A Contemporary Art Gallery Setting for a Vintage Inspired Bride…

It's Thursday afternoon! How did that happen? This week has gone way too quickly, and without any doubt, it's time for another real wedding to share with you all.  This wedding is from the lovely Newcastle Upon Tyne Wedding Photographer, Karen McGowran. Karen captured these lovely images of Edward and Alexandra's wedding on 11 December 2010 that took place in the heart of Newcastle…

"I found Karen through Love My Dress and she was perfect.  She has a real eye for a good shot and is also truly interested in the people, the relationships, the dresses etc, so can capture every aspect of the day – and she is lovely to have around too!

I'm from Newcastle and although Ed and I now live in London, I wanted to go back home to get married.  The wedding ceremony was in Sacred Heart RC Church, North Gosforth and our wedding reception was at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art on the banks of the Tyne.  Many of our guests had never been to Newcastle before so it was a great place to introduce them to the city from. 

The location is really spectacular, especially at night when the Millennium and Tyne bridges are lit up.  We had the wedding breakfast and the dancing in a room in which two sides are entirely glass – the lights of the Quayside made it all feel especially festive."

Now it's not often that I'll feature the same wedding dress in such a short space of time, but this gorgeous dress 'Carmen' by Jenny Packham, in oyster – also made an appearance on Love My Dress last Saturday. It is such a dramatically beautiful dress, so evocative of the gorgeous bias cut dresses of the 1930's…

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Karen McGowran

Alex and Ed (181 of 859)

Alex and Ed (335 of 859)

Alex and Ed (441 of 821)


"I was looking for an old-fashioned Hollywood-style dress, which was dramatic and glamorous, and when I tried
Jenny Packham's Carmen I loved it.  I did have a wobble when it was being made and I hadn't seen it for a few weeks: I became convinced it made me look horrible, and in my agitation googled 'I hate my wedding dress' which opened a whole new world of forums full of panicking brides!  But when I tried it on again I still loved it after all – and I loved wearing it on the wedding day."

Those flowers are so bright and lovely aren't they? Alex and Ed chose 'The Secret Garden' in Jesmond, Newcsatle as their Wedding Day Florists.

"We only ordered the flowers about three weeks before the wedding as we were quite relaxed about it.  We modelled my bouquet on the one my grandma had when she got married…."

Alex and Ed (13 of 821) Alex and Ed (17 of 821)

Coincidentally, Alex's wedding shoes were also called 'Carmen', by Rachel Simpson

Alex and Ed (11 of 821)

Alex and Ed (155 of 821)

Alex and Ed (125 of 821) Alex and Ed (129 of 821)

Alex's Bridesmaids wore dresses (and their shrugs) fromJohn Lewis and Marks & Spencer and their pretty sequined leaf hair accessories were from H&M

Alex and Ed (153 of 821)

"I proposed to Ed rather than the other way round and I gave him engraved cufflinks instead of a ring.  He's kept them locked up in a safe ever since as he was afraid of losing them so the wedding day was the first time he wore them for real…"

Alex and Ed (69 of 821)

Alex wore a beautiful 'Vintage Leaves Large Hair Comb' from Glitzy Secrets, along with an original vintage marabou shrug…

"I bought the shrug from a friend who has just set up a vintage clothing business called Tortoise Shell Vintage (website going live next month!).  I also wore a vintage marcasite bracelet that I found in Ed's Grandma's jewellery box…"

Alex and Ed (167 of 821)

"I walked down the aisle to a beautiful recording of the bridal chorus from Lohengrin – a traditional choice for an untraditional reason: I proposed to Ed when we were at the Royal Opera House watching this opera, just before this piece of music.  I prefer to call it 'Here comes the groom'…"

Alex and Ed (200 of 859)

Alex and Ed (227 of 859)

Alex and Ed (215 of 859)

Alex and Ed (226 of 859)

Alex and Ed (239 of 859)

Alex and Ed (262 of 859)

Alex and Ed (323 of 859)

Alex and Ed (343 of 821)

Alex and Ed (354 of 821)

"Peter Gilligan, a Newcastle-based jazz pianist, played during the initial drinks and then accompanied the old-fashioned Christmas singsong later in the evening…"

Alex and Ed (385 of 821)

Alex and Ed (396 of 821)

Alex and Ed (403 of 821)

Alex and Ed (411 of 821)

Alex and Ed (447 of 821)

Alex and Ed (455 of 821)

Alex and Ed (433 of 821)

Alex and Ed (475 of 821)

"We went for old-fashioned glamour combined with Christmas and they seemed to blend surprisingly well.

We wanted our cake to be delicious, Christmassy and fun so we had a Christmas pudding-shaped chocolate cake.  It was made by a very talented work colleague of my sister's, called Krystina, who pulled out all the stops and made exactly the cake I'd imagined…"

Alex and Ed (532 of 821)

Alex and Ed (555 of 821)

Alex and Ed (634 of 821)

Alex and Ed (733 of 821)

Alex and Ed (723 of 821)

Alex and Ed (792 of 821)

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Try to forget about all the insignificant details and ridiculous extras that get hung on weddings and just enjoy having all the people you love together at once for a celebration.  

I felt sick at first about all the money we were spending and how frivolous it all seemed, but in the end I was overwhelmed by the solemnity and joyfulness of actually getting married, and by the fun and happiness involved in having all of our friends and family there with us."

Alex and Ed (464 of 821)

♥    ♥    ♥

Brides Dress – Carmen, by enny Packham
Brides Shoes – Carmen (yes again!), by Rachel Simpson
Brides Shrug –  Tortoise Shell Vintage
Brides Accessories – Vintage Leaves Large Hair Comb from Glitzy Secrets
Bridesmaids Dresses – John Lewis + Marks & Spencer
Bridesmaids Hair Accessories – H&M
Hair & Makeup – Makeup Brides own, Hair by Ravens in Heaton, Newcastle
Photographer – Karen McGowran
Venue – The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts
Flowers – The Secret Garden'
Cake – Family friend
Catering – Fresh Element (The Baltic Catering Company)

♥    ♥    ♥

What a delightful wedding! Love seeing a fellow North East Bride looking so fabulous too 🙂

For further details on Newcastle Upon Tyne and North East UK Wedding Photographer Karen McGowran, please visit the Karen McGowran website.  You can also view more work from Karen McGowran on the Love My Dress Wedding Blog here – including my very own wedding photographs 🙂

Have a super lovely Thursday afternoon folks – the weekend is almost here 🙂

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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