A Phase Eight Wedding Dress for a Relaxed, Laid Back Windsor Wedding…

 

"I love old Hollywood glamour, dressing up but the most important aspect of the wedding for us was that it would be a relaxed, informal day.  I was also inspired by all the wonderful features on Love My Dress.  I still find myself drawn to the site even though I’m approaching my 1st wedding anniversary and the birth of our first baby…"

 

Good morning folks 🙂 How's your weekend been? This week will be the first week in a while that I'll be spending entirely at home. I've been back and forth all over the place recently working on a big secret project {see hints at said project in yesterday's Sunday Serving}, that's seen me spending a lot of time at my Mum's house and in London too.  This week however, Love My Dress is back to it's usual schedule, starting with the wedding of Gemma and Dylan, who tied the knot on 4 June last year at The Guildhall Windsor & The Savill Gardens Windsor.

Gemma and Dylan won their wedding photography package on Love My Dress, thanks to the kindness and generosity of photographer Kim Hawkins. 

Gemma opted for a Phase Eight wedding dress, who offer an excellent selection of frocks in the £300 – £400 region for anyone on a budget... 

"My dress ‘Eve’ was from Phase Eight. I’d seen the dress in a magazine and phoned customer services to find out if it was in any shops as it wasn’t shown online. Amazingly, when the dress came into stock, Phase Eight emailed me and told me where I could try the dress on…"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Kim Hawkins

"My bridesmaids dresses were second hand from Preloved, although the dresses had never been worn and even had labels attached. They were a complete bargain as I paid £40 for all three. Then I had the dresses altered so they fit each bridesmaid perfectly…" 

"Oh my word I loved, loved, loved my flowers. During the planning stage I did a Google search for traditional flowers and I feel in love with The Traditional Flower company.

We even visited the farm on which the flowers & herbs are grown a few weeks before the big day and got to pick what we wanted. I gave the table decorations, which were in giant jam jars tied with hessian, at the end of the day to friends and family who helped make our day so special…"

"I found my Phase Eight wedding dress before I even had my venue. Before we even knew what type of wedding we wanted. I just put it on, with no dramas, no one else around me,  didn’t even have matching underwear on and thought this is perfect…"

 "The venue really didn’t need much decoration; we let the gardens provide the decoration. However my Dad (he’s one of those super dads who can and does do everything!) made the bunting on my request which we hung around the tent and gazebo. 

My maid of honour and Bessie mate Sue of Sue's Vintage (Newport, Wales) kindly lent us all her vintage china which complemented our day so well…."  

I just love this! Marmite jars with flowers in them 😉 … off to clean out the one I was about to recycle!

"For favours, my Dad made a batch of welsh cakes and Dylan’s mum kindly made up little jam jars filled with old fashioned sweets for our wedding favours.

We wanted afternoon tea and they didn’t disappoint, Julio had suggested we have fish & chips as Dylan and I were concerned people would be too hungry without a meal. Not one person has failed to mention how tasty these were! People were queuing for seconds which were kindly cooked fresh.  Nobody went hungry and the evening buffet of bacon sandwich’s and welsh rabbit was barely touched…"

"Dylan was in complete control over his & the groomsmen’s suits. I was perfectly happy to not have to think about this aspect and he choose a wonderful colour which coincidently matched the bridesmaids! Dylan says this was deliberate but I know different.

 Dylan wore a suit from Next and his neck tie came from Rapha.  Dylan is a keen cyclist and this is one of his favourite cycling brands…." 

 

"My budget wouldn’t stretch to the Manolo Blahnik, Sedaraby Jewel buckle shoes I lusted after since SATC but India by Belle by Paradox were just as beautiful and I love seeing them peeking from beneath my dress.

My pearl necklace was loaned by husband Aunt and earrings were another steal from a market stall in Kingston. I also wore a Pandora bracelet that was given to me by my Dylan’s family on my hen do and a silver bracelet Dylan had given me for our 1st Christmas together…"

"The feather clip was a chance find when I was out and about with my sisters buying them shoes for the wedding. I knew I wanted feathers, I had originally been thinking of using peacock feathers for an 1930’s art-deco feel. However, this clip was a complete bargain at £3!"

"We chose our venue,  The Guildhall Windsor & The Savill Gardens Windsor, as the setting was just so beautiful and Dylan and I would go running around the Great Park when we were just ‘friends’ and had run past the gardens many time. What sealed it for us was Juilo (the catering manager) who was just 100% behind everything we wanted. 

On the day Julio and his staff were amazing, the amount of work they put in was way beyond anything we expected and made us feel really special…"

"My Dad & his partner made the cake. Both are experienced bakers and cake decorators. Have to say they did me proud and the cake was absolutely scrummy, needless to say it did not last long, despite being huge!" 

"Our engagement was a complete surprise for me. Dylan, Jake (his son from a previous relationship) and I were out for a walk in Windsor Great Park and Dylan took me up to The Copper Horse where we’d once rolled down the hill when first dating. It was here that he got down on one knee and asked if I would do him the honour and agree to be his wife.

I was gobsmacked, couldn’t believe I didn’t realise he was planning anything so momentous.  He even had champagne and glasses tucked away in a bag with Jakes jumper wrapped around them so the clinking wouldn’t give him away!"

 

 Words of Wedded Wisdom… 

The day itself goes so quickly that the planning is part of the day. I have wonderful memories of all the planning I did. I kept a scrap book of vetoed venues etc so I could record our journey towards married life.  My words of advice would be to enjoy every second of the planning and don’t worry about pleasing anyone but yourself!

Super duper lovely introduction to the week, thank you so much to Photographer Kim Hawkins for sharing these lovely photographs 🙂

"We were so very lucky to have won Kim Hawkins expertise for our wedding day, she had the unenviable task of trying to get people where they were meant to be when all they wanted to do was wander off. Happily, she managed and we have some lovely photos of the day and superb photos of the engagement shoot."

To see you out, a lovely video that really captures the relaxed, laid back nature of this wedding – enjoy 🙂

Love My Dress – Film Production Copyright (c) 2012, Meu Image

What is your favourite aspect of this wedding? Let's show Dylan and Gemma some love 🙂 I love the laid back afternoon cream tea vibe, it seems so perfect for this couple so obviously in love with each other – congratulations Gemma and Dylan! 😉

You can see more brides wearing Phase Eight wedding dresses here on Love My Dress, and you can see more from Photographer Kim Hawkins too 🙂 I've two more instalments yet to share with you today folks so pop back soon 😉

Much love all,

Annabel

 

Photographer – Kim Hawkins
Venue – The Guildhall Windsor & The Savill Gardens Windsor
Brides dress – Phase Eight
Brides shoes – India by Belle by Paradox
Brides accessories – pearl necklace + Pandora bracelet
Grooms Suit – Next
Bridesmaids – Preloved
Flowers – The Traditional Flower Company
Brides Veil – Etsy
Brides Shoes – India, by Belle, by Paradox
Hair Stylist – Berkshire Wedding Hair & Make-up
Cake – The Bride's Father
Vintage China Hire – Sue's Vintage
 Entertainment – Don Wright The Soulman and his 5 piece band 
Catering Company – Leiths