Black Tie and Gold For An Old School Glamour Wedding

wpid282606 black tie old school glamour wedding 42

Oh my days! I am totally in awe of today’s bride Rachel; her attention to detail, her devotion to a truly personal ceremony but more importantly her passion for creating such a beautiful day with so many thoughtful touches and links to her Brussels-based family.

The way Rachel describes her special day is warm, effusive and contagious. I just wish I could share each and every tiny detail, along with the thought behind it. Luckily we have these fantastic photos from Jonny Draper and footage from Silk Wedding Films that capture the full range of emotions and atmosphere from the day.

Film Production Copyright (c) 2014, Silk Wedding Films

The couple, who met at university, chose a winter wedding and married earlier this year on 8 February at Great John Street Hotel in the heart of Manchester city centre – though, given they both come from very spiritual families with strong religious faiths, they also chose to have a wedding blessing in Brussels a week later with Rachel’s family pastor saying a prayer of blessing over the marriage and where Rachel was luckily enough to wear her stunning dress for a second time.

Great John Street Hotel has such a decadent and glamorous feel to it that it just set the tone for the whole thing. The venue’s use of soft furnishings, candles and a stunning crystal chandelier suspended over the main reception room already give the hotel such a unique vibe. Ultimately this determined the ‘theme’ – a black-tie, old-school-glamour vibe.”

Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Jonny Draper

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

“I had always wanted a tulle dress and when I saw Charlotte Balbier’s ‘Fern’ I fell in love with the tulle overlaid on lace detailing. The feather corsage at the waist was beautiful too and as a result, white feathers ended up becoming a bit of a theme that I then incorporated into the flowers. It added a touch of winter-chic elegance and warmth to the dress and subsequently the bouquets.

I wore a handcrafted plain silk tulle veil from Helen Martin Bridal Veils that I bought through my bridal shop. It was cathedral length (9ft in total – I’m only 5ft3!). It was hands-down my absolute favourite ‘thing’ of the whole day; it just made me feel like such a bride! I’m gutted that I can’t wear it in everyday life.”

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

“I saved up to treat myself to a pair of Jimmy Choos. I purposely went for gold not white, so I can wear them again. I chose a style that was really fun and sparkly as it didn’t really matter if they matched too much – you couldn’t see them under the dress! For the evening I had purchased a pair of gold Converse – which I changed into at about 11pm complete with white frilly ankle socks!”

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

“I had four adult bridesmaids (my three best friends and my sister) and I let them each pick their own dress. It was important to me that they were each able to showcase their own unique style and choose something that they would feel good in. I wanted their individual looks to coordinate but not necessarily match, so they each chose a different floor-length gown in various shades of gold, champagne and bronze, all with a bit of sparkle of course, to go with the old-school glamour of the day.”

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

“Our photographer was the wonderful Jonny Draper who we knew we just had to have from day one. We really wanted a non-intrusive journalistic style of photography and someone who would capture all the little natural details of the day. We stumbled across Jonny’s pictures originally on a blog about another wedding at Great John Street Hotel and we both loved his style. Jonny is an absolute character and a lot of fun to work with too.”

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

“I think we always knew we would get married at Great John Street Hotel and talked about it being our wedding venue six years before we eventually tied the knot. It was the perfect choice for us. It was really important to us to have a venue that was urban and ultra-glamorous but also warm and cosy, with lots of versatile spaces to bring character to different parts of the day. Having a winter wedding meant we wanted a venue where the wow-factor was all about the interior.

Finally, it was important to us to have a venue that could offer ‘exclusive use’ and accommodation – we wanted the vibe to be personal and intimate. Being able to book all 30 bedrooms, with the place on lockdown just for us, meant all our friends and family who had travelled from afar would be looked after too. This was especially important as my family live in Brussels and had to travel over. It also meant we could have everything in one place – getting ready, the ceremony, the reception and then staying over – without needing to brave the Manchester weather.”

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

Chris wore the traditional full black tie – a black tuxedo, black braces, a white dress-shirt with dress studs and of course a bow tie. Chris’s suit was a black wool and mohair tuxedo from TM Lewin on King Street in Manchester.

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

Chris and Rachel wrote their own vows as part of their very personal ceremony, they agreed that they didn’t have to be too serious but they did have to come from the heart. Neither knew what the other was to promise until the day:

‘My Dearest Rachel,

I promise to never stop appreciating what makes you my Rachel – like how you share all your thoughts and feelings, and always wear your heart on your sleeve. Like the way you love Snowball like she’s our child. Like the way you cook me up feasts, the likes of which most boys could never dream.

I promise at the sound of your scream, I will get rid of the spider, and I will never pretend to put it on you. I’ll try my hardest not to get annoyed when you’ve bought some tat, or another coat, or more shoes. I will, no matter how tired I might be, never let us go to bed angry, and will always cuddle up as either the big or the little spoon. I will let you think that you are right. Sometimes. Other times I will not. I will always sing to you, most likely off-key, and at times, it might be quite irritating. But I will insert your name into the lyrics wherever I can.

I will hold your hand. I will love you. I will love you. I will love you.’

 jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

‘Chris,

Today I promise to be yours and only yours for the rest of my life. Since our first date, I have always known that one day I would make this promise to you. From today, with you by my side as my husband I feel like I can take all of life’s twists and turns in my stride.

