Love My Dress UK Wedding Blog

An Original Tiered 1950s Wedding Dress For A Quirky and Theatrical Style Winter Wedding

Happy lunch time friends. I'm so happy to be sharing this delightful wedding with you today, it has all the hallmarks of vintage glamour, but with a healthy does of theatre inspired quirkiness thrown in that makes pouring over these photographs such a treat.  There's that dress, the seductive wintery lighting, that Croquembouche and the dark and curious yet utterly beautiful wedding venue that is Maunsel House in Somerset.

This is the wedding of Matt and Hannah-Marie, who tied the knot on 12th December 2012.  Hannah-Marie wore the most beautiful tiered original vintage wedding dress, circa. 1950's, from A Vintage Affair in Cardiff... 

"I wasn't even shopping for a wedding dress at the time; I love vintage clothes and was just looking around in the A Vintage Affair shop in Cardiff when I spotted it hidden amongst a load of other dresses. The first thing I saw was the back – all lace and tiered frills – and it was so striking I had to try it on.  Suffice to say, even though it was too big for me at the time, I knew it was perfect. I had it altered and repaired by a family friend; she estimated it was at least as old as the 50's. I loved the fact that it had been worn for weddings before mine and that it was totally individual." 

 Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Helen Lisk

Shoes by none other than the fabulous Rachel Simpson - who, it seems, many of our readers are huge fans of!  This pair was purchased via The Mews, Bristol.  Love the dusky pink colour and deco motif (see lots more brides in their Rachel Simpson shoes here by the way)...

 

"We were both at the University of Bristol and we met through the Bristol University Pantomime Society. Our characters ended up as a couple at the end of our first show – it was clearly meant to be! We were together for two years, including a year where Matt was studying in the U.S., before Hannah proposed and three years later we married."

I adore this feather shrug from Biba at House of Fraser. What a glamorous statement accessory, just divine...

"We're both quite theatrical people, so our inspiration was the Italian Commedia dell'Arte (masquerade). From that we chose our colour scheme (gold, black, ivory) and we used our collection of Venetian masks in the décor – along with some silly photo-prop masks for our guests to try on at the wedding breakfast! We kept the Commedia theme in our evening entertainment, which included a selection of old-fashioned tabletop games and a limbo set. Also, as our wedding was in December, we had mince pies and mulled wine as appetisers, crackers on the table, and Christmas carols during the service. 

 We fell in love with the gorgeous St Michael chapel in the Maunsel grounds and knew straight away we wanted to get married there. The wreaths in the church were actually left over from a wedding two days before – but we liked them so kept them for our wedding too!    

 The quirky, unique nature of Maunsel House really appealed to us – it seemed just the place to complement our own rather eccentric personalities. We needed hardly any decoration as the house is brimming with fantastic furnishings as it is. Our favourite place was the old pub style bar, full of a selection of disarmed guns – great for photos!"

"We opted for a Croquembouche – a tower of profiteroles wrapped in caramel – decorated with playing card suits and topped with chocolate roses.  Lick the Spoon were our suppliers.  We wanted something a bit different and felt the Croquembouche fitted with the alternative, playful feel of our day. As the base, we had a dairy-free ginger and dark chocolate cake for our lactose intolerant guests, or those who didn't like profiteroles. Both cakes were delicious and had everyone going back for more!"

"Our photographer  Helen Lisk was absolutely fantastic. We and all our guests have been singing her praises. We loved meeting her before the wedding for our Engagement shoot – she is so friendly and helpful and made us feel totally at ease.

On the big day, she worked incredibly hard, running around all over the grounds to get the best photos she could and it definitely paid off. We're thrilled to bits with our wedding photos and would highly recommend Helen to anyone!"

How To Beautifully and Stylishly Wrap Your Christmas Gifts...

Earlier this month, lovely Michelle and Vicki of Pocketful of Dreams! shared this lovely 'make your own Christmas baubles' DIY feature with us.  Today, I'm sneaking in another easy-as-pie DIY tutorial from this talented and super lovely creative duo - it's another one we can all try and that reuqires no skill level and that should absolutely be enoyed with a mince pie and glass of mulled wine close by....

We were thrilled with the reaction we had to our our last DIY post for Love My Dress, and so we are back today with some festive crafting ideas; this time for wrapping your presents.

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Debs Ivelja Photography

This tends to be the last task you get to in the busy festive planning schedule and it can be tempting just to reach to the back of the cupboard and see what paper you have left over from previous years.  But after all the time you have spent choosing the perfect gift, personalising your gift wrap will ensure the recipients of your presents feel extra special!  And best of all, these gift wrapping ideas aren't just for Christmas...you can use your wrapping creativity for birthdays, spontaneous gift buying or even for thank you gifts on your wedding day.

