Love My Dress Wedding Blog

A Show-Stopping Red Lace Dress Designed And Made By A Stylish London Bride For Her Quirky, Colourful and Vintage Inspired Wedding

From here on, we're on official count-down to the weekend. Hooooray!  I've been saving this wedding all week to share with you today - I wanted it to brighten this, the final working day of the week for many of you, with something bold and beautiful.

Zoe and Phil tied the knot on 23rd February 2013 at The Old Finsbury Town Hall, London, followed by a reception at The Roost.  It is plain and obvious why I was instantly smitten with these out of this world wedding photographs shot by Christopher Currie, but just in case  you need it spelling out, sometimes, it's all about the dress...

"I designed and made my wedding dress.  I had wanted a red dress for quite a while but wasn’t sure I’d actually go for it, but just after the proposal I was on a shopping trip in New York for work and tried on an amazing red Valentino dress which confirmed it. 

The colour suits me much more than ivory and it just felt so much more exciting knowing what a surprise it would be for Phil on the day. It took ages to make in the end, ie, most of the Christmas holidays, and then some!  I’m a bit rusty with the sewing skills these days..."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog (c) 2013 - Christopher Currie

"There was a point just towards the end of making my dress that I had to put it away and not look at it again for a month as I almost couldn’t tell what it looked like any more as I’d been so close to it for so long. When I got it out again I was so pleased with it and so happy I made it myself. No one else has a dress like mine and no one ever will. I love it!"

"We chose to get married at The Old Finsbury Town Hall - a venue quite close to where we live in London and an absolutely beautiful old Art Nouveau style red brick building. Our reception venue was The Roost, a photography studio that looks a bit like an old disused pub from the outside. It’s literally round the corner from our flat in Hackney.

We had walked past it lots of times and wondered what exactly it was. One day we walked past and a the door was ajar and a band were setting up their equipment in there so we asked what was going on. They were doing a wedding there that afternoon, so we took the details so we could keep it in mind- we  weren’t even engaged at the point but said if we did get married it had to be there!"

"We used some paper pom poms in the windows of the room where we had dinner which were quite cheap but really effective. You can get them in loads of different colours and they're relatively easy to assemble.

They fit with the whole non floral/ paper theme.  We also got big silver letter helium balloons spelling out the word 'love' that we tied up near a stags head in the entrance to the ground floor at the bar in the reception venue - a bit cheesy, but we'd seen a picture of a couple holding them on a wedding blog somewhere and thought they were quite simple but effective."

"When we were chatting about what we wanted our wedding to be we were really keen for it to be as relaxed as possible and have quite a laid back friendly feel with nice food, lots of drink and a massive party for our friends  at the end. We are both from quite small families so vast majority of our guests were friends so we knew that sort of do should go down well."

I have to note something here - I know all about The Roost! It is owned by the same company who own Dalston Heights, which is where who did shot the images for my new book, Style Me Vintage: Weddings. And thus, I know how utterly fabulous a venue it is - really!  I also have worked with Juliet Carr of Paper Poms, who supplied the pom-poms pictured above.  Juliet worked with me on my book, and my book launch - the paper poms were a major talking point at my book launch party in fact!

"I did my own make up and I had a make up trial with a friend of a friend but it wasn't for me. In the end, my hair was done at my usual salon, Dappa Boutique in Chalk Farm. My usual hairdresser Steven who owns the salon did my mums hair on the day and also the two bridesmaids with shorter hair.

My hairdresser for the day was a brilliant guy from California who specialises in Vintage styling, he trained in Hollywood and did a fantastic job. I was so pleased with my hair. He also did one of the other bridesmaids and a 3rd stylist Roger did vintage do's on the remaining two bridesmaids."

"The red dress led the colour palette for me. Phil didn’t know the dress was to be red as it was a big secret, but I just said I thought everything should be quite warm and rich looking colour wise as it would suit the venue and the time of year.  Fortunately, he went with it! 

The reception venue also directed things quite a bit. We had already seen the place and knew it had to be there - it’s a really shabby, quirky, vintage over the top kind of venue - lots of gorgeous wallpapers for photo backdrops (couldn’t rely on the weather in Feb for outside shots obviously!) and odd props about the place."

"I was really lucky in that one of my work suppliers in China made the bridesmaids dresses for me. I work for Oasis and to make it easier I used old occasion-wear styles (designed by one of the other designers - Kathryn) and had the dresses designed in different fabrics in my colour palette. My bridesmaids all look very different from each other - they couldn’t be more different really so I went for mix and match dresses that (hopefully) suited each of them individually."

