Into the Woods - A Dark Fairytale inspired Wedding styled shoot in France - UK Wedding Blog

Into the Woods – A Dark Fairytale inspired Wedding styled shoot in France

January 31, 2018 Styled Shoots

Today I am thrilled to share Into the Woods ~ A Dark Fairytale inspired Wedding styled shoot..

Set in a chateau manoir in the north of France the styled shoot is inspired by Stephen Sondheim’s musical ‘Into the Woods’, a musical that shows the dark side of fairy tales.

Images were captured by Renate van Dijk of Wit Photography with the collaboration of an amazing team of creative Dutch wedding vendors.

Renate says of the shoot…

In Stephen Sondheim’s musical ‘Into the woods’ the story of a couple of famous fairytale figures is told.

As the story unfolds in the first act, characters like Rapunzel, Cinderella, both their princes,Little Red Ridinghood and Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk) seem to get their well deserved
“Happily ever after”.

But when the second act unfolds we see the well known characters have to face the same problems as every modern day person has. Infidelity, death, mourning, infertility and just being plain bored with everyday life are some of the issues that come to destroys their fairytale lives.

So although “Into the woods” is a musical about fairytales, it is a bit dark to say the least.

As a big fan of Stephen Sondheims work and with a previous career in musical theater, wedding photographer I had a dream of organising a shoot that would merge my love for wedding photography and musical theatre together.

I contacted only the best wedding vendors of The Netherlands and together they drove to one of stylist C’est La Vie Weddings top venues in the north of France, Isle de l’Authie.

This chateau manior is literally hidden in a small French village but once you walk through their gates you feel emerged into another time or indeed a fairytale.

It is situated on a romantic estate, bordered by the Authie river, with a 2,5 ha parc and home grounds and a private island.

The castle-manor, rich in history, was built in 1740 and contains original details as ornemental fireplaces, wooden panneling and stainted glass.

The spacious dininghall, with ceilings of almost 4 meters high, was used for game banquets by the count and countess of Hesdin.

For Events the chateau houses enough space for intimate Weddings under 30, but if your celebration is bigger there is ample room in the grounds to set up a Marquee,.

With the shoot the team wanted to showcase the versatility of the venue, with both the grandness of the venues interior but also by the way it is surrounded by nature and beautiful woodland,

Like a real life Rapunzel model Claudia was transformed with a beautiful braid created by hair stylist Marianne of The Beautiful Bride Company and the gorgeous dusty pink gown by Unielle Couture completing the fairytale princess look.