Love My Dress UK Wedding Blog

A Heartfelt, Humanist Wedding Ceremony at Crear in Scotland

Sometimes a wedding submission comes in that quite moves me to tears - in the loveliest of ways, of course.  There is something about Fi and Tom's wonderful Scottish, Humanist wedding that really touches my heart.  For a start, these images represent everything I truly adore about good wedding photography - every key moment captured in such a genuine way - they're so emotive, and present a real and honest (pull at your heart strings type honest) sense of the love, emotion and joy.  This is why I try to impress on our readers the importance of putting aside a sensible portion of your wedding budget to cover good, professional photography. You can hear me talking about this very issue live on BBC Radio (around 2 hours, 7 mins or so in) via this link - but only for the next 5 days, so be quick!

Fi and Tom got married on 20th April at Crear - an amazing 'blank canvass' wedding venue that has already made several appearances on Love My Dress.

"Tom and I both wanted a really informal and relaxed day where our friends and family could celebrate with us. A friend had recommended that we each write a list of the things that would really make the day special to us. In the end, both of our lists were more or less the same: unique venue, seaside location, excellent food and drink, lots of dancing and a really good party!"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Caro Weiss Photography

"Tom and I met in the spring of 2006 through a mutual friend. It was strange that we hadn’t met before because we had so many friends in common. We hit if off instantly and ended up attending a few of each other’s parties (uninvited I may add!) before we finally got together.

I think it was pretty obvious to both of us early on that this was the beginning of something special and we moved in together within six months."

"We got engaged on Hogmanay 2010/11 when Tom whisked me away for a romantic night at the Dunalastair Hotel, Kinloch Rannoch (unfortunately now closed). We had been at a friend’s birthday party the previous night and as always I had been a little reluctant to leave the party which lead me to being somewhat worse for wear the next day to say the least! What I didn’t realise is that Tom had told more or less everyone at the party that he planned to propose the next evening.  Prior to this we had had quite a tumultuous few years; amongst other things we lost our house and almost all our worldly belongings in a house fire, my mum had been diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease and I had to go through genetic testing to see whether I carried the gene."

I know it sounds a bit silly but when Tom proposed that evening there was a real feeling that we were taking charge of things and putting an end to the run of unfortunate luck we’d had previously. It really was wonderful to start the new year with such amazing news. We had planned to get married in the autumn of that year but in the end we were engaged for more than two years due other events getting in the way, such as moving house and Tom changing jobs." 

"Whilst I knew that I wanted our wedding to take inspiration from a bygone era and make use of the beautiful collection of crockery I have collected over the years, in the end it was the venue that inspired us. Crear has so much white open space; we knew that we didn’t want to compromise the character of the venue and have too much going on but I knew that with a bit of colour injected it would look fabulous.

I absolutely adore bunting; and if I’m honest I did have a bit of a wobbly  that it was all a bit too tired and obvious these days, but I was pretty determined that it was going to play a part in our wedding celebrations in some shape or form.  I don’t care if everyone else hates it, I love it! The fabric I collected was so colourful and floral and it set the tone and theme for the flowers we chose and the ‘show some love’ guest book."

I love that you don't care what other people think about bunting Fi - we don't care either.

"Tom and I opted to have a humanist ceremony, which is legal in Scotland. Neither of us is religious and it was important to us both that we had a ceremony that was relevant and individual to us as a couple. One of my favourite memories is the rainy Saturday afternoon that Tom and I spent filling in our detailed questionnaire on how we met, how we feel about each other and what marriage will mean to us a couple; this formed the basis of the ceremony and it was wonderful to be so open in front of our friends. 

Annie Loughlin, the celebrant, really spent time in the months leading up to the wedding getting to know us both via email and telephone so by the time we met her it really felt like meeting up with an old friend."

"We asked our friends Natalie and Kerry and Tom’s sister Liz each to do a reading. We wanted their choice to be a surprise on the day and had every faith and confidence that they would choose something that reflected us both. Liz chose to read John Cooper Clarke’s ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ – which went down so well and had everyone laughing! Unbeknownst to them until 10 minutes before the ceremony, both Kerry and Natalie had picked the same reading, ‘Strawberries’ by Edwin Morgan, so they chose to do it together; it was such a lovely moment. 