"Phil and I met at Notting Hill Carnival three and a half years ago. A friend of mine was going out with Phil’s business partner and we all went together. They ended up not having a very good day of it as they were having a very long winded argument for most of the day!  Phil and I didn’t know each other at all at the start of the day but seeing as all this was going on we were pretty much thrust together as we kept losing them in the crowds when they kept stopping to argue! We didn’t see much music that year but had the best time hanging around getting to know each other whilst waiting for them to catch us up! We moved in together after a couple of years and then Phil proposed last September.

Phil whisked me away for a surprise holiday in Siena, Italy. I love Italy and had never been to Siena before, it’s such a beautiful place. We nearly went to Florence but when Phil was contacting one of my work mates to get me the Friday off in secret so we had a longer weekend she recommended it- I’m so glad she did and he decided to go for it! We then had a fairly quick engagement of 6 months. One reason being that one of my bridesmaids lives in Australia and I knew she’d be able to come over in February and the other reason that no one else knew at the time was that I wanted a red dress and I thought that a winter styled wedding would suit that much better."

"We hired vintage crockery from Vintage Flair - Elizabeth and Ellen were again great to work with from start to finish - very on the ball. I had decided quite early on that I wanted the vintage crockery. It was an extra expense, but given our quirky colourful venue I thought it would really set it off and make the whole thing look extra special. I definitely think it was worth it, the tables looked amazing!"

"I made my hair band. I had a clear idea of something quite simple and vintage looking with a bit of the old fashioned net on it for the veil. I wasn’t quite sure how to actually put the thing together though so it would be comfortable on the day and not feel like it was falling off. I’m really lucky in that one of my friends Jo Shippen is a brilliant stylist and really creative – I knew that Jo would be able to think of what to do. She showed me how to put it on a very thin headband to make it easier to wear on the day."

"Phil wore a bright blue suit from Reiss. It was lucky the colours went so well together on the day as I didn't know what Phil was going to be wearing.  He also wore a Marwood tie and pocket square from Mr Porter, Grenson Shoes and pink Falke socks.

The groomsmen all wore suits of their own choosing. We wanted all the bridal party to be mix and match rather than having all the men in matching tails as we thought it would help with the overall relaxed look/ feel of the day."

 

"My favourite part was walking down the aisle. It was one of the bits I had been not looking forward to at all- I found the whole idea terrifying and embarrassing! Strange it turned out to be my favourite! It's so lovely to see everyone for the first time after all the preparation. They're all there for you and they're really happy for you and smiling and supporting you, it's a lovely feeling.

Also, I had been beside myself with nerves the whole morning - just far too much adrenaline I think! When I saw Phil I was so happy that he was there for us to share the rest of the day together, I was so happy to see him."

"The flowers were all origami paper flowers that I folded (mostly) myself. I had a little help in the last month from Phil and the Head Bridesmaid Becky, but the rest of the flowers were folded by me in the preceding 6 months. I got specialist origami printed papers in packs from Amazon and just pulled out my favourite prints that matched the colour palette.

The table decorations and venue displays, bridesmaids bouquets, my bouquet and the bridal party buttonholes (which were eventually finished off over a glass of bubbly in the night before the wedding) were all origami."

"Phil is a Graphic Designer, and so had strong ideas for the look of all of the stationary. I spent a lot of time over the Christmas holidays making my dress, and whilst I was doing this, he was in the other room designing the look of pretty much everything else for the day. He was inspired by modernist swiss typography - a reference that probably only other graphic designer geeks will understand!

However, Phil made a fab job of our invites, order of service and menus etc.  He made a great montage of embarrassing photos of the two of us from when we were kids, a poster of a list of everyone that was at the wedding, and another poster of where and when we met, got engaged and got married, a fortune teller game with silly 'fortunes' of different groups of people on  different tables at the wedding and various dares, eg 'get a kiss from the bride', a 'Fill in the Blanks' game for the tables for guests ('Phil must always remember to -------- before Zoe -------' etc)!"

"Best of all though were the place settings and table plan. Instead of names we had silly/slightly embarrassing pictures of all the guests (careful what pics you leave hanging about on Facebook guys - you never know where they might turn up!). They were all on a big table plan on the entrance to the meal, and then on everyone’s place setting. Lots of people took these as the favours, as well as some of the origami flowers."

