Bridal Inspiration Boards #4 ~ Festival of Love…

I'm so happy this morning to be handing over the blogging reigns to my new friend and acquaintance, Michelle Kelly of the 'Pocketful of Dreams' blog. Michelle is an up and coming wedding and event planner/stylist, whose talent I recognised instantly.  Of course, I had to ask if she could share her expert eye for style with you all… 🙂

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I was so pleased when Annabel contacted me and asked if I would like to guest post on Love My Dress. Well that’s a lie actually, I was more than just pleased, I was ecstatic, so much so that my boyfriend actually thought I had won the lottery with the amount of noise I was making from my little office in the attic.

You see I am relatively new to the wedding world and have not been blogging long. I originally began as a way of documenting my thoughts and creative inspirations as I work towards making event planning and styling my full-time job and not just my hobby. And it has truly been an amazing experience so far, allowing me to meet and connect with so many lovely, wonderful people and now this amazing opportunity too.

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Image {top, below} copyright (c) 2011, Jenny Packham

My goal is to bring a new perspective to wedding planning and styling.  I want to show brides (and grooms) that you really can create a totally unique wedding, one that reflects your own personality and style right through the very core, from the fashion to the décor and all those little details that give your day it’s heart and soul.  So, on with the show as they say 🙂

The first style-guide I am covering is called ‘Festival of Love’ for which a certain Kate Moss has been my muse. It has been reported that she will be having a Glastonbury-style wedding in July this year, which in my view is the perfect choice for this rock-chic rebel, she was always bound to do things a little differently. Given Moss's fashion credentials as well, this wedding is sure to be decadent, hedonistic, fashion-forward and one achingly cool party.

Now I don’t know about you but festivals, with their mud and wellies and camping, have never really appealed to me very much, so I was a little more than pleased when the concept of glamping first hit our shores. And so, it is with this more glam aspect of festival-style in mind (think Coachella in Palm Springs) that I have created the ‘Festival of Love’ style guide.

The ‘Look-Book’ gives you a few ideas on how to co-ordinate the bridal look with the maids and I’ve even managed to squeeze in a little something for the men too.

For the bridal look I have chosen a most gorgeous, full-length, crocheted lace design from the BHLDN collection, with matching fringed shoes and mystic vine hairpin ~ (I want this hairpin just for it’s name!).

Look-Book L-R: 1. BHLDN Greenbow Lace Gown 2. BHLDN Firework Fringe Sandals 3. BHLDN Mystic Vine Hairpin 4. Elle and Cee Morocco Maxi Dress 5. Feather buttonholes 6. Orelia Feather Alice band 7.  Roberto Cavalli Sandals

For the maids -  my favourite dress in whole wide world, the Elle and Cee Morocco Maxi Dress, which I’m seeing with this oh-so-pretty and perfectly co-ordinating Oriela feather alice band in a dusky pink, and these to-die-for Roberto Cavalli crocodile sandals. I know these sandals are a little self-indulgent, but they are just so gorgeous that I couldn’t bring myself to leave them off. There are much cheaper versions around that look just as fab, like these ones here from ASOS.

And for the groomsmen, I’m thinking nothing too overly formal or stuffy ~ maybe even jeans and a gorgeously tailored shirt and jacket, I love a man in jeans. If however you can’t bring yourself to let your man get married in jeans then a loosely tailored, lightweight suit should do the trick. But definitely have him wear one of these stunning feather buttonholes, (or boutonnieres as our US friends call them), these ones were actually captured from a styled wedding shoot in the USA, however you can pick them up in the UK as well. The best ones I have seen are by Atelier Rousseau in Kent and are available on Etsy.

First of all the ‘Style Vibe’ provides a visual-sense and feel of what festival style personifies. To me festivals are about lazy summer days, rocking out to great music, relaxing with friends and meeting other like-minded free-spirits…

Style Vibe L-R ~ 1. Modern Boho 2. Dreamcatcher by Hannah Lemholt Photography 3. Dreamy boho 4. Crochet tent 5. Free-Spirited by Deb Schwedhelm Photography via Boho Girl  6. Bohemian braids 7. Wedding tipis - Mark Carey Photography

The overall look I have taken from the ‘Style Vibe’ includes lots of fringing, crochet, rustic materials, long floaty fabrics, braided hair, feathers….and plenty of just-rolled-out-of-bed-and-didn't-try-too-hard-glamour!

The 'Decor and Details' is my favourite part and where my creative juices really go into overdrive as it’s décor that I love to style more than anything. As I said earlier a festival is all about the music and good times, you want this to be the focus of the day and you want your guests to really get into the laid-back vibe with you. So why not treat them to a glamping experience with bell tents, luxury toilets, showers and lighting – that beats the old zip-up tent any day.

Of course no festival wedding would be complete without teepee-style tents for your entire reception from wedding breakfast through to the evenings partying, like these ones from Papakata. They blend well into any landscape and let you party indoors and out by joining several tents together and can even have a dedicated chill-out area with low-level seating and a fire to keep your guests warm into the night.

I love the idea of the décor and details reflecting the surroundings so bring the outdoors in and keep everything rustic, from the huge trees inside the tents (think I’ve seen these somewhere alse recently) to wooden place settings and rustic, wild flowers with indian-style feathers mixed in. The feather theme can carry through from your invitations (like those pictured) to the décor and your own accessories. I also had a DIY tutorial on my blog this week for rustic table numbers that would work perfectly in this setting.

Décor & Details L-R: 1. Tipi Tents 2. Wedding signs 3. Rustic decor 4. Wedding cake with feathers 5. Flower centrepieces 6. Rustic table setting 7. Feather and wood invite 8. Crochet style decor 9. Rustic ceremony arch

Now I am a big fan of hanging décor, it just looks super-effective if it is done on a large enough scale – remember the rules: more is definitely good where décor is concerned so concentrate on one or two key looks and do them to the extreme to really make an impact. Like the crochet-style garlands hanging from the ceiling, which co-ordinate with the crochet tablecloths and napkins or an abundance of ornate frames and lighting hanging from the trees outside.

I’ve seen these somewhere else recently) to wooden place settings and rustic, wild flowers with indian-style feathers mixed in. The feather theme can carry through from your invitations (like those pictured) to the décor and your own accessories. I also had a DIY tutorial on my blog this week for rustic table numbers that would work perfectly in this setting.

And don’t forget the signage and outdoor lighting, if you are going for true festival-style then you’ll be partying well into the night (in a remote field where noise isn’t an issue hopefully!) so make sure your guests know where everything is and can see where they’re going. Candles in hurricane lamps look amazingly effective at night and can light up pathways really well.

I really hope you have enjoyed reading my festival-style wedding inspiration. I will be back very soon with more style guides and would like to offer all you lovely Love My Dress readers the chance to have your one created just for you. Just visit my site and let me know in the comments section what style you would like to see created and I’ll sprinkle a little of my Pocketful of Dreams magic over it to create your own unique style guide.

Michelle x

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Is that not enough to make you want to rub to sticks together and create a romantic tent-side fire to toast your matrimonial masrshmallows on, I don't know what is!

Thanks so much to Michelle!

Feedback? We'd love your thoughts? Also leave a note below or drop me an email to let me know what type of bridal inspiration bosards we can be working on to share with readers?

You can also view more Bridal Inspiration Boards on Love My Dress here.

Much 'it's almost the weekend!' love 🙂

Annabel xXx

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