Love My Dress UK Wedding Blog

An Intimate, Family, 1960s Inspired Electric Cinema Wedding

Good morning beautiful people.  Welcome to a wonderful new week full of wedding inspiration, and do please say hello to wedding photographer Jordanna Marston and her husband Dave.  Jordanna, who's work has featured on Love My Dress several times, tied the knot with Dave on 19th December last year. I love how their wedding day was full of pretty 1960's inspired accents and I adore the intimacy of these wedding photographs taken by Anna Hardy - they seem to capture so many lovely little moments between the couple and their close knit family.

This intimate wedding ceremony, which involved only 21 guests, took place at The Electric Cinema in Birmingham...

"Birmingham will always have a place in my heart - it’s where I went to university and worked for five years - I love the place.  I have also always liked the 1960's – the big eye make up, hair and short hemlines."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Anna Hardy

"We met in prison. Seriously, we did! I was teaching English and Art and Dave was managing the gym – we became friends until one Halloween night we went out on a date. He proposed to me ages later – but I have to say – it was worth the wait. He proposed in my grandfather’s home town in Italy on a bridge over a river where young lovers’ hang lockets and throw the keys into the river to symbolise their unending love - Italians passionate sorts!"

"Anyway, Dave and I may be the world’s least mushy couple so when he said he’d bought a locket to hang on the bridge I laughed and told him to sod off. He dragged me over and said, that he had a ring for me instead and then asked me to marry him. Now I’d like to say I played it cool, but I squealed 'Oh MY GOD, Yesssssss, Thank you!', before throwing my arms around him and almost knocking my beautiful Alex Monroe ring – and him - into the river!"

"My lovely friend Emily Campbell of Manic Botanic, Northampton made my bouquet. I knew I wanted chamomile to evoke a 60s daisy look (except daisies don’t grow in winter) and cabbages. My Italian Grandfather was very dear to me and he used to plant veg everywhere including my grandmother’s grave(!) so I wanted them for a nod to those two. Other than that I just told Emily to go wild, and that she did!I got married with, this time, my English grandmother’s ring.

We organised the wedding really quickly and so didn’t get round to sorting rings out officially. But I LOVED the idea of using the ring my grandad had married my nan with and so we used that. I did fear that Dave would turn up with a Haribo ring as a daft joke but he had bought himself a silver one just to do the deed with."

"I wore a vintage silk beaded headpiece and birdcage veil from The Wedding Parlour."

"I designed my wedding dress. I chose a funky – almost crochet- lace which had a daisy pattern hemline to tie into the loose 1960s theme for my look.

Last year I photographed lovely Ellie who had her gorgeous dress made by local seamstress, Caroline Parker – so I knew right away who I would ask to make my sketchy drawing come to life."

"My shoes were the craziest ones I could find from my favourite shop, BHLDN."

"My bridesmaids wore River Island dresses - bargain!! I didn’t want a single thing about my day to be formal and as my bridesmaids were so young and gorgeous I knew they’d be able to carry off something fun.

My step-daughter Holly wore Rocket Dog Ox blood wedges and my cousin Fiona wore Ox blood court shoes- both a total bargain from New Look."

"I got the wonderful Alice Gabb, illustrator and print maker to sort out our cute little wedding invites. And the rest of the stationary was made between myself, mum, my illustrator brother Joe and my friend, Melissa Love – designer extraordinaire!" 

"My beautiful, I hope, sister in law to be, Ottalei made my cake and Holly made the toppers. Awesome huh?! It was an ombre cake once cut and was totally scrummy. I assure you it got destroyed later into the evening!"

"Me and my mum made pom poms, hessian and vintage floral fabric table runners, a cool fingerprint guest book of my house designed by my brother Joe, an old typewriter, heart punched confetti made from old Mills & Boon books, jars and old milk bottles filled with straws and flowers and old photo frames with photos of our married guests and us as kids in them."

 

"Our photographer was Anna Hardy - Anna is a real inspiration to me - being a photographer myself, and a total legend! She is as lovely as her work and so laid back to be around which was really important as the rest of the day was so chilled."

Two Love Birds Tie The Knot On A Barge ~ A Sunny Celebration With Hints of 60's Chic

Hey guys and gals, how many of you are looking forward to a lovely long bank holiday weekend? I so so cannot wait to down tools and spend some precious time with my family. Cannot wait!! But before I leave you to go and have fun of your own, I wanted to share a lovely wedding, our final this week, with you all.

Dillon and Rosalyn tied the knot on 19th may 2012 at Cafebarge in Tarbert, chosen for it's beautiful location and because it was also the back-drop of the couple's very first holiday together.

I love the hint of 60s in this wedding, that subtle beehive hairstyle, the empire line dress and pretty bow court shoes, but most of all, I ruddy love that confetti shot below - what a photograph! Joy, celebration sunshine and love all captured in one perfect wedding day image, by Kirsten Struve of Struve Photography.

