A Second Hand Wedding Dress For a DIY, Handmade and Laidback Afternoon Tea Wedding

We often receive compliments from our readers on the diverse range and style of weddings we feature on Love My Dress.  One area you brides seem to love in your droves is 'DIY' – beautiful weddings with loving handmade touches that help to keep costs down. This wedding is precisely one of those.

Lizzie and Rick had a beautiful Spring wedding on 4th May this year, in the garden of Lizzie's parents.  I love the pared back, fuss free elegance of this wedding, and had a real sense, when preparing this feature, that Lizzie is a woman who was never going to be lured in by having to spend money on things she didn't need.  For her the focus was on the act of marriage itself and keeping to a sensible budget that meant her and Rick could enjoy a day full of very personal touches.

"I grew up in the place we got married – it's full of happy memories – there was no-where else that could compare. It was the perfect setting for the wedding we wanted, relaxed and fun with a homemade feel, because we didn’t want to spend a lot of money on one day.  You could say it was styled like an English garden party with tea and cakes – a swing band and a hog roast!"

Photography Copyright (c) 2013, O&C Photography

"Rick and I met at University – we were in neighbouring houses and moved in together early on. We discussed marriage and Rick bought the engagement ring from a friend’s friend (who is a diamond trader) when we could afford it, and we got engaged in August 2012. We got married the following May, as neither of us wanted a long engagement."

"I don't know who the designer of my dress was – I purchased the dress from an incredible second hand wedding dress company called 'Dream Second Hand Wedding Dress'.  It was flattering and not too revealing and I didn’t want to spend the day hoiking the dress up so straps were essential. I don’t like the heavy satin dresses that fill the wedding dress shops.

I purchased my veil at the same time as my dress – it matched, but was wildly uncomfortable so I didn’t wear it for long!"

"We didn't hire a stationery company – instead, in keeping with our homemade approach, we bought plywood and painted it with blackboard paint and created our own!  I drew all our boards myself."

"We made nearly all our own bunting too – my mum and I spent many hours cutting and sewing but it looked incredible. My mum also made all the table cloths from sheets too."

"My shoes were from Office. I intended to go barefoot for most of the day, which I did."

"Our cake was by a lady called Cari who has a small but incredible company called Craftee Cakes. We added the flowers ourselves.   My mum’s best friend and her family amazingly did all or sandwiches early in the morning on the day! We are very lucky to have had such amazing support, it was one of the ways to keep our costs down!"

"We got our flowers from Spirals Florists – they did the bouquets for myself and my bridesmaid the buttons holes for my husband and groomsmen and father of bride and father of groom and sprays for mother of bride mother of groom and my grandmother. We also had loose flowers which we arranged ourselves for tables."

"I bought the bridesmaids dresses from Topshop – we spent a huge amount of time looking at bridesmaids dresses and eventually found some nice dresses that seemed perfect and were really cheap – it was a very lucky find!"

"Our photographers were O&C Photography. We cannot recommend them highly enough. Very funny, relaxed and amazingly talented. They were loved by all our guests, put people at ease, and got the best photos possible.  Beautiful photos that are second to none and we would recommend them to absolutely everyone."

 

"I wore my great-grandmother’s pearl necklace which was given to me by my mother on my 17th birthday, it is an heirloom. My husband bought me a pair of Tiffany pearl earrings to match as a gift on our wedding day."

"My awesome dad gave me away and John Rodge, our musician (and member of Symphony Sid and the Swing Kings, and who used to conduct the orchestra I was in), played traditional Welsh music for us as we walked down the aisle. It was beautifu.

We had our vows written by John Durbin, our humanist celebrant and we checked them and removed bits we didn’t want and added bits we did. It was incredibly personal, moving and funny. It was perfect.

We had a Portuguese reading by Rick's mum and my brother read a funny poem by Pam Ayres."

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"I enjoyed every moment of the day – it was quite nice to escape to get our photos done, a break from the madness at the house!

I wouldn’t change a thing about the wedding. It was perfect.

My only advice would be – don’t have too many bridesmaids. Don’t let people tell you what they think you want and try not to forget that the important part is the marriage, the wedding – although a wonderful day – is just a day. Try to enjoy it!"

Ahhh, lovely stuff, LOVE weddings like this, totally relaxed, cool and down to earth. Makes me want to jump into the photograph and be right there joining in! Congratulations to you Lizzie and Rick – and thank you for sharing your charming Spring time DIY wedding with us.  Huge thanks to the loveliest ever Welsh wedding photographers too, the delightful Owen and Charis of O&C Photography – more from whom you can see on Love My Dress here.

Are you planning a Spring wedding of your own? Might you be wearing a second hand or pre-loved wedding dress on your special day?

With much love,

Annabel

Photographer – O&C Photography
Venue – The brides parent's garden
Brides + Veil – Dream Second Hand Wedding Dress
Brides' shoes – Office
Bride's accessories – Tiffany
Groom – FCUK suit + Reiss tie + Louy Magroom on notonthehighstreet.com cufflinks + Kurt Geiger shoes
Bridesmaids – Topshop
Flowers – Spirals Florists
Cakes – Craftee Cakes
Entertainment - Mellusion the Magician + Symphony Sid and the Swing Kings
Rings – Ernest Jones
Hair Stylist – Andrew Price

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