The sentiment of not ‘hurrying the feast’ referred to in the Edwin Morgan reading is so relevant to our adventure through life together.  After the fire, my mum’s diagnosis and my genetic testing, we promised that we would try to live life to the fullest and enjoy the journey and everything that it brings. I’m currently having the words of the poem framed by another Love My Dress regular ‘Lucy Says I Do’ to serve as a lovely reminder - I was inspired by this feature by Franky." 

"My dress was made by the ever so talented Wendy from Flossy and Dossy.  I found the whole aspect of choosing a dress somewhat overwhelming and if I’m really honest I struggled to get excited about it initially. I did however know from the start that I wanted to wear a vintage lace dress but knew I would struggle to get one to fit. I can be a bit of a tomboy who should have been alive in the 1920s-1950s (yes, it’s a strange combo I know) so I think there was a bit of an expectation amongst my friends that I would go for a 50s-style tea dress, which initially is what thought I wanted. But I realised that, for me, the opportunity to wear a long and elegant dress doesn’t come round too often! In the end, it was Lady Mary’s marriage to Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey that inspired my dress.

I came across Flossy and Dossy through the Glasgow Wedding Collective and right from the beginning she understood my vision and was able to translate all of my ideas into my dream dress. Wendy really managed to create a dress that was simple and understated but at the same time I felt sooooo good in it and felt rather glamorous. Believe me, that doesn’t happen often! Everyone said it was very ‘me’ which was all I really wanted."

"I don’t normally wear much jewellery so didn’t really want to wear anything for the sake of it. Also as the design of my Flossy and Dossy dress was becoming more apparent, I really wanted the dress to speak for itself; the corded lace was such a feature on its own. 

However upon completion both Wendy and I agreed that small vintage diamanté brooch via Messme on Etsy and pinned to the belt would complete the look without overwhelming it. I spent hours on Etsy trying to find the right one; I probably spent more time searching for the brooch than I did deciding on the dress!"

"The bridesmaid’s dresses were made by Wendy at Flossy and Dossy. Laura, Kerry and Katie and Gillian (who was a bit of a hybrid bridesmaid as she was also Tom’s best woman) each have their own individual style so we decided early on that they would create their own dresses and style them accordingly. We decided on a lovely soft grey chiffon fabric and set up a Pinterest board and collected loads of ideas for inspiration. I think in reflection that this was one of my favourite parts of the planning process. 

The girls picked their own shoes and accessorised their dresses in their own individual style. Coincidently they all got them from ASOS."

 

"I had such a specific idea about what flowers I wanted – and it didn’t want them to be bridal in any way whatsoever.  It’s probably the detail that I researched the most so I’m so glad that Melody at Crear Flowers was so open-minded and amenable. She understood my vision right from the start and did an excellent job. I stumbled upon the bridal bouquets the evening before the wedding just before I went to bed and had such a good cry – they were just perfect.

Before the big day, we had a vague discussion about what would hold the bouquets but still hadn’t decided by the day before (more down to my indecisiveness) but Melody came up with the idea of using the butcher’s twine that we used to string the bunting – this was also used for the men’s boutonnieres which was perfect!  I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending her."

"Two weeks prior to the wedding, Scotland had a terrible bout of weather and the venue was under six feet of snow! The celebrant for that particular wedding had to arrive by snow plough and leave by tractor so I wasn’t holding out much hope for an outdoor wedding!

Thankfully the weather subsided but in the event of it being cold, I purchased a cream fur cape from a vintage store in Glasgow’s west end which I accessorised with a vintage mother of pearl sweater guard which I got from Etsy.  I’m so glad I did as it was sooooooo windy on the day; I thought we were going to take off at one point!"

 

"It was important for Tom and I to make our own vows and I think if we are both honest whilst we deliberated on what to say for many months, we both didn’t really decide on what we would say until the very few days before the ceremony. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get through them because of the emotion of the day so opted to keep mine very brief but get across how much I loved him, I valued his love for me and that we were family.

I wrote a more detailed and personal promise saying everything I felt I couldn’t say out loud in a card to Tom which I gave to him on the morning of the wedding.  Tom’s vows were a little more formal and structured but just as sincere."

