Styled Shoot at St Osyth Priory, nr Clacton in Essex

When organising this styled shoot, it was a journey with many pitfalls and a lot of stress. Had you asked me how I felt about it then, I'd probably have burst into tears. I have been saved a multitude of times by a number of the suppliers involved in the shoot - this project is completely a credit to them. Full details and links of the suppliers involved are highlighted at the end of the post.

Now we find ourselves with a set of images that are purely magical. If you are planning a wedding for 2024, 2025 or 2026 in Essex, UK - you will be hard pressed to find any supplier that surpasses the caliber of the people who took part in this project.

St Osyth Priory

A venue steeped in so much history, owned by monks and then lords of the crown, going back almost 1,400 years. St Osyth Priory is mostly known as an Augustinian Abbey, the original buildings had succumbed to a lot of damage due to King Henry the VIII and the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The building still retains many features of the Abbey in the surrounding gardens and grounds.

Visited by Queen Elizabeth I, used as a convalescent home throughout World War 1 and since being re-purposed into a private residence, this venue holds historic charm like no other.

I wanted to bring some of the best suppliers together. Obviously, flowers being what i'm best at - organising something of this scale came second to organising my own wedding - in fact with extra stress involved when suppliers dropped out or couldn't make it. There's no real commitment to styled shoots - unlike weddings, because each supplier provides their time and expertise for free in exchange for the final collection of images.

You can easily say that this shoot only came through on the day itself - I had to trust that everyone would turn up!

I chose a colour palette of Berry/Lavender & Peach, fresh and vibrant against the historic charm of the venue.

It was a mammoth task bringing everything together, whilst trying to work on our own designs for the shoot. It had to be something that was as show stopping as the venue itself. I chose to create a natural and ethereal moongate feature - which was incredible in real life just as it is in picture.