Love My Dress Wedding Blog

A Benjamin Roberts Fishtail Gown For A Wedding Day Boat Ride...

Good morning! Wow, what a gorgeous bank holiday break! How was yours? We had such a lovely day yesterday pottering about the house, then walking down to the bottom of our hill to meet friends at our local pub for some late afternoon drinks. I can't recall the last time the bank holiday weather was so kind to us, but it was a good while ago!

To help ease you back in to the working week, I've a really beautiful wedding to share with you, courtesy of a photographer whose work I have long adored.  And what a privilege it must have been to be asked to photograph this particular wedding, as the groom himself is a wedding photographer!

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, S6 Photography

Lisa and Matt tied the knot on 8 September last year at St Petrox Church in Dartmouth, followed by a reception at Shilstone House, Near Modbury, Devon.  I love the relaxed nature of this wedding, that beautiful dress and belt (brides, designer Benjamin Roberts offer beautiful and affordable options if you are on the hunt for a wedding dress of your own)...

"My dress was by Benjamin Roberts and purchased from Beau Belles. I made some alterations to the design by adding lace to the neckline and sourcing a belt from different (and much more expensive!) dress. This was a really good way of ending up with a ‘one of a kind’ dress without breaking the budget.

This was the first dress I tried on. I loved the soft lace and the fishtale shape was perfect for my tall (and a bit lanky!) figure. I tried on lots and lots of dresses after this one - A line ones, slinky ones, short ones, beaded ones. You name it, I tried it. I wouldn’t say that I got 'the one' moment that you hear brides talk about, I just knew I liked it and I took it as a good sign that my mum cried whenever I tried it on. She didn’t cry with any of the others!"

"Matt is the boy next door. We grew up five doors apart but didn’t really know each other as Matt is a little older than me and we went to different schools. After I moved home following university, our paths crossed at the right time.

When we first got together my dad was very ill with cancer and Matt was an absolute rock, I knew from then that this was the man I wanted to be with forever. We got engaged after six years of being together - Matt proposed whilst we were having a picnic in the gardens by the Eiffel tower."

"After the church service Matt and I arranged for the local ferry to pick us and the bridesmaids up for a little trip down the estuary. I'll never forget waving at all our guests from the boat, I felt like a celebrity!

For me the boat ride was really special, I’ll never forget looking up at the cliff side and seeing all our guests waving us off."

"As our wedding was a church of England ceremony, we didn’t tailor our vows.  The reading we had was Coulson MacLeod's 'What is Love?'.  Matt surprised me on the morning with one of their personalised artboxes (available from Coulson MacLeod) with the reading, our names and wedding date."

"The cars and transport was possibly one of my favourite things about the whole day. As I had so many bridesmaids (five plus a flowergirl) it was going to be too expensive to hire standard wedding cars. I had an idea of putting a 'wanted' advert in the local Devon Vintage Car Club newsletter, asking whether anyone was free to help on our wedding day. We had two calls straightaway from lovely gentlemen offering their services.

One even offered to bring his brother in law too. Randomly, all three had vintage morris minors, one of my favourite vintage cars. The nicest thing was that they wouldn’t take any money for driving us, they just wanted an opportunity to take their cars out and show them off.  We’ve since had phone calls from them to say how much they enjoyed the day."

 

"We managed to find Matt's suit in the Paul Smith shop on a trip to Bicester Village, just outside Oxford at a significantly reduced price.

My veil was cathedral length and single tier, made from beautiful sheer fabric so that you could see the detail on the dress through it. I bought it second hand via the Preloved website".

"I decided that I wanted to do my own reception flowers as I had a very clear vision of what I wanted. We spent the year before the wedding collecting kilner jars, silver tea pots, mercuried glass pots, tin baths and old bottles. A couple of days before the wedding me, Matt and my mum went picking hydrangeas out of friends' gardens and then bought 10 bouquets of roses from M&S and put an order in to a local flower supplier for white stocks and pale pink ranunculus. The night before the wedding we literally just popped single stems of the flowers into our various vessels and hoped for the best. I was so pleased with how they turned out on the day - they looked just as I imagined."

 

"The church flowers were done by a very lovely lady from the Dartmouth flower club. I told her that I just wanted single hydrangea heads as pew ends and they looked beautiful.  

For bouquets and buttonholes I turned to a professional.  I came across Emma Vowles online and straightaway loved the website and the look of her flowers. I knew that I wanted something fairly unstructured and 'bloomy' and Emma was fantastic in coming up with different ideas."

