An Elegant Soirée Weddings & Events in conversation about their design inspiration and implementation of the Regal Styled Shoot inspired by French opulence featured in Wedluxe and created at Maquette event venue Toronto.
A trademark of your planning and design that you speak of is your ability to blend elegance and creativity. Can you elaborate on this combination?
As a wedding professional, we can all pretty much say we are in this field because it gets our creative juices flowing. I have so much ideas and I find myself constantly dreaming of what I want to do next but as I constantly get new creative ideas flowing, I make sure it stays in line with the elegant aspect of An Elegant Soiree. I want to be bold and different but at the same time, every idea that I bring to life has to be consistently elegant – hence the combination elegance and creativity.
What was the spark that set this style shoot in motion?
I wanted to do something different, something fresh – something people dont see much in the industry – something inspired by French related things – something that is romantic and chic fused together to inspire brides differently – from castles, to princesses, to princes, to delectable and beautiful treats.
The style shoot referenced the Palace of Versailles in many ways building out the narrative of the setting. How far into the narrative of this location did you develop and what did this process entail?
My brother-in-law who was born and raised in France actually helped me build into the idea further. He would speak about the Palace as a whole, what's inside and on the grounds of the palace and I actually found myself imagining what it would be like to dine in such a beautiful setting, let alone host a wedding there. That's when I really wanted to build on to the idea of somewhat recreating the Palace (because I obviously can't redo such a beautiful place). I wanted it to be bold, striking, romantic, opulent, detail-rich, unique, French-inspired style shoot and get the palace created as a backdrop – as real as it could possibly be to inspire brides that you can actually travel into a certain country or destination and create a wedding that brings that particular country/setting of choice to life.
I originally wanted to get the Palace painted on an extremely huge canvas, however, because of time constraints that didn't happen so I ended up selecting option B. That option was to connect with another one of my vendors that shared the same design aesthetic and style as I do; I proposed the idea to her, she gave her a few suggestions and ideas and then she designed that backdrop for me according to how I envisioned it.
Why was Maquette an ideal location for this styled shoot?
Other than the French name, Maquette was the only venue that really reminded me of a French-like setting – versatile enough that will allow me to transform the place and it worked out well with this shoot!
The wedding dresses showcased in this styled shoot have a timeless beauty in their design. This element is a theme that occurs in your work. Can you reference how?
The wedding dresses that were created by Le from Wins Design reminded me so much of "Haute Couture". When I contacted Lee, I gave her a description of what I had in mind for the shoot, and that her designs and dresses would be suitable for the overall theme. She gave me different options and we exchanged ideas of the different dresses we could use for the shoot until I saw these two options and I automatically knew, these were the dresses I wanted for the shoot. The intricacy of the designs of these two dresses literally screams "Haute Couture". It'll never go out of style – the cut, the shape, the silhouette and not to mention paired with lots of tulle – that's something you can never go wrong with. It's beautiful, chic, fashionable – it's everything a bride would ever want for her wedding dress!
This style shoot was featured on WedLuxe. What are some of the outcomes of sharing your work on social media and industry blogs?
After the feature, I can honestly say it opened a whole new inspirational avenue for brides – giving them options that they can literally be super creative with their whole wedding while keeping elegance in their vision – oh and I had more brides come to me to help them with designing their weddings on top of planning!
The use of the digital panel backdrop added a lot of texture and ambiance. How did you integrate it so seamlessly into the location?
I put together a shoot with a backdrop of the palace in mind. I did a venue site visit a few times and I found the perfect spot for it- which was by the fireplace. I originally had a mural backdrop painting in mind that didn't work out so I opted in for a digital version – big enough for the table top décor and settings to fit so it wouldn't look like it was added on there but more so adding depth and textures to the overall design of the shoot.
You used the windows, the outdoor view and natural light effectively in this styled shoot. What was the key to the success of this decision?
When I did the site visit, I brought up all the sections of the restaurant and the subject that would go into those particular sections to the photographer. We actually stayed in constant communication leading up to the day of the shoot to make sure we were on the same page. We combined both our expertise to make sure we used the space effectively in order to be able to produce pictures that really reflected our bright and airy styles – and we did. Even though it was raining on the day-of, the pictures still turned out beautiful because of the huge windows that were all over Maquette and of course with the help of a few photo lights here and there.
The table styling is a perfect balance of pretty details and bold graphic choices. How did you strike this balance and what is the process of designing this?
When I first thought about this, I knew that I wanted pastel hues to be the colours of the shoot. I wanted to mix it with gold to give off that bold statement I wanted to make while of course making sure the style stayed within the elegance, refined and romantic chic style that my brand exudes as a whole.
How did you choose and assemble your team of vendors for this creative endeavour?
I reached out to vendors that shared the same design aesthetics as I do, the ones that particularly love to be different because I did want this shoot to be elevated and different. And they understood the emphasis on being different, we all ended sharing a similar if not the same vision so we were able to produce such a one-of-a-kind shoot.
How would you translate this styled shoot into an intimate urban Maquette wedding for a couple?
Maquette has industrial-chic architectural details – chandeliers, big windows, fireplace, wood floors and recreating a shoot into an intimate urban wedding would mean incorporating candles on the sectioned wood (on the wall) and fill them with lots of candles. I would get a calligraphy backdrop that would look like a scroll with the couple's favourite quotes written in it and use that as the main backdrop (to cover the fireplace). I would use harvest tables and incorporate luxury gold-coloured table top place settings and adorn the tables with lush and bold coloured flowers to make the centerpieces pop and of course lots and lots of candle to keep that romantic and intimate look going.
Designed weddings can draw inspiration from so many different creative practices. Where of you look to fuel and develop your profession?
My inspirations are drawn from various places – life and daily experiences, travel, passion, hobbies, and love for fashion, flowers, books and magazines. I am constantly inspired by things that are aesthetically pleasing to my eye and taste.
What trends do you see in the events business industry that you are excited about?
I'm really excited about the floral textured dresses – anything with bold colours and patterns when it comes to dresses – especially with flowers oh and metallic – love those rose golds and gold patterns and I think they're not going away for a while! With wedding dresses, I love how there's more versatility in what's "trending" in the industry – from off-the-shoulders to floral appliques and super-duper long trains that make a statement makes me excited! It makes me want to get married all over again!