"We fell in love with the 100 year old barge and had confidence in the owner Michael that it would be a well organised event.  We also hired The Anchor Hotel across the road for our reception.  We both have a soft spot for Scottish fishing villages  - it was the first wedding the barge had had and the sun shone all day! It was a perfect venue and I thought it was a wee bit different!"    

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Struve Photography

 

"I found The Flower Shop one day when I was researching Tarbert and rang Julie.  We were visiting Tarbert and went to meet her,  I showed her colours and styles and gave her lots of pictures – the day before the wedding she showed me the peonies and roses etc that were going in the bouquets and they smelt and looked amazing.

Flossy and Dossy provided me with the lace for the Florist, which was used to tie them.  The button holes were thistles and the grooms had a rose in it too.  Honestly, when the flowers arrived on the wedding morning – I almost cried!  They were perfect and stunning."

"I love quirky things and we just wanted something different for our wedding.  We have been together ten years and we I didn’t see the point in spending tens of thousands of pounds on a wedding – it was about our love for each other – and treating our closest friends and family to a lovely fun day full of colour and happiness."

"I collected hundreds of lights, flower posies; made my own bunting for the ceremony – which was nice – I ran out of time and had to rush the table plan on the wedding morning and the evening guest’s favours – which was a wee bit stressful! but it was nice to do everything and add a personal touch
Our table names were bird names – and we had a lyric from the song with the bird name in it – all the guests were staying close by and lots of the men helped to decorate with instruction from my bridesmaids!"

"I couldn't find bright white shoes anywhere and these were comfy and a bargain - from BHS! I really wanted designer shoes – but I was happy with these! I also had pumps to wear at night time but I never changed."

"My dress was by Flossy and Dossy.  I designed it with Wendy and she just knew exactly what I wanted – it was simple and pretty and I loved the detail at the back and the sash with the bow.  I actually tried on loads of dresses but didn't find one that I really liked, so after looking at loads of designs and styles, the option to design a bespoke dress seemed ideal.  Wendy's designs are fantastic and the quality of her dresses are second to none – she also is an absolute pleasure to deal with and very patient.

My bridesmaids also wore Flossy and Dossy dresses in purple, along with a lace belt and vintage brooch."

"My 'bridesman', Stewart, wore a Topman suit and the he designed the bowtie which was same fabric as dresses and Flossy and Dossy brought it to life!"

"Dillon went to school with my sister – so was a couple of years above me in school.  I met him again ten years ago when he had returned from travelling around Australia and other places.  We had a kiss in a gay club - struck up a friendship which quickly blossomed into love and we bought a house together six years ago.

I never thought he would ask me to marry him, because we never really discussed it! Well maybe a few times after a few shandies! We had been visiting friends in Stornoway which on the isle of Lewis in the outer her brides and I honestly hadn’t noticed that Dillon had been carrying about a backpack the whole weekend – and when we went back to Ullapool for the night before we drove home we went a walk on the beach and he went on one knee and asked me to be his wife.  It was lovely and he had a temporary vintage ring for me and was carrying a bottle of champers and plastic glasses and we sat on a bench.  It was so very romantic!"

"We are a couple who like to have fun – and have lots of lovely friends – we like to travel – go to gigs and socialise – we also like to go out and about on our bikes.  I was surprised at how emotional Dillon was during the ceremony and he was crying – and I was trying not to – and a lot of our guests were bubbling too!  We wrote our own vows – we both read personal statements – we had friends doing readings – one a Bob Dylan song – Wedding song – and one was the poem – the owl and the pussycat.  Our wedding day was really personal to us." 

"Our photographer was Kristin Struve of Struve Photography, who was recommended by Flossy and Dossy. She was the perfect option for us – she is passionate about her work and is a lovely person  - we had our engagement shoot with her in St. Monans – and she made myself and Dillon so comfortable and relaxed – her photography is stunning – we didn’t want anything too cheesy and I love my photos – she captured the fun of the day and the love that Dillon and I have for each other."

A Short Monsoon Wedding Dress, Krispy Kremes and Hints of 60's Style

Good afternoon guys n gals - ladies, is this the first time you have visited Love My Dress today? If so, I think you'll wanting to be bookmarking this page for later (unmissable wedding dresses to kill and die for).

This week's first real wedding took place on Saturday March 9th 2013 at the Quayside Exchange in Sunderland, when Steve and Nicki tied the knot in front of Newcastle based wedding photographer Matt Ethan.  I love the hint of sassy 60's style in this wedding  - the short dress, the beehive - it's something I think bride Nicki pulled off quite unintentionally but it works fabulously.  This is also the kind of wedding I hope inspires all you brides on a budget - it's also proof of the value of spending money on good wedding photography - just in case there are any doubters out there...

"We weren’t too sure that we would even get a photographer at first, as the costs seemed a lot of money for something we didn’t know too much about - and we didn’t want a load of formal group shots. Matt was the first photographer’s website that we looked at and actually liked, so when he was available, we thought it was meant to be!

