A Long Sleeved, Sleek and Chic Pronovias Dress for a Glamorous Winter Wedding at a Converted Mill

Emilie May Photography Lucy Matt 45

Dear Readers, stay right where you are and keep on scrolling for the most enchanting Christmas wedding. What a magical time of the year to get married! There are so many beautiful details here to inspire and delight, all in the most gorgeous repurposed industrial setting – a mill nestled right on the banks of the River Derwent in Derbyshire.

Lucy, a strategy and policy officer within a procurement team, and Matt, an operations manager, celebrated their marriage on the 21 December 2016 at The West Mill, Darley Abbey, Derbyshire. We’re pleased to welcome The West Mill to our wonderful wedding directory, Little Book, and both Lucy and Matt are full of praise for this lovely and versatile venue.

“Choosing The West Mill was an easy decision. We had booked to view a number of wedding venues and the West Mill was the second place we visited. We instantly knew this was the venue for us, so much so, we cancelled all the other viewings. The four different floors of The West Mill were a huge selling point for us. As we planned on a winter wedding there would be plenty of space inside for photos and all our guests if we were to have bad weather. We also liked that whilst we were on one floor, a different floor could be getting ready for the next part of the wedding, for example whilst we were having our wedding breakfast and speeches on the third floor, the band were able to set up but go unnoticed on the second.”

Photography by Emilie May Photography

15 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

“The décor and design of the West Mill were also a huge plus for us, we loved how tastefully the venue has been renovated, all the original features, which have been restored and all the added furniture such as the Chesterfield sofas, which complimented the venue so well. The use of the beautiful bridal suite for the morning before the wedding was a great benefit and all the staff before and during our wedding were wonderful. We could go on forever telling people why we loved the West Mill so much.”

Lucy looked incredibly chic in the ‘Ivania’ gown by Pronovias, which she bought from Rococo Weddings in Melbourne. I love its clean minimalism, with a subtle mermaid style, long sleeves and plunging back.

“I already knew I wanted a long-sleeved dress and I wanted it to be simple. I’m not very fussy so knew I didn’t want lace or any glitz. I spent some time searching the internet and came across the Pronovias Ivania; I then searched for the nearest stockist and booked an appointment. I tried on a few of the other dresses in the shop first and then the Ivania… I absolutely adored my dress, though as it was so simple – it felt amazing to wear.”

1 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

Sparkly sandals came courtesy of Monsoon, paired with earrings gifted by Matt on the morning of the wedding. For her perfume, Lucy chose her favourite, Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel, and Matt’s grandmother made her the present of a new bottle for the day.

2 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

 

Alison Jenner was the hair and make up artist on hand to style Lucy’s hair into a stylish updo, adorned with a lovely, seasonal arrangement of berries, pine cones, rosemary, feathers, pussy willow and acorns. Lucy’s make up provided just the right amount of subtle, festive glitter and sparkle, too.

4 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

Vaas Master Florist created the amazing hairpiece Lucy wore, as well as all of the other incredible flowers for the day.

“I had a few ideas from the internet about the flowers I liked however I had no real set ideas. I knew I wanted to incorporate duck and pheasant feathers and I really loved protea and succulents, but I was pretty open-minded. I also knew I wanted flowers in my hair. As my dress was so simple I wanted to go dramatic with my flowers… We had a few meetings with Marc from Vaas and loved his ideas.”

“My favourite creation from Vaas…had to be my bouquet and headpiece, I was blown away when I saw them for the first time on the morning of the wedding. Vaas had really created the drama I wanted and I loved the disjointed shape, which was made by adding the feathers and pussy willow twigs.”

3 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire8 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

As they were married so close to Christmas, it felt natural for the couple to choose a festive colour scheme to weave through their day. Check out that incredible wrist corsage below, what a gorgeous, hands-free alternative to a bridesmaid bouquet!

“We chose emerald green and gold as our colour theme. Emerald is also my birth stone and there is emerald in my engagement ring – but other than that we just went with what we liked. I did a lot of research on Pinterest.”

10 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

Lucy’s best woman wore a gold, glittery sequinned dress by Sorella Vita, which was purchased from Precious Bridal Rooms, while the other bridesmaids wore emerald green chiffon gowns by Dessy at Frances Day Bridal. The gold and green provided a striking contrast, and the all of the bridesmaids also wore wrist corsages, hair accessories from Lottie Loves Vintage, shoes from Next and vintage fur shrugs sourced from eBay.

Make-up artist Cristina Lazzarotto also looked after them during the wedding day preparations. Lucy’s flower girl wore a pretty white lace dress from Monsoon and a spectacular foliage crown in her hair.

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“Matt and I met at a mutual friend’s house party in 2011, where we discovered we both shared good taste in music and at the time, rose wine, so we danced the night away. We went on our first date the following week and as they say, the rest is history. We share a love for music, food, travelling, Glastonbury and luckily find one another hilarious.”

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How smart do Matt and his groomsmen look in their tweed three-piece suits from Duncan James Menswear? I also love the emerald green accents in their pocket squares and bow ties, together with their pocket watches. Matt also gifted his groomsmen socks from Paul Smith to wear on the day.

5 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire6 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire7 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire32 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

The couple chose an amazing space for their ceremony, with candlelight reflecting around the wonderful weathered surfaces of the old mill. Lucy was accompanied down the aisle by her father, Richard, to the song Higher Love by James Vincent McMorrow.

They exchanged their specially written vows in front of a breathtaking foliage display from Vaas, and bespoke gold lettering from stationery designer Polly & Me.

