An Alan Hannah Wedding Dress and Pretty Birdcage Veil for a House For An Art Lover Wedding

Good morning my friends. I really do hope you've had the loveliest of weekends, kicking back with your loved ones.  I tried something new yesterday evening and shared this personal post full of photographs from the office I'm working on! Do take a look if you haven't already – I'd love your thoughts. 

I'm starting this week with a wedding all the way from bonny Scotland – the 'House for an Art Lover' in Glasgow, to be precise.  Mhoraig and Iain tied the knot to on 4 January this year.  Mhoraig's dress was the 'Jennifer' design by Alan Hannah

"I
originally had my heart set on a slinky Jenny Packham style number, but
with a bit of a tummy and an aversion to gyms and control underwear I
quickly decided it probably wasn’t the best idea!  With its a-line skirt
my dress was the opposite of that, but the minute I put it on I fell in
love.   I loved the simplicity of it, and the fact it was beautifully
made in the most gorgeous fabric.  I loved the beading around the
neckline, and particularly the beautiful v-shape at the back.

I also
really appreciated the fact that it was designed and made in the UK.  I
know it was the right dress, because just nine months on I can’t really
remember anything else that I tried on!"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Zoë Campbell, assisted by Zoe Barrie

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

"Because the neckline of the dress had so much detail I
hadn’t found a necklace I was happy wearing with it until the morning of
the wedding when I spotted it around the neck of my best friend and
bridesmaid Joan! The beautiful white gold and diamond pendant (which was
given to her by her husband as a present for their wedding) became my
something borrowed.

My birdcage veil was by Lily Bella Bridal and purchased from Melle Cloche in Glasgow…"

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

"My shoes were Tilly in Silver by Rachel Simpson…"

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

"My faux fur jacket was from Monsoon and I wore it with a 1950s brooch I’d found at  a stall at Sloans Market in Glasgow."

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding 

"We didn’t have a theme for the wedding (whenever I was asked I
always said the theme was ‘getting married’).  Every decision on styling
was inspired by our beautiful venue which was built in the 1990s to a
design that the famous Glasgow architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh
submitted to a competition in 1901. 

Mackintosh’s style was Art Nouveau,
but we didn’t stick rigidly to that, or to that period in which it was
designed.  Instead we were guided by what we thought would complement
the wonderful backdrop.  There was a bit of art deco, and a bit of the
1920's, 30's and 40's.  I think we ended up with a wonderful mish-mash of
vintagey loveliness!"

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding 

"The bridesmaid dresses were made by the wonderfully talented Wendy of Flossy and Dossy
They were one of my favourite things about the wedding, and one of the
most commented upon. When I was having problems with the alterations of
my own dress my back up plan was to wear the teal bridesmaid dress!  I
spent ages researching dress styles from the early twentieth century and
sticking ones I liked up in Pinterest.

I had a chat with Wendy about
what I liked about the various styles and she came up with a sketch that
was exactly what I wanted.  The colours I chose were inspired by the
beautiful stained glass panels on the doors inside
House for an Art Lover."

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding 

"Our florist was the incredibly talented Sophie of I Heart Flowers
I met her at a Glasgow Wedding Collective fair just after we were
engaged and was blown away by her beautiful portfolio.  I loved the way
she used bright colours and unusual bits and bobs in her arrangements. 
Since the wedding was in January I wanted something wintery looking with
berries and frosty looking foliage like eucalyptus plus lots of my
favourite colour – purple!  We went for seasonal flowers as far as is
possible in January hence the beautiful anemones, ranunculus, amaryllis
and ornamental cabbage.

She did the bouquets, buttonholes, a wand for
the flower girl and two gorgeous arrangements in vases for the ceremony,
which were then moved into the dining room and then downstairs for the
evening reception."

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

"Our cake was made by the Little Cake Parlour in Glasgow
(our local cake shop) using fresh, organic ingredients.  The design was
inspired by a visit to the Hill House in Helensburgh which was another
Rennie Mackintosh commission.  The stripes and squares and roses on the
cake are based on the wallpaper design in the drawing room there!  We
decided that since we were getting married so soon after Christmas that
everyone would be sick of fruit cake, so we had a layer of chocolate
fudge cake, a layer of lemon drizzle and a layer of cherry and
amaretto.  It was beautifully made and tasted delicious.  We’re just sad
it’s all gone!"

