Love My Dress Wedding Blog - A UK Wedding Blog

A Theatre Wedding For A Bride Who Made Her Own Dress...

Morning guys n gals! The start of a new week, sunny, and definitely no snow where I'm sat - anyone else?

I like to open up the week with a wedding and this morning's was submitted recently by the Photographer Laura Babb, whose work I've not featured before now, so it brings me pleasure today to share the wedding day photographs of Andy and Lucy, who tied the knot on 21st January at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds.

Lucy is rather a dab hand at the sewing machine and created her very own wedding dress based on a basic dress pattern from the 1950's...

"I made my own dress with some help from a dressmaker – Sarah Belinda. I have been sewing for a while now and can add this to my achievements!

I had a very simple 50s dress in mind but also wanted a top layer of lace with a scalloped edge. I also made a bolero but didn’t wear it in the end as it was quite warm on the day. 

I loved that my daughters saw me making the dress and hopefully it inspired them..."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Laura Babb

 "I love 1950s and '60s vintage -Andy does too, so our outfits reflected this.  Andy wore a 1960s style suit by Paul Smith..."

"We did most of the flowers ourselves bought from a florist in Bury St Edmunds..."

"We both have entertainment backgrounds – Andy in music and myself in acting and TV, Theatre and film so the venue was perfect and happened almost by chance, making it meant to be – it also made us feel very comfortable there as we were used to that kind of atmosphere. We wanted lots of music and made it all quite diverse..."

"Our love of the 1950s and '60s and theatre was also reflected in the decor - we gave out 50s style vinyl CD’s as favours and had retro style place cards and the old style theatre programs name plan with the theatre lights..."

"As favours, we gave away vinyl CD’s designed by Andy and made up by webs4cd.co.uk..."

"We used paper pom poms, a Royal Mail post box, sweetie bar cards bought from Ebay, my own teacups and love letters by Vowed and Amazed..."

Win £100 To Spend At The 'SoLovesVintage' Online Boutique ~ Plus All Competition Entrants Will Receive A 10% Discount Code...

 

** Click here to visit the Love My Dress Facebook promotions page to enter this competition - mobile device users - click here **

 

Afternoon my lovelies!   How do you fancy winning yourself a nice little voucher for £100 to spend at a beautiful online boutique that specailises in selling some really exquisite vintage dresses and jewellery?

I thought you might :)

Since launching in May 2009, SoLovesVintage has successfully established itself as one of the leading online vintage boutiques, offering amazing pieces with impeccable packaging and excellent customer service.  Owner Sofia Tourlakidou talks passionatly about helping women realise that they can develop their personal style to express their personality, not only from the high street, but also past decades...

"Once upon a time, while I was looking for a job in Fashion Industry, I stumbled upon a business idea that combined my two biggest loves: fashion and ladies vintage fashion. I see vintage dressing as an extension of my personality.  The hunt for the ‘perfect outfit’ is so strong that the rush of adrenaline it gives me each and every time is more intense than even a bungee jump or jumping out of a plane!"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, SoLovesVintage

"I started wearing vintage clothing from very young age - I always preferred to wear pieces that nobody else would own. There is nothing worse than turning up to a Christmas party or black tie event in the same outfit as someone else, as vintage clothing removes that fear.

While I was conducting research for the site, I realised that there weren’t many vintage shops that would allow you to find that special item at the click of a mouse, instead they encouraged hours worth of searching to find that hidden treasure..."

"The craftsmanship of ladies vintage fashion is unquestionable, when compared to today’s standards and all of our vintage dresses are fully lined, the inside stitching is utterly refined and totally exquisite. All of our items are dry cleaned and you can even read our handy care guide to help you to prolong the life of your new vintage clothing purchase.

With well known celebrity vintage lovers including, Kate Moss, the Olsen sisters and Dita Von Teese, vintage shopping is becoming less intimidating and more enjoyable for many women. You don’t need to be a die-hard vintage expert or millionaires to buy from us, our blog will give you some handy hints and tips on creating looks from various decades, how to mix and match your outfits and what to look for from different designers..."

"Through SoLovesVintage.com - my vision is to create an online vintage boutique, which includes a selection of hand-picked, beautifully made affordable vintage clothing and accessories that are individual, unique, and will provide you with a piece of history that will complement your personality and body shape.

I source clothes according to my taste, craftsmanship, fabric and wearability. Even though contemporary designers are influenced by past decades, vintage fashion is about individuality and what works for you, rather than what comes down the runway...."

Rock n' Roll Meets 60's French Chic ~ A Jetset Honeymoon Inspiration Shoot...

"It's the late 1960's and this upper class beauty brings her newlywed English rockstar husband for a weekend of love and joy at the family castle.  We can call them Estelle and John. It's actually the early morning after the wedding and as they arrive in the sunset, still dressed up, the butler is setting up and waiting to greet them.

They have no duties to see to, no responsibility - a whole day in the nightgown, loads of sweets and poems.. and a candle-lit dinner served in the meadow on the hill.

This will be their honeymoon.... "

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Alicia Swedenborg

Oh sweet Lord! where do I even start with this one?!? 

