A Handmade and DIY Railway Wedding…

Hello there! Good afternoon, hoping it's been a good one for you so far 🙂 Time for a real wedding don't you think peeps? By the way, did you see this lovely little beachside love-shoot of yesterday and have you read through Franky's beautifully written discussion post of this morning yet? It involves children at weddings; an age old discussion, but Franky casts her own unique perspective on things and encourages you to share your thoughts too. OK, let's get to it…

Danielle & Terry tied the knot on 11 February this year – the closest date they could secure for their wedding to their 14 year anniversary – how sweet!

The wedding reception was held at East Anglia Railway Museum in Essex – described by the couple as 'quirky, unique and unrestricted in terms of how we could style it for our wedding day'.

Danielle wore a really beautiful dress handmade by her friend. What a clever friend!

"One of my closest friends Debbie made my dress.  We designed it together taking inspiration from various designers. I wanted a dress that no one else would ever have.  I love frills and bows and ruffles and lace and all that fuss!  It’s not to everyone’s taste but that’s waht I love about it! 

I wanted to incorporate lots of diffrent fabrics into the design, french lace, tulle, satin and I wanted it to look and feel like something not from this time! The small flowers on the middle and bottom tiers of the skirt were taken from my Mum’s veil (1971).  The Bolero was made by a lady in the states.  The marquest bow brooch was a gift Terry bought me.  Debbie definitely had her work cut out!"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Natalie J Watts

IMG_6977

The couple hired a fun, pink taxi and red double decker bus…

2012-04-19_013.jpg

"The bridesmaids dresses were the first thing we acquired – my sister and I found them on the internet and the girls fell in love with them.  The prom style dresses were made from original 1940s rose print glazed cotton.  I used the excess fabric to make a Handkerchief for Terry and to decorate the venue.

In terms of accessories, the bridesmaids were all different.  My sister Chantal had a feather style clip, others had vintage style rose clips and alice bands.  I also had cute little bracelets custom made for the girls in colours that complimented the dresses.  Also sourced from Etsy…"

2012-04-19_021.jpg 

"Terry didn't really wear a suit – he wore a grey/brown pair of trousers and a grey herringbone/tweed jacket and navy wool blend waistcoat with brown buttons.  His shoes were cool brown brogues.  He looked like a dapper English Gent, definite Husband material!

All the men had different coloured ties/cravats  but all around a floral/paisley theme. I made all the boys button holes and Terry’s handkerchief…."

2012-04-19_055.jpg

"My bouquet was made from brooches donated by all the women in my family…"

2012-04-19_029.jpg

2012-04-19_033.jpg

"I designed my cake based on he colours of the bridesmaid dresses.  It had buttons, rosebuds, lace and musical ribbon around it (as Terry and I both play guitar, music is important to us).  Made by the lovely Abi at Creative Cakes…"

2012-04-19_040.jpg

2012-04-19_037.jpg

2012-04-19_041.jpg

"I had a birdcage veil hair accessoriy made out of the fabric off-cuts from my dress fabric.  This was made at quite short notice by the lovely staff at Tatters in Chelmsford…."

IMG_6962

2012-04-19_035.jpg

IMG_6964

2012-04-19_017.jpg

"My shoees were my one extravagance!  I loved the embroidery, silk, lace trim and rose bud detail.  The shoes helped shape the design of the dress!"  {readers, I'm making an effort to find out where they were from! – anyone recognise these pretty toe peepers?  Are they Diane Hassall?}

2012-04-19_014.jpg

"My Mum and I both wore the same pearl drop earings that I bought for us from the lake district (the week after Terry and I got engaged).  I wore two bracelets.  A victorian lace rosette braceltee I bought from Etsy and a vintage pearl and crystal bracelet my bother in law bought me on my hen weekend in Bath…"

2012-04-19_018.jpg

2012-04-19_015.jpg

2012-04-19_019.jpg

2012-04-19_020.jpg

2012-04-19_022.jpg

The wedding ceremony took place at Trinity Church in Chelmsford…

"It had to be this Church The Vicar Dave is a good friend and we will always look back on getting married at the church that overlooked our first home together…"

2012-04-19_023.jpg

2012-04-19_054.jpg

2012-04-19_025.jpg

2012-04-19_026.jpg

2012-04-19_027.jpg

2012-04-19_028.jpg

2012-04-19_030.jpg

2012-04-19_032.jpg

2012-04-19_034.jpg

2012-04-19_036.jpg

2012-04-19_038.jpg

2012-04-19_039.jpg

2012-04-19_042.jpg

2012-04-19_043.jpg

2012-04-19_044.jpg

"We bought the flowers from a wholesaler and Pete (my father in law) arranged them in old containers that we’d sourced from boot-sales and antique shops. 

The flowers were a real mix of everything.  Our tables were named after acoustic guitar labels…" 

2012-04-19_045.jpg

2012-04-19_046

2012-04-19_0472012-04-19_048
2012-04-19_049.jpg

2012-04-19_052.jpg

2012-04-19_053.jpg

What a smashing day, beautifully photographed and full of smiles.

Big thanks to Natalie J Watts for submiting this wedding for a feature…

"Natalie was incredible and capture the bohemian, home made look and feel of the day!"

Anyone else have any handmade-DIY weddings or wedding plans they would like to share. What about any snowy wedding day stories?  I'd love to hear from you if so.

You can see more Wintery and DIY weddings, as well as more from Natalie J Watts on Love My Dress here by the way. I'm also linking previous features to a new 'Snow' category so all you winter brides can see how other brides coped in the white stuff! 😉

Much love all,

Annabel

 

Photographer – Natalie J Watts
Venue – East Anglia Railway Museum in Essex
Cake – Creative Cakes
Catering Company – Big Day Catering
Entertainment – The Business Band and Kim Hollocks (our friend) DJ’d!

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.

Close
Top