An Original Tiered 1950s Wedding Dress For A Quirky and Theatrical Style Winter Wedding

Happy lunch time friends. I'm so happy to be sharing this delightful wedding with you today, it has all the hallmarks of vintage glamour, but with a healthy does of theatre inspired quirkiness thrown in that makes pouring over these photographs such a treat.  There's that dress, the seductive wintery lighting, that Croquembouche and the dark and curious yet utterly beautiful wedding venue that is Maunsel House in Somerset.

This is the wedding of Matt and Hannah-Marie, who tied the knot on 12th December 2012.  Hannah-Marie wore the most beautiful tiered original vintage wedding dress, circa. 1950's, from A Vintage Affair in Cardiff… 

"I
wasn't even shopping for a wedding dress at the time; I love vintage
clothes and was just looking around in the
A Vintage Affair shop in Cardiff when I spotted it hidden
amongst a load of other dresses. The first thing I saw was the back –
all lace and tiered frills – and it was so striking I had to try it on.
  Suffice to say, even though it was too big for me at the time, I knew it
was perfect. I had it altered and repaired by a family friend; she
estimated it was at least as old as the 50's. I loved the fact that it
had been worn for weddings before mine and that it was totally
individual."
 

 Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Helen Lisk

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

Shoes by none other than the fabulous Rachel Simpson – who, it seems, many of our readers are huge fans of!  This pair was purchased via The Mews, Bristol.  Love the dusky pink colour and deco motif (see lots more brides in their Rachel Simpson shoes here by the way)…

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding 

"We were both at the University of Bristol and we met through the Bristol University Pantomime Society.
Our characters ended up as a couple at the end of our first show – it
was clearly meant to be! We were together for two years, including a
year where Matt was studying in the U.S., before Hannah proposed and
three years later we married."

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

I adore this feather shrug from Biba at House of Fraser. What a glamorous statement accessory, just divine…

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

"We're both quite
theatrical people, so our inspiration was the Italian Commedia dell'Arte
(masquerade). From that we chose our colour scheme (gold, black, ivory)
and we used our collection of Venetian masks in the décor – along with
some silly photo-prop masks for our guests to try on at the wedding
breakfast! We kept the Commedia theme in our evening entertainment,
which included a selection of old-fashioned tabletop games and a limbo
set. Also, as our wedding was in December, we had mince pies and mulled
wine as appetisers, crackers on the table, and Christmas carols during
the service. 

 We fell in love with the gorgeous St Michael chapel in
the Maunsel grounds and knew straight away we wanted to get married
there. The wreaths in the church were actually left over from a wedding
two days before – but we liked them so kept them for our wedding too!    

 The quirky, unique nature of Maunsel House really appealed to us –
it seemed just the place to complement our own rather eccentric
personalities. We needed hardly any decoration as the house is brimming
with fantastic furnishings as it is. Our favourite place was the old pub
style bar, full of a selection of disarmed guns – great for photos!"

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

"We opted for a Croquembouche – a tower of profiteroles wrapped in
caramel – decorated with playing card suits and topped with chocolate
roses. 
Lick the Spoon were our suppliers. 
We wanted something a bit different and felt the Croquembouche fitted
with the alternative, playful feel of our day. As the base, we had a
dairy-free ginger and dark chocolate cake for our lactose intolerant
guests, or those who didn't like profiteroles. Both cakes were delicious
and had everyone going back for more!"

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

"Our photographer  Helen Lisk was
absolutely fantastic. We and all our guests have been singing her
praises. We loved meeting her before the wedding for our Engagement
shoot – she is so friendly and helpful and made us feel totally at ease.

On the big day, she worked incredibly hard, running around all over the
grounds to get the best photos she could and it definitely paid off.
We're thrilled to bits with our wedding photos and would highly
recommend Helen to anyone!"

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

"Sandra Jethon is a friend of ours who specialises in theatre
hair/make-up and wig production – she did my hair and makeup on the
day. 
I bought little hair pearls from Claire's Accessories and my hair stylist added fresh roses..."

