An Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil

Well here's a little treat for you this fine Thursday evening, a stylish Art Deco inspired wedding that took place in September last year, when Lucy, a freelanced editor and designer tied the knot with her beau Damien at The Daffodil in Cheltenham.

"We got married at The Daffodil which is full of so many Art Deco touches and we both really like the period, so it was easy to work along this when styling our wedding. The moody lighting and film posters really suited an evening event so we had quite a late afternoon wedding, followed by dinner and dancing.”

Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Gemma Williams

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

“Damien and I had known each other for almost 25 years when we got married, but only been together for just over two years. We both grew up in Ross-on-Wye and went to the same school until we were 18. We knew each other but were never particularly good friends and didn't keep in touch after we left. Then about three years ago a mutual school friend moved to London and decided to get in touch with any ex-pupils she could find living in London and organise a night out. So 8 of us met up and had a great night so made it a regular thing.”

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"After a while we both realised the people we were most looking forward to seeing when we met up was each other, but didn't do anything about it until January 2011 when I gave up my job and was about to head to the Alps for the winter. Damien couldn't make the farewell party so we went out for dinner just the two of us and finally got together.

After this, I left the country for 6 weeks then moved out to Cheltenham! A year of commuting between the two later Damien moved to Cheltenham and we bought a house in April 2012 then decided to get married at the end of the year. It took ages to organise a ring so we hadn't gone fully public and a few people got 'save the date' cards before they knew we were engaged!”

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

“We live only a few streets away from The Daffodil in Cheltenham, and love the venue.  We're both big Art Deco fans and have had many good meals (and evenings on the cocktails) there. Damien's also a big film fan so loved that it used to be a cinema and still has a few mementos like the old projector. When we started looking at wedding venues we saw a few others but nowhere that felt as special – and was so different (being in our mid-30s we've been to a lot of weddings, so wanted somewhere unique!)."

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"I am a freelance editor and designer so did all the stationery myself. I love typography so used lots of different art deco style fonts to come up with a design, using black and white and some flashes of yellow.

We took some inspiration from the Daffodil being a former cinema and made the place names into cinema tickets and we  also got to have a film-premiere-style board outside the front of the venue announcing the wedding of Lucy and Damien  was 'showing for one day only'!"   

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

“My dress came from White Minx Bridal in Hereford and was by a brand called Sweetheart Gowns.  I didn't want anything too heavy or bulky, and wanted to be able to move around easily, but other than that didn't have much idea. I tried on a few dresses in vastly different styles then found two I liked at White Minx. I couldn't decide between them but slightly preferred the other, a low-backed Hollywood-style dress. I went back with my mum and aunt for a second time and this time I totally changed my mind and fell in love with the other one.

It really fitted in with the art deco theme and was simple and elegant, and really different from anything else I had seen. It was made up of hundreds of tiny pleats and moved really beautifully as I walked. As I made my entrance to the Daffodil down a sweeping staircase I was worried about either me or my dad tripping over miles of fabric so I had the train reduced down and it shortened slightly so it just hit the ground.

My wedding dress came with a fabric flower on the front which I didn't really like, so replaced it with a diamond-shaped art deco-style brooch with pearls and crystals, and got a matching comb to go in my hair, both from Pure Rain Designs on Etsy.” 

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"My bridesmaids' dresses were from Coast, but were a previous year's stock. I saw one on eBay and loved the black and white style and though it would fit really well in the art deco theme. So I bought it and then spent the next six months keeping an eye on eBay to get two more in the right sizes to match, which luckily worked out (Plan B was to try and find something else and sell the others back on eBay!).

One of my original bridesmaids had to pull-out after she found out she would be 8 months pregnant by the wedding date, so we asked Damien's cousin Robyn if she would like to be a flower girl (she had been really ill and in hospital for a while earlier in the year so thought she'd like the chance to get all dressed up!). She wore a black dress also from Coast.

Each of my bridesmaids wore their own black sandals/heeled shoes."

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"My Aunt who helped my mum with the flowers also made our wedding cake – four tiers with a mixture of fruit and sponge cakes. It was decorated with Art Deco motifs and black ribbons, then she made a spray of sugar daffodils to go on the top."

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"All the flowers were done by my Mum and Aunt. My mum taught herself to make bouquets and made my bouquet from white roses with pearl and diamantes on wires, as well as making flower sprays to go onto clutch bags for the bridesmaids and mothers. My Aunt Sally helped with the flowers for the registrar's table and for the entrance, and we used potted white lilies in black pots to decorate the tables."