"We made the table plans ourselves using vintage apple and wine crates planted with flowers with the guests for each table attached to some fishing wire. This was a bit of a last minute job on the day just before everyone arrived which was thankfully done by the ushers Mark and Rob whilst we were all getting ready!  For place cards we used manila luggage tags which we hand-stamped with everyone’s name (this corresponded to the tea towel invitations which were tied up with butcher’s string and a hand-stamped luggage name for each guest).

This was an awful job and soooo time consuming! But by the end of the day, all of the boys were wearing their tags in the suit jacket pockets like an impromptu boutonniere."

 

"For our wedding invitations we used the most amazing Wedding Tea Towels – everyone’s reaction to them was fantastic!   We didn’t have any order of day booklets or menus, and we made our own table plans and place cards – see below!

We didn’t provide favours at the wedding as we hoped that our tea towel invitation would serve as a memento."

"For the table names, we painted some vintage silver trays with blackboard paint and Laura, one of the bridesmaids, did a sterling job of decorating them. The table names corresponded to the first names of a few of our musical heroes (Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins). Derrick, Kevin and Juan are not your stereotypical table names, I know; at one point Tom’s mum asked what the relevance was to which Laura joked that they were the name of my previous boyfriends!"

Hahahaha!

'I found our photographer Caro Weiss through The Glasgow Wedding Collective and instantly loved her style of photography. Her pictures were so different to anything else we had seen and seemed to capture the informality that we were after.  Both Tom and I hate getting our picture taken – I always seem to forget how to smile and it always seems so unnatural and forced. Caroline is so down to earth and friendly that you almost feel like you know her already. She instantly put us both at ease and we both knew that she would be great fun to have around on the day."

After our first meeting, I came across a picture on her website of our good friends Ruth and Euan – I had totally forgotten that she had photographed their wedding a few years earlier and then I realised that that’s where I recognised her from! It turns out she actually photographed two of our other great friends’ weddings also, so by the time the wedding came she knew a lot of our guests and hopefully felt at home and welcome.

"Both Caroline and Pete were so unobtrusive on the day, and couldn’t believe some of the shots they managed to capture, especially during the speeches – it really looks like a day full of so much love and laughter. In addition to all of the wonderful photos of myself and Tom, Caroline and Pete also captured some really special moments between myself and my mum Nessie which I will treasure forever. 

Along the planning process, there were a few things that we compromised on, but I really can’t emphasise enough how relieved and glad we are that the photography wasn’t one of them. It’s the story book of the day, of all the little things you missed and has the ability to transport you right back there and relive it all over again."

A Classic Hollywood Movie Inspired Wedding At Tyneside Cinema

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!*

The White Gallery, May 2013...

It's always such a treat to be able to visit The White Gallery every spring time.  Now in its fourth year, The White Gallery London is an internationally recognised trade fair event that enables designers and suppliers to showcase their new creations to boutique owners and other sales representatives.  Basically, it's the event where all the fabulous wedding shop owners go to order their new stock in wedding dresses, shoes, accessories and so on.  They order now, you see it in their shops over the coming weeks and months.

This is the third time I've attended The White Gallery - two years ago, I wrote an 8-page spread for Wedding Magazine for then Editor Catherine Westwood.  Last year, I attended in my own right and reported here, and just as I did 12 months ago, this year, I made my way to the Battersea Park Exhibition Centre in Chelsea with photographer Naomi Kenton, who captured the beautiful images you see here today. 

Naturally, we didn't have anywhere near enough time to photograph as much as we would have liked to, despite agreeing a strict routine that involved keeping socialising to a minimum and limiting time on each stand, we still just couldn't cover it all.  But we did work hard to capture as much as we could and we hope that you appreciate these beautiful photographs today that provide a sample of the craftsmanship that was on display at the show.

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Naomi Kenton

First up, I simply had to share these incredible designs by Eaton Nott, who's creations graced the main entrance to the show.  Eaton Nott, who are made up of conceptual artist Jess Eaton and professional tattooist and collector of all things bizarre, Jon Nott, were showcasing their 'Roadkill Couture' collection, a highly acclaimed clothing line consisting of accessories and garments created purely out of, yes, roadkill (or from animals that have been killed or died of natural causes). 

