Winter Solstice Handfasting at Macclesfield Forest

And for in that moment of pure darkness,

I see your soul shining brighter than it ever has.

I love the wildness in you

and the gentle way you make me go insane

It’s that magical time of year again and we couldn’t let the Winter Solstice go by without celebrating it the Legend way. Today is our last working day of 2019. Our last few brides of the century are picking up this morning and then we’re off to celebrate the longest night with our nearest and dearest around a bonfire.

The Winter Solstice marks the longest night and carries deep meaning in every culture around the world. It’s a time of putting the past to rest and making way for the new. It’s a time of quiet contemplation when we are more aware of our dreams and hopes and its a time for awakening our future.

This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, it’s cusp and midnight, the years threshold and unlocking, where past lets go of and becomes the future; place of caught breath, the door of a vanished house left ajar

Margaret Atwood

This time last year we created some gorgeous wedding inspiration based around the Winter Solstice celebrating the darkest and longest night of the year. The idea was born after conversations with Kate at The Maiden Mother and Crone Interiors when it became obvious that we shared an appreciation of earth-based/pagan traditions. We decided on a deliciously dark Yule inspired Hand-fasting to honour the darkness of the season and show how meaningful, beautiful and significant this time of year can be… especially when it comes to weddings. We love that Kate and Louis agreed to model for us but by far the most special part of the day was that Kate and Louis decided to exchange vows and have their very own hand-fasting ceremony in the woods. Nothing compares to witnessing unconditional love.

We designed a brand new gown…

Demeter was designed and created specifically for this shoot… Black tulle illusion neckline edged with hand beaded lace and faceted bead chains from the shoulder detail. Woven ruched tulle cinching in the waist and skimming the hips to flare out in a mermaid style train. We also couldn’t resist adding a lace edged cathedral length tulle cape (Helle) that cascades from the nape of the neck.

We pulled together an amazing team…

Kate’s amazing taxidermy and artwork was the inspiration for the setting and we wanted to work with wedding suppliers that would be able to bring the vision of a dark luxurious Gothic scene to life. You’ve already seen the video from Wild Heart Films so you’ll already know why we just had to get Leanne involved. We’d spent the weekend exhibiting with Leanne at The Eclectic Wedding Extravaganza and spent the whole weekend hyponotized by her gorgeous wedding films. We just knew she’d capture the ambience of the day and we weren’t wrong!

You guys know that we LOVE Kipkalinka hand crafted skull art jewellery at Legend. If ever there was a shoot perfect for Kipkalinka this was it. Both Kate and Louis wore these gorgeous artisan pieces and you can also see her work nestled within the taxidermy and flowers.

I’d met Sam and Emily of Wildfire Floral Co at a recent wedding fair and I knew her floral artistry would be perfect for the shoot… ALL the gorgeous with a little bit of wild. Sam suggest Scarlett Envy Events and together we discussed our ideas for the shoot and our inspiration for the day. They won’t mind me saying that our Gothic Winter Solstice theme wasn’t their usual style, but this shoot is proof that if you have the right people involved, creative professionals that love to embrace their clients ideas, that the deliciously dark wedding of your dreams can be as luxurious and stylish as ever. The flowers are to die for! There are no words for that bouquet. The floral staff is such an awesome idea, and we LOVE the pentagram wreath – so much beauty and meaning.

Scarlett also knew exactly who else should complete the team and brought Sugar Fanices on board to create two gorgeous black wedding cakes, Jacqui Scanlan for Kate’s makeup, PomPom Blossom for hand dyed silk hand-fasting ribbons, along with Alexandra Holt Photography (all the images in this post are by Alex) and OH MY WORD… we can’t stop looking at the images!.. In fact it’s been really difficult to try and save sharing them for the solstice AND to narrow down our selection to share with you- just too much gorgeous for words!

(It should also be mentioned that Charlotte of Electric Blue film + photography was also capturing the day and her stunning set of images were featured on Marry Me Ink just the other day)

All that’s left is to leave you with a gallery of images to drool over…