When wedding planner and stylist Victoria DeRubeis-Godfrey of Devoted to You Events set out to style a shoot, she was inspired by three things: classical art, experimental lighting, and the current political climate in the US.

The first spark came from seeing Lark and Wild Design use classical art in wedding stationery but in an edgy, unexpected way. That approach really resonated. “I didn’t want to design a shoot where someone would look at it and say ‘How pretty,’” Victoria explained. “With the florals especially, I often described what I wanted as ‘ugly-pretty.’” The goal was to fuse the moody richness of classical art with modern colour, graphic elements, and a touch of excess.

Lighting was the second focus. Victoria had been itching to work with vivid coloured lighting and asked Tiffany of Hot Metal Studios to run with it. Tiffany brought off-camera lighting in bold, saturated tones, creating a contrast between the heavy textures of velvet and deep jewel tones and the punch of neon.

The final layer was rooted in politics and representation. Both Victoria and Melissa (another member of the creative team) are queer, and they wanted to showcase a queer couple in a way that pushed past tokenism. Brennan stepped into the role typically coded as “the bride,” something Victoria believes is essential for people to see. The Heads will Roll motif pulled from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs track and the 2006 Marie Antoinette film, adding a rebellious, unapologetic edge.

“I hope people take away that whatever weird, wild spark of inspiration they get, that they can chase it and see what comes from it”, she said. “While designing this shoot I was so worried people wouldn’t get it, but every vendor involved in the shoot did, and they crushed it! Everyone else doesn’t have to get it! We set out to do something that could be both luxurious and maximalist but also alt and edgy – literally marry two different aesthetics together. I was worried that the result might feel messy or not enough like a wedding, but I think it was so successful!”