Mooorning! Yup! Friday morning! The working week is nearly over {for most anyway!} and we can all look forward to some SUNSHINE here in the UK. I know! After all that miserable rain too!
Here is a delightful wedding for you to enjoy on this lovely day in May. Danielle & Brett met on match.com and on Friday 13th April 2012 {da da daaahhh!} at Oakwood House, Maidstone, Kent.
inspired by the 1940’s and 1950’s, English vintage elegance and the light cornflower blue colour found within Danielle’s engagement ring, the couple set out to have a pale blue and pretty day with a big dose of vintage style. Danielle’s 1950’s inspired wedding dress was from New Beginnings in Essex…
“With a budget of £350 I had already decided I would only try on dresses I could afford, so as not to fall in love with an impossible dream. None of the sale dresses were right, so I tried on the short fun number that Gerry had initially tried on, a new dress with a price tag of £350! As soon as I stepped out of the dressing room Gerry & Nichola both affirmed-this dress was definitely ‘me’!
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Assassynation
“My main reservation was that I had not been anywhere else to look for a dress, and that my Mum wasn’t there with me, but it felt right so, and so, I had to buy it!
Also I’m recovering from depression and the thought of searching through shop after shop of beautiful dresses, didn’t actually excite me- a decision making nightmare! I figured if I loved this dress- it was a classic shape that flatters my figure, it wasn’t too fussy, as I wanted to add a lace bolero and birdcage veil and perfect for the 50’s vibe plus it was in my budget – so that was that sorted- onto the next bridal mission!”
“I had a brooch pinned to my bouquet borrowed from my Grandma who is 95 this year!”
“I wanted all eight of my closest friends to be involved in the day. I couldn’t afford to buy dresses, so asked if they would wear something in a shade of blue. This apparently was not adequate instruction! I then had the idea of having some simple swing dresses made up for them and searched for a seamstress, but to no avail…”
“Then Brett suggested asking a family friend who was at Rochester College doing a fashion design course if she might be interested-all students like a bit of money! And so Jshe created eight dresses, all made to measure, including two altered to accommodate pregnancy bumps!”
“The girls all said they would have bought new outfits for the occasion anyway, so were quite happy to pay for their own dresses, which came to £65 each”
Brett wore a Paul Smith dog-toothed tweed two piece suit bought from his shop at Bicester Village Outlet Centre (approx. £350 – same price as the wedding dress!} which he purchased a waistcoat to wear with, alongside a pair of Jeffery West Lemmy brogues…
“Brett did a Google search of local wedding car hire and found AJM Cars in Sevenoaks. We didn’t have a massive budget for this but instantly fell in love with their 1935 Rover, and at £350 we felt we couldn’t go wrong!”
“I did my own make up. I wanted to look like me, just at my best-when I’ve had professional make up done I always think my eyes look funny.
I had my hair done at a salon called Hair Traditional, Wateringbury, a 2 minute walk from where we were staying, and also opposite the Village hall! My father in law had to lend me one of his shirts as I had forgotten to pack one – you don’t want to be pulling anything over your head once your hair’s done!
I had a birdcage veil, made by the seamstress, with flowers on the comb cut from some Claire’s Accessories outlet hair clips!”
“My shoes were my main nightmare – size 8 wide fitting feet! The only options that I seemed to be able to find in my budget were flat or mid heels, not the glorious vintage sexy heels I imagined, which I really needed with the short dress.
Several new pairs were ordered on line, only to be returned-the postal costs were mounting up!During a routine search on Ebay I found my pair of Dolcis shoes and won them for £15. It was a gamble, I didn’t expect them to fit-but they did! I also bought a pair of satin flats from the Debenhams sale- £12, and had matching flowers to the headdress stitched on to them…”
Brett told me…
“The Best man was my older brother, Bruce Shepherd. My groomsmen were my new brother-in-law James Simpson and one of my oldest friends Michael Blake. There was no dress code per se – I would have liked them to try and dress in a vintage style but there was no pressure on them to do so as I wanted them to be comfortable in what they were wearing – if they already had a suit they liked, then fine. The only stipulation was that they wear the same tie as me to help tie them in… For their gift I got them sets of cufflinks made with 1948 sixpences to keep the vintage theme going…
A family friend produced all the pretty florals…
“We had white roses as Brett’s family is from Yorkshire, and complemented them with freesias to add scent & shape and for greenery fern (as advised by Sara who had spoken to several of her ‘more senior’ customers, and this was commonly used at weddings in the 40’s/50’s).
Isobel, the flower girl, carried 3 white roses to represent Brett’s mum, great aunt, and Gran (all Yorkshire roses themselves, now in spirit), and Cal carried a candle in memory of all our family and friends who have passed. The bridesmaid’s bouquets were actually white foam roses with fresh freesias and pearls woven through. I think these were my best bargain at £2.50 for each fake bouquet…as 8 all fresh flowered bouquets would have been out of budget.
