Welcome to 2016 lovelies! I hope you’ve had a relaxing holiday and enjoyed spending time with your loved ones. I’ve had a very jolly time for my first Christmas back in Australia; laughing so hard it hurts whilst playing funny games with my family, reading my Christmas wishlist book by the pool and trying to motivate myself back to daily beach walks after eating far too much delicious food! For those already back at work, you totally deserve to take a little tea break right now and check out these pretty pictures of today’s lovely bride and groom and their Summer wedding.
Lindsay, a Designer, and Daniel, who works in Pharmaceuticals, married on 25th June 2015 in a sweet little church on a hill, then celebrated in style at Southend Barns in Chichester, West Sussex.
“We knew we wanted our wedding to be relaxed, fun, and as outdoors as it could be, with an explosion of bright, happy colours linked in with gold – a bit Parisian, effortlessly glam and a big celebration. I love the 1970’s, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and Jenny from Forrest Gump in her hippy then disco years, so there was a mixture of influences from there too.”
Photography by Hayley Savage
The bride chose a divine Gemy Maalouf silky design, found via The Secret Dress House in Surrey, and a Charlie Brear obi silk belt.
“Some of the lace dresses I tried on really didn’t feel like me at all, so I ruled out lace pretty early on. The only thing I was really looking for was rich and luxurious silk.”
“I really liked the simple lines of the dress and I loved the simplicity of the silk belt; it felt so glam but not fussy at all.”
“The girls at The Secret Dress House were so lovely, really down to earth and they made dress shopping a pleasure – I can’t recommend them enough!”
I’ve been lucky enough to personally experience the adorable church the couple married in and can totally understand why they chose this majestic spot. And they found a lovely barn as their venue, giving them both an indoor and outdoor option.
“We found St Hubert’s Church in Idsworth on a walk between Christmas and New Year. Despite being so cold and grey outside, the church just had a magic feel to it – it was warm and bright and the walk up the hill was something I really loved the idea of, it just felt so right.”
“We were a bit worried that the weather on the day might be bad and the fact there was no path, just the grassy hill, could have been a disaster. However, we loved the setting and the view so much and Rosemary (the reverend) and the congregation at the church were so warm and welcoming that we were more than happy to take the risk. Luckily our positivity paid off and the sun shone all day!”
Dan and his groomsmen were a stylish bunch in mismatched combinations of navy, grey and green.
“Dan’s jacket was from Suit Supply and his trousers were from Next. He’s always really well dressed and was pretty clear from the beginning what he wanted to wear and brought the pieces individually to complete the look; a double-breasted jacket with peaked lapels, mismatched checked trousers and monk strap shoes, very classic but modern. I bought Dan’s watch as a wedding present. “
“The only theme we gave the groomsmen was navy and grey, as all the boys are so stylish we knew they’d look great. We bought green ties and white pocket squares to tie it all together.”
“Both hailing from Portsmouth, we met in Ibiza through mutual friends. We were friends for a few months before eventually going on a date. I wasn’t really into dating and thought if it was meant to be it would happen naturally. After getting to know each other for a while, our first date was easy, really relaxed and fun with no awkward conversations or trying to impress – I loved it!
We’ve been together for seven years and were engaged for two years before we got married.”
Lindsay and Dan had luck on their side when it came to their wedding car, a stylish restored Citroen DS belonging to her friend. Their rings were from Glynn Boyden Jewellery, a friend of Lindsay’s sister, and the beautiful bride was walked by her Dad down the aisle at the church for their traditional ceremony.
“We were so unbelievably lucky with the car. After going over budget on so many areas of our day, my mum was just about to book a traditional wedding car, but I asked her to give me till the end of the day to see if I could find a mode of transport that felt a bit more us. I went onto Instagram to see my friend Luke had just added a picture of his stunning Citroen DS, with red leather chairs!
So I sent him a message and was so overwhelmingly happy when he said we could use the car and also that he would drive us and for free. We absolutely loved this car, and Luke offering to do it for love not money felt really special.”
Hayley Savage Photography caught these amazing images of the couple. Lindsay and Dan chose Hayley at the last minute, after originally thinking they would not need a photographer, but were very happy with their choice.
“Originally we weren’t going to have a photographer, as we have so many friends who are creative and would all be coming to the wedding, so thought we wouldn’t need one.”
“Then month or so before, I became a bit worried we’d have nothing to remember our day with. I’d seen Hayley at a couple of my friend’s weddings and absolutely loved her pictures; they were so natural and beautiful, clean images, completely unstaged and fresh and colourful. Luckily, being on a Thursday, Hayley was available and I’m so glad she was there to record our day!”