"Our photographer was Christopher Currie. He and his partner Gillian Lawtie are friends of my Junior Designer at work. They photographed the wedding of another of my colleagues a couple of years ago, and one of the things that Phil and I noticed about them that we really liked was that we didn't notice them. We could only think of one occasion when we had seen them at that wedding and that was for the group shot.

For a couple who cringe at the idea of getting photographed all day they seemed like the prefect option and they were! We loved them, and we were so happy with the results, but everything about their whole service was perfect from start to finish. They are really friendly people who totally got what we were trying to get from our photo's of our day.

Chris and Gillian were extremely thorough, ie, meeting up with us before and even scouting out the venues so they could get the best shots and on the day. They really were totally unobtrusive  and I genuinely think they got the best out of us.  I'm so happy we found them."

A Bright and Colourful Somerset Marquee Wedding

I have the prettiest wedding for you this Friday afternoon my friends.  This gloriously colourful celebration was submitted by wedding and event stylist Jessie Thomson and these photographs were taken by Jonathon Watkins.  I love how this wedding mixes tradition with modern contemporary, it works beautifully and Jessie has done a really super job of styling the occasion.

Mr and Mrs Stubbings tied the knot on 8 September 2012 with a marquee wedding (supplied by Archers Marquees) in the garden of a family house in Dowlish Wake, Somerset - a place of happy memories for the groom, as he used to holiday there as a child with his Great Uncle and Aunt.  Here the bride talks us through the styling aspects of her wedding day, which she wanted to pay homage to her French heritage...

"The idea was to have a country-style wedding, very traditional but classy. The bride is French and her husband English, so we wanted to use the English countryside style with hats and lots of wild flowers in the gorgeous garden.

Despite the format of the day being quite traditional, we weren't keen on havign too many formal decorations and flowers (roses etc) as the venue was fairly laid-back - it would have seemed out of place.  During our church service, we had French and English readings and songs, followed by cocktails in the garden and a seated dinner.  The wine and champagne were brought from France, the food was English, and we had two cakes: one French, one English."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Jonathon Watkins

Our wedding planner and stylist Jessie Thomson came up with the theme and colour scheme for us (actually she came up with a few as we originally thought we wanted a yellow and blue theme, but as it happens Philip loved the bright colours the most!), and at her recommendation we decided to have lots of colourful paper lanterns that lit up in the marquee at night.

On the morning of the wedding Jessie made table runners for us out of hessian, as well as little touches like creating a place for guests to hang hats with twine and mini pegs. Jam jars with flowers and tea lights lined the tables, and in the week before the wedding we found an old vintage bathtub, which Jessie and the caterers filled with ice and champagne. The gardens provided a stunning backdrop to the marquee."

'Our Florist was Bramble & Wild.  We went for a relaxed mixture of bright country flowers in jam jars, mixed with tea lights, which were inspired by the colourful moodboard put together by Jessie. The church had a larger display as well as hand tied pew ends tied with raffia and the bouquets were also hand tied and relaxed to complement the theme."

"I did not want to spend too much money on the shoes as I would probably not wear them again so I found a nice pair in suede with some nice decorations on it via www.notonthehighstreet.com"

"As favours, we provided French lavender soap for the girls, wrapped in kraft paper. They were made in France, shipped to my parents and I brought them home on the Eurostar. I bought the paper and ribbon to decorate them online at Jessie’s suggestions (via notonthehighstreet again). For the boys, we gave them a 33-cl bottle of local Somerset cider. The cider was actually sourced and made in the village where the wedding took place. Philip and his family bought the cider two days before the wedding and we poured the cider into the bottles ourselves. It was a fun moment, with some guests helping us out (as well as his two-year old nephew). I had bought the bottles on the internet (cheap by the 100s!)."

"The flowergirls (and the page boys outfits) were chosen with my mother on a French website called Place Dauphine. It added a pretty little French touch!"

"We met at a wine tasting organised by my former University. Philip knew the organiser. We paired up for the tasting and then went for a sing-along at a nearby pub. Our first real date was lunch at a pub with no alcohol involved!!! We became engaged in early November 2011. Philip proposed after a delicious meal he cooked at home."

"I designed and printed the booklets at the Print company in Canary Wharf, they were very helpful. We decided not to have a menu. The place cards were hand-written on luggage tags tied to the favours. The table plan was designed and created by In the Treehouse (found by Jessie)."

