A Watters Gown and Bespoke Headpiece for a Spanish Garden Themed Day

Its always quite exciting to feature the wedding of someone who works in the wedding industry, as they always have such fabulous weddings.  Today’s is no exception and brings together Spanish style and informality with a traditional church ceremony and some very pretty details. Rosie is the designer and owner of wedding accessories company, Rosie Willett Designs and Simon is a print technician for the company.  Rosie designs the most beautiful wedding headpieces and jewellery and – we shared a feature on Rosie’s designs only last week – read it to find out how you can save 30% on all Rosie Willett orders placed before the end of April.

Rosie and Simon married at St Andrews Worswick Street Church on the 5th September 2015 and held their reception across two venues- El Coto Spanish Restaurant and Bar Loco, both in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

“We styled our day with the theme of Spanish Garden, taking inspiration from the beautiful vibrant colours of plants and flowers in Menorca where we got engaged. In particular, the cerise pink colour of bougainvillea was just gorgeous and this was mixed with a palette of coral, blush and shades of blue and purple with a hint of yellow.”

Photography by Georgia Claire, assisted by Velveteen Photography

Rosie wore the beautiful ‘Santina’ by Watters, which she purchased from Kathryn Trueman in Morpeth, Northumberland.

“My wedding dress shopping experience was probably a little different from that of most brides.  As a headpiece designer, I already had a good knowledge of bridal wear designers and scoured websites to create a shortlist. I only went to Kathryn Trueman and tried on just five dresses.  I initially disregarded the Santina dress because it was so low cut, but something drew me back to it and I tried it on again.   I realised that if I could have a piece added at the front to give a bit more coverage, it would be the perfect dress for me.”“My dress had a stylish and bohemian look that suited the relaxed nature of the wedding and the skirt had a light and ethereal quality that felt quite balletic.   I also loved the scalloped shape of the lace, especially at the back, where it was cut into a deep V with pearl buttons running all the way down delicate illusion netting.  The coffee coloured lining gave it a vintage look and the slim satin belt emphasised my waist.”

For her shoes Rosie chose ‘Peony’ by Harriet Wilde with a laser cut floral design while for jewellery and accessories she went to Accessorize for her earrings and clutch bag.

“The bag was covered in 3D flower jewels in shades of blush, with muted blues, purples and coral, so it was ideal for my colour scheme.  It reminded me of pieces I’d seen on the Chanel Spring/Summer 2015 Haute Couture show, which was one of my inspirations.”

Unsurprisingly, Rosie wore a headpiece of her own design; isn’t it fabulous? The ‘Rosie’ wedding hair vine has now been added to the new Blossoms collection at Rosie Willett Designs, along with designs which were inspired by the creation of this piece.

“I think I had designed my headpiece before I even chose my wedding dress!  I knew that I wanted a delicate hair vine and, of course, it had to be something very special that I hadn’t made before.  Following the floral wedding theme, I hand stitched flowers in shades of ivory, coffee and blush to scatter around the vine.  I added sparkle with leaf shaped Swarovski crystal set in rose gold and also incorporated mother of pearl flowers and freshwater pearl to complement the pearl buttons on my dress.”

Make up was the work of Carly Musleh at Beauty Sauce, while Rosie styled her own hair.

Rosie’s bridesmaid paired a coral dress from Chi Chi London with peep toe shoes from Mythique Tango Boutique and jewellery from the Rosie Willett range, while the little flower girl looked gorgeous in a dress from Monsoon.

“I created bespoke headpieces for our bridesmaids.  Our older bridesmaid wore a piece inspired by bougainvillea, which I hand stitched and beaded in shades of vibrant pink and rose gold.  For our flower girl I designed a halo of flowers made in all of the shades in our colour palette.”

Rosie and her Dad entered the church to ‘Aquarium’ by Saint-Saens, Rosie’s favourite piece of classical music.

Simon looked smart but relaxed in a blue suit from Racing Green, worn with a subtle floral shirt from Jeff Banks and shoes from Office.

The stunning flowers were the work of Real Country Flowers – I’m absolutely in love with the bright and vibrant bouquets.

“The flowers were an important feature as they brought our Spanish Garden theme to life.  Real Country Flowers‘ flowers are home grown and hand picked and arranged in a natural way that’s full of character.  Anne was so helpful and knowledgeable throughout our email correspondence that I knew they would be beautiful.”

The couple exchanged rings from Chapman’s The Jewellers in Whitley Bay.

“We knew that we both wanted simple plain gold bands. We chose our rings whilst out on a walk along the coast line, stopping off at an independent jeweller in Whitley Bay.”

Rosie and Simon spoke the traditional vows to one another and chose two readings from the Bible.  The first was from Song of Solomon, Chapter 2: 8-17 for it’s references to springtime, nature and youth, while the second was from Romans, Chapter 12: 9-21.

“We weren’t going to have a wedding cake, but a very generous family member offered to make one for us.  I made a colourful flower garland to wrap around it, which we topped with a wooden sign from Sophia Victoria Joy.”

“The main venue for our wedding reception was El Coto.  We decided very soon after getting engaged on a Spanish holiday that sharing tapas with our close family and friends would be a lovely way to celebrate our wedding.”

“One of our main aims was to have a wedding that wasn’t too far removed from what we would do in our everyday lives, rather than anything too grand or formal.  We wanted something that was low-key, casual, fun and sociable, where people could just relax and enjoy good food, wine and company.”

“The private function room at El Coto created the perfect atmosphere for our intimate gathering and we were lucky to have a warm day, so also made use of the outdoor patio area and created a sangria garden.”

“We continued the Spanish theme with a party across the road at Bar Loco later on in the evening.  We wanted it to feel like a normal night out so didn’t feel the need to provide evening entertainment as we knew that people would be happy to chat and relax on the comfy sofas.”

“For me, the best part of the day was the time we spent at El Coto.  Our guests arrived there ahead of Simon and I and when we arrived, everyone was enjoying sangria on the patio and there was such a buzzing atmosphere, with chatter and laughter filling the air.  It was wonderful to see people making new friends and having fun with old ones.”

The talent behind the lens today was Georgia Claire, assisted by Velveteen Photography.

“Georgia has been photographing my headpieces for the past four years, so she was the obvious choice for our wedding photographer.  We love her soft and dreamy style of photography and asked for mainly reportage images that captured our friends and family enjoying the day. We are delighted with our photographs, which capture the relaxed and joyful feel of the day, as well as all the colours and details.”

Words Of Wedded Wisdom

“My best piece of advice is to really think about what you actually want for your wedding day, rather than following traditions just because you think people will expect them.  Some traditions felt right for us but many of them didn’t.  

The most important things for us were that family and friends could spend quality time together, that everyone felt comfortable and relaxed and that we could all enjoy good food and wine.  The church ceremony was also very important to Simon and I enjoyed planning and creating the details.

I think people found the informality of our wedding quite refreshing and genuinely had a great time.  I’m so pleased that we stayed true to ourselves.”

So many thanks to Rosie and Simon for sharing their gorgeous day.  I was in Spain last summer and this brings it all flooding back.  Don’t forget to pop over to Rosie’s webpage to look at her beautiful designs if you’re in need of a hairpiece or some jewellery for your own day- I’m tempted myself- do you think I can wear one to work?

Much love,

Shona x