Love My Dress UK Wedding Blog

Made By The Bride ~ An Original 1950s Vogue Pattern Wedding Dress

Hey lovelies, this is our final blog post of today and indeed, the penultimate real wedding feature of 2012. Thus, I've chosen a wedding that I feel beautifully sums up the essence of Love My Dress; a bride who adores her vintage sytle, a dress she made herself, from an original 1950's Vogue dress pattern, and a little London glamour.

Swedish born Ebba married her beau John on 24th November this year at Wandsworth Town Hall in London, followed by a reception at Leon in Ludgate Circus and I just adore these fun and smiley images that were captured by photographer Emma Lucy. I just love the choice of red and how much Ebba is smiling, it's so delightful, and that loving embrace at the altar, complete with in your face smacker of a snog - wedding blog heaven it is...

"I made the dress myself with the help of my mum, the pattern is a 1950's style Vogue dress pattern from Jaycotts which we altered to fit perfectly. The fabric came from The Silk Society in Soho, and was a beautiful undyed raw silk. 

I decided fairly early on that I was going to make my own dress. For a November wedding I wanted a shorter dress with sleeves, and that proved very difficult to find, whereas I found lots of suitable patterns online. My mum is super-talented and sewed her own wedding dress, and she came over for a three day sewing marathon over the August bank holiday weekend. I loved that the dress fitted perfectly, and that we had such a good time making it."  

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

"We designed all the invitations, programmes, table plans, place cards and menus ourselves with the help of my brother, Wilhelm."

"We are so lucky to live in a borough with an amazing town hall! The Grand Chamber at Wandsworth Town Hall fitted all our guests comfortably and the hall has some amazing art deco features."

"We took the 37 bus, courtesy of Transport for London to the ceremony venue (I didn’t want to sit down and unnecessarily crease the dress!), and from the ceremony to the reception venue we hired a vintage routemaster bus from www.redbuses4u.com" 

"We knew we wanted somewhere friendly and relaxed with nice, unpretentious food, and Leon fitted the bill perfectly. We love the look of the Ludgate restaurant, and and the staff there really worked.

We saved all kinds of empty glass jars for about two years which we used as flower vases, and bought an enormous number of candles from IKEA.  We also made some banners (out of wrapping paper!) to hang over the menu boards in the restaurant.  Leon’s Ludgate restaurant looks amazing anyway, but four dedicated friends helped make it look even better..."

According to Swedish traditions, the bride and groom enter together as a sign that they have both freely chosen to marry, which is what we decided to do.

Ebba says "It also meant that we got to spend the whole day together before the wedding!"

"We were on a strict budget but wanted our wedding to have a warm and friendly feeling, so we went for red colours and lots of candles. I'm a fan of all things vintage (having had a 1920s-themed hen party) and the 1950s-style dress inspired the hair and makeup."

"Our Florist was The Flower Yard, who provided ranunculus and freesia bouquets and buttonholes. We also bought unarranged roses, tulips, gerbera, and waxflowers which our friends arranged in jam jars at the reception venue.  Ranunculus and tulips are Ebba’s favourite flowers, so picking them was an easy decision!"

Oooh, yummmmy!!! A pair of Melissa Skyscraper heels in red by Vivienne Westwood.  J'Adore!...

"Our photographer was Emma Lucy, who is an absolute star, we could not have wished for a better photographer! Her photos are amazing, and she did a great job despite the bad weather & light and was so much fun to be around. We got a small set of photos just days after the wedding, and full 600+ set in less than a month."

1950's Vintage Farm Fun...

This cute little 1950's farm inspired photoshoot deserves a little love on these pages, don't you think? Because, like it or not, brides will always love cupcakes and bunting. Sure as chips is chips my friends. And for those of you who do adore the quaint English country style, this set of photos provides a lovely set of inspiration. 

With a focus on showcasing the work of local suppliers, the creative duo involving photographer Linda Scannell and planner and event stylist Louise Harris of Warwickshire Wedding Planner, set out to create a fun and quirky set of images that would inspire brides looking to hold their wedding at a farm venue or rural setting.  Louise says... 

"Our main aim was to create something fun and quiry, but also current - with such a beautiful farm right on my doorstep it made perfect sense to use this as a backdrop – and so our wedding theme was born; a 100% local, and British 1950's farm styled wedding shoot."

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

I love this wedding car! I've seen this little beauty pop up on one or two weddings featured here on Love My Dress.