"We had one French cake (a croquembouche) from Fancy That Wedding Cakes and one English wedding cake made by my mother in law with the icing done by a baker in Oxford where she lives. Flowers were provided by the florist and arranged by Jessie."

"Our photographer was Jonathon Watkins. I met him once before the wedding, on the same day that I had my hair and make-up trial so he took a few photos for me. It helped to trust him on the day. Actually, he was completely free to do whatever he wanted on the day of the wedding. Having him arrive early and leave as late as possible was great since he captured 95% of the wedding day."

Two Weddings In One Day - A Colourful and Multicultural Celebration!

Do I have a beautiful wedding to share with you this morning!  Neema and Sam tied the knot - twice - on 14th July 2012 at the stunning Sezincote House (the original Brighton Pavillion), at Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire.  Their multi-cultural day which involved a traditional Indian wedding ceremony followed by an English wedding ceremony was planned and styled to perfection by the very talented Kim of The PInk Pumpkin.  I am smitten with these images by John Day Photography, they are bright, colourful and fun, and they capture so many smiles and are bursting with love.

"Having known I wanted to marry Sam for ages, this was only confirmed to me when he whisked me away to stay in a romantic 15th century villa overlooking Florence and proposed in a candlelit alter-like stone outside, temple gazing at the city lit up at night - by rap!

Yes, you heard me right! It was the perfect proposal!"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, John Day Photography

"We were advised that to have a wedding at Sezincote (which entails organising power supplies, water supplies and a lot of lighting!), and with the number of guests (250 after 6 months of culling a long long list!), we would need to enlist the help of a wedding planner to help carry out the day. We went for Kim from The Pink Pumpkin.

Kim was brilliant from start to finish, as inspiration, a sounding board, a friend and especially with coming up with contingency plans for the unpredicted “un-summery” weather we had last July!"

"I don’t believe in having a particular theme for weddings - I just went with individual things I liked e.g. candles, lights, bright colours, laser cut (the best thing ever known to the stationery world!), fizz and good food! We did try to be inclusive and sensitive to both cultures and families that we were bringing together and I hope we just about succeeded."

"It’s not easy to find the perfect venue for a 'multi-cultural' wedding!  We went from considering getting married abroad in India, to looking at lots of standard venues across London but we couldn’t help feeling like these were the sorts of venues which churned out weddings every day and didn’t really seem to suit us.

In the end, Sam somehow found the utterly amazing Sezincote House - I still remember going to see it with my family. We got lost, the sat nav took us to the back gate and we were thoroughly late for our appointment.  But suddenly, we turned a corner and nestled amidst the rolling Cotswold hills was this amazing Indian house, with stone elephants in the gardens, Indian god and goddess statues by a lake, and the majestic Indian dome on the main house.

We knew immediately that this was where we were going to get married."

"Sezincote House is so breathtaking that we didn’t want to go overboard on decorating the marquee or the conservatory where the weddings happened. The conservatory is filled with ramshackle plants growing up the walls and had a slightly quirky feel so we didn’t want to dress it up too much- we went for a wrought iron mandap (the stage which marks where the Indian wedding happens) and simple white chairs throughout. It is flooded with light so had a super natural feel which was exactly what we wanted.

 For the marquee, we didn’t really have a fixed colour scheme but managed to source some saree fabric from India and have it made into hot pink, turquoise and gold tablecloths. We had some pink and white lanterns hung from the marquee ceiling which looked brilliant at night! We also went for a marquee with clear sides so that at night you could see the house lit up in all its glory! We had little individualised menus for each guest and we hand wrote their names on top, and Sam and our sisters made the seating plan 24 hours before the wedding!  So candles and colour it was!! And with that lovely summer evening glow, the marquee was beautifully simple!"

"Funnily enough, I was never one those girls who has dreamt about her wedding dress since the age of three! We decided to have two weddings in one day so I was lucky (!) enough to have a costume and hair change with 30 minutes for both! For the Indian wedding, my parents actually found my saree and Sam’s outfit in India. Having sent me lots of pictures of gaudy outfits, they wore me down into agreeing to let them pick.  When I opened the package, I was ready to hate it but amazingly, they did really well. I loved the delicate net and the off-white colour of the saree - not too bling!"

