It was spring in St. John’s, Poor Things had just come out, I was listening to a lot of Feist, I was eyeing flights to Palermo. So what did I do about it? I reached out to some creatives I admire in St. John’s and we got to work.
It was so deeply inspiring to create this bridal shoot with so many amazing creative women and to come together for an afternoon full of snacks and laughs in the cutest town of Cupids – which is not at all like Palermo but very charming in its own way.
We started out at Julie’s makeup studio in Topsail, where we were greeted by her unrealistically adorable new puppy, who played around us as Julie gave our sweet model Hannah a natural, glowy look. I became a little obsessed with Julie’s ring light and had a lot of fun with it! Julie also put curlers in Hannah’s hair and gave her a simple style that would leave the big impact for the dress and veil.
We took the shore road to Cupids so we could pop in to Amber-Lynn Thorne’s, aka Fisherman’s Daughters, workshop to pick up one of her stunning ceramic dishes. Amber-Lynn is an incredibly talented and kind artist who hand paints every one of her sweet ceramics, and they are such one-of-a-kind treasures.
Once we arrived in Cupids, it was so sweet to bring all the details together. Nora’s stunning dress creation was such a vision, a stunning sheer dress with puff sleeves and a huge sheer bow for the veil. Cecilia absolutely nailed styling the details from the gold crocodile slingback shoes to the shiny gold bag and white sunglasses. Lily’s floral design also blew me away. She so lovingly combined wildflowers with bright, mediterranean inspired blooms for the perfect bouquet that felt both wild and elegant. Add that in with the perfect (enormous) pistachio and vanilla macarons from Cakey Hand, and it was such a beautiful display.
The venue we chose was a sweet AirBnB called Gallery on the Quay, right on the water in Cupids with lots of gorgeous natural light and a beautifully curated vintage vibe. We loved the nostalgic yet modern feel of the place, and it made such a lovely location.
I’m so grateful to all these sweet folks for the collaboration, it was such a fun and creative experience and I can’t wait for future projects!
photography and concept by Heather Nolan
dress and veil by Nora de Mariaffi
styling by Cecilia Amber Adornments
florals by Lily of Rose in Paradise
makeup and hair by Julie Sheppard
model Hannah DeBourke
location Gallery on the Quay
wool sweater by Nonia
capelin ring dish by Amber-Lynn Thorne
macarons from Cakey Hand
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