It seems fitting that following my feature on British craftsmanship, that my next blog post features a bride whose dress designer can proudly boast that all her gowns are made in Britain.
Julia and Dan tied the knot on 2nd une at Walcot Hall in Lydbury, North Shropshire and I just love these photographs of their sweet, quirky, relaxed wedding style...
"My dream had always been to get married outside, which isn’t legal in England, but luckily both the registrars and venue were happy to accommodate our idea of standing in the beautiful wisteria-covered doorway at the back of the ballroom, facing out onto the garden where our guests were seated.
Because we were technically within the perimeter of a licensed room we could have a legal marriage ceremony while feeling like we were outside, and it also meant that our aisle would be a gorgeous garden path all surrounded by bushes and foliage."
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Phoebe Landa
"My veil was made by the lady who did my alterations (Wedding Dress Alterations). I had initially wanted a lace veil but once I had chosen my dress I felt it only needed something simple to set it off. It seemed like everything out there was either really expensive or cheap made-in-China type things from Ebay, but luckily Yvonne was able to make me one from lovely soft tulle dyed with tea to the exact colour of my dress."
"I loved my Marta Jonsson shoes from Debenhams! I say that as a confirmed non-shoe person who normally has to be carried home from any occasion at which I have foolishly attempted to wear heels. Being leather, my wedding shoes were genuinely comfortable, and I loved the bows on the front. I also got some great sparkly gold pumps from Debenham which were intended for the dance floor but proved very useful for tramping all around the grounds during our portrait session."
"The venue didn't need much decoration, but we bought some lovely papel picado (Mexican handcut tissue paper banners) for the bar/lounge and my bridesmaid Zoe brought along some multicoloured bunting she already had as well as some very bright paper bunting which amazingly cost £1 and looked awesome! We also continued our travel motif by borrowing some fabulous vintage suitcases belonging to the venue owners – their home is seriously a treasure trove! – and making loads of pretty paper flowers out of old maps using a technique that Lucy from The Story House very kindly taught me at a wedding fair./"
"Out of everything in the wedding it was actually the bridesmaids’ dresses that were the biggest headache. I decided I didn't want matching dresses, partly as I thought it would be a nightmare to find one dress the girls all liked, but actually it ended up being far more complicated trying to get four different dresses that really worked together and for some reason after months and months of looking we just didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with it at all.
I was beginning to despair when I spotted this pretty pale peach dress online at Warehouse and wondered whether I had accidentally stumbled upon a dress that might suit everyone, and after panic-buying it in every size we found that thankfully it really did, and it went beautifully with my dress too."
"My Mum taught herself floristry skills in order to do all the table
arrangements using flowers from her own garden (all the more impressive
considering her garden is nearly 200 miles from the venue!). She also
spent months collecting a fantastic assortment of retro jugs and vases
from charity shops, and we bought some antique bottles to add to the
mix. The end result looked absolutely amazing and it meant a lot to us
that it was all done by my mum, who also happens to be the most reliable
and capable person I know so we were never in any doubt that they'd be
perfect."
Doing the bouquets as well seemed like it
would be unnecessarily stressful, so I chose a florist recommended by
the venue. I wanted quite a loose, thrown-together feel with different
colours and textures and Caroline did a great job of achieving this. Dan
particularly loved his buttonhole and the way the colours were tied
into my bouquet. My Nan also prettified the chairs for
the ceremony with little posies of gypsophilia tied on with ribbon – it
was a lovely touch and cost next to nothing.
I wore my mum’s pearl necklace as my ‘something borrowed’ and some simple pearl stud earrings from a charity shop. My gloves were from She Said in Brighton – I spotted them on Love My Dress in fact!"
"We got married at Walcot Hall in the little village of Lydbury North in Shropshire. We had a pretty open mind about venues but we knew that we wanted somewhere with accommodation for our closest friends and family and somewhere with a relaxed and flexible attitude, where we’d feel able to make our own choices rather than be forced to select a particular package or use designated suppliers.
Walcot Hall was better than anything we could have dreamed up (in fact we frequently had to pinch ourselves to believe it was actually a real place) and is owned and run by the most lovely people you could ever wish to have involved in your wedding day."
"I can’t even put into words how much we loved being there, and it makes us so happy to think we can return for a holiday whenever we want. For our wedding night and the rest of our stay we hired the unbelievably incredible converted chapel in the arboretum which is like something straight out of a fairytale. We had use of the bridal suite too but decided to give it to Dan’s grandparents in honour of the fact they would be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary just a couple of days after our wedding."
"Dan wore a Hugo Boss suit. We wanted our wedding to feel informal so never considered tails, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to invest in a great suit that could be worn again after the wedding. When Dan tried on a dark navy three-piece in Hugo Boss we both felt the difference in quality, tailoring and detail more than justified splashing out."
"My dress was Rosalba by Stephanie Allin, which I bought from High Society in Cowbridge.I tried on about 50 dresses altogether and this was the only one that I couldn’t bear to take off again – as soon as I put it on I started twirling around and couldn’t stop smiling.
I hadn’t expected to wear a shorter dress but I just loved its movement and the way it looked lovely and demure for the day but was still perfect for dancing the night away, plus I fell completely in love with all the lace and the subtle 50s silhouette. I also have a slight belt addiction so the fact it came with a belt really appealed to me!"
"Oh and we had animals at our wedding! My mother-in-law’s dog Tilly is very much part of the family (I’m only half joking if I call her my sister-in-law) so it was great that Walcot Hall were so relaxed and welcoming that they had no problem at all with her and another dog joining the celebrations. The resident cat also dropped in on our ceremony, and ate the cake my Nan had made for the dessert table – which everyone apart from her found hilarious!"
"Our photographer was the amazing Phoebe Landa. I really can’t recommend Phoebe and her team highly enough – our wedding photography was quite simply the best money we’ve ever spent. Both Phoebe and Bartek worked incredibly hard yet were so enthusiastic and positive, and were altogether the loveliest and most encouraging people to have around us during such important moments.
The photos capture precisely how the day felt and we have already got so much enjoyment from reliving every detail through them; it really is the most amazing gift to think we’ll be able to do so for the rest of our lives."
