Suzanne Neville And Red Roses For a Vintage Glamour Inspired Country Manor Affair

Welcome to Friday friends, we're almost at the weekend – stay with
us, we've a day of pure unadulerated glamour to get you through,
starting with the beautiful late Autumn wedding of Kate
and Phil, who tied the knot on 30 August at St Peter and St Paul's church in
West Clandon, followed by a reception at Clandon Park.  

Kate was keen for her dress to be made by a British designer and opted for Suzanne Neville, a designer all about  genuine glamour and beautifully constructed wedding gowns.  Suzanne Neville gowns are also entirely British made.  I really love these photographs, they depict such a stylish and elegant day with more than a mere hint of old fashioned Hollywood glamour (I adore Kate's killer Veronica Lake hair style!).  These photographs were taken by David of Modern Vintage Weddings.

"I
knew I wanted a traditional church wedding for Phil and I, but my theme was 'vintage
glamour'. I love the vintage style mixed with new. I chose the colours
red, black and white and even put my bridesmaids in black for a summer
wedding.  I am also a little bit obsessed with Sex And The City and Carrie's (almost)
wedding to Mr Big, where she had the bold red lips, the bird hair
piece and wearing the Vivienne Westwood dress, it was amazing!"

Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Modern Vintage Weddings

"Phil and I met at work – my friend was working for Lombard finance
and asked if I wanted to temp throughout the summer whilst I was at
university. Phil had already finished uni and was working there full
time. My friend told me I would like a guy there (Phil) and she was
right.

We did Bridget Jones style flirting over emails for a few months
then he asked me out! He proposed (finally) on our 10 year anniversary
in Iceland, he was trying to do it under the Northern Lights but they
couldn’t be seen. We got engaged in October 2012 and married in August 2013."

"My makeup artist was Karen Fundell,
who has worked in TV for a long time and she really captured the vintage
look I wanted. Both my hair and make-up were fabulous. She also did the
make-up and hair for my mother and one of my bridesmaid’s hair. The
bridesmaids make-up was done by Jo, one of my bridesmaids, as she is
qualified in that area. They went for a smoky eye to help create their
cocktail look.

I wanted my hair down in a vintage 20’s style so didn’t want
too much in my hair."

"My shoes were by Gina. 
I knew I wanted red shoes and went for polka dots mixed with a clash of
fuchsia pink! I am obsessed with shoes and wanted a pair I could wear
again and again. Something with a cheeky flash of colour too.

I wore my mother’s old engagement ring (it doesn’t fit her anymore so dad bought her another one).  It was my something borrowed on the day."

"My dress was by Suzanne Neville, and purchased at Suzanne's Guildford Store.  I wanted a British designer and have seen many of Suzanne Neville
dresses on TV and celebrity weddings. They are so beautifully made to
fit all women and provide a great shape and style. When you try them on
you feel so glamorous. My dress was aptly named ‘beautiful’." 

"My veil was also by Suzanne Neville
– I
will never forget watching William and Catherine’s Royal wedding and
thinking she looked so beautiful and knew I wanted to walk down an aisle
and feel like a princess too.  The veil was longer than the train on my
dress, though to be honest, I'd have had an even bigger veil if it would
have fit in the church!)"

 

"Order of service books came from RSVP Candy
an amazing retro vintage company where we had our invites made. They
have the most fabulous designs.  Our invite was a fold out story of our
life so far, (being together for 10 years helps), which our friends and
family loved and we actually have it framed in our house. So we kept the
theme and they made our order of service books and menus too.

Place
cards were luggage tags as our table plan was a map of the world and
tables named after our favourite holidays and they were all bought from notonthehighstreet.com. "

"Roses are my favourite flower and I knew I wanted a bold bright
bouquet for me and my bridesmaids that had no foliage and gave a flash
of colour against the dresses. I saw a Vera Wang display of flowers at a wedding fayre and loved the simplicity. Kim Shaw Flowers
provided the Church and venue displays. Kim looks after a lot of the
weddings at the Church and Clandon Park – as a National Trust venue
there are quite a few stipulations to what you can have and bring in, so having Kim really helped eleviate that stress.

We had roses
on the end of each pew and foliage wrapped around the pillars.  At Clandon Park there was a fantastic arrangement of red and white roses
over the cake display, and simple shallow vases of red and white roses on the tables".

"Our venue was Clandon Park – we wanted a venue where guests could park for the church service and then walk to the venue, so no travelling for anyone.  Clandon Park
offered the opportunity to get married in a church and then have a
beautiful walk through lime trees (as long as it didn’t rain}. Luckily it
was a beautiful sunny day for the wedding.

As the reception was in the vaults of the building, it was
perfect to turn into a club like feel after the meal and we had great
lighting which really gave it that dance feel"

"Carrie from Sex And The City's bridesmaids
wore different cocktail dresses and that’s what I wanted for my
bridesmaids. My girls wore dresses from Coast and shoes from Next and Debenhams. Their hair accessories were from Jon Richard at Debenhams.

