I've been saving the best until last this week my loves. And oh my oh my, has it been worth the wait!
Rhianne and Cameron are a couple I think I've fallen a little bit madly in love with. I am smitten, head over heels with their wedding day, not least because it is set in a town and area I've only very recently moved from, and that is very close to my heart, but because this movie-obsessed pair had one of the most fun, stylish and original weddings I've seen in a long time - a themed wedding without being too 'themey', if that's even a word.
The couple are already no strangers to these pages - their snowy, cinematic engagement shoot featured back in January, and I've been eagerly awaiting news of their wedding ever since. This beautiful twosome finally tied the knot classic Hollywood movie style on 4th April 2013. Their ceremony setting was the very fitting Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle (the type of uber-cool place that shows all the art-house style movies and has beautiful original deco features). The ceremony was followed by a reception at The Sage Gateshead, which boasts the most amazing views of the River Tyne and The Baltic Art Gallery.
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Hannah Millard assisted by Sally Thurrell
"About seven years ago I was traveling in India and happened to meet a guy who had known Cameron since childhood. After finding out I lived in Durham, where Cam was studying at the time, Ryan wrote to him and told him he had to meet me. Eventually Cam contacted me and we went on a blind date; the rest, as they say, is history. Cameron proposed by placing a beautiful emerald ring on my pillow, and the wedding was nine months later. During the wedding speeches Cameron read out his original email exchange with Ryan, which was brilliant as I’d never heard them before!
Being big movie fans we had a dream to get married in a cinema, and the Tyneside Cinema was perfect because it has a gorgeous 1930s, art deco theatre. It has such a rich history and holds many special memories for Cameron and I. We tentatively approached the cinema, but didn't expect a yes as they had never held a wedding ceremony before. To our surprise they loved the idea, and told us they had actually been considering applying for a marriage license for a while."
"Even before we organised the Tyneside Cinema as a venue we decided we wanted a wedding inspired by classic movies. However I read a wedding book which offered this advice: ‘if you are going to choose a wedding theme, make sure no more than three or four elements of the day relate to that theme. Otherwise it will run the risk of feeling like a children’s party’. I totally freaked out for about 5 minutes as we had movie-themed plans for almost EVERY aspect of the day! However we’ve always loved themed parties, and at the end of the day a wedding is a big party and supposed to be fun, so we went with our instincts.
Some aspects of the style were inspired by the 1930s art deco/Old Hollywood glamour, and others were more a nod to the 1950s retro look. I worried for a bit about everything having to ‘fit’ together perfectly, and that we had some clashing styles. But in the end I realised it just wasn’t possible to be perfect and it was more fun to stick to things we loved. "
"I knew quite early on that I didn’t want anything too ‘weddingy’, and had never been inspired by traditional wedding dresses; I just felt they weren’t really ‘me’. My friend took me to Fur Coat No Knickers and this dress was the first one I tried on - I just knew! I loved how it was simple and classic (with a hint of Grace Kelly) yet still quite unusual for a wedding dress.
I absolutely love that vintage dresses have their own history; I tried to imagine the original 1960s American bride in it and what her wedding day was like. Also the girls at Fur Coat No Knickers make you feel so special and take so much care over the tiny details; it made the whole wedding dress experience much more pleasurable than I expected it to be."
"I purchased some netting on ebay for about £4, found an online tutorial and 15 minutes later I had made a simple birdcage veil. It was actually really easy and I am useless with a needle and thread, so I would encourage others to have a go!"
"The great thing about the Hollywood theme is that it is fun and accessible, as everyone loves the movies! I also liked that it appealed to both of us; it was important that the day wasn’t just about the bride but reflected both of us. I would never have been able to get Cameron inspired by bunting or vintage tea sets for example, no matter how pretty they were! It was nice that we were both involved in most of the ideas and decisions, as it took the burden off me. Also we already owned a lot of related ‘props’, meaning we could save money on decoration.
However although the little details were important, our main aim was to create a relaxed, informal atmosphere and be as generous as we could afford to be with our guests, many of whom had come from all over the world to be there. "
"The room was a complete blank canvas with long white walls, so we found some 1950s movie stills online and got these blown up. Alongside them we placed a large montage of our Hollywood-inspired engagement shoot so it would look like we were movie stars too! On another wall we projected some of our favourite films so they would be playing silently through the meal and the dancing. (Films were Roman Holiday, Gilda, The Wild One, Vertigo and The Warriors)."
The couple hired the 'Oldmobile' from American Classic Hire...
"We were incredibly lucky to win Cameron’s tailored tuxedo by Dragon Inside in a competition on a wedding blog! It fitted beautifully and was excellent quality; the best bit is he gets to keep it forever as we probably would have just hired one had we not won this. Cameron and the groomsmen also all wore horror movie poster cufflinks from this seller on eBay."
"We were then told the license wasn’t going to come through in time for our wedding, which was disappointing news as it meant we had to have a legal ceremony the day before. I felt this would diminish the importance of the wedding day, but actually it worked out perfectly. We were able to hold a much more personal and meaningful Humanist service conducted by an old friend of mine, making the day even more special."
"My favourite part of the day was sharing a moment with my dad and bridesmaids just before the ceremony started, when we were sat up in The Circle watching the movie montage with everyone else watching downstairs. That’s the moment where I let go of all the nerves and worry, realised everyone we loved was there because they wanted to be there, and I was about to see Cameron. Even though we were technically married at that point it still felt so special, and I just knew it was going to be an amazing day from that point onwards."
