really excited to be part of such a vibrant styled shoot. Luckily, I already had a lot of vases and containers that fitted in perfectly with the theme, and so we ordered a bunch of very colourful flowers…and voila! It was done. The flowers we used were, dahlias, gerberas, alstomeria, roses, ranunculus, crespedia, tulips, veronica and, lastly, eucalyptus leaves. These flowers added to the lively and vivid imagery with their bold variety of colours. I was really pleased that it all came together with such ease!

Julie from Mylist.ae, who provided some of the gorgeous tableware and those stunning blue challises, gives us her take on the shoot:

Julie Leblan – www.mylist.ae

We chose the dinnerware and glassware and home decor from Galeries Lafayette at The Dubai Mall, via MyList.ae, and used some additional home decor pieces from O’ de Rose that are also available through MyList.ae.

I love working with Bride Club ME on styled photo shoots, as Rio and her team always try to find ideas and inspiration that are different from what you usually see. All the vendors involved in this shoot are ‘La crème de la crème’ in terms of UAE wedding professionals, and we could not have been more inspired when working with them. Despite the hot weather and the time constraints involved in trying to capture the perfect sunset light, the whole process was amazingly professional and fun.

All the above elements were brought together beautifully by our expert panel member and wedding planner and stylist Mennat, from Cloud Nine Weddings & Events. 

Mennat Al Hammami – Cloud Nine Weddings & Events

I generally meet brides who opt for whites and pastels and take inspiration from the Classic Romantic eras, so I jumped at the chance to co-style this shoot as I felt the market could use some real inspiration that was also achievable. The colour palette and textures were exciting to work with, because I dug out some of my inventory that had been packed away and which offered me so much inspiration when I first fell in love with wedding styling and planning. I used some of my napkins and crochet dollies which I spray-painted gold. I even brought my own wedding skirt and veil to the shoot as I was a bit of a boho bride at my own wedding!

I focused on how to bring all of the different elements together; mainly the rich combination of florals and colours to a tablescape that was elegant. Every participating vendor brought their A-game to work that day with a clear, shared vision that left me feeling like an excited bride! This really made my role easy and fun.

The all-important stationery for this shoot was supplied by the ever-so-talented Louma at Design by Louma. 

Louma – Design by Louma

The wedding stationery I designed was meant for a daring and fun bride, following the Mexican-inspired theme. The shoot was very well organised with a good brief, both written and visual, by Rio and Mennat. This really helped me to visualise the direction in which I could take the stationery. The vendors involved are very talented and passionate about their work, and that resulted in a very nice setup and gorgeous, vibrant photos.

Our beautiful Frida-inspired model for the day was Sumae Turabek, who was a dream to work with. Her hair and makeup were done by one of the sweetest make-up artists in Dubai – Monica, of Monica Make-Up Dubai.  

Monica Hernandez – MHG Beauty

My inspiration began the second I was told what the theme for the styled shoot was.

It all began with Frida Kahlo as our muse. Rio had this amazing idea of using her and her country, Mexico, as inspiration. Born and raised in Mexico myself, I immediately found myself going back in time to when I visited Frida’s home. Beautiful bright colours were everywhere and there was art literally hanging from every corner.

Frida was definitely a bohemian kind of woman, so we wanted to keep that essence but at the same time translate it into an inspirational look for brides. A slightly shimmery nude shadow with liner, stunning Huda lashes, bright bold lips and, of course, thick, powerful brows were a must. The hair was crimped and braided with ribbons in a colour we call Rosa Mexicano (Mexican pink). All of this came together perfectly with the stunning flower headpiece by ANAQA. It was incredible working with all the amazing vendors involved, and the final images by Liz take my breath away.

And, finally, one of the most vital vendors in any styled shoot, the photographer, Liz, shares her experience.

Liz – Liz JvR Photography

I really had fun on this styled shoot, even in the middle of summer. From the very beginning, I looked forward to capturing something different with loads of colour and bold pieces. We tend to see a lot of muted, pastel tones lately so it was really exciting to capture something full of bright imagery.

I loved working with all of the talented wedding industry professionals. Everyone put in tremendous effort and we all worked really well together on the day. I’ll let the images speak for themselves!

Enjoy the images, and please feel free to leave a comment.

The Starring Cast

Photography: Liz JvR Photography | Conceptualised and organised by: Rio at Bride Club ME | Venue: O’de Rose, Dubai | Blue evening gown & white high neck wedding gown: Tadashi Shoji, available at Contessa Bridal, Dubai | Belly top, skirt & veil: Mennat of Cloud Nine Weddings & Events own wedding outfit | Tablescape and styling assistance: Mennat at Cloud Nine Weddings & Events | Flowers: Vintage Bloom | Stationery suite, menu & name cards: Design By Louma | Couture cake: Nice Ribbon Atelier | Hair & make-up: Monica at Mhg Beauty|  Jewellery accessories & colourful belt: Via O’de Rose | Flower Crown: ANAQA | Bride attire styling: Rio at Bride Club ME |  Cake backdrop wall stickers: E-Walls Studio.

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