konknaijaboy | On 17, Nov 2014

Source: THE GUARDIAN

Beyoncé and Jay Z danced in the street. The photography was worthy of a Givenchy campaign. The bride wore a cape – and rode a bicycle. Was this the hippest wedding ever?

The age of the hipster may be drawing to a close, but in the wedding industry its key motifs are still strong. Cocktails in jam jars? Typewriters as decoration? Instagram-filtered snaps of tattooed brides standing in front of graffitied walls? All are standard. So how to do a vaguely edgy wedding in 2014 without resorting to cliche? This weekend’s Solange Knowles–Alan Ferguson bash offers a few ideas

1. Keep the dress code simple

No out-of-character Marchesa princess moment for this bride. Knowles wore a series of white outfits, including a simple sheath by Humberto Leon for Kenzo, with a regal cape and bronze wrist-guards adding a touch of high-priestess drama. Ferguson wore all-white, too – with a double-breasted jacket and bronze-tipped shoes. Indeed, the whole wedding party wore white, a classy theme that laughs in the face of spillages.

2. Plan your entrance

Like vintage suitcases and handmade bunting, bicycles have become a hipster wedding trope. But the Knowles-Ferguson wedding reclaims them by using them as an actual mode of transport. The bride’s handlebars were resplendent with cream flowers; she wore a practical(ish) jumpsuit for the task.

3. Consider your pop culture references carefully

Forget naming your tables after Belle and Sebastian records. At the rehearsal dinner, Knowles and Ferguson screened the film they had watched on their first date: the 1975 Berry Gordy-produced movie Mahogany, in which Diana Ross plays a fashion designer and is resplendent in a series of terribly autumn/winter 2014 wide-brimmed hats and jumpsuits. The screening took place at Indywood Cinemas (strapline: “You won’t find a theatre more New Orleans than this.”)

4. Keep the guest list intimate

The only famous guests were family – sister Beyoncé, of course, Jay Z, Blue Ivy, Tina Knowles – and friends (Janelle Monáe). And, we assume, no one mentioned the elevator. Instead, everyone seemed to have a right laugh, dancing in the street and waving sparklers.

5. Don’t be afraid of an esoteric mood board

Most wedding photographers know what’s required at a vaguely hipster celebration: close-ups of floral headbands and shots of couples holding oversized balloons while they kiss. But the Knowles-Ferguson wedding photographer – Rog Walker, who was reporting for Vogue – had more unusual references in mind. He took inspiration from “the work of contemporary Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft” for the group shot above, which could also have come straight from Givenchy’s 2013 haute couture lineup.

6. Place matters

New Orleans’ Marigny Opera House is classy for all kinds of reasons: it’s a church with a mission to support the work of local artists, it is close to the couple’s home, it is crumbling, artfully, and it is seriously in demand – the website explains that it is “only occasionally available for a limited number of wedding ceremonies”. Also, its beautiful tiled floor could be the subject of a stylewatch all of its own.