I promise to love you and take care of you for the rest of my life. I promise to be patient with you, even when, every morning, you need ‘two more minutes’ before you can get out of bed. I promise to always try to be kind, even when we both get in from work, hungry and grumpy. I promise to be understanding, even when I think I am right and you are wrong. I promise to never lose my passion for cooking – my favourite moments are seeing your appreciation and appetite when I’ve cooked you dinner. I will always love you and I loved you that bit more the day you let me bring Snowball home. I love that now you love her as much as I do. From this day, I promise that you and I will always be a family, both stronger because we have each other. I know that one day we will grow our family and I promise to be the best I can be when that time comes.

My biggest promise, I make to you now, is to never lose the feeling I got when I first met you, first kissed you and when you asked me to marry you, that when I am with you I am the luckiest girl in the world.’

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

I may very well just have to pinch Rachel and Chris’s seating plan idea myself so I wanted to share it with you too so you can do the same.

“For our seating plan we had a table laid out with different gold frames. The heading in each frame was a sort of a quiz, correlating to the different table names. For example one frame was headed ‘Our first date’ and that table was then called Solomon & Grundy – the bar where our first date took place. Another was entitled ‘Our baby’ with the table called Snowball (our most precious possession, our cat!). It was all just a bit of fun that had our guests scrambling around trying to figure out their ‘clue’ so they would know where to sit.”

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

“The key thing we did décor-wise was to fill the hotel with candles, it gave every room a magical, warm glow to it. The centrepieces were large, decadent candelabras with hurricane vases, clustered with white roses and draped with pearl beads, placed over mirrors covered in tea lights.

I chose this look all to complement the existing décor of the hotel and to add a feeling of warmth and sparkle to the day whilst creating an aura of sophistication and classic glamour. The colour gold, along with touches of silver, pearls and white feathers were a continuing theme in the décor and floral arrangements all serving to add a touch of sparkle and elegance that went beautifully with the black tie dress code. Overall this created a warm and cosy environment – perfect considering the storm that ensued outside across the city for most of the day!”

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

“It was incredibly special to have our cake made for us by my Mum and my Auntie Jane. The cake itself was five tiers of traditional fruit cake – and as per tradition we have kept the top tier hopefully for a christening in the distant future. We also had a carrot cake that was served alongside as we know that fruitcake doesn’t float everyone’s boat. My mum made the cake at home in Brussels before driving it to England for my Auntie Jane to decorate.”

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

“We booked Howard Wing as our entertainment. If you’ve not seen him in action, it’s very hard to describe what he is all about as the term ‘wedding singer’ would do him a bit of a disservice. He is however first and foremost a singer, doing all the classics from Sinatra to Bublé with a whole load of other stuff thrown in there too. Howard sings as your guests dine and his whole style is charming, witty and non-intrusively interactive. We really wanted our wedding to be a whole day of fun surprises for our guests so Howard fitted into this vibe perfectly. It was all rather raucous and certainly a great ice-breaker that set a party mood for the rest of the evening.”

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

Words of wedded wisdom

“My advice would be to do your wedding your way – you only get to do it once so know your own mind and be confident in your decisions as a couple. And don’t be overwhelmed by how everyone else thinks you should do it, whether that’s your mum or grandma or the wedding magazines and blogs. But DO soak up every last bit of advice from well-meaning friends and family, and all the gorgeous inspiration out there on blogs, magazines and Pinterest, and then pick all the best bits that feel right to you… Don’t be afraid to think ‘great idea, but not for me’.

Finally remember that the ceremony is the main part, and the raison d’être of your wedding day. Put as much time into planning your ceremony and making it personal to you, however you decide to do it. It really was the most special part of our day. Oh… and double-check the postage before you send your invitations so that your guests don’t have to pay a surcharge receive them. Oops!”

jonny draper photography, black tie wedding, old school glamour

All I can say is WOW! I really love this wedding and how the couple crafted such a meaningful and heartfelt day.  Thank you so much to Jonny Draper for sharing this glittering wedding and thanks and many congratulations to Rachel and Chris. I wish that your married life be as organised, glamorous and as much fun as your wedding day.

So has this wedding swayed anyone away from a pretty summer wedding towards a fabulous winter do?

Much love

Katie xx

 

 

Photos: Jonny Draper
Videographer: Silk Wedding Films
Venue: Great John Street Hotel, Manchester
Dress:  Charlotte Balbier  from: The White Closet, West Didsbury
Veil: Helen Martin Bridal Veils
Hair comb: Etsy
Shoes: Jimmy Choo Garland Two-Tone Glitter Sandal from: Bicester Village
Bridesmaids: dresses – CoastBibaJohn Lewis & Phase 8
Bridesmaids Alice bands – Bod & Ted + Ribbon corsages by Sash & Co
Groom: Tuxedo – TM Lewin  Bow tie – Mrs Bowtie
Flowers: The Flower Lounge
Cake: Mum & Auntie Jane
Wishing bracelet favours: Etsy
Cheeseboard: The Cheese Hamlet
Entertainment: Singer/MC – Howard Wing  DJ – Dave Jones
Photobooth: The Mighty Boof from ZTPhotography
Stationery: I Do Designs

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5 thoughts on “Black Tie and Gold For An Old School Glamour Wedding

  1. Such a beautiful wedding! I’ve pinned the seating plan photos since both the idea and execution are fab. The bride, groom and bridesmaids look incredible! x

    1. I think so too! I’m trying to think of all the ‘our…..’ required! If you come up with any different ones please feel free to share 😉 xx

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