Weird? Controversial? You decide. What's undeniable however is the beauty of these creations - just look at that headpiece above designed using bleached pheasant feathers - a conceptual, avant garde take on the current craze for all things 20/Gatsby inspired. I was blown away by it to be honest! The craftsmanship involved close up was quite incredible.

It might not be to everyone's cup of tea, but the concept was pretty original!

It was such a treat to see French designer Delphine Manivet represented at the show for the first time. I'm a huge huge fan of Manivet's chic and glamorous gowns, but this 1970s inspired design really caught my eye - I snapped it here on my Instagram feed, complete with platform boots! This was one of my favourite dress designs at the show.  You can see more from Delphine Manivet on Love My Dress here.

The shoes on show were as always just fabulous, but Harriet Wilde completely stole the show with her incredible feathery designs - brand new and hot out of the secret shoe factory.  Designer Ruth Shaw had in fact just been visited by BHLDN when we got to her stand - who had apparently expressed a keen interest in her gorgeous flat/low heel wedding shoes.  Unsurprisingly too, they were really stylish and chic, but these boots wanted to run away with my heart.  Aren't they fabulous? Looks like the shoemaker has been visited by the elves! Love them... 

And heels to kill and die for!!! Beyond elegant...

I became a little smitten with these gold shoes too. Wouldn't these look fabulous on a modern-day bride peeping out from beneath the hemline of a glorious vintage or vintage inspired wedding dress?  Actually, they would look pretty amazing with a pair of skinny jeans too. I love how they look like they have little wings!

An open toe version of the elegant feather design above...

And I think this might well be my new favourite colour...

I was smitten with the pretty little flower-girl dresses by designer Nicki Macfarlane.  Nicki's craftsmanship is second to non. She takes her inspiration from summer wedding style and her colour palette includes soft nudes, tasteful sorbets, jewels and rich Mulberry tones.

I absolutely adored the pearl peter pan collar that featured on this pretty pink gown...

Nicki Macfarlane designs are available in the very best bridal department stores including Harrods, but don't let this put you off - she is a super down to earth and approachable lady. Nicki and her team are just so lovely and I can't recommend them highly enough if you are looking for exquisite, traditional flower-girl and bridesmaids gowns - she is the best in the business.

One of the designers I was most keen to see was the Spanish Jesús Peiró (no, you don't pronounce it like 'Jesus' as in God's son - you might want to clear the back of your throat before you try the correct pronunciation which is more like 'hay-zooz'. Go on, have a go!

Again, for me the quality of craftsmanship really stood out with the Jesús Peiró designs - and if our sponsor MIss Bush Bridal is ready to rave about them at every given opportunity, then we're pretty convinced that these dresses aren't just beautiful to look at but extremely high quality design too.

Katya Katya Shehurina stole my heart at the White Gallery last year, and they didn't fail to impress for a second year on the run either.  This fabulously talented Latvian born designer has a really strong design signature that hugely appeals to me - her gowns are all about feminine layering of the softest and lightest of laces and tulle.  Utterly charming and so damn pretty...

Giant Balloons And A Blue Cardigan For A 1950's Inspired Bride And Her Quirky Village Fete Style Wedding

Good morning beautiful! As you read this, I'll be sat getting my hair coiffed (by no other than Monsieur Severin Hubert of course) and makeup applied so that I look the bees knees ready for a rather important business meeting this afternoon - plus (the scary part), I'm getting some photos taken for Love My Dress!  I will then be visiting Elizabeth Avey and Ruth Shaw of Harriet Wilde later in the afternoon with my photographer colleague Naomi Kenton (blog post to follow people).  Which means that I need to leave you with something beautiful whilst I'm off on my latest London adventures.

And so here we are - please join me in saying hello to Eleanor and Dave, who tied the knot on 13 April 2013 at Errol Park in Perthshire, Scotland. I just love these images for their quirky nature - and any bride who chooses to wear an electric blue cardigan on her wedding day deserves a BIG gold star in my books. These photos were submitted by the always lovely Zoe Barrie.

"Very soon after getting engaged I came across Love my Dress. I was heavily influenced by all the beautiful weddings featured (and Pinterest) and still read it now despite no longer having a wedding to plan.

