Minimalistic Wabi-Sabi Wedding
The 'wabi-sabi' method of reducing distracting elements from life and living creates minimalism, but in an aesthetically beautiful way. We love this method and see such artistic results and toady's beauty by Max Koliberdin and SPECIAL DAY is no different...
Words from planners SPECIAL DAY: "'Pare everything down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry. Keep things clean and unencumbered, but don’t sterilize.'
These words of the Japanologist Leonard Koren served as a starting point and a guide to action for the creation of our project. Moreover, they perfectly reflected the work philosophy of our entire team.
Yet again, our photo shoot was envisioned as a part of the photography workshop of a famous wedding film photographer Max Koliberdin. Furthermore, we really wanted to create something very close to Maxim’s heart, since his perception of the environment gravitates towards Zen philosophy and the Japanese culture. Besides, our main concept developers Inna (the founder of the Special Day Agency), and Anastasia (the founder of the Decorate Your Life Agency), also prefer the minimalistic approach in their work, with a sense of moderation, elegance and simplicity in the beauty. Additionally, the seasonal influence, as another powerful source of inspiration, which in our case was during the month of November, added its own tone and attitude to the overall vision of the event. As a result, the “wabi-sabi” aesthetic of the beauty in its most sincere essence became the guiding principle when creating the main concept of the project.
However, as we usually do in our work, we tried to avoid the literal replication of the traditional style, with the explicit Japanese elements, and the rough imitation of the East. That’s why, we deliberately avoided the kimono, the chopsticks instead of the traditional tableware, and the blooming sakura look. Through our project, we wanted to show just a tender touch of the wabi-sabi that is close enough to the real life, but at the same time is festive enough for a wedding day.
In this photo shoot, we embodied our ideals of the true beauty – elegant simplicity, sophistication, and the clearness of lines.
Our main emphasis when preparing the space, was on keeping it open and clear, avoiding busy embellishments, while instead using calm, subdued tones. Our chosen colors of the shades of beige, grey, the subdued green and white were traditional for wabi-sabi, and so, quite beautifully conveyed the November mood.
We love the natural light because it enhances in the best way possible the beauty of people and the surrounding environment. And, we were very lucky to be able to use that subdued, dim, natural November almost moonlight, that is so preferred in the wabi-sabi aesthetic. In turn, Max Koliberdin, the Fuji 400H Pro film, and the Impression Film Lab did a beautiful job in relating the visual components of the picture to your screens.
Also, in developing the concept of the project, we really wanted to show the connection to the nature; that’s why we used the natural and textured materials, such as silk, wool, linen, and cotton in their natural shades, as well as unreclaimed wood, the handmade raku ceramics, the grey and beige immortelles, and simple flower arrangements.
In our view, the morning of a couple in love during one of the most important days in their life should be light, informal, and devoid of excessive nervousness.
To underline the ease and style of the morning of a bride, we opted out of the traditional lace nightgowns and peignoirs, and instead chose a silk grey top, and slightly shortened harem trousers for her look. Finally, the bed linen, a woolen blanket, a monochrome ink wash painting, and a cup of a green tea completed this look with a touch of warmth and a needed aesthetic.
A grey handcrafted paper and a Cyrillic font styled as hieroglyphs was all we needed for the ideal polygraphy for this project. It was perfectly unique and simplistic!...
We love traditions, but at the same time we love to move away from them; that’s why the wedding ceremony was maximally minimalistic and conceptual with the beige branches placed in front of the dark-grey patchy background, and the bride’s gown left white and very simple in design. Her minimalistic jewelry was specifically chosen to simply highlight the needed key accents; in this case we opted for an ivory “water lily” ring, and for “sakura” earrings.
The groom wore a woolen suit, appropriate for the season and for our envisioned concept. The buttonhole on his jacket was embellished with an elegant boutonniere; however, we moved away from the traditional shirt and a bowtie to preserve the ease and the chosen style. Finally, his finger was beautifully encircled by a brutal, blackened engagement band.
When creating the table setting for a celebratory dinner, we tried to preserve the festive mood, but at the same time to avoid the excessive formality while maintaining the principle of simplicity and the chosen style.
We chose the light colored wooden table suited for 10 persons, along with the bamboo plate racks, candle holders in a form of a cube, tableware, and stools mixed with natural wood blocks to create the textured base. It would also be a so called laconic canvas for the dark details on the table, such as grey and brown plates with grey dots, grey salt and pepper shakers, grey cotton napkins casually tied in a knot, grey stone vases with a contrast rhythmical floral arrangements, and black thin candles as if hovering in the air. Because of its texture, the light beige elements did not loose its individuality, but instead created a feeling of minimalism and a sustained volume.
A special touch of a beautiful simplicity was added through the weightless low glasses instead of the traditional wineglasses.
The bride’s second gown, made from the crepe silk, added to the texture of the overall look.
In this project, just like in any other of our projects, we aimed at preserving the naturalness and closeness of the chosen concept to the real life. We wanted to show the individuality of every detail, while creating the unforgettable beauty without excessiveness, and to preserve the invisible strings that tie all the items in one united whole.
That day we were able to catch Zen!
Vendor Details
Photography: Max Koliberdin | Film Lab: Impression Film Lab | Stylist & Planner: SPECIAL DAY | Floral Designer: Anna Runge & Danil Borisov | Dress Designer: Cathy Telle | Rentals: Bonrenom | Accessories: Earrings Alchemia | Venue: White Studios | Cake Designer: Yum Baker | Hair & Makeup Artist: Katerina Matyakina | Stationery: Krasota v detalyakh & Ms.Ponch | Models: Alina Tsoy from Wilhelmina Models and Yaromir from Look Models Russia | Silk grey top and culottes: Lingerie White Chic | Groom’s clothes and watches: MFashion | Bride’s dresses: grey from Tatiana Kochnova | Groom’s suit: Costume Code | Wedding bands: I am Yours | Silk ribbons and cotton napkins: Fern’s Fairytale | Picture “Enso”: VellichorArt