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

“Our photographer was Gemma Williams Photography.  We are both heavily into photography so had a good idea of what we did and didn't want in a wedding photographer. We'd come across some of Gemma's work online and really liked her style. The Daffodil isn't the easiest venue to photograph as it's quite dark inside but she did a fantastic job and our photos are just beautiful. We wanted mostly candid shots with just a few group and posed shots and they've worked brilliantly.

Gemma really captured all the little details that made the day and was so unobtrusive we hardly noticed her (we've had so many guests saying 'I don't remember that being taken’!).”

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography


"My shoes were from BHS Bridal – a pair of very simple, slightly 1920s style mid-court heels, with an ankle strap and a few sparkles on the front."

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"My hair was styled by Lynden Hawke at Lawrence John, Cheltenham – he's an old family friend who's been doing my mum's hair for 40 years (she used to take me to the salon in a carry cot!) – and my hair too for the lats 20 years.

My Make-up Artist was Lucy at BooLoo Make Up who also did the bridesmaids and my mum's make up – and kindly helped me with her shoes when everyone else had headed off to the venue and she realised she couldn't bend down in her dress to do them up!"   

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"Cars were supplied by my dad who has restored a couple of vintage cars – the one we used for the wedding was a Rover 12 Saloon from 1947, driven by my uncle Richard."

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"My dad John walked me down the 'aisle', which was a flight of stairs from the upper level (probably the most nerve wracking part of the day as we've both been known to be a bit clumsy!).   We came in to Pachabel's Canon in D on the piano."

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"My uncle Richard read an extract 'On Marriage' from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran and Damien's dad Chris read a poem by Adrian Henri, who was a friend of his, called Love Is."

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

“We had a jazz trio (organised by my dad who is a huge jazz fan) – The Dave Price Trio – who played before and after the ceremony. Then in the evening they were joined by the jazz trumpeter Digby Fairweather, who's a friend of Damien's dad’s.”   

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"The décor in the Daffodil matched the theme perfectly so we didn't need to do much, but we did have fairy lights strung along the bannisters and put the table numbers in black and silver frames on the tables, along with some black and silver star confetti, and tied black ribbons around the serviettes."

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

"Neither of us were keen on the idea of doing a first dance so hadn't planned anything, but were tricked into it in the end by Damien's dad! He got us down on the dancefloor to thank the musicians, and while we were there they announced we were on the dance floor and started playing so we had no escape! We actually quite enjoyed it in the end as everyone came to to join in shortly and it did mean we didn't have time to worry about it!"

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

“My first tip would be not to get too overwhelmed by all the planning – we sorted the venue, date, registrar and photographer as soon as we got engaged and then left everything else until only a few months before the wedding. I'm a great believer that a task expands to fill the time you have available for it, so if you allow two years to plan a wedding you'll end up filling it, but with a shorter burst of time you are usually more efficient and go more with your heart rather than over-analysing things.

After both being quite nervous in the morning the best bit was probably after the ceremony when we could finally relax and chat to all the guests with a glass of prosecco! It was so nice to greet all our friends and family, and really made us appreciate how many people had made the time to come and celebrate with us.

Also make use of the talents of your family and friends. In lieu of presents we had a wedding cake, flowers, hairdressing and cars supplied, and it was so nice to have people close to us involved in the day."

Art Deco Wedding at The Daffodil, Gemma Williams Photography

Thank yo so much Lucy and Damien for sharing your wedding – I loved reading about the story of how you got together, who knew all those years ago in the school playground that one day you'd be walking back down the aisle as newlyweds! Congratulations to you both – we hope you are loving your first year of marriage together.

Huge thanks also to photographer Gemma Williams for sharing her work.

Brides, are you turning to the Art Deco period to find inspiration for your wedding day?

Love Annabel

Heart

Photographer – Gemma Williams
Venue – The Daffodil, Cheltenham, UK
Brides dress – Sweetheart Gowns via White Minx Bridal in Hereford
Brides' shoes – 
BHS Bridal
Bride's accessories – Pure Rain Designs on Etsy + bracelet via Gadegaard Design on Etsy
Groom's + Groomsmen - Dinner jackets hired from Mervyn James
Bridesmaids – Coast
Flowers – The Bride's Mum and Aunt
Cake – The Bride's Aunt
Transport – Organised by the Bride's Dad
Entertainment – The Dave Price Trio
Stationery – The bride
Hair Stylist – ynden Hawke at Lawrence John, Cheltenham
Makeup Artist – BooLoo Make Up

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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.

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