"I had two pre-requisites for shoes. They had to be low (I am 5ft 11") and they had to be comfortable.  I found the perfect pair at Rachel Simpson".

"I came across Twobirds bridesmaids dresses a while ago and chatted to the lovely representative, Michelle, over twitter. The dresses were perfect for my maids as they could wear them however they wanted. They all loved the dresses and I found them on the dance floor in the middle of the night comparing who could twirl in them the best! 

There's a brilliant iphone app you can download to show you how to tie them and Michelle was also more than happy to give me ideas on the best ties for my maids.  The bridesmaids all wore shoes from Next."

"We asked one of my mum's friends to bake this for us (known locally as Kath Cakes due to her fabulous home baking!). We showed her a picture of the sort of thing we were thinking of and then left it to her. It tasted delicious! The topper was made last minute by the very talented Emily Carlill."

"With Matt being a wedding photographer you can imagine how difficult it was for us to find someone to fit the bill. We met Jon of S6 Photography at an industry party in Sheffield and liked him immediately. We both love his style and knew he'd do a brilliant job. Lots of people made comments about whether or not Matt would be able to 'let go' on the day and pass responsibility for the photos to someone else. Our answer was always an unequivocal 'yes'.

We had complete faith in Jon to do an amazing job and he didn’t let us down (apart from when he allowed us to be encircled by scary looking cows in a field!). Jon’s a really great guy and photography aside it was awesome to have him there for the day."

Romantic and Blousy Spring Blooms And A Flower Crown Fit For A Fairy Princess

There is something about Spring.  I utterly adore this time of year.  That slow (very, this year anyway) transition from cold climes and barren landscapes to roadsides lined with charming shades of yellow as the daffodils serenade the arrival of a new season and the warmer weather gives opening to the prettiest floral blooms.  On days like today, I love Spring even more; miles of blue skies rising from the sea, the sound of birdsong outside my window and the tiny hairs on my bare arms standing on end as the washing is pinned out in the garden to catch the warm, gentle breeze.

We chose to marry on the first day of Spring back in 2009 for it's symbolism - the first day of Spring represents a fresh new start etc, it just felt right to us and reflected the new chapter in our lives that we were about to embark on.

Florist Sarah Richardson of Leafy Couture and Yorkshire and Hampshire wedding photographer Cat Hepple collaborated recently on a little shoot involving two very cute little models, and lots of gorgeous Spring flowers.

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Cat Hepple, Florals by Leafy Couture

Here, Sarah tells us a little more about what Spring means to her as a Florist and how she set out with Cat to create these inspiring images.

'The promise of spring, the new buds on the trees, the first bursts of colour, we adore the change in season as florists, it makes our hearts sing after a cold winter to see the first of the spring flowers coming through.

A chance to play with my favourite spring flowers and two gorgeous little models whilst providing lots of spring inspiration for brides.  Who could ask for more?  These images evoke innocence and the beauty of new life. A chance to focus on the simple things that matter, smelling the flowers,  pure friendship and love.'

"The flowers we used in the shoot were a mixture of ranunculus, viburnum opulus, pink piano roses, green bell,  ranunculus, viburnum opulus, antique carnations and gypsophelia. The textures are just gorgeous, the colours delicate with a pop of vibrant pinks.

The gorgeous pink and green floral crown fit for any fairy princess or flower girl was created using ranunculus, viburnum opulus, green bell and clematis. Really delicate romantic blowsy blooms perfect for a spring wedding."

Oh how absolutely perfect for any flowergirl or little bridesmaid, don't you think?

 

"The second head adornment for the little model Ettie, was pure gypsophelia and a small posy to match, tiny delicate little flowers en-masse so floaty and light."

Jenny Packham's Eden Gown and Elegant Ostrich Feathers For A Glamorous London Gastro Pub Wedding

Hey guys n gals - hopefully by now you will have had time to enjoy our morning post and this lovely lunch time wedding film?  This afternoon's wedding feature was submitted by the bride herself.  Holly and her husband Phil tied the knot on 2nd February this year at Islington Town Hall, followed by a reception held at The Pheasant in Clerkenwell, East London.

