Red for Romance and a 1950s Inspired Bride…

Good morning lovers 🙂 Now, I don't usually post weddings on a Saturday, but the thing is, I have so many beautiful weddings to share with you, and give it's the festive season and all, I thought it would be nice to give you a treat and do some nuptials today :)  So I'm going to start with this rather red and fabulous wedding of Emma & Richard, who tied the knot on Saturday 13th August 2011 with a ceremony at Leeds Town Hall followed by a reception at The Lounge Bar and Grill, on Merrion Street, Leeds.

I love red.  Have I ever told you that? Love it. Give me one lipstick for life and nothing else and it will be red. Bright bright red. And I really only ever wear red nail varnish too. It's my kinda colour.  And I love how Emma and Richard incoporated this beautiful berry shade into their wedding day.

Emma's fabulous 1950s inspired dress was a design by one of my favourite independent bridal wear designers, Linda Davey of No. 9 Bridal Couture… 

"I knew early on that a traditional wedding gown wasn’t for me. We didn’t want a formal feel to the wedding and a long strapless number didn’t feel like my style. I wanted something that would be fun and comfortable to wear, and short so I could show off my shoes and move about easily (I knew there would be a lot of stairs!)…" 

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2011, John Hope Photography

 

"I was unable to find what I wanted in the traditional shops and saw a lot more appealing designs on US sites such as Whirling Turban and Dolly Couture.  Through Money Saving Expert forums I contacted Linda at No. 9 Bridal Couture to discuss my options and ask her advice. I also entered a competition she was running and although I didn’t win, I came 3rd and got 10% off my dress. It was the spur I needed and I booked an appointment to see her.

It was nerve wracking having a dress made when you couldn’t try it on first, but Linda was wonderful and reassuring. She obviously knew her stuff and helped me formulate my thoughts into a real design.  I had several fittings at her studio in Keighley and came away with a beautiful 1950s style silk dress that was everything I wanted!"

"I wore Hush Puppies “Freya” in red patent leather {centre below}.  I saw these on the Amazon website and fell in love! They weren’t too high and when I gave them a test run at a friends wedding I was delighted to find that they were comfortable enough for me to wear all day. Comfy AND gorgeous – what more could a girl want!  My Bridesmaids picked their own red shoes so they’d match – I wanted them to be able to choose what was comfortable for them…"

 

"The colour scheme was chosen for several reasons. Richard is a Sunderland AFC supporter and their kit is red and white. I was born in Lancashire and Richard’s parents are both from old Yorkshire towns so the red and white roses were quite significant too. The ladybirds fitted this theme, but also reminded us of our first house together where we had lots of them hibernating every winter…."

 

"My rose fascinator was custom made by our friend Em Brulée of Rocket59 to match my flowers…"

"Our Florist was Andrea Benn.  I originally toyed with the idea of making a brooch bouquet but as Richard’s side of the family was originally from Yorkshire and mine was from Lancashire, red and white roses seemed like a perfect selection.

I wanted a traditional bouquet, but wanted something for my bridesmaids that they didn’t have to worry about carrying all day. Andrea was delighted at the chance to do something different and made them some wonderful wrist corsages.

The Best Man, Bridesmaids, and the Bride and Groom all had red AND white roses to symbolise the joining of families. The parents had single colour roses and the rest of the family had red or white carnations depending on which side they were on…."

"My Bridesmaids' dresses were from Debenhams.  We had a bit of a nightmare with these as they were the end of a range and the online store didn’t have all the sizes we needed. We scoured the north of England for stores that stocked the dress and probably bought around twice as many in order to be sure that we had all the right sizes. Thank goodness for their returns policy!"

"Having the wedding in Leeds made sense for both practical reasons and sentimental reasons. It’s our adopted home, where we worked, met and prior to that where we went to university. It’s also where lots of our friends live, where accommodation can easily be found to suit people’s budget and meant that we didn’t have to worry about travelling miles to scout out venues.

We knew how lovely the Town Hall register office was and so weren’t worried about finding a venue with a wedding licence. We looked at a few options for reception venues but were recommended The Lounge by some friends who had shortlisted it for their wedding. It fitted with the laid-back feel that we wanted for our wedding and as they seemed to be very accommodating, we booked them…."