To make your own gift wrap you will need:

Brown kraft paper - you can buy this from any craft store, often far more cheaply than standard gift wrap
Double sided tape
Ribbon, twine, yarn, doilies, festive foliage and any other decorative elements you want to use
Card or luggage tags to make your own gift tags

To start, wrap your presents in brown kraft paper to give all your gifts a consistent canvas on which to decorate.  Using double sided tape requires a little extra patience compared to standard sellotape but will give your gifts a slicker and more professional finish.  For those odd shaped presents, try putting them into cardboard boxes first to make wrapping that bit easier.

Then comes the fun bit - adding your own decorative touches!  There really are no rules here; we chose to use coloured yarn and gold sparkly ribbon and string to decorate our gifts.  Wrapping continuous loops of yarn in single colour blocks is quick and easy but creates a high impact effect.  Or for something a little more involved, take a strip of kraft paper which is along enough to reach around your gift, cut a scalloped pattern into the strip and then using a hole punch make a hole in each scallop.  We then plaited together different coloured yarns and thread them through the scalloped holes before tying this around our gift.

Choose colours which coordinate with your Christmas tree decorations, go rustic by adding baby pine cones, fir tree cuttings taken from the back of your real tree or holly picked up your local park.  For an added festive twist, you can spray your foliage with white paint for a snowy effect or gold spray paint as we did for some Christmas sparkle.  Or to really add some personalisation, you could create a different wrapping style for each friend or family; inexpensive shop bought decorations, the humble doily and other knick knacks can all add cute little details to your gifts.

And of course, you need to make sure you remember to add gift tags to avoid Christmas morning confusion!  Again, there is huge scope for personalisation here.  A simple option could be to write names or initials straight onto your paper or why not use luggage tags, perhaps stamped with a festive motif like a reindeer, snowflake or Christmas tree.  For our presents, we created gift tags from the bauble artwork of our Pocketful of Dreams exclusive Christmas cards designed by Bonjour Pony; we just printed the designs onto standard paper, cut them out and backed them with gold and silver card.

This DIY is a great way to add some personalisation into an essential Christmas task.  It doesn't take much more time than wrapping with shop bought paper but the extra thought you put in will ensure that your presents look dazzling under your tree and your friends and family will be bowled over by the extra little touches.  For other low cost, high impact crafting ideas, pop over to Pocketful of Dreams for our Crafted Christmas series.

Michelle & Vicki
Event Designers and Stylists at Pocketful of Dreams
Pocketful of Dreams offers wedding and event design, planning and styling services across the UK

Christmas Dinner ~ How do you like yours?

So, it's the lead in to Christmas week and we're all on wind-down - let me a hear a collective 'phheewwwww!''.  You're welcome.

And I for one, am feeling completely in the spirit this week - so to ease us into the festive holiday, I've decided to be a bit, erm, Christmassy this week - whist also giving you the perfect excuse to skive off work for a bit this afternoon whilst you let your mouth melt at the thought of that the ultimate christmas dinner.

We're seriously not taking ourselves seriously this week, and I dare say, who cares, it's Christmas soon afterall and I have foooood on my mind...

Top row:  Christmas tree cake, Holiday cookies via Sweet Paul, Christmas pudding ice cream.  Middle row: Snowman macarons, Christmas tree coffee cup cookies, Brown sugar hard sauce.  Bottom row: Christmas pudding cupcakes, Berry topped Christmas pudding, Steamed Christmas pudding

I'm keen to get some foodie ideas going this afternoon. Christmas is a time for indulging but also enjoying beautiful seasonal flavours and freshly grown winter produce (ok, and junk food). I adore eating with friends and family at Christmas. If there's one time I never feel any concern about having maybe eaten too much, it's at Christmas time. Bring on the goose fat, full fat coke and lashings of brandy sauce.

I'm not a natural cook (ha,that's an understatement) and my husband Phil tends to do all the cooking, but I'm really looking forward to playing my part (ya know, getting my pinny on and preparing the sprouts, shaking those blanched potatoes in a bit of goose fat to get the perfect crispy outcome and one may even attempt baking a few mince pies) but I really, really love to talk food and hear how other people are planning one of the most celebrated meals/feasts of the year.

So what will be on your plate this Christmas day?

Will it be Christmas pudding or Christmas cake or will you be indulging in both?  Will you be piling your plate high with sprouts or are do you consider them the off-spawn of vegetable evil?

Image Source

Will you be venturing into baking perchance? Are you entertaining and if so what party food, and drinks, have you got planned? I've not been drinking any alcohol in a little while now and don't imagine I'll be going too bonkers on the bubbly this holiday either (who needs the headache? so I'm keen to learn about how to make really pretty non alcoholic cocktails - I'd love any ideas or suggestions my readers might have.  I discovered a lovely alcohol free elderflower brew at Marks & Spencers last week, it's yum! (unfortunately I can't find the link on the M&S website).

