When the amazing make-up artist Sandy Dosanjh got in touch about a styled shoot she was organising to showcase her work we knew we had to get involved… and the photographs did not disappoint! We caught up with Sandy to hear all about how it went.
Hi Sandy, can you tell us all about yourself and why you did the recent shoot?
“ I work as a full-time bridal hair and makeup artist. I specialise in multicultural weddings and travel nationally as well as internationally, specialising in Destination weddings. As the wedding industry has been massively impacted by Covid. I had the idea to do this shoot to collaborate with other businesses in the same industry to unite together to create awareness for all of us on social media as wedding bookings will eventually return.”
Can you tell us where you chose to shoot and why?
“I found The Petersham Hotel online and loved the beautiful archway at the entrance and how it overlooks Richmond. The location and setting is beautiful for an intimate wedding. The staff were super helpful and welcoming and I loved the grand Piano and staircase as a feature point. Definitely great spots for brides to have their wedding photos on the day!”
How did you choose to accessorise our gowns?
“ I chose all my suppliers through careful research on Instagram. I always choose the accessories and gowns that give me inspiration to create a desired bridal look. I like to visualise the overall look in my head and create mood boards on Pinterest. If I feel a certain dress doesn't fit in with this then I won't use it. I am also careful in choosing good quality bridal gowns which women would want to be able to visualise them wearing on their wedding day!”
Tell us about how the shoot went.
“We did overall 3 looks in one day so it was very full on and busy. We started at around 9am and didn't leave until I think around 6.30? Fighting against time as we were losing day light was a challenge! But we managed to pull it all off and got some amazing content.”
Do you have anything else you want to tell all of our followers?
“I am sure I can say this on behalf of our entire industry- but this has had to be the most challenging times in our lives that we have faced so far (work wise.) I think the wedding industry has to be one the most affected industries by Covid and I don't feel like we really had much support from the government at all. It certainly hasn't been a priority for them regardless that it is a £10 billion a year industry! It saddens me to have seen so many business owners having to close down such as venues. I think we have to do our best to stay strong, to help each other- support and promote each other. We really are all in this together. I am hopeful for weddings to eventually return back to normal; it may take a few years to fully recover and I think going forward people will definitely now be opting for more intimate weddings. I think we will have to adjust to a new way of working but I am hopeful we will get our business back on track.”
Thank so much Sandy and fingers crossed that everything returns to normal very soon and our industry will be awash with a stampede of weddings! Keep an eye out on our Instagram as we share more images from the photoshoot.
Photography by Charlotte Helling.