"When I found Karma Kars Cotswolds’ original 1950s style Indian Ambassador wedding car complete with gorgeous sequin details inside and decorated all along the front and rear bumpers in beautiful flowers, I knew I’d found the ideal car to transport our bride and groom off on their honeymoon!"

"We created a traditional English afternoon tea party, with sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam and classic English cakes presented on delicate vintage cake stands.  Kelly from Kelly’s Cake Creations showed us an unusual way to present cupcakes with her beautiful cupcake “flower” centrepiece.

And to top it all off, Lisa from Cake by Lisa Price created the totally yummy 3-tiered Victoria Sponge wedding cake dressed with real berries to match our red, white and blue colour scheme."

"We were very fussy about our supplier choices - they had to be local and they had to be suppliers that I had never worked with previously so that I could really test them out before I would consider recommending them on to any clients. I have to say all of them were an absolute pleasure to work with, so dedicated and passionate about their businesses.

 Costs were important to us too; the whole point of this shoot was for everyone to show off how talented they are in their own particular area in return for some great marketing and free professional photographs.  Everyone involved gave their time and products or services for free and I begged and borrowed props from around the farm and even raided my Nan’s house for some original 1950s items.  We supplemented all this with a few items from eBay."

"Our bridesmaids, Kerrie and the inspiring Miss Teen Coventry 2012, Sonali Gupta, wore knee length 50s rockabilly style polka dot bridesmaid dresses from Aspire Style in red and blue with net underskirts.  Louise sourced some some very bright and totally gorgeous suede style peep toe shoes from eBay in contrasting colours to the dress, portraying the fifties ‘mix and match’ style."

Polka Dot Everything, by Erin Hung of Berinmade....

It's Friiiddaaayyy - hooray!!  This morning, regular contributor Erin Hung, founder and illustrator of BerinMade is in the mood for all things polka dot.  I've noticed a growing trend for polka dots on these pages and have always loved those pretty spotty little things! They make for such a stylish stationery statement {coming to think about it, I own several polka dot dresses, I never actually realised I was such an obsessive!}. 

Love My Dress is partnering with Erin on an exclusive basis for UK readers, so expect to see many more DIY and style inspiration ideas from one of the UK's most up and coming stationery designers on these pages over the next few months and weeks {you can see more of Erin's DIY posts featured so far here}. I absolutely love surrounding myself with brilliant creative people and can't wait to share Erin's ideas with you all!  For now, let's see what polka dot creations Erin has up her sleeve...

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Claudia Rose Carter Photography

If you pay close attention to up-coming trends, there is a huge polka dots trend coming up in Spring/Summer 2013. It’s going to come back in a huge way! In my books, though, polka dot has never really gone out of style, and I know many of you feel the same way.

So if you’re looking to prettify some of your wedding goodies  with some polka-dotted goodness, this is the place! I’ve put together a series of super easy mini tutorials and ideas that will help you easily put a dot on practically anything and everything! 

A few weeks ago, I was walking around a wholesale packaging shop (as you do) when I spotted these security foil stickers that comes in rolls of hundreds of them in all different colours, metallics, neons.  In all different sizes too! You name it, they have it. Amazing right? Then I had a brainwave... What if I covered everything in them? And so I did...

The three tutorials below, you will need circle stickers of some sort. A quick look on Amazon will bring you loads of sellers with results for circle stickers! 

 

1.  Envelope Liner

You will need A4 paper (white or coloured), and coloured stickers.

Step 1: Make a envelope liner template by firstly taking apart one of your envelopes, cutting off the glueedge of the flap, and cut away all the flaps.

Step 2: Cover your A4 coloured paper with circle stickers.

Step 3: Use your template to make guides, cut out the dotted paper into shape of your liner template, insert into your envelopes and glue the flap down. 

 

2.  Belly Band

You will need A4 coloured paper, paper guillotine, glue stick and gold foil stickers.

Step 1: Cover sheets of A4 coloured paper with gold foil stickers.

Step 2: Measure out the dimensions of your bellybands. Mine is 210 x 50mm.

Step 3: Mark out the edges, cut with a guillotine, fold around your wedding invitations and secure with glue stick! 

 

3.  Fan

You will need Japanese paper fan (white or coloured), masking tape, scissors and large coloured circle stickers.

Step 1: Open the fan fully, and if necessary, use masking tape to tape down the wooden edges to minimise creasing.