I would definitely recommend mixing real and fake flowers as no-one notices, and if you go to florist supplies they are reasonably priced. I also spent £50 on fresh flowers to go into jam jars on the tables, including gypsophelia, coloured freesias, and some others I don’t know the name of but liked when I went to the florist outlet on the Thursday morning! This added a splash of colour to the table.
“My Dad Terry walked me down the aisle to Eva Cassidy’s ‘Songbird’...”
“We also had a page boy, Callum MacDonald (whose mum sorted him a little suit out in their home country of Australia) and adapted one of the groomsmen’s tie’s from Tesco with some elastic and Velcro to fit his little 2 ½ yr old neck!”
“I met Sarah when I did a massage course, and her other sideline is cake decorating. I had her make a 60th Birthday cake for my mum a couple of years ago, and had no doubt I wanted her to make our wedding cake, as I knew it would taste as good as it looked (with a bit of love and care thrown in for good measure too)!
The cake was more or less the first thing I knew how I wanted. 3 tiers of traditional fruit cake, iced with plain white icing with blue ribbon, a vintage clasp or brooch, and a string of pearls around the bottom and top tier, with fresh flowers on the top. Brett added a request for the little white dots to the top and bottom tier, and this did just finish it off.”
“When it came to decor, we purcahsed bunting from eBay along with four rose trees. We had powder blue organza for the tables – laid in strips on the round tables and swagged on the top table and cake table – a quick, cheap and effective way to add colour. We also used matching scatter petals, all purchased from the florist outlet.
We were concerned about using tea lights, so bought crackle vases and put fairy lights in them. The bridesmaid’s bouquets then sat in the tops for floral decoration, with nine tables and eight bridesmaids, the ninth table had a birdcage with flowers and fairy lights in. Doubling up the function of flowers was a great idea I had picked up from another Bride’s blog!
We had a vintage dressing up corner, which included: suitcases, wigs, hats, smoking pipes, fake moustache’s on sticks, more fake flowers etc., which enhanced the room décor too!”
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
“We originally wanted close family and probably more friends at our wedding, as they have been our rocks during a difficult few years. However I have quite a large number of cousins with several children each. It wasn’t that we didn’t want them there, it was a matter of budget and room size! My Mum was extremely upset by this. Many people offered advice about how it was our wedding and it should be who we wanted there, but in the end we decided we didn’t want to cause my mum heartache, and so extended the guest list to cousins and second cousins, and didn’t have a band/disco and did the music ourselves! I don’t regret it one bit and with hindsight, it really would have felt like there was something important missing without them there, and we all had a boogey together!”
Control how much you let yourself be bombarded with things that are beyond your reach financially. If you are on a tight budget, engross yourself in craft/budget wedding ideas, not publications that offer only shiny glossy expensive hotels etc. it is easy to be swept away! Be flexible, and don’t make things more complicated than they have to be – it will enable you to control the stress and enjoy the preparations more.
It is one day in your life; yes it is a very important day, but only one day nonetheless. Hold close to you the reason you are doing it, ie, for love and commitment to your partner.
You might think that in order for it to be the best day of your life it is important for everything to be exactly how you want it, but accept that actually, sometimes you may need to compromise, and on your wedding day you will be glad you did as no matter what, come rain/shine, it will be one of the best days of your life.”
What an all-round bloomin’ well delightful affair! Brett and Danielle, HUGE congratulations on your marrige you lovely pair 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing all your big day details with us, and huge thanks too to Sassy the photographer for capturing it all so fabulously on camera…
“We think Sassy was one of the highlights and best ‘buys’ of our wedding! It was like having an old friend do your photos for you, even though we hadn’t met her before the wedding day! Having a female photographer definitely helps when you and your girls are getting ready. I don’t think I’d want a man to see my bridesmaids manhandling me (and my wobbly bits) into my wedding dress! Many of our guests went out of their way to mention how good she was both on the day and since they have seen the photos. We loved Sassy so much we took her on honeymoon with us!”
What wonderful feedback for you lovely Sassy! What do you think readers? Is that pale blue making you feel like going all pastel shade? I’d love your comments on this wedding.
You can see more from Assassynation Photography on Love My Dress here, plus lots more blue and pale blue pretty. Also check out the 1940’s and 1950’s pages for much more vintage inspired weddings inspiration.
Love Annabel x
Photographer – Assassynation
Venue – Oakwood House, Maidstone, Kent
Brides dress – New Beginnings in Essex
Brides shoes – Ebay {heels} + Debenhams {flats}
Brides veil – made by seamstress
Groom – Paul Smith suit + Jeffery West Lemmy brogues
Bridesmaids dresses – made by a friend
Flowers – Family friend
Cake – Sarah’s Kitchen
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.