Lindsay added a pair of earrings that were a wedding present from Dan, a spray of Chloe perfume and flowers in her hair prepared by the florist. A very sweet touch was the addition of her Mum’s own veil, plus a fabulous pair of gold platforms.
“I had tried on my Mum’s dress, but I’m a bit taller and it hadn’t kept so well, so unfortunately that wasn’t possible. As soon as Mum suggested her veil there was no way I wasn’t wearing it.”
“I was looking for some shoes like my Mum’s wedding shoes, or Jenny from Forrest Gump’s (during her disco years) – a 70’s gold platform shoe. Luckily I found some in Topshop that were perfect!”
The sweet little helpers wore pretty John Lewis frocks and I just love this shot of them heading down the aisle proudly doing their job, whilst holding the bright and colourful flowers.
“We wanted the colours for the flowers to be a proper celebration, again a bit 1970’s bohemian, with clashing oranges, corals, bright pinks and reds and a mixture of flowers and loads of foliage, for a wild and thrown-together look. Nia from LuvShifting did an amazing job on all the bouquets and button-holes. For the flowers for the church and on the tables, we raided one of my bridesmaid and best friend Sarah’s garden and used the pots me and my Dad had painted in yellow, pink, orange and red and tying in the gold with roughly brushed gold edges. My friend Ami and bridesmaids worked miracles the day before in the barn.”
“My Dad walked me down the aisle to Wagner’s ‘Bridal Chorus’. I asked for it to be played softly on the organ, as I didn’t want it to sound harsh or too grand. We walked out of the church to ‘The Music for the Royal Fireworks’ by Handel, played as loud and celebratory as possible!”
“For the ceremony, we went traditional. We had a rehearsal and went through what we would say with Rosemary and felt that the meaning was so perfect and sincere that we didn’t need to play around with the vows. Our reading was ‘The One’, as we both absolutely loved this reading and the words suited us perfectly.”
“My favourite part of our day was the service, as it was just so lovely and fun and not too serious. The church is such a special place and Rosemary the vicar is absolutely lovely. Every time I looked back, all I could see were our friends and family smiling.”
“For my hair, I was keen for ‘the bigger the better’ and a style that was very 70’s and Hollywood glam. One of my best friends (and bridesmaid) Anna Chapman is a session stylist and has won so many awards. Anna literally worked miracles that day – styling all the bridesmaid’s hair and even turning her hand to my makeup in a last minute emergency, when my eyes wouldn’t stop watering.”
“I wanted my bridesmaids to look and feel amazing and I was quite happy for them all to wear mismatched dresses, but didn’t really mind what style they were. I tried a dress on in Coast and after seeing the name – Cosmic – I fell in love! It suited the mood and theme perfectly and there were only three dresses in the shop and because it was an outlet it was a bit risky, but I bought all three dresses without having tried them on, or showing any of the girls! As luck would have it, they all loved them and we then found another one online.
To complete their stylish look the girls wore their own shoes, plus pretty floral crowns from Spitalfields Market, with the addition of fresh flowers and greenery from Nia the florist.”
“When we found Southend Barns, we fell in love with the outside area and its lovely rustic charm. We wanted the majority of the day to be held outside but the option of inside, in case the weather was bad, so it had the best of both worlds!”
The crafty bride designed her own stationery, after having helped friends with designs for their weddings. And I love the little handmade touches peppered throughout other areas of their wedding, including the favours, cake, decor, and photo booth entertainment.
“I have designed the wedding stationery of a few of my friends in the past and was so excited to start on ours. I had so many ideas and we were so happy with the result!”
“We both have so many children in our families and we’re all really close. We wanted them to have fun too and feel special so we made party bags, filled with bubble wands, sweets, colouring pads, glow sticks, floral crowns for the girls and whoopi cushions for the boys. For the adults I made wish bracelets, as we always wear matching friendship bracelets and I wanted to make souvenirs of the day that would encompass the magic of the day too.”
The home-made polaroid photo booth was just for fun really. I wanted a photo booth and loved the surreal element of the inflatable banana and rubber chicken to be a part of the room.”
“My Grandparents made our delicious cake! My Granny really does make the best fruit cake around and my Grandad iced it (he used to be in the catering core in the Army). I used rough gold brushstrokes for decoration and it was topped off perfectly with a little floral arrangement by Nia.”
