A 1930’s Inspired Dress for a Local Wedding with an Elegant and Industrial Twist

West Yorkshire is where my life is currently based, so its so lovely to feature a wedding which celebrates the industrial heritage of the area, in all its mill-strewn glory.

Meet Ali, a Theatre Producer and Programmer, and her husband Phil, who works in Child Safeguarding. The couple married on Saturday 30th September 2017 at St. John’s Church followed by Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley.  This really is the most gorgeous love story, and the day is unbelievably stylish.

“Our vision was inspired by the locality, heritage and aesthetic of the mill itself; alongside the culture, landscape and people we surround ourselves with.”

Images by Matt Sim

Today’s photos come to us from the talented Matt Sim, who I am delighted to welcome to the blog for the first time.

“We knew Matt already through some good friends of ours; I have used him before for theatre projects and we adore his skilled ability to capture candid moments, rather than formal posed set-ups. He was exceptional from start to finish – we barely knew he was there and yet at the same time he was everywhere, jumping into action to capture the most precious and unexpected moments from our day – he totally nailed the energy and spirit of the day. We can’t recommend Matt highly enough – he is a true professional in every sense of the word and has a wonderful ethos that very much complemented everything we wanted from our day.”“We chose colours that complemented the industrial aesthetic of the space (slate grey, dusky pink and champagne gold) and brought the outside in with greenery winding its way around the pillars, nooks and crannies and creating a starlit affect with a ‘roof’ of fairy lights. Our table names were inspired by fabric designs made at the mill, sourced from the archive team, and we made use of every bit of artwork and heritage furniture we could find.”

Ali’s regular hairdressers from Smitin Hair in Farsley styled everyone’s hair and the ladies did their own make up.

“Andrea and Rosie brought all the good vibes and styled our hair exactly how we wanted it – soft elegance that stayed in all day.”

Ali looked fabulous in a bespoke vintage style gown by Deborah Coates.

“I had no idea where to begin when it came to the dress.  My style in general is pretty casual and I wear a lot of vintage as I like to own unique pieces of clothing.  Phil’s mom suggested that I get in touch with Deborah Coates, who had recently opened her own shop specialising in accessible, vintage-inspired design.”

“I went to meet Deborah and we chatted about my style and taste in general, while she sketched away in front of me.  She turned her sketch pad around and despite it being a rough initial design idea, it was perfect- streamlined, 1930’s-inspired elegance with a high slash-neck and low back. She created maximum versatility by fitting a removable cowl buttoned to the back of the shoulders and a hook underneath to shorten the train for dancing.”

“It was 100% ivory silk with appliqué lace to create subtle, asymmetric texture and silk-covered buttons.  It was comfortable, light, elegant, versatile, and most importantly, completely unique.”

On her feet, Ali wore a pair of vintage Gabor shoes, while for jewellery she opted for pearl earrings borrowed from her mum and a simple back necklace.  Her hairpiece was borrowed from her sister-in-law.  For the finishing touches she chose a wrist corsage and a 1930’s-inspired drawstring bag (a gift from her mum).

Inside it was her ‘something blue’: a white handkerchief of her grandma’s (who couldn’t be there on the day) decorated with delicate blue flowers.

The gorgeous flowers were the work of Rosie Boyes-Watson of B W Blossom & Bloom, a university friend of Ali’s.

The bridesmaids looked lovely in ‘Darianna’ in silver from Coast, while the two flower girls wore dresses from Debenhams.

Phil wore a green three-piece suit from Moss Bros, paired with vintage coin cufflinks, made by his great uncle Stan

 

“The venue isn’t licensed so we got married in the local church (which plays a big role in the Farsley community) and walked down the high street to the mill, where we had a drinks and canapés reception in the art gallery followed by feasting and festivities in the Finishing Room.”

Ali was accompanied down the aisle by her dad, to Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major and she and Phil were married by Rev. Hannah Lievesley.

“We used traditional religious vows, but tweaked the wording and liturgy to address the gender equality issues, with full support from our feminist vicar.  For example, rather than ‘who gives this woman to this man’, Hannah asked ‘on behalf of all family and friends here today, who gives their blessing for these two persons to be married?’ – to which my dad answered ‘Absolutely, I do!’.”

“We spent a while considering that one – my dad is quite a traditionalist and I knew it was important for him to give his blessing, but he totally understood where we were coming from. Between the three of us we came up with something we all felt happy with.”

Phil’s mum, Christine, gave a bible reading: Colossions 3, 12-17, while Ali’s mum, Kath, read an Apache Wedding Blessing.  Phil’s sister, Liz, read ‘I Will Be Your Atlas’ – a poem written by friend Louise who couldn’t be there on the day.

“We chose Sunny Bank Mills partly because it isn’t a wedding venue at all – it’s a family-run, Victorian textile mill in Yorkshire that has been renovated for creative enterprise and culture whilst still maintaining its stunning heritage architecture and industrial features.  It’s a ten-minute walk from our house and we visit regularly.”

“We’d asked Phil’s dad to play the ‘Master of Ceremonies’ role so he called everyone to dinner and read a ‘Yorkshire Wedding Grace’ to get everyone quiet. Then, unexpectedly, my dad stood up and sang the first line of Dean Martin’s ‘Everybody Loves Somebody’.”

“To our shock my mom stood up (from the opposite side of the room) and sang the second line, then Phil’s mom, Phil’s dad, my stepdad, our brothers, sisters, in-laws and cousins joined in and before we knew it the whole room was singing, finishing with a cracking harmony from our two moms that made everyone laugh and cheer. We were blown away – I don’t think I’ve ever been so emotional.”

“I made a speech, which – despite living in the age of equality (supposedly) – seemed to surprise most people.  I know it’s not for everyone, but it’s one of the few times in life you will have all your family and friends together in one place; and one of the few times in life it’s acceptable to stand up and tell the person/people you love how much you appreciate them – so if you have something you want to say – say it. You won’t regret it.”

“Bears Pantry cooked up the canapes and ‘family dining style’ feast that looked as good as it tasted. They worked with the brilliant Zephyr to run the bar in the evening.”

The fabulous cake was the work of family, while Phil’s mum made the wedding favours – little pots of jam.

“Two of our best friends put together a ten-piece ‘dirty funk’ band made up of some of the most talented musicians in Leeds for our evening do. Our brother-in-law Jon melted the hearts of all our guests when he brought out his blues-y rasp and sweet piano skills while we signed the registers in the church, and Wilson McGladdery – a folk/blues duo – entertained our guests with their high energy and rich harmonies during the drinks reception in the gallery.”

“Our favourite part of the day, hands down, was the flash mob our two families surprised us with.  For context: my parents went through a pretty traumatic divorce when my sister and I were younger so I was particularly anxious about the interaction between them at our wedding.  Little did we know, in the weeks running up to the wedding, they had all been getting together regularly to practice for the biggest surprise of our lives.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Fill the day with your own personalities and don’t get sucked into the hype. The ‘perfect wedding’ is one where the inevitable imperfections go unnoticed because you are surrounded by people you love who are all busy having an absolute blast. Take time for each other on the day – find a moment just to take it all in together, because it will fly by.”

So many thanks to Ali and Phil for sharing their unique and beautiful day. Thank you also to Matt Sim for the gorgeous detail-filled images.

For more weddings which are inspired by our industrial heritage, take a peek here.  There are so many amazing locations and they provide absolute proof a wedding venue doesn’t necessary have to be ‘pretty’ to be beautiful.

Love,

S x