A ‘Vintage Look’ Elie Saab Wedding Dress for a Channel Islands Bride…

Hi everyone 🙂 Hoping this Wednesday morning post finds you well and feeling good.  This wedding that I'm about to share with you was sent over to me by the lovely Jemma Watts of London based Wedding Photographers, Pearl Pictures {thank you Jemma!} and captures the wedding day celebrations of Nick and Gemma, who tied the knot on 5 June last year at Longueville Manor in Jersey, the Channel Islands. 

Apart from the delightful reception decor, one of the reasons I adore this wedding is, of course, Gemma's simply beautiful lace dress – an Elie Saab wedding dress design called 'Erato'

"I had a very specific idea of the look I wanted to go for as having worked in a Bridal wear store previously {and yes I can confess to trying dresses on at the time!} I knew the styles that would suit me.

I am a big fan of vintage clothes and so the vintage look and feel to the dress is exactly what I envisaged.  The day after I got engaged, a colleague at work had left a bridal magazine on my desk and the first page I opened, I saw this dress.  It was precisely what I had in mind, even down to the cape style sleeves.  I kept an open mind, as I used to tell all my bridal customers, but I purposely left trying this one until last, as I always knew deep down it would be the one!  The lace is exclusively designed by Elie Saab himself and is handmade.

My veil was also by Elie Saab, trimmed in the same handmade lace as the dress.  I had the veil altered by Rachel at Heirloom Couture in west london, as I really wanted to achieve the look of the 1920s style veils which often were on a headband…"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Pearl Pictures

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Erato, by Ellie Saab, hanging in all her glory… 

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"My hair was styled by Jerome at Hair and Jerome.  I had two different styles throughout the day, hair down for the ceremony and then once I removed the veil, Jerome whisked my hair up into an amazing vintage style chignon.  He is a master of this art and managed this in just 15 mins to minimise the time I spent away from my new Husband and Guests!"

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"I wanted the shoes to be a key feature of the look for the girls.  I actually had decided this part before I even decided on their dresses!  I had a strong image in my mind that they would all wear quite different and distinctive shoes in pastel shades.  Three of the 4 pairs were from Kurt Geiger, and my sister had the special treat of a pair of Chanel platforms…"

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"My shoes were  by Jimmy Choo, and not only were they fabulously sparkly but they were made for dancing too – which was an important requirement!"

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"We used the in house florist at Longueville Manor for our Florist, as she knew the venue better than anyone external would have.  She straight away our vision of a relaxed coutnry style.  The brief was for the flowers to look as if they were freshly picked from the garden and only in shades of white – my favourite colour is white, so I was keen to introduce different shades of white an ivory to keep it warm looking…"

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"My bracelet and earrings were a very lucky vintage find at portabello market."

"The Bridesmaids dresses were designed by Suzannah.  She is a fantastic designer based in Madia Vale.  I was keen that they were all dressed in different styles to suit their personalities and Suzannah achieved this perfectly.  All the Bridesmaids wore hair accessories from Spitalfields Market or Beyond Retro and as a gift to the girls, I wanted to buy them something locally sourced in jersey, so what better than Jersey Pearl bracelets!  Each had a slightly differernt shade of pearl…"

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Groom Nick wore a Marc Wallace suit, with lining to match his floral shirt…

"We agreed from the start that the wedding would be informal so Nick and groomsmen wore no ties.  Shoes were also from Marc Wallace…"

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"On the morning of the wedding, I realised I had forgotten to find something borrowed, so in a moment of genius, my Dad said ' here, borrow this!' and handed me a ten pound note.   So I rolled it up and pinned it inside my dress, making sure I returned it the following day at breakfast!"

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"We had initially planned to get married in the UK, but after many unsuccessful viewings in the UK, and as I was born and raised in Jersey, my parents suggested we visit Longueville Manor.  As soon as we met Pedro, the hotel manager, we instantly knew it was the place we would be married.  His charm was so unique and we had finally found somewhere that would be as flexible as we had dreamed for in what was to be a family party to remember.  Both the ceremony and reception were held at the hotel.

I walked down the aisle to a string version of 'You've got the love' by Candi Statton.  This has always been a huge favourite of mine and my girl friends…"

Ahhh, Jemma – one of my all time FAVOURITE songs in the whole wide world 🙂

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"We worked with stylists from a company called Grace and Tailor.   They helped us source some beautiful mis-matching vases for the tables, plus glass cloches for the centerpieces.  We were keen to keep centrepieces low to ensure people could talk easily across the tables.  The also sourced us the floral fabric from Laura Ashley to pride a floral 'reveal' fabric wall to break up the marquee, which was later dropped for the evening to reveal the dancefloor area.  They also provided a vintage bicycle with a basket which we dressed with flowers.  And a vintage typewriter.

We had an upturned vinatge suitcsae as our tale plan, with table names on one side, and pegs holding polaroids of the hen and stag parties on the other side."

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"We had a planter crate personalised with our surname and wedding date from 'Not on the High Street', which we filled with daisy plants and provided a centrepiece for the stage and dance-floor.  We used the same supplier who provided our invitations for the table name cards and table plan to have continuity throughout…"

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"We are big lovers of cheese so we opted for a cake made of barrels of different cheeses.  This was supplied by Longueville Manor, and went from a large vintage cheddar all the way up a small goats cheese on top.  The old, vintage look of the rind of each cheese fitted really well with the look and feel we were trying to achieve."

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The Classic Beatles Tribute Band entertained guests in the evening…

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Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Savour and enjoy the planning part of the process as much as you can.  The day goes so quickly so the more you can enjoy the planning together, the longer lasting the memories will be.

Keep a look-book of ideas as you plan your big day.  Try to include not only magazine cuttings but fabrics, sketches, beads, feathers, whatever inspires you.  this will help build a more textured image of your prefect day to share with suppliers to help bring the vision to life.  One of my bridesmaids started a look-book off for me as a gift and we have now pasted in images of the real day to show the full journey from planning to reality.  It makes a great keep-sake.
 

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Brides Dress – Erato' by Elie Saab
Brides Shoes – Jimmy Choo
Brides Veil – Elie Saab
Brides Veil Adjustments & Bespoke Headband –  Heirloom Couture 
Grooms Suit – Marc Wallace
Hair Stylist – Jerome at Hair and Jerome
Bridesmaids Dresses – Suzannah

Bridesmaids Shoes – Kurt Geiger + Chanel
Venue – Longueville Manor in Jersey
Photographer – Pearl Pictures.
Cake –  Longueville Manor
Flowers –  Longueville Manor
Reception Styling –  Grace and Tailor
Decor – Not on the High Street
Entertainment – The Classic Beatles Tribute Band

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Wow.  Just so, so absolutely beautiful.

Thank you so much Gemma – you looked frankly completely gorgeous on your wedding day and I feel so lucky to have been able to share these beautiful photographs with my readers. Huge congratulations to you and Nick 🙂

Thanks so much too to Jemma Watts of London Wedding Photographers, Pearl Pictures.  Bride Gemma told me "Jemma at Pearl Pictures blended in perfectly just like another guest, which is precisely the discrete approach we were looking for…".

I hope you enjoyed looking through this beautiful wedding – do leave a comment below and share your thoughts 🙂

Much love,

Annabel xXx

Annabel

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.

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