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

2013-03-11_0001

"We found out about Zoë Campbell
via a styled shoot that she’d done at House for an Art Lover which was
featured on Love My Dress (that’s also how we found Flossy and Dossy the
dress designer, and Sophie the florist was also involved).

We
are so pleased that we picked
Zoë to do our wedding photos.  When we
first met her over coffee before we booked her, we both knew very
quickly that we’d be really happy to have her around on our wedding day –
she was lovely and friendly and had a really positive approach.  The
whole process of working with
Zoë was an absolute joy, and we were
delighted with the outcome.  The images she created are brilliant – they
really capture the warmth and loveliness of the day.  They also include
so many of the beautiful features of the venue and  little details of
what happened on the day that brought back many happy memories as we
look through them."

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

"My bracelet belonged to my lovely gran who passed away nine years ago.  She some beautiful 1950's
costume jewellery that she used to wear to the Fire Service Balls that
she attended with my Grandad.  She left the jewellery to my mum, who
gave me this to wear on my wedding day."

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

"Although I’d lived within three miles of House for an Art Lover
for eleven years I’d never visited it.  Iain had been once before when a
gospel choir he used to sing in had performed at someone’s wedding. 
Iain thought it was beautiful and said we should go see it.  He was
right – the interiors are so beautiful that they took my breath away the
minute I walked through the door.  We also loved the idea that it
existed to celebrate the cultural heritage of Glasgow – the city where
we’d met, fallen in love and made our home.  It didn’t quite fit all our
criteria (it wasn’t quite big enough to fit everyone we’d imagined
inviting to the evening reception) but we quickly decided to book it and
make it work!  We’re so glad that we did!"

2013-03-11_0001

"We thought the ceremony flowr arrangements by I Heart Flowers were absolutely
perfect for the venue with beautiful tall branches she’d included for
structure really fitting in with the art nouveau surroundings.  I think
Sophie did an amazing job, and once the bouquets had arrived at my mum’s
house in the morning I couldn’t help myself from going back again and
again to admire them!  (The venue provided simple long-stemmed dusky
lilac roses for the dinner tables.)"

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

"We met
when we worked together in a Glasgow charity that supports refugees.  It
was a challenging place to work, but it had a busy social scene and we
spent a lot of time along our work friends in various Glasgow bars
putting the world to rights.  We were friends for a long time before we
got together, but when did it felt so right.  We’d been together for
five years before we got engaged.  We decided to get married during a
romantic weekend away at a lovely little hotel called Monachyle Mhor. 
We got engaged in March, booked the venue in May and got married in
January.

Iain wore a kilt passed down from his father, who had worn
it on his wedding day 43 years before.  It is in the family tartan –
hunting Chisholm. (His dad who lives in Yorkshire decided he had to wear
the family tartan too and managed to source a hire kilt from a shop in
Inverness, just 400 miles from his home!)"

2013-03-11_0001

"My dear Dad accompanied me down the aisle, because it was
important to me to have his support at such a special moment.  However, I
didn’t like to think of it as being ‘given away’ because I’ve lived
independently of my parents for more than ten years.
I
walked down the aisle to Highland Cathedral, which was played on the
bagpipes by my Uncle Billy.  When I asked him to play at the wedding he
asked which song I’d like to walk down the aisle to.  I said ‘We thought
maybe Highland Cathedral’; he said ‘It’s such a cliché’; I said ‘Can
you suggest something better?’; he said ‘No, it’s a cliché for a reason –
it’s perfect!’"

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

"We had a humanist ceremony which is legally binding in Scotland –
yeah!!!  So we had lots of lovely personal bits to our ceremony
including the lighting of unity candles (held in a lovely art nouveau
candelabra that we found on ebay), a sing-a-long to Let There Be Love
and a ‘warming’ of our rings where they were passed around all the
guests before we exchanged them. We also wrote our own vows, but they
feel too personal to share!"

We had three readings:
1. Never Marry but for Love, by William Penn, read by Iain’s sister Al.
2. Starlings by Guy Garvey (the Elbow Song), read by Iain’s friend Julian.
3. The Places You’ll Go by Dr Seuss, read by our friend Louise

The ceremony closed with a traditional blessing that our celebrant read out and our guests repeated back each line:
May
the road rise up to meet you, May the wind be always at your back, May
the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again, May your days be good and long upon the
earth."


