A Peppermint and Polka Dot Perfect Day…

Hi Everyone! 🙂 How are you on this fine Thursday afternoon – soon-to-be Bank Holiday Weekend? YAY! 🙂

I've been really excited about this latest real wedding feature, because it means a little more than most (for reasons explained in a moment).  This is the wedding of Helen and Nigel, who celebrated their love for one another on 27 July this year, at All
Saints Church in Sandon, Staffordshire, followed by a reception at
Sandon Hall.  Both Nigel and Helen attend the Church in the grounds of
Sandon Hall, so it seemed the perfect choice of wedding venue for their
big day 🙂

Inspired by the 1950's, Helen's fabulous polka dot style dress was custom-designed by Candy Anthony in London; "I fell in love with the fifties style and after Googling these type of dresses realised that Candy Anthony was
simply the best!  Nigel, who knew the style I was looking for, insisted
that if that was the kind of dress I wanted them I must make that trip –
so I did.  From the moment I walked into Candy Anthony
I knew it was the right decision.  Hazel and Judith were fantastic and
made me feel so beautiful.  They listened to exactly what I wanted and
when I was a little unsure they advised perfectly.  I eventually plumped
for a Peppermint dress with a white polka tulle and a white satin
sash…"

I absolutely love this set of wedding photographs, not only because they were captured by the extremely talented Gill Taylor, but because I know this particular couple have managed to find happiness in their lives again through one another, having both previously been widowed…

"We both feel very lucky to have found
each other, (we both had previous happy marriages and were both
widowed), and to have a second chance at happiness together as a couple
is wonderful..."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Gill Taylor

English Country Garden…

The pretty bouquet above was provided by The Flower Barn at Milford, Stafford…

"Amanda was great and we felt confident from the first moment we met
her.  We said we were looking for the English Country Garden look and
she pulled it off a treat." 

I bet the Jo Malone French Lime Blossom scent below smelt divine…

"It took me quite a while to find exactly what I was looking for –
something simple but elegant.  I finally found them in a little shop in
London called Ivory in New Bond Street…"

"My daughter, who was the only bridesmaid, had a dress also made by
Candy Anthony also.  It was in the same 50's style and in the same
peppermint colour as my own, but not covered by the polka tulle and it
looked very different but matched perfectly, if you know what I mean.

Lydia and I had our hair done by Francesco
Hairdressers, Bridle Road, Stafford by Hannah.  I had had a couple of
trials and felt confident that Hannah knew the look I wanted.  Lydia's
hair mirrored my own.  We were not disappointed and we were treated to a
croissant breakfast when we arrived at 8am by Hannah and Dannielle (who
highlights my hair).

My
makeup was by The Beauty Room in Stafford.  I have been going there for
years for the usual beauty treatments – legs waxed etc and Emma has
become a lovely friend.  The night before the wedding she waxed, plucked
me within an inch of my life and finally put the finishing touches on,
ie, nails painted etc.  On the day of the wedding Elaine, from the same
salon, did my make up and did a fantastic job.  Without these two ladies
I wouldn't have felt so pretty on the day."

"Nigel searched for a 4-button black 3-piece suit and after
looking in all the usual places finally found what he wanted at Next –
which was also great value; with matching side-laced black shoes. Nigel also wore a pair of 18carat gold cufflinks that
had been his dad's and a stripey black and white knitted silk tie by
Boden."

"I walked down the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon in D as it always brings tears to my eyes…"

 

With this Ring…

"Our rings were custom-made by Crest Jewellery from the Jewellery
Quarter in Birmingham.  We visited Robin and his wife over a year before
the wedding and described to them both the type of ring we were looking
for.  Robin handmade each wedding ring and my engagement ring exactly
as we wished for and we were delighted with his work." 

I just adore this shot below…

Morgan Magic…

"The car was hired from the Morgan Factory in
Malvern and it was well worth it.  My father "courted" my mother in a
Morgan in the 50's and so we thought it would be special to them both –
and it was…"

Dougal Cake? Yum!!

"Petals and Cakes'
from Stone, baked the cake, where Nicola is a genius in baking and
decoration!  We decided to go for something different and plumped for a
Dougal Cake, as my mother has made me a Dougal Cake (from the Magic
Roundabout) for my birthday, for many, many years (in fact as far back
as I can remember). I must say, Dougal was a star.  We asked for a
chocolate cake with "lashings" of butter cream and boy did we get it. 
We did in fact take some of Dougal with us on our honeymoon to Paris and
each night had a slice – what more could you want staring at the Eiffel
Tower."

 

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Have the wedding they want, spend the money on the important things, don't waste it on frippery and enjoy every moment.  We preferred to have an intimate family and close friends wedding
rather than an evening "do".  The Church service was at 1pm followed by
the reception until 7 pm.  It was a dream of mine to drive off in the
Morgan, complete with tin cans, waving to our guests.

One thing I will always remember from our wedding is how happy I
felt (and I think I can safely say the same about Nigel).  We enjoyed
every single moment of the day and our guests all say it was such a
"happy" day.  We remember people saying that the day goes extremely
quickly and so we both made ourselves stop every so often and think
"remember how we feel now" and  we are so pleased that we did this.  It
was perfect in every way and we wouldn't change in thing.  To feel that
way is so important."

Thank you so much Helen – it is such a pleasure and an honour to feature your wedding on Love My Dress – I sincerely wish both you and Nigel the very best and happiest of years ahead – huge congratulations to you both 🙂

Thank you to to the wonder that is Photographer, Gill Taylor – Gill, you have done such a superb job capturing all the precious moments on camera!  Watch out for more of Gill's work coming up on the Love My Dress Wedding Blog very soon 🙂

And on that lovely happy positive note, I shall wish you all a lovely Thursday afternoon 🙂 Check back in tomorrow morning for more wedding wonderfulness 🙂

With much love,

Annabel xXx

♥