I've had a relationship with Swedish creative Madelin Downey for sometime now, and have featured her gorgeous inspirational work several times on Love My Dress already.  Madeline has teamed up with Maria Ahlin to work on a new creative outlet called Vintage Honeymoon, and this photoshoot is one of their latest projects. And isn't it exquisite?  I mean, really; the movement in that dress, those gold sparkly shoes, the cute little doggy and the whole rock n roll meets 60's chic, relaxed vibe of it all.

Maria is responsible for the creation of all the jewllery and accessories in this shoot by the way.  I also adore the silver, gold and pale blue hues...

Our colour palette involved lavander dusty blue, creme and silver..."

Madelin contacted me recently to ask if I would like to features this photoshoot.  Oh how I love it when that happens - gorgeous photographs and an amazing team behind them, who want the culmination of their shared cretaive talents to be showed cased on Love My Dress.  Wait a minute, did that really happen there?   I sometimes don't feel worthy, such is the gorgeousness of these images...

"We made this photoshoot with the vision of something French, classy and rock n' roll - think the 60's, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, sportscars and decadence, a candle light dinner with a butler and a french bulldog..."

The styling and photography is heavenly but I love the way the creative team came up with a love story/honeymoon concept to contextualise things.  It is delight too, to feature once more the work of talented Swedish Photographer, Alicia Swedenborg...

 

Coral and Pastel Pink Perfection - A 1960's Inspired Islington Town Hall Wedding...

Good afternoon my gorgeous blog followers :)  I will be away attending my Daughter's Christmas play by the time this post goes live. I'll report back and let you know how it goes!

This absolutely beautiful pastel pretty wedding is that of Martin and Lucy, who tied the knot on 23 September at Islington Town Hall in London.  I saw just one photograph from this wedding before I agreed to feature it.  How pretty do this maids look next to the Bride in their short lacy pastel colour frocks?  Bride Lucy wore the most beautiful 1960's replica silk wedding dress from The Vintage Wedding Dress Company...

"I definitely wanted vintage or vintage inspired and this just totally suited me and made me feel like a supermodel! I loved the simplicity and it was so flattering and totally different to what I would normally wear. (I never wear anything fitted!).

My veil was from Mirror Mirror in Crouch end London. Its called the Jackie O, and my gorgeous husband treated me to Nude patent almond toe Christian Louboutins..." 

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Christopher Currie

Lucy's Bridesmaids wore the Victoria Lace Dress from Whistles, purchased with a 25% discount courtesy of Grazia Magazine...

"Quite simply I just love colour and flowers and girly vintage inspired things!  I was really inspired by my beautiful friends (the bridesmaids) who are all really talented creative people who have fab taste and love the same stuff as me, we just egg each other on. They just get me and what I love...."

"A good friend Called Matt did my flowers. He has just opened his first shop - The Urban Flower Company.  So my absolute favourite colour is coral pink (it’s a bit of joke about how much I love it) So he sourced the roses and then had the mammoth challenge of making september flowers look like may flowers….. I am slo very fussy when it comes to flowers but he did a fab job….. I think he was a bit scared of me!"

1960's Lovers Engagement Shoot...

Morning once more! ;) Here's a cute little engagement shoot for you that Photographer Ed Osbourne sent my way - how much do I want Bride to be Lauren's jacket?

"Lauren and Steph are part of the mod scene in Glasgow, so the 1960's inspired look just came naturally. 

The Trossachs National Park is only a short drive away from where they live in Glasgow, so we decided to do the shoot there. The beauty and vastness of the scenery, and natural style of the couple made my job simple!

 The shoot was a great success in terms of preparing the couple for wedding photos, as initially they were a little nervous about the shoot, but were soon running across fields and climbing up rocks of their own accord!"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Ed Osbourne

The Vintage Wedding Gallery ~ A Saturday Update...

Hi All,

Today seemed like a good day to update you on my new project, The Vintage Wedding Gallery, that I launched last Saturday.  You can read about the project here, and you can view some of the photographs that have been sent in here.

Here are a handful more of the images I've received this week... aren't they fabulous? My, how times and fashions have changed, and don't you just adore those huuuuuge wedding bouquet's of the 1930's?

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - All Images Belong to 'The Vintage Wedding Gallery' {work in progress}

Just a reminder that to participate in this project, please click here to learn more and complete the online form.

View all blog entries listed under 'The Vintage Wedding Gallery'.

Much love all,

Annabel xXx

♥

A Preview of 'The Vintage Wedding Gallery' ~ Wedding Photography Through The Decades...

On Saturday, I launched a very special project on Love My Dress, 'The Wedding Gallery'.  Through the Wedding Gallery project, I will be curating a collection of Wedding Photography from the past 100+ years.  The final collection will serve as a resource for anyone interested in observing/studying wedding-day fashions and styles of the past century, for people with a general interest in 'vintage weddings' or for anyone who might just be plain old curious :)

It's been just two days since I blogged about this project and I am so very touched at the response I've had so far.  The photographs I've received have brought out all kinds of emotions - they are fascinating, beautiful, beguiling, moving, funny and heart warming.  I thought it would be nice to share with you this lunc time, just of few of the images I have so far received - to give you an idea of what you can expect to see through the The Wedding Gallery. 

