"You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, when I met you..."
....that much is true. She was you know. And he said so during his speech at the reception. It went down a storm of course, sending fits of giggles rising joyously into the luxurious sparkly chandeliers that hung majestically over the dining area. The groom had looked a little nervous up to now, I was nervous for him - having to give a speech to 150 odd guests. I needn't have been. He was just fine.
My presence as both a guest {how lucky?!} and 'photographer's assistant' at this wedding, was the result of a call-out I put to professional photographers back in August, when I asked if it would be possible to shadow them at a wedding, just to see what it was like and to help me understanding the role of a wedding photographer. The lovely Eliza Claire replied, as did a fair few others {thank you all}, and before I knew it, I was preparing to attend the nuptials of the darling 'Love Audrey' - a long-term and loyal visitor to Love My Dress...
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Eliza Claire
Love Audrey is of course not the brides real name! I can't help but call her that though in homage to her delightful little blog, where for the past two years, she has been documenting life as a Mother to her two beautiful children, daughter Izzy, 7, and son Jesse, 2 - where she has shared her latest baking achievements in the kitchen, talked of her love of all things glamorous {always glamorous}, and up to now, mused about being Carl's Fiance.
Franky {her real name is Frances}, does have a touch of the Audrey about her though wouldn't you agree? That petite, gamine, adorable sort of quality? There is a certain aura that she carries about her person, a warm glow that leaves a little impression of loveliness wherever she goes. It's true; ask her husband, friends, family or anyone who knows her, they'll tell you.
And so it was on a gorgeous and sunny {if not freezing cold!} Saturday afternoon on 14 January, that Franky elevated her status from Fiance to Wife in the most touching of wedding ceremonies at Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, a venue chosen as for it's resonance with the couple's shared love of the cinema.
I cried. And rather a lot too. But so did pretty much everyone else there...
"Carl and I met almost 10 years ago when we worked in a cocktail bar and restaurant in West London. He was a chef, I was a waitress. We got together at Carl’s 23rd birthday party and celebrated our 8 year anniversary the day before the wedding. We were mainly guided by our mutual love of film and my passion for vintage glamour - we are both great cinephiles, Carl himself is a filmmaker and I have a passion for classic Hollywood films and vintage cinema in general.
I don’t religiously dress in vintage, but I’m always inspired by the style of the past and the women I idolise such as Audrey Hepburn and Ginger Rogers. I tried to apply the same approach to our wedding day. It wasn’t ever meant to be historically accurate or representative of one particular era, just a reflection of the things we enjoy, love and admire..."
Now I have to say my loves, the one thing that blew me away was the Bride's coat. A coat I tell you! What a genius idea or a winter bride...
"My coat was designed and made for me buy Joanne Fleming. Prior to meeting Jo, I had tried a few shrugs and even entertained the idea of my Mum knitting me something but nothing seemed to look right with the dress. I really wanted to channel some Old Hollywood glamour and wear something that made me feel more like the movie stars I idolise from the 1930s than a bride. I saw some of Jo’s designs featured on Love My Dress and quickly arranged a meeting with her at her beautiful studio in Brighton.
I went armed with a few images of 1930s day coats and, after a quick consultation, she roughly sketched out the most beautiful design. I chose some gorgeous silk velvet to compliment the ostrich feathers and the coat was lined in pale pink/peach silk..."
Doesn't the word 'coat' suddently seem a rather nadequate way of describing the fine feathery, crushed velvet, just-perfectly-nipped-in-at-the-waist number above?
Franky wore the exquisite ‘Lace’ heels, by Jimmy Choo...
"I first saw these featured on Love My Dress. I had a lovely shopping trip to buy them in London with one of my bridesmaids!"
"We had originally hoped to get married in an old cinema, but we couldn’t find anywhere suitable. My Mum stumbled across Heatherden Hall by chance when she met some people that had recently married there. We fell in love with the place the minute we walked in, not only because of the sense of film history attached to it, but because it really is a beautiful venue in its own right.
We adored the stunning ballroom filled with twinkling chandeliers and the gardens that managed to look wonderful even in the middle of January..."
Franky's bridesmaids dresses were from Monsoon - though her Sister's shorter dress {far left} was from Coast. Izzy, Franky's Daughter who was a flowergirl on the day, also wore a dress from Monsoon...
"I adore baking and decided very early on in the planning process that I I would prefer a buffet of homemade cakes to a more traditional wedding cake. My Mum and I collected cake stands from charity shops and markets and also bought a beautiful vintage lace table cloth. We hired a few additional plates and stands from Idyllic Days {who also provided the candelabras we used on the tables}.
The cake buffet was a lot of work, and I found the day before quite stressful, especially when we realised we didn’t have a cake box big enough to transport the largest cake. My Mum had to give up her hatbox so we could get it to the venue! It was all worth it though when I walked in and saw it all laid out on the table. Our guests all thought it was such a lovely touch and the cupcakes disappeared very quickly!"
"All of our ‘on the day’ stationery {including the menus described above and the A4 signs used with our cocktails and cake buffet} was designed and made by Elle is for Love. I have a weakness for beautiful paper goods and stationery in general and I adored what she came up with for us. Elle’s customer service was always impeccable, even when I was being awkward about the ‘Who’s Who’ and kept changing the information!"
"Jenna from Lucky Sixpence Events provided invaluable help on the day itself and in the last few weeks leading up to the wedding. I would highly recommend her to other brides, she removed so much stress from the final stages of planning and did an amazing job of setting up all the details we had spent weeks agonising over. I
believe it took her two hours to hand tie each of our guest’s place names to their napkins with bakers twine. Now that’s dedication!"
Continue reading "A Cinematic Celebration at Pinewood Studios for an Audrey Inspired Bride..." »
