Wedding Inspiration from The Night Circus

We love pulling inspiration from our favorite movies and books and today we are doing just that – with The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern! The concept for the shoot was dreamt up by Jessica Claire who wrote that, “No book has been more of a delight to the imagination than The Night Circus! The bold imagery in the writing made the characters, the clothing, the action, and the location all come to life as easily as if it had been a movie. Needless to say, this shoot was nearly begging to be styled and shot, which I’m so glad I was able to pull together a team to produce.”

Set mostly in the early 1900’s, The Night Circus takes place almost entirely within the boundaries of a circus, but not the sort of circus one would be used to experiencing. The circus in the book is a different sort – a sophisticated circus, a fashionable one. No loud colors or childish patterns at this circus; just a simple palette of black and white stripes. The circus instead of being open during daylight hours is also unusual in that it exists only at night, leaving it deserted and stark during the day. The only color ever seen at the circus is a bold
red –the mark of the “reveurs” – or people who follow the circus from city to city because they love it so much. They wear red to identify one another in the midst of the black and white.

At the heart of the plot is the love story that develops between the two main characters, Celia and Marco, who although fated to be enemies, find that they are so entwined that they cannot be without one another. For this shoot, the creative team wanted to bring to life some of the more central images in the book – the stripes, a fortune teller, a contortionist, a clock, and most of all, an air of whimsy and a couple that just an’t stay away from one another!

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Pretty obsessed with her huge bouquet by Honey and Poppies! All the gorgeous event design is by Jesi Haack Design and the stunning pop-up invite is by Wiley Valentine. Lovely photos by Jessica Claire.

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Have any of you read The Night Circus? After seeing this, I’ve added it to my must read list. What other books would you love to see brought to life? Let me know in the comments and we’ll work on bringing them to life in the coming months!

photography: Jessica Claire // event design: Honey and Poppies // hairpiece: vintage // hair stylist: Fiore Beauty // makeup artist: Fiore Beauty // paper goods: Wiley Valentine // cake: Erica O'Brien Cake Design