I've randomly selected the following photographs to represent decades from the 1920's through to the 1990s...

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - All Images Belong to 'The Vintage Wedding Gallery {work in progress}

Through the wedding gallery, I didn't just want to create a resource of many photographs that you could click on to enlarge and view in more detail; I wanted this project to be more personal than that, and so I have asked for information to accompany each image.  I love reading about how the photographer were re-discovered, or how much the subjects being photographed meant to someone - or indeed have inspired someone many years later when it came to planning their own modern-day wedding.

If you would like to participate in this project, please click here to learn more and complete the online form...

Just a reminder that to participate in this project, please click here to learn more and complete the online form.

I very much look forward to hearing from you and receiving your photographs :)

Much love everyone,

Annabel xXx

♥

Reader Project ~ The Vintage Wedding Gallery, A Catalogue of Wedding Photography Through The Years...

 

** Since posting this blog feature, I have previewed some of the many images I have received here **

 

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Hi Everyone :)  I'm turning my focus to a little project I've been meaning to get off the ground for months now. Actually, almost a year. 

I'd like to create a gallery on Love My Dress, a place where my readers can look through old wedding photography by decade, be it purely for fun, or to study the fashions of the times or just out of plain old curiosity.  I just LOVE looking through wedding photography from the past, and I love the idea of you, my readers, contributing towards the development of this gallery.  The idea of the people who frequent Love My Dress participating in this project makes it so much more special to me.

Getting Readers Involved...

OK, so I'd like to propose that over the next few weeks and months, my readers submit scans of real wedding photographs from over the past 100 years or so.  It might be an image of your parents on their wedding day, or your Grandparents, or your Great Aunt Hilda!  It might even be of you on your wedding day back in the early 2000's or 1990's or it could be a family photograph of your Great Great Grandparenst that you have been treasuring for years...

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - All Image Sources + Credits Beneath Image

Image Credits from to left clockwise: 1. 1970s Bride, 2. 'Nikki & Nigel' - Image supplied by a personal friend from her marriage in 1994, 3.PInterest, 4. From the Nick DeWolf Photo Archive on Flickr, 5. Via LoveDayLemon on Flickr, 6. My Grandparents on their wedding day in 1942, 7. 1966 Wedding via Susan's Lens on Flickr, 8. 1980's wedding by TogetherThroughLife on Flickr
 
 

What I'm Looking For...

OK just to clarify a few things...

I am keen to curate a gallery of images that span as many decades as possible - regardless of any culture, sexual preference, age, religion, or location etc etc.  Any reader, from anywhere can particpate in this project.  It does not matter how old, or how recent the photograph was taken.   The photograph/s needn't have been shot by a Professional Photographer either - it is not the quality of the image I'm interested in, it is the content.

The only requirement is that the image/s you submit must have been taken on a wedding day. The image could be of the Bride, or Bride and Groom, but it needn't have to be. It could be an image Bridesmaids or Flowergirls or the Groomsmen. It could be group shot, or of the wedding guests, but it should include a person/people in one way or another.  If you think you have an image to submit, I guarantee you, I'd love to see it ;) 

 

What will happen with your images?

I will collate all the images and then catalogue them by decade.  Images will be tagged with useful information to anyone wanting to use the gallery as a resource to study wedding fashions and culture, and general wedding photography by decade.  The Gallery will be made available to view from the homepage of Love My Dress, and each decade will be easily accessible via a dropdown menu. Simple!

 

How To Get Involved...

Simply fill in the form below, uploading the wedding image you would like to be included in the gallery and click send. You can send more than one image in of course, but for each image you send, you will need to submit fresh details via the form below.

There is no deadline for submission. I hope this will be a long term project that my readers can participate in over a period of time.  However, to get the ball rolling, I'd like to invite the first round of images to be submitted to me by the end of November 2011.

E-mail Address: * Your Full Name * Please upload the image you would like to submit to be included in the Wedding Gallery Please list any relevant Copyright/Image Credit information Exact year photograph was taken {if known} Decade image was taken * Pre 19001900 - 19091910 - 19191920 - 19291930 - 19391940 - 19491950 - 19591960 - 19691970 - 19791980 - 19891990 - 19992000 - 20102010 - Now Name of Subjects In Image {if known} * Brief comments on image - this might be just to mention who the people in the photography are, or why this photograph is important to you, or how it came to be in your posession. It might be to describe how this photograph makes you feel when you look at it.  This section can be left blank if you prefer * Location and Country image was taken {if known} * Your name will be placed next to any image published in the Gallery, ie, Image submitted by Fred Blogs. Please indicate if you would prefer to remain anonymous: I would prefer to remain anonymous Please note:  In clicking 'Submit', it is assumed you have full permission to share any photography you submit via this form, to be shared with the general public. * Required.

Thank you so very much for participating in this special project :)  I really appreciate your help. Let's make this fun and let's make it work :)

I'm excited about receiving your photographs! ;)

With much love,

Annabel xXx

♥