
Full skirts, full sleeves, full tables festooned in fabric and sculptural florals casting shadows in candlelight. There is embroidery and costuming. And there is colour — an exploration of how reds or purples or blues might speak to one's love story. There is the elaborately-iced cake as objet d'art, the fan or parasol or brooch as considered accessory, the veil as hero. And threaded through all of it, a reminder that the most striking bridal images are those that balance theatricality and rawness. There is an authenticity to be found here. And a true individualism.

In fact, it is this idea of the return of the individual that interests us most. After all, no two love stories are the same. So how do we wade through the sameness of Internet culture to dig out something real and raw and arresting and true? Is it a turn to the archives? Finding answers in ornate vintage or the visions of past designers who were creating in a pre-social-media world. Or is it simply reminding ourselves to take the time to turn inward? Relying on introspection to tell us who we are intrinsically and how exactly we want to show that to the world.

However you may choose to celebrate your marriage, may this month's moodboard at least act as a reminder of the beauty to be found broadening your horizons, in resisting the first reference that comes up, the obvious choice, the well-worn path. The images that stop us are never the ones that played it safe. They are the ones in which someone made a decision that was entirely their own, and then committed unapologetically.

Related stories
- Weddings
- Weddings
- Weddings
- Weddings

This Must Be the Place
In the back garden of the bride’s family home, under sprawling Pohutukawa trees, this couple planned a ceremony that gave tradition a refined reimagining.

At First Sight
After meeting at a London Fields birthday just before lockdown, Tayla and Max’s whirlwind romance led to a joyful Scottish farm wedding with family.

Heart Set On Venice
Despite an early hurdle threatening their dream wedding, these childhood sweethearts pulled off a breathtaking Italian celebration.

Les Temps de l’Amour
Intimacy and history collided in this impressive Côte d’Azur wedding, set in a Mediterranean heatwave and ending in a party that lasted until sunrise.
