Charlotte and Darren were married on 13th October 2012 at Andaz on London's Liverpool Street. After checking in with Love My Dress almost every day while planning her wedding, Charlotte decided to submit her wedding photos for consideration and, boy, are we glad she did! From her gorgeous Candy Anthony dress to the perfectly coiffed hair, this is clearly a bride with buckets of style. The groom was equally as chic too. I do so love a man in a bow tie.
'Neither of us had given the wedding
much thought when we got engaged and we soon realised we didn’t have a clue about
organising a wedding. Over a boozy
Sunday lunch we agreed we wanted the wedding to be simple and intimate,
warm and happy with very good food and wine and everybody enjoying themselves.'
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Tavistock Avenue Photography
'Darren and I met nearly 3 years ago
and got engaged last year on a date marked in the calendar as “surprise day
out”. Although it wasn’t a surprise at
all when Darren proposed, as right from the start we both just knew there was
something special between us.
We travelled by bus and
tube from North London to London Bridge, on to Edenbridge by train and then a
taxi to… Hever Castle! The actual proposal took place in a private garden
full of flowers. We were completely
alone and although it had been raining hard the sun broke when Darren asked
me to marry him. It
was just perfect. Later when we were
looking around the castle one of the guides came up to congratulate us as
she’d watched the whole thing through the window.
We wanted to hold the wedding somewhere elegant with a
sense of occasion and Andaz has that in spades. It wowed us from the first visit.'
'We chose our local florists Urban
Flowers. Rachele and Matt did an
amazing job and are lovely laidback people - very knowledgeable about
flowers. I chose a very fragrant and traditional bouquet with piano and faith
roses, cerise fuchsia, lavender, sage, hydrangea and myrtle. My bouquet is
drying out at the moment and smells amazing.
We did most of the other flowers
ourselves, which we picked up for a bargain at New Covent Garden flower market
a few days before the wedding. A muted
pallet of hydrangea, roses, eucalyptus, snowberries and chrysanthemum. I particularly wanted chrysanthemum as Darren
proposed with an Alex Monroe chrysanthemum ring.'
Charlotte was particularly inspired by a photograph of Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller on their wedding day. 'We both liked the way old Hollywood
weddings appear elegant and timeless and wanted that for our wedding too. Very simple, definitely nothing fussy or
very styled.'
Charlotte opted for a beautiful 50s inspired Candy Anthony dress.
'I enjoyed
the process of trying on different dresses and learning about what I did and
didn’t like and what did and didn’t suit me. I wanted simple and glamorous and there was lots of choice at Candy
Anthony... My dress made me feel pretty and
feminine. I could tell by the look on my mum’s face it was the one.'
'I’m
obviously not sample sized and I had read horror stories about wedding dress
shopping. It is true that lots of
shops require a leap of imagination as you may be pinned or pegged into
dresses, which is far from ideal. But
I did want to mention that there is actually quite a lot out there and you
don’t have to be limited on style. The
other dress I liked was a full sleeved 1930s style crepe gown with a pencil
skirt. It looked fabulous with curves. It really is shape not size that
governs what flatters you so no one should be put off.'
Charlotte wore her gown with a short, sassy veil from Veils Direct and a gorgeous pair of nude heels from Christian Louboutin.
'I’m not in
the habit of buying very expensive things so I ended up calling Darren to
check I wasn’t mad for spending so much money on a pair of shoes before I
bought them. They were worth it
though- I love them.'
In the run up to her wedding day, Charlotte contacted Love My Dress asking for our advice on hair and makeup. Annabel didn't hesitate to recommend Lipstick and Curls, having recently worked with them on her upcoming book.
'Amanda of Lipstick and Curls did
a great job on me and my sister and she was lovely and calm on the
morning. I was so nervous and manic
before the wedding that it really helped. A very good recommendation – thank you!'
'Everyone who knows us knows that
Darren is the stylish one in our relationship and that he always looks
fantastic. He wanted something a bit
special for the wedding and suits from Start are beautifully cut and finished
on Saville Row.
Darren looked exceptionally handsome on the
day.'
Darren also wore a bowtie
from Hello In There and shoes from
Loake.
The beautiful vintage
flower clips Charlotte wore in her hair were from Etsy seller, and Love My Dress favourite, Which Goose. Her diamond
pendant and sapphire and diamond broach belonged to her Mother, making them the perfect something borrowed
and blue. She also pinned a tiny blue bow to her petticoat and wore a pair of pearl
earrings given to her by Darren as a birthday present a few years
ago.
'The little
children had party bags to keep them amused during the drinks reception. These
included personalised colouring books from Etsy, pin wheels, story books,
bubbles and huge 1 meter wide balloons, which in some cases were bigger than
the children themselves! My niece
had an additional present, a personalised doll from Sugacandipop.'
