~ Spring 2021 ~

BLOOM CAMPAIGN PHOTOSHOOT

Photoshoot production and styling assistants - Steve McDonagh, Racheal Hamlin & Bianca Manu

Each time we shoot out in the elements, I vow I will never do it again, and our Bloom campaign photoshoot was no exception! The days/weeks leading up to shoot day are nervously spent checking the weather app for any signs of wind and/or rain. It didn't 100% go in our favour, however it was pretty close, and the results were definitely worth the stress! The only obstacle we had on the day of our photoshoot was some strong winds every now and then, which resulted in our Mermaid Shack nearly flying away a couple of times. And with the bad, comes the good - because it also resulted in some absolutely beautiful windswept photos of our gowns! All in all though, the weather was beautiful, and I was so grateful that we were able to bring our Mermaid Shack to life. 

Our day started before the sun came up, just before 5am at a beach house I'd rented to use as basecamp for our Bloom campaign photoshoot. Soon after I woke, my Dad (Steve) and Coven manager (Racheal) arrived, and we sat out on the balcony sipping our coffees, talking about the day ahead, listening to the waves crashing, and watching the sun float up behind the horizon... 

The first thing on the agenda - creating our Mermaid Shack! To be honest, I had no idea if it was going to work out. I'd dreamt of creating this shack for so long, but until this day, it existed only in my mind, and in very rough sketches. Would it all come together? Would it stay standing? After all, we were building a shack out of long, thin pieces of bamboo and driftwood! Would it look as beautiful as I had imagined? Time would tell... 

One thing that set my mind at ease was that I had my Dad there to help build it. He came with tools and things I didn't even know we needed, and he got to work on building the frame. Once it started taking shape, I felt a calmness wash over me, and I just knew it was going to work. We started hauling boxes and boxes of flowers, shells, shell chandeliers, amongst other things from the beach house down to the Mermaid Shack, and we got to work on beautifying it. 

We spent the next couple of hours decorating the shack, with all things I imagined one would find in a Mermaid Shack - dried seaweed, flowers, shells, rocks, driftwood, palms, coral and coconuts. Before we knew it, it was time to shoot the first look of the day - our Lavender Bloom Gown (the best seller from this collection). It was a beautiful day, spent in the sunshine, with the whole team scurrying under one umbrella between shots, trying to hide under any bit of shade we could find!