We also didn’t have a particular era in mind when styling our wedding, but I do personally love all things vintage and quirky. Our initial loose theme was ‘village fete’ and I have always known I wanted bunting. Everything else just came around as we went along."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Photos by Zoe

"Our Photographer recommended Pyrus Flowers to us. I was looking for a local supplier of some lovely ‘meadow’ style flowers. Pyrus grow their own local blooms from their flower garden in East Lothian. They created such beautiful and unusual wild displays for the table centres, and the bouquets matched the relaxed look so well, and smelt amazing too!"

"Dave got his Kilt made for him in his family Tartan. He purchased everything he was wearing, including the accessories from Keith Scott Kilts in Dundee."

"I wore the Rachel Simpson 'Lola' shoes in blue Suede, which beautifully matched my cardigan from French Connection."

"My lace head piece was actually a bracelet from Stitch From The Heart on Etsy.  I removed the clip and sewed vintage button and beads onto it. This was then just pinned into my hair on the day."

"My Dress was Audrey by Blue Bridal Wear which I purchased at Ivory Whites in Perth. I always knew I wanted a dress with sleeves, with a vintage feel. Originally I was looking for a tea length dress as I love that 1950s style, but having tried a few on I decided they didn’t really suit me.

When I tried on Audrey I just loved it, the material was amazing and so luxurious and I loved how simple it was, perfect for adding a bit of colour and interest with some accessories. It just felt so lovely on and had that ‘spin’ factor!"

"The Balloons were a slightly last minute decision, about a week before the wedding I came across a blog post about Geronimo Balloons, who are a US company who make amazing tassel balloons, I loved them and decided to make my own version of them, I think they turned out really well."

"We didn’t really have favours, however everyone got a drumstick lolly with their name on it as a place setting, I think they may be my all time favourite sweet!  We also gave the bridesmaids a bath bomb from Lush wrapped up in vintage scarf tied into a bow, I saw this in their store and thought it was such a lovely idea and you get the bonus of being able to wear the scarf after too!"

"We had a humanist ceremony, which I think is a great benefit of getting married in Scotland. We created our own ceremony, chose some readings that our friends read out and wrote our own vows. It was lovely being able to produce such a personalised ceremony that was unique to us.

One of my favourite parts of the day was when my Dad sang during the ceremony. I grew up with him singing, and it was really special that we could include that in our day. At any family gathering the guitars always come out and we have a good old singalong. He sang “The Road and the Miles to Dundee” a traditional Scottish folk ballad. I was his dad’s favourite song and also fitted us so well, as Dave and I met each other at university in Dundee."

'The bridesmaid dresses were from Monsoon Bridesmaids Hair Accessories.  Their headbands were also form Stitch from the Heart on Etsy."

"I have always enjoyed crafting and creating. I have a background in design so wanted to create as much of the décor and styling as I could myself. With help from my bridesmaids we produced over 100 pinwheels to use in the table centres and around the venue, I love the whimsical look they have, my mum also kindly sewed a whole lot of bunting that we draped around the venue."

"We also created our own Photobooth. I wanted this to have a vintage feel so I sourced an old photo frame and mounted it onto a stand, then cut out various moustaches and glasses and attached them to sticks. This went down so well and it was really very simple to make.

I also made all our invitations, the table Plan and table names. The tables were named after Chilli varieties as we both love hot food!"

"Right form the word go we wanted somewhere that would let us do our own thing, not be tied to suppliers and tight timescales. In fact our first requirements when looking for venues was that we could have a hog roast, this actually turned out to be surprisingly difficult to find in the area. We looked at several places around the Dundee/Perth area (where we live) as well as in the highlands (where I am from) but when we came across Errol Park we new straight away we had found our perfect venue. They don’t do many weddings and we loved the idea of making it our own. The location was beautiful and the contrast between the grand house and beautiful gardens where we held the ceremony and the old circular stable block for the reception really ticked all the boxes.

The courtyard looked lovely lit up with the bonfires at night, and the old stable complete with feeding troughs as the bar was quirky and fun, as well as the large clock tower looking over us all, it was all just perfect!"

"I actually came across our photographer Zoe on Love My Dress, I was looking for a relaxed, quirky photographer that could capture the details of our day. I knew straight away when first chatting to her on the phone that she would be perfect. She is just so friendly and of course her photos are amazing. The images are just perfect, she really got the vibe that we were going for and I think this shows in the photos."