17 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire18 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire19 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire20 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire22 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire01 Bridesmaid wearing a sequin dress and flowergirl carrying a large balloon23 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire24 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

“We decided we would write our own vows separately and only hear each other’s vows when we were saying them on our wedding day. It made the ceremony extra special and more personal to us. They were really heartfelt with a little humour added. We made each other promises as well as saying what we meant to each other.”

25 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

The couple chose two readings for their ceremony, the first being He’s Not Perfect by Bob Marley, which they felt suited them perfectly. Lucy’s cousin chose the second reading, the anonymous poem entitled The One. Matt’s wedding ring carried extra special significance and is a lovely story.

“Matt’s ring was his grandad’s gold wedding ring, which was melted down at a local jewellers and made into two rings; one for him and one for his grandad.”

28 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

“I decided to take my engagement ring off after the wedding and only wear it for special occasions. As the ring was antique it stood quite tall from my finger and could easily get damaged. Also the cluster of stones of the engagement ring was rather large so that I would have to have had a wedding ring with a cut out for it to sit snugly… which I also didn’t want. In the end, I had a plain gold band to match Matt’s from Ernest Jones.”

27 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire29 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire30 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire31 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

The stunning images of the day were all the work of Emilie May Photography and the joy of Lucy and Matt’s relaxed day has been wonderfully reflected through her lens. Videographers Satin Pictures were also on hand to film the day.

“We were recommended Emilie May Photography by Matt’s sister who had seen her work at a Wedding Fair and looked her up on Instagram. We instantly fell in love with her style. We wanted natural photos and Emilie did a fantastic job of all our wedding photos, we adore them all. We would highly recommend her work to anyone.”

36 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire37 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire38 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire39 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire40 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire41 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire42 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire01 Winter wedding at West Mill Derbyshire the bride wears a long sleeved backless Pronovias dress

Lucy and Matt decorated the mill with lots of candles, and  included a ladder with photos of loved ones who were unable to share their day with them. As well as creating the laser cut ‘Love you to the moon and back’ lettering, designer Allie at Polly & Me also made various signs, including a table plan and itinerary. There were also wooden crates with more photos, lanterns and bottles, and on the tables, gold spray painted tin cans containing more beautiful flowers from Marc at Vaas.

“The West Mill also didn’t charge corkage, which is fantastic, so we created a whisky and rum bar for the guests. We sourced 50 vintage glass decanters (we also had them on the tables with water in) and upcycled an old sideboard to create the bar.”

44 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire34 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire45 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire46 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire47 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire48 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire49 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire50 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire51 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire35 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire52 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire53 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

Food was provided by caterers Jenkinsons, and a magnificent four tier cake from The Melbourne Cake Company.

“When I went to look at my wedding dress, The Melbourne Cake Company had a few cakes in the window of the dress shop and they all looked amazing, so we booked an appointment and were greeted with delicious cake to sample when we arrived. They were super accommodating and worked with our budget; they also delivered the cake to the venue and provided instructions for cutting. We had 4 different flavours within our cake and we had 4 tiers. Each tier had a slightly different finish, we had one tier which was double in height and iced black like a chalk board (to fit in with the other boards we had ordered) with “All I want for Christmas is you” written on it. Vaas provided some foliage to decorate the cake and we ordered a cake topper from Polly & Me to finish it off.”

54 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

Lucy and Matt each have their own top three favourite moments from the day. For Lucy, exchanging their specially written vows was an incredibly special moment, and the speeches, including that of her husband, best woman and one of Matt’s best men, who couldn’t make the wedding but had recorded a speech. Her third favourite moment was dancing in the evening and watching everybody have a great time. Matt’s favourite moments were seeing Lucy for the first time in her incredible dress, seeing his groomsmen in their smart suits, and their wedding film from Satin Films.

“Our first dance was ‘Only Love’ by Ben Howard. We found it so hard to choose a first dance song and went through many different ones until we settled on that. We watched Ben Howard the first time we went to Glastonbury together, so really liked this track.”

Evening entertainment came from House of Chords, who provided the perfect party soundtrack to dance the night away.

55 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Take 10-15 minutes after you have got married to just spend with your husband/wife/partner to reflect on your ceremony together on you own. As we didnt have a car journey after our ceremony we just took 10 minutes in the bridal suite to have our first drink together.”

“If you can stretch your budget order a videographer. We weren’t going to have a video and only booked it last-minute, a few weeks before the wedding but it is the best thing we did. When you watch your video you can relive your wedding and it captures parts of your wedding you miss or forget.”

“Our photographer also told us not to request too many group photos, she suggested about 6, which we tried to stick too and I’m so glad she did…”

“Finally remember to enjoy your day, which you have spent so long planning and paying for, obviously you want to speak to all your guests but after about 9pm once we had greeted all of our night guests we made sure we had time dancing with our friends and family, and enjoyed the band. Finally my last advice would be have some snacks in your room for when you go home. All our food was delicious but I was so excited and preoccupied all day I didn’t eat much, and when we finally got back to our hotel I was so hungry. Luckily my mum had brought everything but the kitchen sink with her!”

56 A long sleeved Pronovias gown for a glamorous winter wedding at West Mill in Derbyshire

What a gorgeous day, Lucy and Matt! It’s totally transported me to December and all of those cosy, festive feelings. Many thanks to Emilie May Photography for such beautiful and natural images, too. What a treat it’s been to write about this wonderful Christmassy day!

Until next time.

With love,

Laura

Credits & Thanks

Laura Callan

Laura Callan View all Laura's articles

Laura is a freelance writer and content creator who loves telling stories. She has keen eye for photography and art, and lives with her husband, cats, and huge amounts of books.

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