Good morning lovers, did you get a chance to view the brand spanking new collection of vintage inspired shoes by Agnes and Norman on Love My Dress yesterday? If not, I encourage you to go take a peek, because for the next 2 weeks only, you, my lovely, as a Love My Dress reader, are entitled to a whopping 25% off any style of shoe design. That's a rather fabulous little saving there that I wouldn't want to miss out on!
Oh how we love a beautiful vintage inspired wedding - this morning's nuptials took place on 8th December at Islington Town Hall in London. where Clare and Greg tied the knot before going on to celebrate with their friends and family at a reception hosted at The Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker on St Johns St, London.
"I worked with dress and costume maker Annie Kelley. I chose a vintage 50s tea dress pattern (found on Ebay) and then Annie suggested a few modifications in line with what I wanted. I knew I didn’t want a traditional wedding dress. I tried on a couple but they were just not me. I looked at some off the peg dresses in high street shops but nothing felt right."
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Alexa Loy
"I’d seen a few 50s tea length dresses online and really liked them but I wasn’t brave enough to order one without trying it on. With only a couple of months to go I was starting to wonder if I’d find anything at all. A friend gave me the contact details of a dressmaker she knew. Annie mainly makes costumes and textile art but when I told her what I was looking for she agreed to make it.
We went to Berwick St in London and searched through loads of fabrics and lace. At first I wasn’t sure about lace but Annie found some lovely ones. We also decided to avoid white and finally went with a vintage pink colour which really made the dress come to life. She ended up hand stitching a lot of it which made it feel really special. It was great collaborating with Annie and ending up with a truly unique dress.
I made my own birdcage veil from supplies I found on Etsy at Squirlgirl Millinery Supplies. The headpiece was from Vintage Styler."
"I bought my shoes at Fur Coat No Knickers, they are by Rachel Simpson. As soon as I saw them I knew they were perfect. Just the right amount of 50s vintage style."
"We met on a dating site and I was just about to give up as I had been a quite a few dates that didn’t work out, when I saw his profile. I knew there was something different about him from his first message. We started emailing and then met up in London a month later (September 2010) and that was that. We spent a few months travelling back and forth from Leicester (where Greg was living) until he found a job in London and we moved in together. (August 2011).
We had talked about getting married and Greg asked me in June 2012. He was very traditional – getting down on one knee and he even asked my dad’s permission the day before. I loved it! We decided we didn’t want to wait too long to get married and picked early December as it meant that there was less time for me to be nervous and just enough time to get everything organised."
"I looked at lots of real wedding blog posts to get some ideas of what style I like and didn’t like. Greg left it to me to pick the style but we both wanted something fun and informal and liked the vintage weddings. The pub we choose to have our reception in, The Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker, was a little bit vintage/retro so we worked with that. The main aim was to make it a great party that was relaxed with the minimum of tradition.
We both wanted to get married in London. I have always lived here and Greg loves it since moving down from Leicester. We choose Islington Town Hall as the Council Chamber is beautiful and felt very welcoming. My dad’s family are from Islington and I went to school there so it has always been a part of my life."
"For the reception we decided we wanted a pub venue to keep it relaxed and informal but also somewhere that served great food. We trawled lots of different pubs in the area but couldn’t find one that was right. On the way back from yet another viewing we passed The Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker. It wasn’t on our list of possibilities but we had a look inside and really liked the place. It was very friendly and the decor was a great mix of retro and vintage. We had a chat with the landlords (Matt and Mark) who said they had never held a big wedding reception n there before but were up for the challenge.
We decided we would hire the whole pub out the day. It was great being able to plan what we wanted and Matt and Mark were fantastic. They had just hired a new chef and we got to decide exactly what menu we wanted. The food was amazing too."
"Clarissa Harris (tel 01708475958, no website) provided our flowers. I’ve known Clarissa for years. Clarissa is a florist and also teaches floristry. I knew immediately I wanted her to do the flowers. I wanted something informal with a vintage feel. We picked vintage pink, ivories and different greens I discussed everything with Clarissa and she came back with a list of plants and flowers that were perfect.
I bought different sized jam jars to display them in. When I saw them on the day I was blown away they were just beautiful and exactly what I had hoped for. My bouquet was amazing. The flowers were one if my favourite things about the wedding."
"We looked at lots of different stationery designs. We wanted something fun but not to silly and cool but not too pretentious. Finally we found a scrabble design theme invitation by Happy Whale Designs from New Zealand on Etsy which fit the bill perfectly. Belinda the designer was brilliant. We ended up getting her design the rest of our stationery based around that theme. With the New Zealand time difference often I'd send her a request in the evening and by the time I woke up the next day the proof would be waiting.
Luckily Greg works in the print industry so he got Belinda's designs printed for us. I carried on the scrabble theme making all the place names and table numbers from wooden scrabble tiles sourced on ebay."
"In keeping with our vintage theme we used vintage glasses to hold tea-lights to decorate the tables along with vintage place mats and table runners. We looked in lots of charity shops in the weeks running up to the wedding and there was always something there. On a weekend away in Wiltshire we discovered Beulahs Vintage Attic which was a treasure trove.
We
were in there for hours. I would recommend it to London vintage brides
who don't want to pay London vintage prices! For the drinks reception
following the ceremony I hired some vintage teacups and urns from Classic Crockery."
"I enlisted some friends to decorate the pub with bunting and pompoms to make it more festive. On one of the walls I put up framed wedding photos from my mum and dad's wedding, my maternal grandparents wedding and great grand parents wedding. When I was searching for the photos in my parents house I came across some wedding decorations from their wedding in 1972. There were some brilliant things in there so I choose a few pieces and hung them around the pub too.
I also discovered my mums wedding dress from 1972 and her mother's dress from 1942. I hung them up along with my dress in the morning and got Alexa to photograph them. I loved seeing them together and how different they all looked."
"Our photographer was Alexa Loy. I came across Alexa's work after a friend posted up her wedding pictures that Alexa had taken on Love My Dress. I really loved the colour and relaxed style. She seemed to really captured the day. We had a chat on the phone and then met up over a drink and Greg and I knew that she was just what we were looking for.
Alexa provide an engagement shoot as part of the wedding package and it was great to get used to the camera as usually I'm very camera shy. Alexa's enthusiasm for her work is infectious. On the wedding day she made it fun and relaxed and our photos are just gorgeous.
Continue reading "A 1950s Style Tea Length Wedding Dress For A Vintage Inspired London Bride" »