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

"Purcell piece played by the Bristol String Quartet, adapted and
used in the recent Pride and Prejudice film. We left the church to the
Potter Waltz from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Both pieces had a
particular significance to us and felt like very personal (and perhaps
quirky) choices, rather than going for the usual wedding march.

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding 

"We chose the following readings;

Ruth 1:16-17. We loved the devotion shown by Ruth in this passage and hope to emulate it.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's, 'To Asra'.
I'm a huge fan of the Romantic poets, especially Coleridge, so we had
to have one of his poems. This one is all about the joy of loving
someone and having that love returned. 'Are there two things, of all
which Men possess, / That seem so like to each other and so near, / As
mutual love seems like to happiness?'

John Keats: Bright Star.
"Awake forever in a sweet unrest" – this poem is about wanting one
perfect moment to last forever. It is so beautiful and the sentiment
seemed very fitting."

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

"We squeezed each other's hands very tightly as we knelt for the
blessing – both of us realising that we were now officially married."

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

"We didn't use a florist, but instead bought twigs
and branches sprayed white/gold to lay on the tables, along with fairy
lights, baubles and table confetti."

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

"We used Venetian masks, fairy lights, painted twigs, jars, tea
lights, mini baubles – all sourced from various places, some already
belonging to us.
"

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

"For a year, we saved up glass jars – cleaning and storing them
whenever we finished some jam, olives, hot sauce, etc. Then we filled
them with sugared almonds and tied a name label round the lid, so they
acted as both favours and place names."

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

'We had our own playlist of songs on in the evening, quite
relaxed and where we could control the tracks, volume, etc. They were
all 'love' songs that we liked, but that ranged from Take That's Rule
the World to Bowling for Soup's Girl All the Bad Guys Want!
'

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"The best advice is probably just to remember why
you're getting married. When things got very stressful, we seemed to
become even stronger as a pair. A lot of people warned us about how
difficult it is trying to find compromises and make everyone happy – and
they weren't wrong! It's true that a wedding isn't just about the bride
and groom (that's what the honeymoon is for) and not everything will be
exactly as you hope.

It'll probably be little things you weren't
necessarily expecting that you enjoy the most – like our impromptu limbo
tournament and the best man's 'alternative' speech. But just keep the
expectation of saying "I will" at the forefront of your mind and look
forward to the days ahead, when you get to introduce yourselves as a
married couple."

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

"Something we'd really recommend is setting aside some time for
just the two of you on the day. When we got back from the church, we sat
in the bar by the fire and had a drink before going in to the
reception. It was another of our favourite moments and just gave us a
little bit of time to let it sink in that we were married."

1950s Vintage Wedding Dress Maunsel House Wedding

Goodness me what a beautiful wedding, thank you so much Matt and Hannah-Marie for sharing your fantsatic theatrical inspired day with us – I love your style and I'm smitten with your photographs – readers, you might want to drop by the blog of photographer Helen Lisk to see more like this.

I'd love your feedback, isn't that dress divine? Is anyone else marrying at Maunsel House, or planning a December wedding?

Much love all,

Annabel

Heart

Photographer – Helen Lisk
Venue – Maunsel House in Somerset
Brides Dress – Vintage, circa. 1950s, from A Vintage Affair, Cardiff
Brides Shoes – Rachel Simpson via The Mews, Bristol
Brides Accessories – Necklace via Accessorize, shrug via Biba at House of Fraser, evening dress via Guess
Grooms Suit – The Kooples – shoes via River Island
Bridesmaids – Debenhams; Monsoon; other + shrugs from Coast + gloves from Accessorize
Flowers -Cake – Lick the Spoon
Cars/Transport -  Premier Carriage Company of Bournemouth
Catering Company – Posh Nosh

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.

11 thoughts on “An Original Tiered 1950s Wedding Dress For A Quirky and Theatrical Style Winter Wedding

  1. I love the whole style of the wedding, but most of all how the bride didn’t have flowers but carried a small bible. I had flowers for my wedding, but I got my Gran to carry my christening bible for me. I get more and more brides saying they don’t want flowers when I am creating there hair accessories – I must suggest this.

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