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Brad Clarke

What I love about this wedding is Holly's unabated approach to glamour. I remember trying on my first wedding dress and rather hurriedly being 'plonked' (at least it felt that way) in front of the mirror, a tiara perched on top of my head in no time and a huge mass of feathers draped around my shoulders as the boutique assistant over-succeeded in completely overwhelming me on my first dress hunting mission. I remember feeling a little silly and self conscious as I stood there with barely any time to soak in the transformation reflected back at me. I think it put me off tiaras and ostrich feather shrugs for a long time after that.  What a MISTAKE that was - I love nothing more than seeing a bride strutting her glamorous stuff with a sea of ostrich feathers wafting gently a top of her shoulders.  I've since done a bit of a u-turn and jump at the chance to flaunt about in something fabulous like Holly's gorgeous feather shrug below. I wore something very similar (in dark blue) for my book launch last month.

"I wore the Jenny Packham Eden wedding dress in Platinum.  The main thing I wanted, as crazy as it sounds, was o feel comfortable and like myself. I tried on A LOT of dresses and whilst most of them were amazing they just didn’t feel like me. I’d seen this Jenny Packham dress in a magazine and booked an appointment at the Boutique shop (I didn’t have enough time to get one custom made!).

It was our last appointment of the day and I was about to give up hope when the lady at the boutique appeared with the Eden dress in the colour I’d seen and in my size. As soon as I saw it I knew it was going to be perfect."

"My bridesmaids were my two best friends from school - Mel and Laura. As I’m the shortest of the three of us they were both really excited at the prospect of wearing flat shoes. We found some perfect jewel pumps from Forever 21 about a week before the wedding.

I wanted Mel and Laura to both have dresses that would suit them and that they’d hopefully wear again. We went to Les Trois Soeurs in Canary Wharf that stock Dessy dresses. They both picked the shape they liked and they had the perfect dark green colour we were after.  They also wore matching necklaces from Next."

"Phil and I met about six years ago through work. We didn’t particularly take it too seriously in the beginning and ended up both going travelling separately. But within 3 months we met up in Australia and since then we haven’t really left each other’s sides.

We got engaged in May last year whilst we were on a road trip in Scotland. It was somewhere we’d both wanted to visit and Phil proposed whilst we were camping in Glen Coe. He made meatballs and spaghetti on a camping stove and we drank wine from the bottle. Once I said yes he then magically produced a bottle of champagne. The view was amazing and we both love camping so it was perfect."

"Phil wore a waistcoat to distinguish himself from his best men. He got given a lovely pocket watch from his brother when he was best man at his wedding last year which he wore as well.  His suit was Ben Sherman Camden Fit in dark grey.

Phil and his best men wore matching orange and blue strip socks from Ben Sherman and his best men wore braces. Phil bought the suits for his best men as a gift to say thank you."

"Phil and I both work in publishing so we know a lot of designers. Our friend Chris did the design for us for the invites, our website and the table plan. The Peasant printed the menus and we made the place cards with a letter stamp, luggage tags and some tape."

"I’ve got really short, fine hair so a hairband was an obvious choice. Jenny Packham creates hair accessories to go with her dresses and I wasn’t going to argue. I wanted to make quite a feature of it so I went for the larger of the two options – the Acacia Bridal Headdress II in Silver."

"My dress was quite difficult to accessories but once we’d managed to decide on a colour scheme (silver/grey, dusky pink and dark green) these Dove Grey Tilly shoes from Rachel Simpson were perfect. I don’t usually wear heels so I didn’t want them too high and I’d heard that Rachel Simpson shoes were really comfortable. I wore them for 12 hours on the day and they really were!

 I didn’t wear a veil. They never really felt right when I tried them on."

 

"The Pheasant in Clerkenwell has a distinct style of its own so we didn’t add anything but flowers. For our guestbook we had an old leather journal and Polaroid Camera for people to take pictures of themselves and then leave us a message. We had a well bucket for cards and present. 

As with other suppliers, our florist, Grey on White, happened to be a friend of ours who is looking to become a professional wedding florist. This was the first wedding she’d ever done but she was great with ideas (I have no idea about flowers!) and the end product really brought the whole day together."

"Our photographer Brad Clarke, is a friend of a friend. We met at a mutual friend’s wedding where he was taking ‘unofficial’ photographs. He’s since decided to be a professional photographer and as you can see from our wedding photographs, he’s way too good to be doing it as just a hobby."

Two Birds And Their Ornithology Inspired Wedding At Gaynes Park in Epping

Good afternoon my friends - in this, the 3rd and final post of the day, as promised, we are sharing another simply beautiful set of wedding photographs to inspire you.  These images were submitted by the wonderful Anna Rosell whose work I've long been a big fan of - you can see more of her weddings here on Love My Dress.

