"There was a huge 'kitsch' trend in France in the '80s with artists like Lio, Rita Mitsouko but also Pierre et Gilles and their collaboration with fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier and British singer Marc Almond: bright colorful costumes, lots of sequins and glitters, a bit twee, a bit 'anarchic' but with a touch of cabaret glamour, fun and open-mindedness. This was the inspiration behind our styled shoot, with an emphasis on equal marriage," explains Lauren Delpech of French Made London.
Photographer Paola De Paola is based in London, and she specializes in same-sex weddings. "Eccentric, over the top, colourful, alternative? Oh, yes please. I adore kitsch, I love quirky and diversity," says De Paola. "Putting the shoot together was a lot of work and a lot of fun too. We couldn't stop giggling away. I loved every minute of this project. I am crazy about everything visually unconventional and creative."
"Being able to work with talented artistic wedding suppliers on this styled shoot was very inspiring," says De Paola. "Our focus was on bright colours and eccentricity, reminiscent of the '80s. The retouching was very extreme to give the skin a plastic feel, very surreal.”
This real-life couple, Jon & Lucaz, enjoyed the camp and kitsch elements of the shoot — and look like they stepped out of a Pierre et Gilles shoot.
Myriam from La Dame au Beret, the Millinery extraordinaire, sourced a variety of items: The handmade floral headbands (using vintage flowers exclusively) and halos, like those found in religious iconography, for the brides, Emily and Yaourou, as well as some vintage headwear (military/Navy pieces and traditional fez hats) for Lucaz and Jon, the grooms. La Dame au Béret- Millinery
"The artists who were our inspiration for this shoot typically used a lot of artificial flowers in their compositions, so this was a good excuse to go faux! Fusing two of the prevailing themes, I chose a mix of exotic orchids and ferns and garden roses. From these I made two bouquets for our brides and officially the craziest tablescape I have ever had the pleasure of creating — complete with a light-up bunny and reproductions of the retro classic Featherstone flamingos for the ultimate injection of kitsch!" says Gwenda from The Vintage Floral Design Co.
The hair and make-up team — Mel Kinsman, Philippe & Nina Bains — made everyone look gorgeous. Nina Bains explains: "With Emily the look i went for was an OTT theme-based look. The base is quite fresh and luminous and a little contour and blusher up to her temples. For the eyes, I did a cut crease which deepened towards the end and extended with glitter liner on the bottom lash line and a bright pink lip."
"With Lucaz's makeup, I wanted a very polished sexy dreamy look," says Nina Bains. "I covered any imperfections, groomed the brows and beard, added mascara to the lashes and contoured the face.”
Those glittery lips on Yaourou are by Mel Kinsman.
"For the cake, I made two matching tiered cakes in the colors and themes we chose," says Lauren. "Plastic flowers and other props such as religious icons and other unexpected characters were used to accent the cake and drink table. At French Made, we usually specialize in rustic-inspired designs— such as naked cakes — but my love for the alternative also drives me towards some more ‘out there’ creations."
"I really loved creating the stationary, it was so much fun pushing the boundaries," says Lou from Beyond Vintage, "With my normal clients being quite pastel vintage here I got to use colours and still use vintage inspiration from the '70s and '80s."
“I love Lauren's passion for the '80s and it quickly grew to seeing the vision for the shoot," says Lou from Beyond Vintage. "It became quite surreal adding in gnomes and tropical flowers like a hallucination or psychedelic dream.”
Shoes: Art and Sole Customized Shoes
Cathy from the Origami Boutique created a single stem statement bouquet, a truly over-the-top piece which is just perfect for a quirky couple.
The female models wore beautiful dresses by The Couture Company. "We always love to get involved in creative wedding shoots, and this one had us hooked from the start," says Jo from the Couture Company. "We do love a bit of kitsch and also love the images thrown up by religious iconography — it proved a really interesting mix of colours and textures and enabled us to get down and gaudy with the embroideries for the frocks."
Save the date magnets: Love Me Do Designs
Venue: Brixton East
