Colourful Summer Wedding Inspiration: Bold Florals, Citrus Details & a Whole Lot of Fun

SamRobbins

19 hours ago

6 min read

Colourful Summer Wedding Inspiration: Bold Florals, Citrus Details & a Whole Lot of Fun

If there was ever a wedding shoot that understood the assignment when it came to colour, fun and personality, this was it.

Think hot pinks, juicy oranges, zesty yellows, incredible statement florals, modern bridal fashion, citrus-covered tables, neon lights and a champagne spray thrown in for good measure.

Basically, beige was not invited.

And apparently I wasn't the only one who loved it.

Since creating this shoot, it has been featured in a wedding magazine and across several brilliant wedding blogs, including Rock My Wedding and the English Wedding Blog. Seeing these images shared as inspiration for couples planning their own weddings has been such a lovely continuation of a shoot that was created to show just how joyful, stylish and personality-filled a modern wedding can be.

The concept itself was created and styled by the wonderful Dani from Acorn & Oak Weddings, who brought together an incredible team of wedding suppliers to create something bold, modern, romantic and full of personality.

And from a photography point of view? An absolute dream.

As a Hertfordshire wedding photographer, I talk a lot about photographing couples who want their wedding to actually feel like them. I love beautiful details and gorgeous styling, obviously, but I'm always drawn to weddings where personality comes before following a wedding rulebook.

This shoot was a brilliant example of how you can create a wedding that feels elevated and beautifully considered while still being playful, relaxed and ridiculously fun.

Colourful wedding inspiration that doesn't play it safe

The colour palette was glorious.

Hot pink, warm orange and zesty yellow ran throughout the styling, creating a vibrant, sun-kissed feel without losing that modern, editorial edge.

One of my favourite things about colourful weddings is that colour doesn't have to mean throwing absolutely everything at the room.

Here, it was intentional.

The incredible florals did a lot of the heavy lifting, with loose, architectural arrangements full of movement and texture. Citrus fruits brought another layer of colour to the styling, while gold details, glassware and candlelight softened everything and gave the tablescape a more luxurious finish.

A rich magenta table runner pulled the whole table together.

Bold? Absolutely.

Beautiful? Yep.

But still fun.

And that combination is very much my bag.

A modern wedding tablescape filled with colour

The tablescape was one of those setups where I could have happily disappeared for half an hour photographing tiny details.

Flowers spilled across the table alongside oranges and lemons, coloured glassware caught the light and candles added softness amongst all that glorious colour.

These details matter because they're part of the story of a wedding day.

You've spent months choosing colours, stationery, flowers, glassware, napkins and all those tiny things that make the day feel like yours. I want photographs of the big moments, but I also want the little pieces you might not have had time to properly take in while you were actually living it.

It's one of the reasons I'm constantly looking around on a wedding day.

The wedding is happening to you.

Meanwhile, I'm watching what's happening around you.

Modern bridal fashion, but make it fun

We had such a brilliant mix of bridal looks throughout the shoot, proving there really isn't one way to look like a bride.

There was a chic white wide-leg jumpsuit, a fitted open-back wedding dress finished with a huge statement bow, an elegant gown with a dramatic thigh-high split, a short strapless cocktail dress with an asymmetric hemline and finally an incredible glitter gown that was practically begging for an evening party.

Each outfit completely changed the energy of the photographs.

And I love that.

Modern wedding style doesn't have to mean one particular aesthetic. You can be elegant for your ceremony, throw on a mini dress for the dance floor, wear a jumpsuit, cover yourself in glitter or do all of the above.

Your wedding. Your rules.

Editorial wedding photography without spending hours posing

One of the things I wanted to capture throughout the shoot was that balance between editorial wedding photography and photographs that still feel natural.

Because the two don't have to be mutually exclusive.

The venue steps were transformed with the most incredible cascading floral installation, which gave us a dramatic backdrop for some more intentional portraits.

But intentional doesn't have to mean stiff.

My photography is predominantly documentary, with a smidge of guidance when it's useful. Even when we're creating something a little more editorial, I'm still looking for movement, connection, expression and the moments that happen between the photographs you thought we were taking.

I'll give you somewhere to stand, somewhere to walk or a little prompt if you need it.

Then I want you to be you.

Because I'd much rather photograph the two of you laughing because something genuinely happened than spend twenty minutes arranging every finger into the supposedly perfect position.

Citrus wedding details 🍊

The citrus styling ran throughout the shoot, from the tablescape and drinks station through to the cake.

And it worked SO beautifully.

Using fruit alongside flowers is such a gorgeous way to add colour, texture and personality to a summer wedding, particularly if you love the idea of a bold wedding palette but don't necessarily want everything to feel traditionally floral.

The cake brought those elements together perfectly, with bright citrus and floral details tying back into the rest of the styling.

It's also proof that your wedding styling doesn't need to rely on a rigid "theme".

Sometimes a colour palette, a few recurring details and a general feeling are more than enough to make everything feel cohesive.

When the sun goes down...

The later part of the shoot shifted into something altogether more party-ready.

Neon lighting and an audio guestbook brought a playful nighttime feel, while the glittering bridal look completely changed the mood again.

This is something I love about photographing a full wedding day.

Your photographs shouldn't all look or feel exactly the same because your wedding doesn't feel the same from beginning to end.

Morning preparations have one energy.

The ceremony has another.

Drinks, speeches and golden-hour wandering have their own rhythm.

And then someone turns the music up, shoes start disappearing and the dance floor becomes an entirely different universe.

I want the photography to move with that.

And obviously... champagne spray

We had to finish with champagne.

Champagne sprays are one of my absolute favourite wedding photo opportunities because they're basically several seconds of glorious unpredictability.

There's no standing perfectly.

There's no worrying about what your hands are doing.

There's barely enough time to think.

You pop the bottle, chaos ensues, everyone reacts and I photograph the lot.

And THAT is exactly why I love them.

They're full of movement, ridiculous expressions, laughter and energy.

For this shoot, we photographed the champagne spray on the venue's front steps underneath that huge cascading floral installation, and it was the perfect way to finish a day built around colour, personality and fun.

Planning a colourful wedding? Please don't tone yourselves down.

If you love colour, use colour.

If you want the enormous flowers, have the enormous flowers.

Wear the bow.

Wear the jumpsuit.

Change into the glitter dress.

Put fruit on the table.

Spray the champagne.

Bin the traditions that don't mean anything to you and keep the ones that do.

The weddings I love photographing most aren't necessarily the biggest, most expensive or most perfectly styled.

They're the ones where I can see the couple in them.

I'm a Hertfordshire wedding photographer, regularly photographing weddings across Hertfordshire, London and beyond, and I specialise in relaxed, authentic wedding photography for couples who care far more about enjoying their wedding than spending hours posing for it.

You bring the people you love, the personality and the good energy.

I'll be there noticing all the bits happening around you and creating photographs that feel like your day, not just what it looked like.

If you're planning a colourful, modern or non-traditional wedding and you're prioritising fun, I suspect we might be a very good vibe match.

And if you've landed here after seeing this shoot featured elsewhere, hello! It's still slightly surreal seeing photographs I created popping up in wedding publications and blogs. I hope they've given you permission to make your own wedding a little louder, brighter and more you.

The wonderful supplier team

This shoot was made possible by an incredible team of wedding suppliers, led and styled by Dani from Acorn & Oak Weddings.

This was a styled wedding inspiration shoot created by a team of wedding suppliers rather than a real wedding. Styled shoots give us the opportunity to collaborate creatively and showcase ideas that couples can take, adapt, completely reinvent or simply use as a jumping-off point for their own wedding.