Tuxedo Fabulous. A Black Tie Wedding Shoot at The Old Palace, Chester

We’re talking inspo, black tie and contemporary simplicity with talented photographer Adam Hudson as he pulls off a styled shoot with contrasting, clean lines and a simple green palette to accentuate the stylistic approach.

Ultra glam, intimate and sophisticated romance today with this bold look curated by UNVEILED Network Member Adam Hudson Photography and his assembled team of equally skilled wedding industry suppliers. Naturally, with a team this good, the flawless finish is a fierce, almost monochrome, perfection set against the backdrop of Chester-based historical yet modern venue, The Old Palace.

The elegance of the gown, the handsome groom head to toe in full tuxedo cool, the black glassware with the oversized statement arrangements of foliage, feathers and palms, all elevated to a more grown-up look with the limited colour scheme’s shades of green, black, gold and white.

We’ve caught up with Adam to get all the ins and outs of this edgy styled shoot, because we just know you’re going to want to borrow some of this concept for your own big day…

With images by Adam Hudson Photography and Claire Harrison Photography

CONCEPT

Adam says: Inspiration was drawn editorially from Tom Ford’s “F**king Fabulous” campaign which embodies stylistic modernism with attitude. We wanted this to come through, utilising what is essentially a common, yet underappreciated black tie element with a contemporary twist. This was also the brief stylistically for UNVEILED Network Member QUBE Events & Productions who, through use of geometric backdrops and modern green florals, accentuated the understated beauty – a theme which carried through into both the design of the stunning cake and that of the stationery suite.

LOCATION

I shot the first wedding at The Old Palace back in March 2020 and fell in love with the venue. In what should have been it’s inaugural year, it’s fair to say things didn’t really go to plan. The venue itself provides incredible diversity and modern style set within the historic city of Chester. Although it has been renovated with a contemporary style, it certainly maintains its palatial grandeur through the historical listed elements present throughout, none more so than that of the double story honeymoon suite which is guaranteed to take your breath away from the moment you walk through the door.

STYLING

The brief given was a modern twist on the traditional black tie wedding. We wanted to complement this look with modern florals and styling. Qube Events delivered this utilising geometric elements like the black ceremony arch, stand alone gold welcome sign and by keeping the colour palette quite minimal with black and white with accents of gold and green foliage. This theme and colour palette concurrently ran through both the stationery design by UNVEILED Network Member Bobbin and Beau and also through the cake design by incredible UNVEILED Network Member Boutique Bakery Chester, who designed a modern and minimal three tier cake incorporating a floating tier accented with white florals.

ATTIRE

With contemporary understated modernism being at the forefront of what we wanted to achieve with the shoot, our vision with UNVEILED Network Member Pretty White Dress in Cheshire was to keep the gown itself simplistic yet timelessly elegant, accessorising with Victoria Louise earrings to add a bit more of a drama throughout the day. We were conscious we did this in a manner which could be achieved without any stylists present with the addition of a showstopper of a veil and an overlay skirt for dancing the night away.

For the groom, less was always going to be more and Whitfield and Ward provided us with a classic black tie suit with a large bowtie. The modern bridesmaid dress from Abbie Jade Bridesmaids was intentionally very minimal and complemented the bride’s and groom’s looks perfectly.

BEAUTY

UNVEILED Network Member Annmarie Whatmough was our hair and makeup artist for the shoot. The whole aim for the shoot was classic with an edge so we gave our bride a beautiful soft smoky eye as the focal point. We kept the brows fluffy and skin incredibly luminous, just enhancing our bride’s beautiful glow. We went for a bolder lip for the evening to really add that extra drama. With the hair, we wanted to really show off the neckline of the dress so we kept the hair away from the face and behind the shoulders. This gave us a really clean finish but having the hair down kept the look relaxed.

RESULTS

This was the first styled shoot that I had pulled together. I was so privileged to have such amazing suppliers on board. From the initial Zoom call, it was clear that we all had the same vision for the shoot and seeing this come to life on the day from concept to final styling was incredible. It was very humbling to have such amazingly creative independent businesses together all working towards a common goal.