Victoria and Alexander Bird tied the knot on 16th September 2012 at Gaynes Park, Epping. The couple didn't have to look for for inspiration when it came to styling their wedding either....

"We met at Cambridge University back in 2002. We were close friends for many years and then, on a trip to Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice) in 2008, we fell in love. Alex proposed on my birthday in May 2011 on a beautiful secluded beach in Cornwall during a champagne picnic! We were engaged for a year and four months before our wedding day, as we wanted a September wedding. 

Our surname 'Bird', was a an influence when it came to styling our wedding day – it was a way of bringing the two families together too as the Father of the Bride is a keen ornithologist! Alec comes from a farming family and both families are animal-lovers, so we wanted elements of the natural world in our theme wherever possible."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Anna Rosell

 

"I made the menus, order of ceremony and table names by using petal paper.  Table plan was created using bird wallpaper from Willow & Stone - we also used this paper to make confetti cones.  Bird ink stamps and postcards from Willow & Stone came in really useful."

"I wanted to go for a natural look rather than a tiara. It was great to purchase the vine in advance of my hair trial and take it along, so I could see the finished product.

I wore a necklace and earrings from Prive Bridal. I love pearls, they are very much my style so I felt very comfortable wearing them. These were a wedding gift from Alec and complemented the vine beautifully. I wore my mother-in-law’s sapphire ring as my something borrowed and blue. I also wore my grandmothers’ rings so they would be with me on the day."

"Marion at Poppies Designer Flowers. Marion knows everything there is to know about flowers and is a great laugh! As well as our bouquets, buttonholes etc and flowers around the venue, she also did flowers for the table centres and to decorate the cake. When I arrived at the venue, all the flowers were perfect and she had stayed to give me her best wishes. Just a lovely person. 

We wanted dusky pink roses, with passion roses and hypericum berries to give a hint of autumn. The bridesmaids were in midnight blue and we wanted to pay tribute to the Scottish thistle (mother of the Bride’s family are Scottish) so we added some eringyium.

"My dress was a La Sposa Denia design that I purchased from Jenny at Cloud 9 Bridal in Cheam, Surrey. Jenny was the one who spotted the dress and recommended I try it on. She ordered extra lace so I could have a custom-made bolero and opened the shop especially for me on a Sunday. She was fantastic. I should also mention my seamstress, Peggy at Wainwright Weddings (behind Jenny’s shop). She altered my dress beautifully, adding a bustle and made my bolero. 

I knew I wanted lace, but with a twist. I was sold when I saw the beautiful train of Spanish lace. The detail over the bust also adds curves, as I have quite a straight up and down figure!"

 

"We used this for photos of everyone at the wedding. We wrote messages to every different group: family, school friends, uni friends, the hens, the stags.  It was lovely to see the guests’ reaction to it – everyone told me how much they loved it! We use it as a notice board now!

www.notonthehighstreet.com/ for ribbon, hangings, floral decorations.  We also used  Marrakech lanterns for table centres (decorated with flowers by florist), bird cages and mxini-lantern and we made lots of paper roses from the left-over petal paper – it was all really easy and fun to do!"

"We live in Cambridge and our families are based in Colchester and Surrey, so we looked at venues in Essex as a good mid-point.  I had always wanted an outdoor wedding, but didn’t want to risk the weather! I fell in love with the orangery at Gaynes Park, set in beautiful gardens. Gaynes won the 2012 Wedding Industry Awards Best Venue and certainly lived up to expectations – I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The venue and staff were perfect, with every detail attended to. We wanted a barn for the reception rather than anything more formal, as we live in a South Cambridgeshire village and love rural life. We wanted the tone to be relaxed and friendly. Having the ceremony and reception in one place was ideal, because we didn’t have to take time traveling from one place to another – the day went too quickly as it was!"

"We provided wildflower seeds as favours.  We glued midnight blue bows onto clothes pegs and used the pegs to attach some lace with the instructions and the seed for each place.  We also had a pack of cards (exotic birds) on each table."

"Our photographer, Anna Rosell was fantastic from start to finish. She waded across a muddy farm for our engagement shoot and did a fabulous job on the day, ensuring we had lasting memories of the day and capturing a beautiful sunset. We couldn’t be happier with our photos, they tell of the warmth and love of the day."