"I am not a shoes kinda a gal! If I could, I would live in Havianas all year round. I had a passing flirtation with some glittery Jimmy Choos but came to my senses and got a bargain pair of Dorothy Perkins mink-coloured low-ish strappy heels- I could walk in them all day and will be able to wear them again too ☺"

"I have to say I can’t remember how we found Suzie from Karma Kars Cotswolds, but I am super glad that we did! I thought the idea of spending lots of money on a posh car to 'get us from A to B' seemed like a waste of money and I stopped thinking about wedding cars until I stumbled across Suzie’s Ambassador car. With the kitschiest decor inside and a garland of flowers across the front car, it was the perfect car for our Indian-English day."

"People loved seeing the car, and Suzie was such a helping hand on the day, from running down to get me some lunch, finding me some champagne to steady my nerves, shepherding our guests to and from the venue, to taking us on our own little photo shoot after the ceremony! I remember being told to treasure the few minutes you get away from the crowd, and having a glass of bubbly with my new hubbie whilst trying not to fall into a pond as John got us to precariously balance on a mini-bridge will definitely be one of my treasured memories!"

"Sam also wore an Indian outfit for the Indian wedding. Having thought the headpiece was OTT, we both ended up thinking it was the best bit of his outfit! For the civil wedding, he had a bespoke suit made by Henry Herbert tailors and picked a lovely tie from Liberty(the best men had matching ties!) and maroon shoes from Paul Smith.

He looked great in both but I think he personally preferred the regal Indian look!"

"The best part of the day was without a doubt, having walked up the aisle with this mad energy in the air, the sun streaming through the conservatory glass windows, sitting down next to Sam who still had his eyes shut, and then suddenly looking at each other. Instead of feeling nervous, we just smiled at each other and couldn’t stop smiling. I felt incredibly excited and lucky that we would be spending the rest of our lives together." 

 

"For my wedding dress, I traipsed around the shops never having that magical moment. I had lusted after the Justin Alexander tea dress (design 8685), but realised it didn’t really fit with the day we were planning! It was only when I went to try this on that I was distracted by another wedding dress on a mannequin - the Justin Alexander signature range. It was almost an antiquey gold, with embroidery and lace, and I fell in love with it!

Best of all, my mum loved it too and it was a pretty close match with the saree ☺ I managed to get a friend to get the dress for me in New York as it was way cheaper there, and then my kind dad lugged it around America on a business trip before bringing it back home!"

"I have never known my hydrangeas from by gypsophila. So when it came to flowers, I left this in the capable hands of Sue from The Bay Tree at Campden with the only instruction being KEEP IT BRIGHT! She chose some beautiful arrangements for the tables with pink hydrangeas, blue delphinium, and white stock and even supplied little jam jars and tea lights for the tables! Sue also supplied fresh flower garlands for the Indian wedding and baskets of rose petals for our flower girls to throw."

"I didn’t have formal bridesmaids (finding it too hard to pick and co-ordinate eight girls). Instead, my sister and Sam’s sister were both super involved with the ceremonies. I also had lots of help from my best friends from one of them making the most amazing wedding cake (with crystallised chillies no less!), to organising the hen and multiple shopping trips. I got really cute bracelets with each of their initials on them from Etsy to thank them for their support and help in making our wedding visions come true."

"A random Google search found John Day, our photographer. I loved the fun, natural photos on his website as well as the mad shot of himself and liked that he didn’t seem to take himself too seriously! Without even looking at any other photographers or meeting John I went ahead and booked him. It was the best decision we could have made- both Sam and I are quite camera-shy- John put us totally at ease, and we will treasure the photographs for years to come!" 

A Tulle Cloud Skirt and Red Shoes for a Liberty London Inspired Colourful Wedding

Back in July 2011, I featured a rather fabulous 1920s speakeasy inspired hen party for a bride to be called Lorna Hayes.  Lorna also happens to be a professional Singapor based wedding planner and stylist with a penchant for getting things absolutely perfect, so you can imagine the task she set for herself in planning and styling her own wedding (though do not, she encourages you not to do this and to hire a planner if you can!).

I deeply adore these photographs - they ooze 'sex in the city' style glamour and are bursting at the seams with wedding day elegance.

Lorna and her beau Rich tied the knot on Saturday 18th June 2011 at Botleys Mansion, near Chertsey in Surrey and these gorgeous wedding photographes were sent in by one of my favourite wedding photographers (total fan girl moment here today!), Jodie Chapman...

