Good morning 🙂 And how are you today? Given it's Tuesday, and I'm feeling generous, I'm going to blog TWO weddings for you today – both of them beautiful but both of them very different :)
You could say that this first wedding I'm going to share with you is rather 'fit for a Queen' :) Bride Kate was so inspired by the experience of planning her wedding, that she went on to establish a fabulous online wedding boutique, 'Queens and Bowl' – specialists in vintage style jewellery, shoes and accessories, that represent the timeless elegance of the 1920's through to the 1950's. Throughout this feature, Kate talks about the different styles she went for on her wedding day, and what other styles she might have opted for from the fabulous selection now available over at Queens and Bowl.
Kate married her beau Jonathan on 17 January 2009 and the couple's stylish Winter wedding took place at the majestic Manchester Town Hall. Kate opted for a Pronovias wedding gown…
I saw the dress in a mag – it was the 3rd dress I tried on and stopped looking after that. I loved the simplicity of it and didn't want lots of fuss or sparkles, and the cut was really flattering for my figure. I bought the lace shrug (which was also Pronovias) separately on eBay. I would have LOVED this Paris shrug by Sasso though. I love the one-shoulder look at the moment and I'm quite in love with this dress and hair corsage…"
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, imag1ne
"My shoes were from Dune. I wanted something really feminine with a killer heel and sparkly – the opposite of the dress! My husband is 6'6" so I could take advantage! These Tess heels by Filippa Scott would also have been great – they have extra plush padding for all night dancing too."
English Rose…
"We hired Floribunda in Urmston to supply the flowers. I started off wanting Amarylis, then hyacinths, but once we had chosen the morning suits, roses seemed the natural option. We opted for differing shades and mixed in ranunculus and hydrangeas to stop it feeling too stuffy and traditional…"
"I searched high and low for some glamorous, vintage-style drop earrings in the style of Harry Winston. Again, I found what I was looking for on a US site – a very spangly pair of diamante peardrops. Not surprisingly, I have stocked up on sparkly numbers at Queens & Bowl, so no bride goes without some bling! These pave-style drops by Filippa Scott would have been great.
I didn't plan on wearing a necklace, but unknown to me, one of my bridesmaids had tipped off Jonathan about a gorgeous concentric circle diamond necklace I'd seen in a jeweller's window about six moths previously, so I was very luck to recieve that on the morning of the wedding…"
"My clutch-bag carried on the vintage theme – a heavily beaded silver style with scalloped edges from Oasis."
Groomed to Perfection…
"I wanted traditional ties to go with the traditional morning suits. The best man and MC had a matching pair, as did the ushers, and the dads also had matching ones. Jonathan had a different one again. Jonathan also wore a very nice IWC watch – a wedding present from me…"
Vintage Va-Va-Voom…
"Our ceremony and reception were in the same venue, so we only needed transport once; Jonathan travelled in a friend's original Bentley Blower and I had a silver Hackney cab…"
Manchester Town Hall…
I have to say, I'm pretty in love with these fabulous photographs of Manchester Town Hall. What a stunning venue for a city wedding…
"We wanted something a bit different – lots of friends had got married in summer time in the country, so we went for winter in the city. The building is stunning both inside and out and feels like a catherdral. I love the fact we can pop in any time or just walk past and re-live the memories.
I Just a love of all things elegant, glamorous and timeless. There was never a vintage 'theme' but it all seemed to just come together with that sort of feel – the gothic architecture of the Town Hall definitely had a big influence…"
Pretty Bird Cage Veil…
"I searched high and low for a birdcage veil but in 2008 they weren't half as popular as they are now so ended up getting it from a US site for about $30. I've got lots of birdcage veils coming in for Autumn on Queens & Bowl, which I'm really excited about. If I could choose, I'd definitely stick with the birdcage veil, but would swap it for something more glitzy in the evening – I love this headpiece by Halo & Co, and this little number by Ivory & Co…"
I just LOVE the plum colour Bridesmaids dresses from Coast below too, what a beautiful colour, fit for a Winter wedding; "We've got some great little head-bands in stock at Queens and Bowl the moment that would have been ideal for the Bridesmaids, with a little side detail…
"We had a string quartet for the ceremony and reception drinks. I walked down the aisle to 'You raise me up' by Josh Groban and we walked out to 'Nobody does it better' by Carly Simon…"
"Our reception tables had raspberry glass hurricane lamps and tealights and a large hydrangea head in matching glass vase. The top table had a large candelabra (from our house), decorated with hydrangeas…"
Oooh! I love these heart shaped chalk boards which makeup a table plan…
"We hired a swing band called Schwing – they regularly play the Pigalle club in London and got everyone on their feet. We also hired a DJ for afterwards…"
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
"Decide on your priorities at the offset and focus your time and budget on those things, everything else will fall into place. I focused on the 3 main things that always ensure guests have a good time (good food, a great band and plenty of booze) and the photography.
Luckily the cost of my dress was very reasonable, so I'm not sure what I would have done had it taken more of the budget!"
Thank you Kate for sharing your wedding day memories with Love My Dress and for all your helpful style tips 🙂
You really must visit the Queens and Bowl website for a wonderful selection of beautiful, vintage inspired wedding day jewellery, shoes and accessories – the website has been extremely well designed and makes for easy and pleasurable viewing and the boutique stocks some of the most beautiful, sparkly wedding day necessities on the market today!
Check back this afternoon around 2pm for our second real wedding of the day – a fabulous vintage style wedding dress and some killer heels! 🙂
Much love,
Annabel xXx 🙂
♥
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