Personally, I cannot even conceive of a Christmas meal without three key elements; Marks and Spencers bread sauce, chipolatas (with back wrapped round) and stuffing.  In fact, you could serve all three on a plate with not much else but a little gravy and I'd be very happy.  This has to be followed by a fruit-packed Christmas pudding (any recommendations where to buy the perfect pudding) that we like to light with the help of a little brandy.   And I have to start Christmas day with the perfect bacon butty (local, organic meat) and a cup of Yorkshire tea (in a fine china tea cup!).  It's kind of become a tradition to have a bacon sandwich on Christmas morning! I mean, if you're going to stuff your face with calories all day, you may as well start as you mean to go on.

Talking of calories, do any of you watch what you eat over Christmas or do you let go and embrace the festive foodieness of it all (ahem, like me?).

Clockwise from top left: Christmas turkey, sprouts, Jamie Oliver parsnips, Turkey Cranberry Monte Cristo, mince pies, the perfect roast potato, vegetarian loaf

What I'll actually be eating this Christmas is duck; we like to try a different meat each year - though I'm insisting on just a bit of turkey to have on the side. I'm rather a traditionalist when it comes to my Christmas platter!  There are quite a few vegetarians in our family though, so we're always thinking of ways to make a delicious non meat-based meal too.  I'd love if any of my vegetarian or vegan readers culd make some suggestions in the comments box below.

Come on lovelies, let's get this important topical debate started;

What makes the perfect Christmas meal?

Vegetarians/Vegans - what will you be eating and what delish meals would you recommended like minded non-meat eaters?

What about the liquid variety? What's your favourite tipple, and do you any of you have any recipies or recommendations for non-alcoholic christmas/winter cocktails?

Clockwise from top left:- Winter sun cocktail, snowflake milk bottles,  Christmas rum punch, Irish cream, Christmas berry drink, Christmas Cranberry Mojitos

Will you be doing the cooking or do you get a day off to indulge in way too much Baileys?

Any little tips for perfecting the little touches and getting that perfect roast spud?

Right, I'm off to bake some mince pies (wish me luck! Last time I did this, they ended up a little burned!)

Annabel

How To Make Your Own DIY Christmas Baubles...

As promised my lovers, today is going to be a day jam packed with features, a little Christmas treat for you.  You seen this morning's nuptials yet? If not, go skidaddle on over to this page to take a look, and then come back here to print out this page and pretty pictures by Debs Ivelja, so that you can make some of these beautiful baubles of your very own this weekend via this easy-peasy pie and fun DIY tutorial. I actually can't wait to get crafting with my little girls!

Over to you, Michelle and Vicki of Pocketful of Dreams!

It is lovely to be back gracing the pages of Love My Dress once more!  As event designers and wedding planners we love to get our hands dirty crafting and creating our own unique decorations, not just for parties but for making our homes sparkle too. Recently, we have been embracing our creative passion over at Pocketful of Dreams with our Crafted Christmas series and today we have a rather special DIY feature for you. It's just perfect for those wanting to introduce a bit of personalised styling into their Christmas decorations or winter wedding this year!

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Debs Ivelja Photography

The centrepiece of every home at Christmas has to be the tree and today we are sharing with you details of how to turn traditional glass baubles into an eclectic and colourful set of decorations, featuring everything from sparkly sequins to rustic moss.  If you are planning a Christmas wedding, these would also make fabulous decor items, place name settings or even favours.

To make your baubles you will need:

  Transparent glass baubles with removable tops.  We brought ours from Amazon but try craft shops or Christmas shops.  Just make sure you go for baubles with a seamless finish to best display your "fillings"
  Decorative items to fill your baubles; choose from glitter to sequins to artificial snow!  Visit your local craft shop for inspiration.
  Ribbon, twine or yarn to hang your baubles.

To create your own baubles, take the transparent baubles and remove the tops from each.  You may find that it is helpful to stand your baubles up in the container they come in to make it easier to add your decorative touches.  Then simply take your choice of decoration and carefully insert into the bauble.  There are only two restrictions here - your imagination and the opening of the bauble! 

Make sure you check the diameter of the neck of the opening before you start buying pieces to add in; the glass at the neck of the bauble will be very fragile so you need to be quite delicate and avoid forcing any larger objects through.

If you are a glitz and glamour kinda girl then why not play with sequins and glitter which will beautifully reflect in the twinkling fairy lights on your tree.  Or if rustic is more your style, then you can use feathers, moss, twigs or even cuttings from your Christmas tree to create beautiful natural decorations.

The more adventurous amongst you may even want to have a go at creating winter scenes; invest in some artificial snow and then place model reindeer or Christmas trees inside your bauble.  You may find a pair of tweezers will help you to position things in your snow scene.

This easy DIY is perfect for anyone out there new to crafting who wants to create something special and personal to adorn their tree this Christmas.  For other low cost, high impact crafting ideas, pop over to Pocketful of Dreams for our Crafted Christmas series.

Michelle & Vicki
Event Designers and Stylists at Pocketful of Dreams
Pocketful of Dreams offers wedding and event design, planning and styling services across the UK