A Doctor Who Wedding – East London Wedding Photographer

East London Wedding Photographer

Doctor Who Wedding

Ever since I became a fan of Doctor Who I’d wanted to do a styled shoot and combine it with one of my other favourite things in life: weddings, of course! I’d seen a couple of Doctor Who Wedding shoots around, but I always felt that none of them got it quite right; they were either really pretty, floral and sparkly, or a little too much like a cheesy costume party. I was sure that by assembling a hand-picked team of Doctor Who geeks (read: experts), we could come up with a shoot that not only captured the quirky and fun aspect of the show, but also the atmosphere.
At first I was aiming just for a themed wedding, with all the necessary details and Whovian paraphernalia, but then Gwenda (florist, stylist, Whovian, and all-round clever-ideas-person) suggested we have a bit of a storyline for our newlyweds as well! The basic premise is this: Boy meets Girl at a Doctor Who museum when she asks him to take her photo in front of the Tardis. Of course, one thing leads to another and they fall in love, so some months later they return to the spot where they first met, and he gets down on one knee and proposes (with a Tardis-blue ring, of course!). Naturally, she says yes, and plans are set in motion for the Doctor Who-themed wedding of the century. But little do they know that someone is watching their plans, and coming up with a plan of his own to thwart the wedding…
We decided to get a videographer on board to make the storyline happen on film, and so we found Lee Ferrier from A Call to Twelve Productions, who is a Doctor Who superfan, and together with his cohorts, made our story come to life! I’d worked with Gwenda from Fearless Florals a number of times before, so I was thrilled to find out she was a Whovian as well. Her contribution to the shoot was epic, covering not only flowers, decor and styling, but scripting and storyboarding and (as mentioned already) being a person full of Good Ideas. The floral colour scheme was based on the Van Gogh-style “Exploding Tardis” painting from the recent series, with blues, yellows and oranges being the main colours. The flower types were chosen for their bold, unusual forms – the more “alien-like”, the better!
Faith Caton-Barber came on board to design and make a dress fit for a Doctor Who bride. With inspiration from the episode “The Doctor’s Wife”, she came up with a slightly Victorian, slightly steampunk-inspired dress. The gold and cream dress (named Polly) is a draped and pleated design of a corset bodice with a separate multi level skirt made from taffeta and brocade with touches of lace. This design came about from draping fabric on a mannequin one afternoon, and Faith had so much fun and liked the results so much she had to make it real! In addition, she also painted the bride’s shoes with a gorgeous green-blue Tardis design of her own invention, and did all sorts of clever set styling things on the day as well!
One important aspect we had to get right was the venue. Because Doctor Who travels so much through time periods, I wanted somewhere that looked timeless, so that it could appear to be anything from an old Victorian building to a futuristic space in New New London. The Tobacco Dock in East London proved to be perfect for our needs, with its concrete walls, brick archways, and glass ceilings.
Also on board were Kate Ruth Romey, who designed some gorgeous text-based stationery for the shoot: bright, fun and with a hint of quirkiness; Hayley from Flair Beauty on make-up, and Lynette Chasmer on hair (who also conquered her lifelong fear of Daleks by climbing inside one and rolling around shouting “Exterminate!”). The Tardis console cake and Whovian cupcakes and biscuits were designed and made by the incredible Elizabeth Solaru of Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium. A huge thank you has to go to Philip Worrall, who came on board as a fan to play the Groom, and ended up not only playing the Doctor himself, but providing us with tons of props, ranging from sonic screwdrivers and set decor, to the outfits worn by the Groom and the Doctor, and finally his very own handmade Dalek, Steev.

And here is the short film of the day!

A Whovian Wedding from A Call to Twelve on Vimeo.

Cakes: Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium – www.elizabethscakeemporium.com
Dress, shoes & hairpieces: Faith Caton-Barber – www.faithbarber.com
Flowers & Styling: Fearless Florals – www.fearlessflorals.co.uk
Hair: Lynnette Chasmer, Bridal & Prom Hair Design – www.bridalandpromhairdesign.com
Makeup: Hayley at Flair Beauty – www.facebook.com/FlairBeautyKent
Models: Olaya Diez Del Corral (Barbara), Chris Edgerley (Ian), Philip Worrall (The Doctor), Nicole Petrillo (Ellie)
Stationery: Kate Ruth Romey – www.kateruthromey.co.uk
Photography: Kat Forsyth Photography – www.katforsyth.com
Videography : A Call to Twelve Productions – www.acalltotwelve.co.uk
Venue: Tobacco Dock – www.tobaccodocklondon.com
Cufflinks: Beneath Glass Designs – www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BeneathGlassDesigns
Tardis jewellery box: Pet Zombie Creations – www.etsy.com/uk/shop/pzcreations22
Tardis Teapot & Cookie Jar: Forbidden Planet – www.forbiddenplanet.com