Hi everyone 🙂 Hoping this Monday afternoon wedding blog post finds you well 🙂 Have you popped by this morning's post? If not, you might well want to, because there is a beautiful bridal headpiece giveaway for readers from the lovely Rosie Willett (one of whose designs is gracing the front cover of Brides Magazine this month!}.
Regulars of Love My Dress will know I'm a huge fan of London and destination Wedding Photographer Polly Alexandre. Polly shoots predominantly using film, which means she is able to capture imagery using softest of tones, and create black and white images reminiscent of classic films. Polly's photography has a hallmark style all of it's own, and I truly mean it when I say that when I view a new set of images from Polly, I feel my breath is taken away a little bit each time.
Today's real wedding is that of Yiljan and Jonathan, who tied the knot on 26 November 2010 at Eltham Palace in London. There is just something about this wedding; Turkish Bride Yiljan looks so utterly glamorous in her Caroline Castigliano gown, aptly named 'Beauty'….
"We wanted simple and glam, and loved the black and white theme, and except for the flowers, which included violet and purple shades, that was very much our theme.
I loved the design of my Caroline Castigliano wedding dress – it was simple but elegant, and also had the fairytale touch without being tacky. The black sash added an extra element of glamour and I feel it fitted me just right…."
Love my Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Polly Alexandre
Yiljan's Bridesmaids wore dresses by Coast…
The couple chose the stunning 1930s art-deco Eltham Palace in London as their wedding venue…
"We loved the venue as soon as we saw it. We wanted to get married in London because we're both Londoners (born and bred). It was so grand and beautiful and we loved the fusion of the art deco entrance, and medieval great hall!"
I love this next series of photographs taken during Yiljan and Jonathan's wedding ceremony. Photographer Polly Alexandre captures the mood perfectly…
"We met when we were both working at the Disney Store when we were 16 and 17 – and started going out when we were 19. We've together ever since.
During the first part of our relationship we spent a lot of time by the Thames going on long walks, and spent millennium new year there too – Jon proposed to me on the millennium bridge during a busy Sunday and even got down on one knee – it was very sweet and generated a little crowd of italian students pointing and smiling.
I think he was very embarrassed, but didn't show it – it was very cute…"
Central London Bakers Konditor and Cook created the wedding cake…
"I have been a fan of the bakery's Curly Whirly cake for years (chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting – yum!) When I started planning my wedding, I knew this was the cake I wanted and I spoke to them about creating the cake as a wedding cake. Our guest loved it!"
Yiljan chose Florists Lavender Green to create her bridal bouquet…
"I loved Sue's designs, simple, elegant and classy – the theme of the wedding. I especially loved my bouquet, which includes some of my favourite flowers, and I loved the colours…"
Yiljan and Jonathan danced to Louis Armstrong's 'We Have All the Time in the World' for their first dance…
"We chose this song because we felt it summarised our love and relationship, we've been together for 11 years (teen sweethearts), and we have never felt like we have enough time, and always enjoy spending time together…"
"I'm Turkish, so it was important to incorporate my culture into the wedding. Therefore, we hired a Turkish band Sonmez. Our guest loved this element, and especially loved the 'testi dance' where close family/friends of the bride (all girls) dance a jug full of money and sweets before it is smashed. The smashing symbolises happiness and prosperity for the bride and groom, therefore the more smashed pieces, the better. During the dance, money is thrown on the girls. (the money is American $1 bills)…"
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
"I think the most important thing is to enjoy it – all the hard work, the stress and chaos is all worth it in the end, so you must enjoy your day as much as you can. I loved dancing the night away and seeing all my loved ones enjoying our day."
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Brides dress – Beauty, by Caroline Castigliano
Brides shoes – Benjamin Adams
Brides veil – EBay bargain find
Hair & Makeup – Tezcan Nidai, Fresh Salon, South Kensington {Hair} + Yannick Zurcher {Makeup}
Grooms Suit – Armani + shoes by Russell and Bromley
Photographer – Polly Alexandre
Venue – Eltham Palace, London
Transport – Rolls Royce Phantom (Bride) + Porsche (Groom)
Florist – Lavender Green
Bridesmaids Dresses – Coast
Cake – Konditor and Cook
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What more can I say about this wedding, other than that it is glamorous, charming, elegant and chic all rolled into one big beautiful day. A perfect Love My Dress wedding :)
Thank you so much Yiljan for taking the time to supply the information above – huge congratulations to you and Jonathan, if I may say, you two make the most ridiculously good-looking Bride and Groom and your wedding day photographs truly are beyond beautiful and make me smile so much 🙂
Is anyone planning a November wedding of their own? What about your dress, are any of you due to be Caroline Castigliano brides? I'd love to hear from you 🙂
You can see more wedding photography by Polly Alexandre on the Love My Dress wedding blog here – and more from Caroline Castigliano here.
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.