"My dad 'gave me away', although we dispensed with other traditions which didn’t really suit our personalities (such as having a high table and a formal line-up) it was important for me to keep this tradition as I know it meant a lot to my dad. Our soundtrack was 'Speak Softly Love' by Andy Williams (from the Godfather)."
"As it was a Humanist ceremony, we had complete freedom to create our own vows, and together with our celebrant wrote the whole service ourselves. We got some inspiration from a book our celebrant gave us, so the vows and readings were inspired by humanist beliefs where they resonated most with us. I’ll let Cameron explain further: ‘The vows and readings were a celebration of our love. They were a celebration of how fortunate we feel to have met one another and to be able to enjoy this amazing life together. They were a celebration of the wonderful family and friends that we are able to share great times with and who provide support when needed. They were a celebration of our place, even if insignificant, on this wonderful planet Earth and all she has to offer. A celebration to remind us to treasure each and every day we spend together in this incomprehensibly large and chaotic universe.’
The readings were Salutation of the Dawn (Ancient Sanskrit poem), Native American (apache) blessing, ‘Love’ by Roy Croft and some thoughts on marriage by humanist philosopher Paul Kurtz. I can’t find the wording online but they are in a book called ‘Sharing the Future’ which our celebrant loaned to us."
"To save money we opted not to have flowers for the bridal party and inside I handmade the buttonholes for the whole wedding party using ethically sourced peacock feathers. We also felt feathers suited the theme of the day better. I began collecting vintage brooches from markets and charity shops (with some help from my mum) until I had enough to make bouquets for myself and my bridesmaids. I preferred to do this as I wanted something we could all keep after the event, and now I have a huge collection of beautiful brooches to match any outfit!
Flowers on the table were by Wedding Flowers For You. We wanted to keep the arrangements as simple as possible so opted for roses in cut-glass bowls as centrepieces, and also filled some brass jugs and goblets with roses to add decoration to the cake table."
"I didn’t want the bridesmaids dresses to match exactly as my bridesmaids are all completely different shapes, so I wanted them in a dress that made them feel good and that they would want to wear again - in the end they sourced their own dresses from Wallis and John Lewis.
A friend of one of my bridesmaids has an Etsy shop, and as part of my hen day she provided little fascinator-making kits to all of us. I added an art deco brooch to mine, and most of the hens were also wearing their masterpieces at the wedding!"
"During our planning Cameron was offered a job in Paris, meaning that we were leaving the North-East a week after the wedding. This made our choice to have a Newcastle wedding really important as we were not sure if/when we would be back. We wanted a reception venue that showcased Newcastle’s fabulous architecture; The Sage Gateshead was perfect as it’s located on the Gateshead Quayside overlooking the Tyne Bridge. It’s primarily a music venue, but with a great reputation for its food and conferencing facilities. Again it’s somewhere that holds special memories for us as a couple, and we particularly liked the function room because it was a blank canvas for us to decorate how we wished."
"We had lots of those DVDs you get free with newspapers, and sourced some more from eBay and charity shops. My bridesmaid helped me make the black envelopes to put them in. We thought it would be nice for guests to have something they could take home and actually use, and get some enjoyment from. We had limited choice but did try our best to match DVDs with specific guests rather than give them out randomly. Some of my favourite pictures of the day are of the guests opening them and showing each other - although my uncle did question why we gave my auntie ‘Shirley Valentine’!"
"To dress up the cake table we mainly used items we already owned, including my collection of vintage cameras and Hollywood books and magazines. I also used some old frames to make the movie love quotes poster, and the family pictures montage."
"We made all the stationary ourselves; we have a printer and good knowledge of Photoshop between us so it was a no-brainer. Movie posters were the inspiration for the table names and seating plan which was made using an old picture frame we had lying around. Some friends brought us a pack of movie poster playing cards, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them until I spotted this wedding on Love My Dress. We completely stole the idea to put the cards in the wine glasses!
Saul Bass’s ‘Vertigo’ poster was the inspiration and the invitations, menus and programmes all featured the iconic Hitchcock motif. The actual invitations were in the form of gold movie tickets with a perforated RSVP."
"The place cards were linked to our upcoming adventures in Paris. One of my bridesmaids spotted some 1940s Paris postcards at a vintage fair which I scanned and printed on some textured paper. A poor friend was roped into helping us slice 70 wine corks to hold them up!"
"We made a ‘photo’ guestbook and placed an instant camera for our guests, encouraging them to take pictures of themselves and write a note in the book. We basically threw our entire fancy dress box on the table for people to play with!"
"Our photographer was Hannah Millard who was assisted by Sally Thurrell. Hannah was amazing, despite being poorly she was a true professional all day. She’s fun to have around, works quickly and efficiently but best of all her pictures are honest, raw and capture the genuine emotion of the day, without you even realising she is doing it.
Make sure you leave plenty of time for photographs - one of my favourite memories of the day is laughing outside in the cold with the bridal party during our portraits! And they are also some of my favourite pictures! As Hannah was not feeling well she brought in Sally as a back-up, and I feel so honoured to have had two great photographers there. I loved Sally’s take on the architectural details of the venues, and the way she captured all the little details that we had put so much effort into creating.
I can’t stop looking at the photographs as I love them so much. We’ll treasure them forever, so I can’t stress how important it is to find a photographer whose style you connect to and who you will have complete trust in. It was one of the most important aspects for us."
**Warning - there are a lot of photographs in this feature - but you absolutely *need* to see them - click forth!*
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