Wedding Style Ideas Inspired by Books

Wed­ding style ideas inspired by books

By Eliz­a­beth Mer­cer Photography

Today’s wed­ding blog is a make-up and hair bridal shoot inspired by books. It’s really cre­ative and helps brides think out­side the box when it comes to their big day. I thought it would be a fun exer­cise to try to cap­ture the look or mood of fic­tional char­ac­ters from lit­er­a­ture, and I col­lab­o­rated with my makeup artist friend, Megan Williams and hair styl­ist friend Char­lie Pivetti.

We wanted to play with the so-called inno­cence of Daisy Buchanan for The Great Gatsby photo, so we went with a peachy cheek jux­ta­posed with a dark eye liner.

With Jane Eyre, we wanted to cap­ture her veneer of simplicity.

In The Hunger Games photo, we went for Katniss’s sig­na­ture braid and steely gaze.

Hex Hall’s main char­ac­ter, Sophie Mer­cer, is a good witch with an inde­pen­dent streak and a dark side.

Our Gone with the Wind photo is inspired by the iconic Scar­lett O’Hara, whose bold makeup and pen­e­trat­ing gaze scream for attention.

Emma is a high-spirited ide­al­ist, and we made a dou­ble head­band out of rib­bon to keep give her an air of youth­ful­ness and romantic.

When I shoot a wed­ding or a por­trait, I like to think that I’m telling a story. I’m not merely doc­u­ment­ing a moment or event, but rather I’m cre­at­ing an image or series of images that express an idea of who my clients are and where they are going in life.

This isn’t jour­nal­ism – I’m happy to leave cold, hard real­ity behind and embell­ish the moments and expres­sions that will tell the nar­ra­tive that they would like to tell about themselves.

It’s often larger than life even if there is a ker­nel of truth. Through set­ting, light­ing, makeup, wardrobe, and stag­ing, I often try to make the pic­ture more roman­tic, more expres­sive… more dra­matic. In this way, a lot of my work has as much to do with fic­tion as reality.

Pho­tog­ra­phy: Eliz­a­beth Mer­cer elizabethmercer.com
Gone with the Wind, The Great Gatsby and Hex Hal: Make-up and Hair by Megan Williams
Jane Eyre: Make-up and Hair by Char­lie Pivetti
Emma: Make-up by Megan Gille­spie, Hair by Char­lie Pivetti
Hunger Games: Make-up by Megan Gille­spie, Hair by Char­lie Pivetti