"My dad walked me down the aisle, along with my bridesmaids. We made sure there was no mention of “giving away” at the ceremony as it felt archaic and possessive…"

"Richard wore a dark grey wool suite from A Suit That Fits.  Being 6’6” (or 2m) tall, finding clothes long enough has always been tricky for Richard and it was unlikely that a hire shop would work for him. Instead it seemed like the perfect opportunity to splash out on a good quality suit that was made for him and could be worn again in the future.  He did some research online and found A Suit That Fits,  which was within budget, seemed to have some good reviews and had regular appointments in Leeds. Rather than taking the measurements ourselves and risk them being wrong he made an appointment and was measured by their representative who also showed him samples and helped him pick out the style of suit he wanted.

When the suit arrived for the first fitting there were a few amendments than needed to be made but it fitted well at the second fitting. When we took it to the dry cleaners to be pressed the manager complimented Richard on it’s quality – which we took to be a good sign!"

"Our wedding car was to be the maroon 1969 Daimler that belonged to my Grandad and was used in my Mum and Dad’s wedding in 1975. It’s now kept in fantastic condition by my Uncle Roger and he very kindly drove it all the way up from Kent in order to take us around the city on the day.  Unfortunately Leeds has an awful one-way system that ensnared him and we had to get a taxi instead.   We did manage to have some lovely photos taken with it though – even if it didn’t actually drive us anywhere!"

"Richard found a great offer on button badges from a local supplier Beardo Badges who normally made them for bands. I folded 90 origami boxes that we filled with Lindt Lindor chocolates and attached the badges to the top. That way people had a treat to eat and a keepsake to take home…"

"The “cake” was one of the most talked about parts of our day because we had  actually had a pork pie!   Whilst searching for a starter dish we found that Wilsons Butchers made three tier pork pies and it seemed like the perfect solution for us. Richard doesn’t like fruit cake, I don’t like sponge cake and so we wanted something different.

The pie was displayed in the dining room as our guests arrived and they were all trying to figure out whether it was a real pie, or a cake made to look like one! We cut it when we arrived and it was served after the speeches as a starter…."

"Our friends Biscuithead and The Biscuit Badgers played a set for us. They aren’t a covers band so only a few people knew the songs but loads of people got up and danced. In fact, by the end of their set our guests had bought several of their albums!  We continued the music into the evening with an ipod plugged into the in-house sound system."

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Don’t feel you have to do certain things because they are traditional, or equally because you think that you need to have something different. Choose features that reflect you as a couple, or that you really love. It’s much easier to defend your choices against naysayers or explain them to the befuddled when you have good reason for having made them.

Try and remember that as much as you script out the entire day, there will be things that don’t go as expected or even (dare I say it) go wrong. If you accept this early on then you’ll be better prepared for it and more able to let it wash over you on the day. Which lead on to the final bit of advice…

The best piece of advice that I got that prepared me for the day was this: People look to you both as the barometer of the day. If you appear tense and irritated when things don’t go to plan, people will get upset for you. If you ignore the slight hiccups and embrace the day as it happens then you will feel better and your guests will be happier too…."

Red! Oh how I love thee 🙂

Many thanks Emma for sending in all your wedding day details and huge thanks too to Photogarpher John Hope…

"John was just getting started as a wedding photographer when we booked him and was recommended by a friend. We liked his style and by the time our wedding came round he was much in demand! He’s a lovely guy and took the time to discuss with us what shots we did and didn’t like so he could tailor the photos for us.

He also did a pre-wedding shoot with us that really helped us become more comfortable in front of the camera. We loved the photos we got back from our day and were really impressed by the album he put together for us."

Who is is planning to rock a 1950's red look on their wedding day?

You can see many more 1950's style Brides and lots of beautiful red wedding day inspiration.

Lots of Saturday morning lurrrrve my lovelies 🙂

Annabel xXx

♥

Photographer – John Hope Photography
Venue – Leeds Town Hall + The Lounge Bar and Grill
Brides Dress – No. 9 Bridal Couture
Brides Shoes – Freya Hush Puppies in red patent leather
Brides hair accessory – Rocket59
Groom – A Suit That Fits
Bridesmaids –
Pork Pie 'Cake' – Wilsons Butchers
Florist – Andrea Benn
Makeup – Natalie Willingham