2013-03-11_0005

"I think our favourite part of the day was the ceremony, led by
Maggie Roebuck of the Humanist Society of Scotland, because we’d worked
hard with her to craft something that was really personal and special to
us, and she delivered it beautifully."

2013-03-11_0005

"Our flower girl Anna wore a ‘Cascadia’ dress and little fur jacket from Monsoon."

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

"Although I’d lived within three miles of House for an Art Lover
for eleven years I’d never visited it.  Iain had been once before when a
gospel choir he used to sing in had performed at someone’s wedding. 
Iain thought it was beautiful and said we should go see it.  He was
right – the interiors are so beautiful that they took my breath away the
minute I walked through the door.  We also loved the idea that it
existed to celebrate the cultural heritage of Glasgow – the city where
we’d met, fallen in love and made our home.

It didn’t quite fit all our
criteria (it wasn’t quite big enough to fit everyone we’d imagined
inviting to the evening reception) but we quickly decided to book it and
make it work!  We’re so glad that we did!"

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

"The interior of the venue is just so beautiful, so it didn’t really
didn’t need anything else in terms of decor – we did have a ‘wedding
wishes’ tree which we made the week before the wedding using some
illuminated twigs, a vase I’ve had for years and some tinfoil – I
thought it was very effective! We also made luggage tags to hang on the
tree with people’s messages and decorated them with a stamp we found in a
craft shop.  We displayed photographs from our parents’ and
grandparents’ weddings on the table by the tree.  (My parents’ wedding
very obviously took place in the 1970s, but a some people commented that
Iain’s parents photo from the 1960s looked like it had been taken last
year – Iain’s mum was delighted!)"


2013-03-11_0013

2013-03-11_0013

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

Alan Hannah wedding dress House For An Art Lover Wedding

2013-03-11_0008

2013-03-11_0008

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"When you’re planning
your wedding be realistic about what you can achieve in the time you
have.  Share tasks between you, and delegate to friends and family
where you can.  Most of all enjoy the process and try not to stress out
too much about the more difficult aspects like deciding on the guest
list.
 
When it comes to the morning of the big day, surround yourself
with people you, love and relax and enjoy yourself.

I wish we’d had a rehearsal so the little people involved in the
wedding party were a bit more confident about everything.   We intended
to do it but only had a small window of time for it to happen in because
our page boy – Iain’s nephew Johnny – arrived in Scotland just two days
before the wedding and we ran out of time to fit one in!

Remember to eat
something too (I forgot and it took me a while to realise I was feeling
unwell because I was hungry!). 
Once everything’s underway take
time to pause and take it all in.  All the hard work is over and you
and your new husband can just enjoy the first day of the rest of your
lives together!"

2013-03-11_0009

What a delightful way to start the day – congratulations Mhoraig and Iain and thank you so very much for sharing your day with us all.  Huge thanks too to Zoë Campbell for sharing her imagery with us – I'm super thrilled that you discovered Zoë through Love My Dress, Mhoraig!

Loves of Mhoraig's dress can see much more from designer Alan Hannah on Love My Dress right here.

I'd love to see some sweet and lovely words for this couple and their wedding day in the comments box below. Let's start the week as we mean to go on and be lovely everyone! 😉

Back soon with more things wonderful…

Annabel

Heart

Photographer – Zoë Campbell, assisted by Zoe Barrie
Venue – House for an Art Lover
Wedding Dress – 'Jennifer' design by Alan Hannah
Brides Veil – Birdcage Veil from Lily Bella Bridal purchased from Melle Cloche in Glasgow
Brides Shoes – Tilly in Silver by Rachel Simpson
Faux Fur Jacket – Monsoon
Groom's Attire – Slanj
Bridesmaids – Flossy and Dossy
Flowergirls – Monsoon
Page Boy – Moss Brothers in Glasgow
Flowers – I Heart Flowers.
Cake – Little Cake Parlour in Glasgow

Hair Stylist – Debbie Flood
Makeup Artist – Stacey Leigh Spalding
Celebrant – Maggie Roebuck of the Humanist Society of Scotland
Earrings – Art Deco Preservation Society in Miami Beach

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