Styled shoots can be a mixed bag.
They're a chance for wedding vendors to flex some creative muscle and test ideas they wouldn't want to experiment with for a real wedding, and an opportunity for photographers to create really beautiful shots they might not have the time to compose amid the busyness of a wedding day.
So, many of our favourite shoots are fine art in style, creative in nature, but still have lots of cool ideas that you could easily apply to your big day.
And today's shoot, an artistic ode to an imagined Monet wedding, is the full package. A unique theme, with quirky ideas, beautiful images, and lots of ideas any couple could borrow for their bash (a suspended wedding cake? Awesome!).
Stunningly photographed by Ludovica Lanzafami e Valerio Elia, thoughtfully styled by Camilla Marchetti of Simmi Floral and Event Design, and featuring a host of talented Italian vendors, this artistic wedding style would be perfect for history buffs, art lovers, or fans of vintage.
Scroll down to swoon over this classic artist-muse love story, and read more about the unique inspiration behind every last detail from the team who put it all together…
About the Shoot
Over the last few months a beautiful exhibition titled “Monet and the Impressionists” brought to Turin many Impressionist masterpieces from all over Europe.
We were struck by the evanescent atmosphere of the paintings, which gave us the inspiration needed to start this project.
We tried to recreate the “bohemian” feel of life in Paris at the end of the 19th century, and to insert in the shots details recalling to our minds the masterpieces of the Impressionists.
We did the shoot on Valentine's Day, which seemed quite appropriate given the romantic themes of the shoot.
The chosen location was Villa Malfatti, a 19th century patrician villa, situated at the heart of a magnificent ancient park in the quiet and beautiful countryside of Piedmont, Italy. The villa features both an Italian and an English garden, a large portico and a splendid ancient greenhouse.
The color palette ranged from sage-green and dove-grey, with hints of dusty blue and tea rose.
The Attire
The outfits were designed and made by Maura Brandino and Enrico Pettinà, who own the atelier “Il Sogno” in Turin.
Maura did a beautiful job in transfusing the romantic atmosphere of that time into the dresses' style and colors.
The groom's outfit was inspired by our idea of the iconic Parisan painter, while the bride was meant to be his muse, the source of his inspiration and the object of his love.
For the groom “Il Sogno” realized a dusty blue velvet waistcoat, matched with tobacco trousers and an ascot tie. The bride's dress turned out to be a two piece: a lace bodice and a tea rose tulle gown.
The Details
Camilla Marchetti of Simmi created the invitation typography inspired by Monet's “Nymphées” series. Camilla's mother painted a water lily in each invitation with the watercolor technique.
The table plan was a composition of small paintings and antique objects, arranged on a wooden board placed on two old folding stairs. This composition is meant to recreate a tiny corner of a painter's studio.
Each table is named after a place strongly related to Impressionism, such as Giverny, Bordighera, Le Havre Harbor. The spouses' table featured small dusty painting pots, each holding a single flower.
The Rings
The jewels were designed and made by Luca Caracciolo from “My Golden Age”.
His jewels have a vintage feel about them, while keeping the overall style light and minimal. By playing with the elegant shapes from the second half of the 19th century he created the rose gold and gemstones jewels featured in this shooting.
The rounded shapes, delicate colours and rough manufacturing of these jewels are meant to be a homage to Impressionist style.
The Couple
The photographers, Ludovica Lanzafami and Valerio Elia, chose a real life couple rather than professional models, in order to capture more realistic emotions and feelings: it takes just one look at the photos to see that Cristina and Alberto are truly in love.
The two models were prepared separately and didn't see each other before being ready for the shoot: in this way the photographers could catch their fun and emotions in the first sight.
Hair & Make-up
The make-up and hairstyle were in the capable hands of Rosanna Curci.
She found her inspiration by studying many Impressionist paintings, and her work was deeply influenced by Monet's use of colors in his “Houses of Parliament” series.
For the hairstyle, she was inspired by several different paintings of that time.
The Flowers & Decor
Simmi Floral Design, a renowned workshop based in Turin, provided and set up floral arrangements and decor.
Simmi's Camilla Marchetti aimed at creating a fresh boho chic setup, taking care of the tiniest details. She chose simple flowers and arranged them in sparse yet elegant compositions.
Every type of flower was also chosen for its meaning: the small pale roses and white lisianthus with buds both mean well wishes for a future family; eucalyptus has a delicate scent and signifies protection.
Camilla also used eryngium and sea lavender, whose shape reminded her of a brush stroke. Sea lavender was also included into the hairstyle by Rosanna.
The bouquet was simple, natural and romantic, and was composed as if flowers were picked by the bride herself in the woods.
The setups were enriched with details referring to painting and art: brushes, colors, frames, palettes, old books, easels for en plein air painting. Many of the objects were real vintage tools used by Camilla's great-uncle and now by her mother.
The Wedding Cake
The cake was created by Francesca Molon's “Agripasticceria Dolcemente”.
Francesca used the sugar paste exterior of the cake as a canvas, painting it with strokes of food coloring used as watercolors. On the cake were also painted the initials of the spouses, in the same fashion as the invitations.
The cake was placed on a painter's sketch box easel and small white lanterns were hanging above it.
The Inspiration
Some of the paintings that inspired shooting were: “La balançoir “ by Renoir, with the model elegantly posing on a swing, “Les Danseuses” by Degas for the details of the dress and of the ballerina shoes, and finally Manet's “Dejeuneur sur l'herbe” for the picnic scene and for the wedding favours.
The wedding favours, also provided by Camilla, consisted in tiny straw chests containing infusion bags and small marmalade pots.
Each chest was sealed with a lace ribbon holding a silver ballerina slippers charm.
The Photography
The photographers also created a few romantic portraits of the bride and groom in Villa Malfatti's greenhouse, taking advantage of the soft light and the beautiful backdrop of the lemon trees.
By shooting both inside of the greenhouse and from the outside they made two different series of portraits, the first one is romantic and filled with light, the second one is rather mysterious and ethereal.
The last part of the shoot took place inside the Villa: the photographers made use of the last moments of light, which revealed the beautiful details of the bride's tulle gown.
So enchanting, right? The photography is just beautiful, I love the dress and make-up, too, and there's lots of cool ideas to borrow from the decor and styling, don't you think?
Thanks so much to Ludovica Lanzafami e Valerio Elia, Simmi Floral and Event Design, and the rest of the team behind the shoot for sharing their artistic wedding inspiration with us.
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