An amazing day photographing the bespoke millinery by Isabella Josie for a very unique wedding

October 26, 2020

An amazing day photographing the beautiful bespoke millinery created for a unique wedding by Isabella Josie at the stunning Denmans Gardens.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend the day at Denmans Gardens at the end of September doing a stylised photoshoot with the extremely talented Isabella Josie Bespoke Millinery, and a small group of fellow creatives.

Organising the shoot with Isabella in these challenging times was never going to be easy, maintaining social distancing, and keeping the group size as small as possible, and within the rule of six to ensure everyone’s safety was our main concern.

Our hosts at Denmans Gardens were incredibly welcoming and allowed us to use all of the garden, as well as giving us access to some areas usually off limits to the public. The hats, outfits, and accessories that Isabella had made herself, and the accessories she had chosen for the shoot were wonderful, and the garden made the perfect location for afternoon tea. We were so lucky with the weather, when the sun came out and everything just came to life.

All the suppliers who helped put this photoshoot together are based in West Sussex, and offer an incredible selection of bespoke products at affordable prices. For more information on these talented people please check out the links to their websites at the bottom of the page, they would really appreciate your support during these difficult times.

Isabella’s millinery skills are incredible, the hats she makes are so unique and she really does have one for every occasion. Isabella’s hats are not only worn at weddings, but also at many local events including the Goodwood Races, Festival of Speed, and Goodwood Revival.

Afternoon Tea with friends

The small group of models we had were incredible, taking care of their own hair and make-up, arriving and leaving their allocated session times perfectly, making it a pleasure being part of such a fantastic team. For some of them it was their first time modelling at a professional photoshoot, but I would never have known. We were fortunate to have a professional hair stylist to help with our bride’s hair, Emma Richardson who did a fantastic job creating the exact vintage look we were looking for.

Vintage Wedding Afternoon Tea

The Rose Petal Cake Company provided the scrumptious cakes and sandwiches for the afternoon tea. Becky who has been running the Rose Petal Cake Company for 3 years also brought along some of her vintage china which completed the look perfectly. Rose Petal Cake Company are based in Ham Road Worthing, where they create their stunning and mouth watering wedding and bespoke celebration cakes for every occasion.

The vintage wedding dress was provided by Bijou Bridal Boutique, and was complemented perfectly with the paper flower bouquets, supplied by Petal and Bird. The flowers looked so lifelike, and the winter theme colours they used to create them were stunning.

Bijou Bridal Boutique is a family run business owned by sisters Ella and Lisa, they have an amazing bridal boutique in Barnham where you can take your time choosing the bridal gown you have always dreamed of. They are open Tuesday to Saturday and have a large selection of wedding gowns on display to suit every budget.

Clare who founded Petal and Bird bespoke paper flowers has been creating handcrafted paper flowers from her studio in Chichester since 2016. Using crepe paper each petal and leaf is cut, shaped and formed by hand so that they will last forever. She also runs workshops, and supplies kits with full instructions so that you create popular flowers from the comfort of your own home.

An explosion of colour with a Rainbow Wedding

These incredible Rainbow Bridesmaid Dresses were supplied by Cherry Vintage and they were so colourful they would brighten up any wedding.

Cherry Vintage offer an excellent range of flattering retro and quirky fashion styles inspired by memories of those iconic eras in history. They are centrally located next to Proposals bridal in St Martins Street, in Chichester.
They always have a unique collection of dresses, hats and scarfs as well as jewellery and accessories to finish off any outfit.

My favourite dress of the day had to be the Vintage Lace wedding dress as I love to see lace used to make dresses and hats. Did you know that Queen Victoria's wore a white satin dress trimmed with British handmade Honiton Lace, from Devon. She chose to support the Lace makers of Devon by using English rather than the more fashionable Belgium Lace of the time, and continued this family tradition with her children.

She has been credited with starting the tradition of white weddings when she married her cousin Prince Albert on the 10th February 1840.

If you are a bride or groom needing bespoke wedding stationery designed that is personal to you, Lemons + Lines can pretty much do anything from graphic design illustration to calligraphy writing. They are all about collaboration, so starting with your ideas and using their creative design background they will create you something stupendously amazing.

A special thanks to everyone who made this amazing photoshoot possible