Step 2: Cover the fan with circle stickers evenly spaced out over the face of the fan. When coming to the edge of the fan, stick the circle stickers down firmly, then cut away the excess.

Remember that you can cover just about anything with these stickers! For this lovely wedding that Chloe Browne photographed, Jillian styled the guestbook table with an old suitcase, 3D letters from Hobbycraft. The possibilities are endless!  

 

4. Stamping Alternatives

Want to try your hand at stamping? There are things around your home that you can use as instant polka dot stamps!

For a larger and more “stamped” look, try an old wine cork, and acrylic paint on an old dish (above left).
For more of a confetti approach, use the rubber eraser end of a brand new pencil and stamp away! For the notecards above right, I used embossing glitter, and a embossing heat tool to get a raised glittery surface.

Are you as excited about polka dots as I am!? I think they can be every girl’s best friend- so full of nostalgia and charm. Happy Polka-dotting!

If you'd like to take a look through my previous DIY features and tutorials on Love MY Dress, click here! here.

Erin

 

These DIY ideas have been written for Love My Dress and must not be reproduced on any other publication online or in print without permission having been sought from www.berinmade.com and Love My Dress.

A Black Lace Wedding Dress for a Relaxed London Wedding...

It's almost lunch time, which surely means it's time I treated you to a wedding :)  Love My Dress reader Laura married her beau Paul on 9th June with a ceremony at Islington Town Hall in London, followed by a reception at The reception was at The White Horse Pub, Exchange Square near Liverpool Street Station.

I adore Laura's 50's style wedding dress - a black lace design by Maria at The Little Black Dress in South Woodford, London.

"I knew I didn’t want to wear white and I had seen and tried on some great 1950s prom dress styles and found a few pictures. Maria and I agreed the design together and she made it.

I ordered the white net petticoat from LissyKate’s on Ebay. I loved the idea of having a black lace neckline and overlay (I have a party dress with a similar idea) and the gorgeous shape and mid-calf length. I felt like I was in Mad Men (I’m a bit obsessed with it, actually!"

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

"My Bridesmaid's halterneck circle dress was from Vivien of Holloway, London. The other was from Pretty Kitty Fashion on Amazon. Both had petticoats from Vivien of Holloway."

"I had two pairs of shoes in the end! I started with some cheap red satin shoes from Ebay that I customised with some netting I had from my Hen Do. (We made net petticoats in a vintage dressmaker’s workshop).  They ended up looking a bit mad so I bought some more sensible ones, again from Ebay but originally from Hobbs. Much more sensible but still gorgeous and retro. I did wear both pairs on the day.

Bridal party flowers were by Flora of Wanstead in London. I wanted quite a loose & wild bouquet with garden flowers. I love the fact the bouquet was so full of jewel colours which looked great with the black and white dresses."

"Our readings were 'The Passionate Shepherd To His Love’ by Christopher Marlowe read by Paul’s mum and ‘Traditional Irish Wedding Blessing’ read by my cousin.  We wanted something classical and in some way significant.

Being a Drama teacher and from a performing family, Marlowe was just right. Paul and I both have some Irish blood and the blessing is really beautiful."

"We wanted a pub because we knew we wanted a relaxed atmosphere for the celebrations. It’s also got some lovely retro style décor, which went well with the vintage feel we ended up with and a great patio area outside.

The fact that the pub is in the City also meant that the area was really quiet so we had loads of space for guests to wander around and have our photos.The White Horse Pub has their own Events Organiser. The staff were brilliant and really made sure our reception went smoothly."

"My mum ordered a brilliant cake of cheese from The Cheese Shed in Devon. It was amazing. It included lots of different wheels of cheese so was a great after dinner extra and a bit of sustenance for our evening guests too.  We also had a cake baking competition for our guests. They totally overwhelmed us with their skills and creative ideas."

"To be completely honest, we were pretty dead against getting embroiled in themes or getting sucked into the styling part of planning the wedding. We just wanted to invite everyone we wanted to and give our guests a brilliant day. But before we knew it, we were talking about having a Cabaret as part of the reception, so we organised our own,  featuring performances from members of our family and some friends.

Susanna, my bridesmaid and a friend compered and Paul and I both performed too! My brother did a DJ set of classic tunes for the evening."

I love these getting ready shots - and anyone who has ever stayed at The Hoxton Hotel will recognise those cushions immediately...