St Bathans Opalescent Winter - Together Journal

Shared love for Central Otago over the winter months, with its many points of shifting colour, shorter days and clear blue skies kindled our desire to capture the vivid aesthetic of St Bathans, a relatively unknown, but stunning South Island historic town.

Away from the typical snow-capped mountain scenes of Queenstown and Wanaka, St Bathans afforded a whimsical setting to combine our creative energies. Opalescent Winter, our first collectively-styled shoot was subsequently rendered in the quartz gravel of St Bathans’ unique landscape.

Drawing inspiration from the iridescent quality of dried Lunaria and the translucent beauty of St Bathans Blue Lake, we focused on textures and finishes and embraced a desaturated wintery colour palette, creating two complementing looks over two days.

Having all met at a South Island wedding fair last year, we instantly connected over our mutual love of elegant and timeless style and a like-minded design practice.

With look one, the juxtaposition of a sleek elegant gown and soft billowing sleeves against the dramatic crumbling cliff faces, was contrasted with the shimmer of the oversized dried Lunaria bouquet. Statement ribbon and dewy fresh-faced makeup completed the look.

Our evening reception inspiration was set against the ageing walls of the schoolhouse ruin. Honouring the heritage site’s 1875 origins, Hannah Cooper designed a wedding tablescape with simple elegant styling, textured layers and featuring a cascading textural dried floral installation emerging from the cracks as a natural extension of the crumbling stones.

For look two, Charlotte from RocknRosie used a combination of fresh seasonal florals and dried textures to echo the landscape and pearly detailing of the dress and jewellery. The fresh, glimmering look, harmonised with pared-back hair and makeup, was at home in the bright crisp Winter’s morning.

Sophie Lewis’ photography highlighted the stunning natural beauty of St Bathans, capturing as much of the texture as possible from the landscape and surroundings with soft focus, wide angles, natural lighting and minimal editing style.

Opalescent Winter encompasses a timeless, elegant and luminous aesthetic. Set in a raw and unique location, it reflects our mutual design ethos whilst showcasing a Central Otago winter wedding with a difference.