I love this idea of dip-dying candles for a pop of colour and just wait until you see the brilliant table plan, it’s genius!
“We used candles in wine bottles for the table centre pieces – I love the simplicity and the ambience it creates. I also dip-dyed the candles to add colour and a slight rebellion from everything looking too perfect.
The gold tassels and balloons were an idea I’d seen and loved at a warehouse party. We really just wanted a big celebration and huge party!”
“The dream catcher table plan was an idea I thought of at the last minute. I wanted a giant dream catcher blowing in the breeze so had started to make one and I couldn’t think of how to organise the table plan, then suddenly the two ideas came together. After a whole evening of my mum and auntie wrapping the hoop and a couple of attempts of me weaving the centre, I was pretty pleased with how it ended up.”
Field and Fork provided delicious cocktails for the guests, perfect for a sunny summer’s day.
“The drinks served to welcome everyone were sangria and a gin and elderflower cocktail. After a brilliant holiday to Dan’s Granny’s apartment in
Spain – spent drinking Sangria like squash – it had to feature at our wedding! The cocktail is so refreshing and perfect for drinking in the sun (we were quite optimistic for sun!). These drinks were served with canapés, then we had a BBQ with lots of rustic salads for the meal.”
A friend of the couple acted as DJ, playing a groovy range of tunes for the guests and they also had a fun photo booth to entertain all.
“Our DJ was our friend Charlie – he plays nights at a bar in Portsmouth that we go to when we’re home and without fail we always have a good night. Charlie plays an eclectic mix of old and new, so he was perfect for our day. Our first dance song was ‘Magnolia’ by JJ Cale. Dan used to make me mix CD’s when we were first together and they were filled with so many beautiful songs. Our song is ‘Mr Dan’s Mix’ by Sebastian Tellier, but it would have been pretty hard to dance to, so JJ Cale was a good second option.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Don’t take it too seriously! It’s one day and nothing is worth falling out with people over – it’s a happy celebration and don’t let it become stressful. Also, it’s your day and your ideas are what makes it personal to you, so politely ignore people that try to steer you to traditional, if that’s not what you want. Be strong.”
What a fabulous day you had Lindsay and Dan and thank you so very much for sharing these special memories with us. I’d also like to send a big thank you to Hayley from Hayley Savage Photography for sharing these delightful images – you can view more of Hayley’s work here that we’ve previously featured.
Have a wonderful week lovely readers and I so look forward to bringing you more glamorous and beautiful weddings this year!
Love Jo -x-
Photographer – Hayley Savage Photography
Ceremony – St Hubert’s Church
Venue – Southend Barns, Chichester
Dress – Gemy Maalouf via The Secret Dress House + Charlie Brear obi belt
Shoes – Topshop
Hair accessory – Fresh flowers
Jewellery – Earrings from the groom
Scent/Perfume – Chloe
Bridesmaid Dresses – Coast
Bridesmaid Shoes – Own shoes
Bridesmaid’s Accessories – Floral crowns from Spitalfields Market + LuvShifting
Groom – Jacket from Suit Supply + trousers by Next
Flower girls – John Lewis
Florist – LuvShifting + homegrown flowers
Rings – Glynn Boyden Jewellery Workshop
Catering – Field and Fork
Cake – Handmade by the bride’s grandparents
Stationery – Designed by the bride
Hair Artist – Anna Chapman
Entertainment – DJ (a friend) and homemade photo booth
Transport – A friend’s Citroen DS
Jo Singletary View all Jo's articles
Jo hails from and lives in sunny Australia, is currently working towards her dream of being a career coach and a few of her favourite things are watching the sunrise over the ocean, morning walks on the beach, butterflies, and supporting the guide dogs charity.
Thank you so much for sharing Lindsay and Dan’s gorgeous wedding 🙂 xxx
Our absolute pleasure Hayley! Thank you for sharing the gorgeous photos with us all. I’m sure they will be a great source of inspiration for our readers xx
Ahhh… I’m so excited to see Lindz and Dan’s wedding featured on Love My Dress. The day was utterly beautiful and totally captured the happy couple’s style, enthusiasm and character. The day was full of smiles and colour and love… and if you ask me, they’re the perfect ingredients for a beautiful wedding! Yay…. Lets do it all again shall we!? x
Thank you so much for your lovely comments Ami and you’ve hit the nail on the head, those three things are indeed the perfect ingredients! And yes, I’d love to do it again and get married (to the same fella!) every year 🙂 xxx