The girl’s dresses were very simple so I
wanted them to have a matching necklace and bracelet that had a very
vintage feel. The Lotus Flower crystal set by Martine Wester Jewellery was perfect to add some
sparkle and very reasonably priced.  There is always a Friday offer on
the Martine Wester Jewellery website and the jewellery is very stylish. I first noticed her
designs watching Britain’s Got Talent – Amanda Holden wore some during
the shows!"

"We got the map of the world framed separately which is cheaper than
buying something already framed. We used a great local art gallery
called Art rebellion. 
My friend individually tied all of the bows on the place cards….and my
other friend wrote out all of the names, I wanted it to look like a real
luggage tag and have the personal feel to it."

"Our photographer was David of Modern Vintage Weddings. 
I adore David’s style of photography he has a way of making everything
look so beautiful and romantic. We were so impressed with the
photographs, he captured the day perfectly.  We are not ones for posing
too much so having natural pictures was important and David really did
capture these."

"My Father gave me away – we had a fantastic organist who played traditional Bridal Chorus by Wagner.

My
Mother did the biblical reading, John Chapter 15, verse
9-17. Biblical readings are difficult as the words are tricky to say
but my mother is a great public speaker and as a Christian it was really
important for her to read in the service. My friend Gemma Harding read
Blessing of the Apache. We asked her to research her favourite readings
then send them to us and both Phil and I loved the words. It was
perfect.

'Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness,
for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons,
but there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the
journey ahead and through all the years,
May happiness be your companion and
your days together be good and long upon the earth.'

"My wedding ring came from Cry For The Moon
as we wanted to buy the wedding ring from Guildford as we were getting
married there. The ring matched my engagement ring which is platinum
vintage style bought from Hatton Gardens.  Phil’s ring was bought from Earnest Jones in Guildford – very simple Platinum style."

"As favours for our female guests we had personalised sunflower
seeds from Wildflower Favours who are an eco-friendly supplier.

For the
gentlemen we had miniature Jack Daniels and put personalised coke
bottles (Phil & Kate) on the tables as mixers!"

"My Mother in law made the cake and took lessons from Tracey at One Of A Kind Cakes.  This again is a cheaper option than buying a cake and a lovely involvement for someone (if they don’t mind the pressure). 

The
cake was simple two tiers white iced (fruit bottom, sponge on top) with
roses in the middle and thick ivory ribbon. The cake toppers were made
by Tracey and gave a great reflection of us both. Phil had played
football nearly all of his life as a goal keeper and I holding a Louis
Vuitton bag was also very fitting.  I think you can be creative with
toppers and add your own personal touch."

"Phil wore a three piece black suit with a dash of colour on the
lapel – a double red rose button hole. It was important for Phil to
have a good suit and I wanted it tailored so that it fit him perfectly. 
Phil had a white tie and white shirt. 

He also wore a family pocket
watch from late 19th century – which was restored for our wedding as
Phil’s father wore it on his wedding day nearly 40 years ago. It has the
Meakin surname engraved too. Again worked great with the vintage style
mixed with a new suit. Phil also wore some patent black shoes from
Bertie in House of Fraser which were called the ‘brosnan’s’."

"It is very rare to get both sets of friends and family in one
place at one time and looking around watching them laughing, smiling and
enjoying themselves was by far the best part of the day.

A friend of ours sent us a message to say don’t be sad its all over,
you could replay that day another 10 times and never get it as perfect
as it was.

"Our first dance was to Lionel Richie's 'Stuck On You'.  Phil went
travelling a few months into our relationship and although we didn’t
stay together during that time, the lyrics to this song were very
appropriate for us. We pretty much got back together the day after he
arrived home from travelling the world!"

  

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Don’t be afraid to
put your bridesmaids in different colours and styles. Our photographer
David took a great picture of me and my closest friends and the array of
colours and different style dresses looked fabulous. Also most
bridesmaids don’t have the same body shape or style so tailoring their
look can really help make them feel and look beautiful.:

Thank you so much Kate
and Phil for sharing your incredibly glamorous day.  And huge thanks to photographer David of Modern Vintage Weddings for sharing his work too.

Do we have any more Suzanne Neville brides reading this? I'd love to hear from you if so. 

With much love,

Annabel

Photographer – Modern Vintage Weddings
Venue + Catering – Clandon Park
Brides Dress + Veil – Suzanne Neville (The Guildford Store)
Brides' shoes – Gina
Grooms Suit – Moss bespoke
Bridesmaids Dresses – Coast + shoes from Next + Debenhams + hair accessories via Jon Richard
Florist – Kim Shaw Flowers
Cake – One Of A Kind Cakes
Transport – Excel Chauffeurservice
Entertainment – Phil Webster, DJ
Favours – Wildflower Favours + miniature bottles of Jack Daniels
Rings – Cry For The Moon + Earnest Jones
Stationery – RSVP Candy
Makeup Artist – Karen Fundell
Map Table Plan – Art rebellion