Tabitha by Charlotte Balbier for a Sunny September English Country Wedding…

 

"I was a religious Love My Dress reader – and I still sneak the odd peak now and again! I found it hugely inspiring and full of wonderful and creative ideas…"

 

Morning everyone 🙂 Just a few really very pretty images from a wedding that I wanted to share with you this morning, that of Gemma and Tom, who  tied the knot on 10th September 2011 at St. Mary’s Church in Burford, Tenbury Well.  The wedding took place in the village where bride Gemma's parents live and the reception was held at Gemma's parents house with a marquee in their garden…

Gemma and Tom wanted an English Country style wedding, and so high-tea was the order of the day, with dainty sandwiches served on pretty vintage china plates, and delicious cakes. I love how in love this couple look, and I think Gemma looks the epitome of elegance in her pretty Tabitha wedding dress by Charlotte Balbier, a purchase from Sally at White Brides in Narberth

"In the search for my dress, my friend mad an appointment at White Brides in Narberth. It was such an overwhelming experience going to a wedding boutique for the first time and one that I will treasure forever.  Sally the owner, had the dress hanging up waiting for me and as soon as I saw it I gasped at how beautiful it was. It was perfect. So beautiful that I didn’t want to take it off!"

 Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, The Image Garden Photography

Gemma and Tom - Spread the Love (23)

"Unfortunately my mum couldn’t come with us to Narberth, so the following weekend we had a lovely day of trying on wedding dresses in Hereford, as I wanted to make sure that I had chosen the right one. There was another contender but in the end I decided that Tabitha was the right one – and I’m so glad I did. I couldn’t have found a more perfect dress if I tried and I love that it has got such a special story behind it. My wedding dress was ordered on Valentine’s day – quite appropriate don’t you think!"

"My shoes were KG by Kurt Geiger. I had been looking for some flat sparkly ballet pumps for soooo long and I was worried I wouldn’t find any. Then my bridesmaid Shan found these beauties!!"

Gemma and Tom - Spread the Love (18) Gemma and Tom - Spread the Love (5)

"I wore my mum’s necklace and bracelet. The earrings were borrowed from a friend as my ‘something borrowed’.  I also wore a champagne/gold flower comb by Charlotte Balbier, also from White Brides…"

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"My veil was also from White Brides. I was adamant that I wasn’t going to wear a veil, as I didn’t want to look too bridal – which I know sounds ridiculous! But when I tried it on with my dress it looked amazing and I couldn’t stop twirling around with it on! "

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"Tom’s suit was gorgeous. He looked so handsome in it. It was a Ben Sherman suit in Blue Tonic. He wasn’t going to wear a tie – which caused quite a stir! But we bought one just in case he changed his mind – which he did!!"

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Bunting

"We hired out the most beautiful vintage china and bunting from the lovely Deborah at Tea and Roses  

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What a natural beauty…

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"It was my Mum who technically chose my wedding dress for me! Months before I had even got engaged she had found an image in a magazine and had ripped it out for safe keeping. The whole “look” was very me and she knew it would be the perfect dress for when I got married.

I wasn’t aware of this untilI got engaged at the end of 2010. When my Mum showed it to me I knew it was going to be “The One”. However we didn’t know the style or designer, so after hours of trawling the internet we finally found out that it was in fact Tabitha by Charlotte Balbier'…"

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"When it came to our decor, I was inspired by a piece of floral fabric that we used on our save the date cards and wedding invitations. It set the colour scheme for the whole wedding!"

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"I made a lot of the other decorations myself. I made two sets of lettered bunting reading “Just Married” and “Sweet Love”, the table plan, place cards, and the cake topper. We also made our own save the date cards and wedding invitations…"

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"My brother Ryan and his girlfriend Julia made our wedding cake. We had a top drum which was layers of different coloured pink sponge, covered with white butter icing, and cupcakes – each individually decorated with sugar hearts, edible pearls and light pink glitter. They were gorgeous! Although I don’t think Ryan wants to look at another cupcake again!"

Gemma and Tom - Spread the Love (38) Gemma and Tom - Spread the Love (37)

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Do what you want, not what other people think you should do; it is yours & your husband’s day! We had a vision in our minds of how we wanted our day to be and it was everything we could have hoped for, and more!

I know it’s really hard and I probably didn’t listen when people told me this but try not to stress, it doesn’t get you anywhere. I ran out of time at the end and didn’t get chance to finish off a few bits and I was getting myself really worked up. I can honestly say that it didn’t make any difference on the day. I was just so happy to be getting married and spending the day with my gorgeous new husband.

The day will fly by ridiculously fast – even though friends had told me this I wasn’t quite prepared for how fast it would actually go! Try and take a moment just the two of you to take it all in, after all it is your day.

And finally, make sure you book a make up artist!!! I was going to do my make up myself and I spent a small fortune at the Laura Mercier & Bobbi Brown counters and practiced constantly. However, about a month before the wedding I wasn’t feeling so confident and decided to book a trial – that’s when the amazing Beth came into my life! She took away any stresses I might have had and made me feel so relaxed. And if you can’t be pampered on your wedding day when can you!?"

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Congratulations and big thanks to Gemma and Tom for sharing their day, and to Sharron from The Image Garden for so kindly submitting these images…

"Our photographer was the amazing Sharron at The Image Garden Photography. We honestly could not have found anyone better to capture our day. We wanted to have very relaxed, informal photographs and that is exactly what we got. She blended in with our guests so well it was like she was a family friend."

I seem to have a legion of loyal Charlotte Balbier fans – are there any more of you out there, and which Charlotte Balbier dress will you be wearing?

Much love all,

Annabel

Photographer – The Image Garden Photography
Venue – Brides's parents house
Brides dress – Charlotte Balbier's 'Tabitha', via White Brides
Brides shoes – KG by Kurt Geiger
Brides veil – via White Bride
Brides accessories – Mothers pearl necklace + hair accessory by Charlotte Balbier
Groom – Ben Sherman
Cake – Bride's brother
Hair Stylist – Katy at Red Hare, Cleobury Mortimer
Makeup Artist – Beth at Bettie Lottie Make Up
Vintage China Hire – Tea and Roses

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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