There are some wedding submissions I receive that really do touch my heart. This is most certainly one of them. These images were sent in by Bride Tracy, who married her childhood sweetheart Ben on Friday 1st July at the Church at Merthyr Mawr in Wales, where the Brides parents were also married, followed by a reception at The Barn at West Farm in Southerdown. The whole day was planned in just 5 months on a budget.
As a regular reader of Love My Dress prior to her wedding, Tracy gleaned much inspiration from these pages, and it's clear to see, with her pretty era inspired day, which was full of bargains and DIY touches. I also love the 'family affair' style of this wedding, with close relatives and friends mucking in to help ensure Tracey and Ben had a beautiful day.
Tracy landed lucky with a lovely wedding dress find on EBay…
"My wedding dress was from EBay and it was love at first sight - a tea length dress coupled with beautiful Broderie Anglaise. Best of all, a dress with history!
I knew my dress had to be vintage. I have always loved finding things with a story, imagining their past and adding to their history. I quickly fell in love with a late 40's/early 50's tea dress on ebay in America, and was the only bidder. After an anxious wait for the auction to end and the shipping process to progress, my bargain dress arrived. Against all the rules, Ben and I opened the box with Ben, we pulled out the gown and he did up the zip for me as I tried it on…."
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Christian Michael Photography
"It was the first wedding dress I ever tried on, but It fitted perfectly and together we agreed that it was the right choice… a special moment – I am glad that I shared it with my groom. Inside the dress there was a tag which read "Helen of Memphis". Keen to trace the history, I found out that this was a high-end ladies' fashion store in Memphis from 1941-1988.
The store provided dresses for governors' wives and similar clientele. I also I came across this story (see the post "my destiny")…"
"I began to email the latest incarnation of Helen of Memphis (an artist) and we instantly hit it off. Enthralled with her work, Ben and I commissioned Helen to make us a a series of four collage canvases in celebration of our marriage. By another happy coincidence, my work took my to New York (my first visit) in the month before our wedding so that I was able to meet up with Helen and collect the canvases in person. We had tea in "Alice's cafe", which was suitably surreal.
After a careful journey home, the canvases now hang on our bedroom wall. Looking at them brings me so much joy and the story behind them reminds me that it really is a small world after all (and ebay throws up some amazing links). Helen is a very talented (and wonderful!) lady, I hope that our paths cross again some day.
I wore a secondhand silk veil with vintage lace, sourced from EBay. My veil was longer than my dress, but I liked it…"
"My shoes were the 'Elena' design by the wonderful Rachel Simpson, but embellished with a pair of vintage Denton China floral earrings…"
"The pearls I wore were sent to me by my "Aunty Grace", a children's author and distant relation who lives in Australia. As we grew up, Grace sent me and my brother many wonderful letters and pictures in the post. I still treasure some of her packages! As adults, my brother and I have been lucky enough to visit Grace and her husband Alton in their home in Queensland. Even though we just spent a few days with them, Grace and Alton made us feel so welcome and at ease, like lifelong friends. I was such a wonderful experience to meet them and a real honour to wear Grace's pearls on my wedding day…"
Tracey's Bridesmaids wore silk prom dresses from Jigsaw, grey syede peep toe shoes from Dune and pretty orchid hair accessories…
"I glue-gunned Orchids and lavender onto Kirby clips on the morning of the wedding! My Bridesmaids also wore gold necklaces from Alex Monroe, with flower details to match my engagement ring…"
"Our grandparents have always been a major inspiration to us – their love of the countryside and all things natural has permeated our outlook on life. This came through in our wedding very much so…"
"My Florsts were my Grandma, Mum and best friend Cath. My mum and Grandma “Sis” worked hard growing many of them from seed, others were raided from the gardens of Sis, my aunty Libby and uncle Johnny.. I grew up with my mum and dad running a plant nurseries and my mum’s side of the family have been professional gardeners for generations, so the flowers came “naturally” if you’ll excuse the pun…"
"We took a ride in a Jaguar, courtesy of Alan (my best friend Cath’s dad), who looked after us with such kindness and care…"
"We used jam jars decorated with ribbon, green and brown wine bottles cut down to size by my dad. Hessian table runners cut up by my dad and brother. 250 metres of bunting made by me using rainbow coloured gingham from ebay…"
"The top tier of our wedding cake was made by my grandma, the middle tier by Kate, one of our best friends, and the lower tier by Juliet (Ben's mum, Bam's daughter) who brought the whole thing together and iced it beautifully. Having joked with Juliet that she wasn't so sure taking on the icing was a good idea, we placed Bam's wedding photo next to our cake, proudly looking on…"
Cuuuuute little knited cake toppers!!
"Friends are forever visiting our home and admiring "my" knitting/yarn, only to find out that the needles and associated talent belong to my husband. He took up knitting about a year ago, inspired by his grandmother, Bam. Bam was not only a talented knitter, but a quilter, a silversmith and one of the most kind, generous and fun ladies you could ever meet. She was such a special part of our lives, her strength was an inspiration and we miss her so much…"
The fascinator hat I wore during reception was from the Zara Carpenter…
'I added my own veil to the headpiece. I saw one of Zara's friends sporting a rather beautiful floral hair piece at Chelsea Flower Show and had to find out where it came from!"
I think she was really, really enjoying this…. 🙂
"Having a few dancing lessons together was one of the most enjoyable parts of our wedding preparation. Me being abroad for a month before the wedding meant that I forgot a lot of the moves and relied heavily on Ben, but luckily he is a fabulous lead! We danced some Merengue, Bachata and finished with a little Salsa to Train’s “Marry Me”. Thanks to Lisa and Mark at www.salsaoxford.com for putting together our routine and coping with my lack of rhythm…"
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
"Marrying the person you love, in a happy haze, the colour of the napkins will pass you by.
Our wedding wasn't big budget and was put together in just five months, but next to my new husband and surrounded by such wonderful family and friends, I felt like the luckiest bride alive…"
Such a sweet and homespun style wedding, I love it 🙂
Huge congrats to Tracy and Ben and thank you so much to Photorapher Christian Michael for sharing these photographs…
""Photographs are so important to me and Ben, they cover every wall / shelf in our home. We looked through many beautiful online galleries, but the one that resonated with us most was that of Christian Michael. On the day itself the two Chris’ were absolutely wonderful. They never stopped smiling, helped out with organisation where they could and most of all put us at complete ease. It was so nice to have them around. At one point Christian even rolled up his trousers and waded into a river for us! He also politely invited a passing horse-rider to to be photographic extra, and late in the evening photographed me with my childhood pony, despite having a phobia of all creatures equine.
We have so many favourite wedding photos, from expertly captured family moments to “fairytale” shots. Christian Michael have made such a special contribution to our family documentation, we cannot recommend them enough…."
You can see more budget weddings here on Love My Dress.
Much love all,
Annabel xXx
♥
Photography – Christian Michael Photography
Brides Dress + Veil – EBay
Brides Shoes – Rachel Simpson
Brides accessories – Zara Carpenter headpiece
Groom – Moss Bross
Bridesmaids – Jigsaw dresses
Flowers – Family & friends
Cake – Family
Makeup – Sascha Martini
Hair – Satchels, Ewenny
Photography – Christian Michael Photography
Venue – The Barn at West Farm in Southerdown
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.