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Jodie Chapman

"I knew exactly what I wanted for my dress so I drew it and headed to Shirley Li of Flamingo Bridal in my home city of Singapore to execute my vision. Shirly had beautiful creations that were in a similar style to what I wanted so she seemed the most appropriate choice. I wore a mermaid cut gown with champagne satin covered in ivory lace.

The back and sleeves of her dress were sheer lace only and ribbon was sewn on the front of the gown to create the look of a bodice and to give me length!"

"I wore a pair of coral coloured python skin peep toes by Nicholas Kirkwood.  When it came to my shoes, I wanted something completely unexpected and something that would pull together the bright colours of the bridesmaid gowns. I also wanted to wear a British designer for my footwear so these shoes from Kirkwood were perfect!"

"I wanted our wedding to look like a grand and typically English from the outside but then upon closer inspection a light-hearted fun affair with lots of colour, games and a relaxed atmosphere.  I looked to Liberty of London for inspiration.  Arthur Liberty opened the shop in 1875 selling ornaments, fabric and objets d'art from Japan and the Far East. I love how Liberty’s brings items and themes from the East where I now live and marries it with quintessentially English style and tradition.  I associate Liberty’s with colour and prints and that is exactly what I wanted my wedding to display. From the colourful bridesmaid dresses, the Liberty ties, the liberty printed table runners, napkins and brightly coloured fabric envelopes containing the guests favours. 

My husband, all the groomsmen and both the fathers wore matching suits that we had tailor-made here in Singapore.  The modern three-piece suits in darkest chocolate brown were finished off with an apple green and coral floral print skinny tie from Liberty’s and a plain coral silk pocket square."

"The jaw dropping part of my gown though was the 250 metres of net tulle three-tiered skirt that went over the lace dress for the ceremony. I always wanted my princess moment but also knew I would not have the patience to be lugging a Cinderella gown around all day.

As the ceremony finished and the pictures had been taken I slipped off my 'cloud' skirt as I like to call it, let down the train of my beautiful full length lace gown and made a second entrance as the wedding breakfast commenced.  Two looks for one, perfect!"

"The flowers were predominantly pale pink and white peonies with large pale pink dahlias and a few roses in large silver fish bowls.  The bridesmaids carried a reverse of what I had with a focus on white flowers with a touch of pale pink.

Peonies and dahlias are my favourite flower and very hard to get in Singapore. The reason for picking June as our wedding month was to ensure that peonies were plentiful!"

"We had a civil ceremony; My bridesmaids and I walked down the aisle to Badly Drawn Boy; I love NYE and after the ceremony had finished Rich and I left the ceremony room to The Source feat Candi Staton, You got the Love."

"I searched Singapore’s Arab Street for brightly coloured silks for my four bridesmaids. I then sketched four 50’s style prom dresses all with slightly different details on the backs to give each girl a dress that was individual to them.

It was colour-blocking heaven!  Shirley Li from Flamingo Bridal made the flowergirl skirts and they were teamed with cream t-shirts, ballet shoes and a coral sash."

Echoes of Lorna's 1920s speakeasy inspired hen party present on her wedding day!

"Our tables were named after our favourite restaurants around the world! Thinking of this theme was an easy decision as food and travel are out two biggest passions. We had Yantra, my favourite Indian restaurant in Singapore to Maze in New York where Rich took me for my 29th birthday.

Petrus was where Rich took me for my birthday back in 2004 and the top table was named after Quanjude… the most amazing Peking duck restaurant in Beijing!"

"All the stationery was designed with a good friend, Peter Stephens, who is a graphic designer at Paper Tiger Press. Emily from Paper Tiger Press then handled the printing for me.  The invitation, RSVP card, menu, place cards, drinks card voucher for the evening bar and thank you cards were all a three-colour letterpress. Coral, blue and grey.

Our wedding stationery was one of my favourite things from the day.  I wanted something colourful and ornate with swirls a plenty, but at the same time I wanted it to look clean and modern and I loved the end result.  All the guests were all talking about the wedding program with its funny stories and photo’s of all the bridal party. It was also the place where we remembered our grandparents who are no longer with us. It was everything you needed to know about the day and the people that are important to us."

"I had table runners, napkins and pouches made from two shades of beautiful printed cotton. They were lines with satin and bought colour to the otherwise white table settings. The cotton pouches that contained the favours had the place cards attached with mini blue wooden pegs."

"I wore pearl studs from Tiffanys. I felt the dress was dramatic enough so I kept my jewellery simple."