In the end, we are both so glad we decided to have a professional photographer, Matt understood exactly what we wanted and captured our day perfectly.

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Matt Ethan

"My dress was from Monsoon. I didn’t feel that a big ‘proper’ wedding dress would suit me and had originally wanted a vintage dress, I saw a picture on the Monsoon website, and this was exactly what i had in mind and a lot less hassle than trying to find a similar genuine vintage dress.

I  knew immediately that it was the dress i wanted but dithered over buying it, because I worried about it not being a ‘proper’ wedding dress. So a few weeks later when i went to buy it it was totally sold out. I got upset and stressed, Steve called Monsoon, and they tracked one down in my size."

"When it came to the style of our wedding, I wasn't focussed on anything in particular - I tended to pick things I liked, looked at loads of blogs, and was a little bit Pinterest obsessed.  I just picked things that seemed to work well together, and that looked nice. I didn’t want to feel tied to one particular thing. When it came to colours we tended to stick to grey and purples."

"My shoes were by Viviene Westwood - the amazing Ladydragon design.  They were amazing and they smelt of bubblegum! I actually bought those before we had a venue!"

"I walked down the aisle with my Father to the sound of ingrid Michaelson's version of 'Fools Rush In'." 

"I spent a long time looking at readings because i wanted something that people wouldn’t have heard lots of times before. We went with Love Monkey by Edward Monkton - again it was a little bit different, and it was really nice. I knew it was the one because it made my Mam cry when she first heard it."

"I made all of our wedding stationery myself. A lot of it was hand stamped including the place settings and the table plan. It was a bit of a labour love but something i really enjoyed doing."

"I made fudge which i cut into hearts and put into small cellophane bags. We had goodie bags for the young children." 

"I saw the ‘Mrs such and such and such’ type necklaces on a blog, and knew that I wanted one, it’s such a lovely idea, and it was custom made by Tatty Divine."

"When we were looking at cakes, we just wanted something a bit different, so used our favourite Donuts from Krispy Kreme..." 

"I’m not a ‘girly girl’ and don’t really like being fussed over so I did my own make up.  I knew roughly how I wanted my hair but only really decided on my hair with the hairdresser on the morning of the wedding!"

"We hadn’t planned to have bridesmaids at all, but eventually decided to a few months before the wedding, so got some from ebay.

Our boys were dressed in matching dinosaur shirts and grey trousers from Next with bow ties."

A Most Beautiful Elopement

 

'elope'
verb (used without object), e·loped, e·lop·ing.

'to run off secretly to be married, usually without the consent or knowledge of one's parents.' 

Dictionary.com

 

I absolutely love supporting creative businesses in this industry and one of those groups of creatives I like to support the most, because they are generally totally ace and do everything with such a passion, is the Glasgow Wedding Collective.

The Glasgow Wedding Collective is a group of, well, Glasgow (and surrounding area) based creative (photographers, florists, designers etc - some of the best suppliers you could have working for you on your wedding basically) and recently, a number of their finest members got together to collaborate in a photoshoot with a focus on the concept of a 1960's elopement.

I love this concept. I love the styling that amazing real flower cap (real flowers!), the sensitive way that Caro Weiss has captured this real couple (real couple!) on camera in a posed act of eloping (which looks very convincing to me!) and the generally beautiful colours and tones of these images.

Love My Dress - Film Copyright (c) 2013, Sugar8

That beautiful super8-mm movie was created by the very talented Eileen O'Rourke of Sugar8 - who can create a similar movie in this beautiful and timeless format for your wedding too. 

The brilliant Caro Weiss shares details of how these beautiful Vogue magazine spread worthy images came about... 

"An elopement is a collaborative shoot of some of the Glasgow Wedding Collective finest members.  I came up with the idea for the shoot when I was browsing the Topshop website and saw a beautiful little 60’s inspired dress and instantly thought how lovely this dress would be for an elopement. 

Scotland had just been voted as being one of the world’s top holiday destinations and the rest just seemed to all fall into place."

Love My Dress  - Images Copyright (c) 2013, Caro Weiss

 

"I spoke to my friends Eileen of Sugar8 videos and Di from Roots, Fruits and Flowers, and we started brainstorming and set up a little Pinterest board. Florist extraordinaire Di came up with the idea of the AMAZING flower cap. I nearly wet myself when I saw it in the morning of the shoot!"

"Adam Waite tailoring loaned us an incredible tweed suit (the man’s a legend), and Alison Macleod loaned us the most beautiful jewellery and we were lucky to have the fabulous hair stylist Anne-Marie McElroy and make-up artist Alexis Miller on board."

"I came across Roulotte Retreats, our location for the shoot looking at quirky places to stay in Scotland. I instantly fell in love with the location - such a perfect setting for an elopement. 

I wanted to keep the shoot as authentic as possible by using a real life couple and focusing on telling the story of their day.  My work is very much story telling based and I really like to stick with my approach even when I work on styled shoots. I find that working with a real couple I get to capture real chemistry which I don’t find with models..."