Oh my wooorrrrddd! At least, that was a bit like my reaction when I saw these photographs for the first time, when my lovely friend Caroline of Candysnaps shared them with me. Caroline was lucky enough to be chosen to photograph the very glamorous wedding of Claire and Eamon, who got married on 10th November last year at The Caves in Edinburgh.
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Candysnaps
I LOVE this wedding, it epitomises just about everything I adore about Love My Dress; the glamour, the smiles, the relaxed wedding just as the couple wanted it and a slick of fantabulous red lipstick thrown in for good measure. And it goes without saying that I recognised that slinky Jenny Packham number Claire is wearing in an instant - doesn't she carry it off with absolute perfection? Read her story too my friends - it's proof that sometimes, the very first wedding dress purchase isn't always the right one (I was that bride too!). That marabou cape by the way is by Biba...
"Ahh, the
dress (bit of a long story!). I had always imagined that the dress
would be the easy part of organising a wedding - I love dresses and I
know what dresses I like, so how hard could it be?! How wrong I was!?
The first wedding dress shop I visited in Glasgow specialised in vintage
dresses. I always imagined myself in a short wedding dress a la 1950's
but surprisingly didn't feel as I had hoped when I tried those styles
on. Then I tried on an original 1930's dress, it was long, halter neck
with beautiful beading & detail - I am a big fan of the 1930's era and loved the detail of the dress, and the story that went with
it - 'this is the one!' I thought, and paid the deposit."
Check out that snazzy petrol blue, British wool tailored suit by Adam Waite...
"A
few weeks later my mum was over visiting from Ireland and I took her
along to see the dress. When I tried it on again it felt and looked
different to how I had remembered it, mum took a few photos of me in it
which were not how I imagined myself to look on my wedding day and we
left - I was in turmoil!
Eventually mum asked what was wrong and I
burst into tears telling her I think I had made a mistake about my
dress! It was such a beautiful dress but unfortunately it just didn't
suit me as I had hoped. So there I was 4 months to go and still no
dress! Luckily both of my sisters who were also planning weddings were
on hand with magazines and ideas."
"As I resumed the search I realised
that all the dresses I liked in the magazines were all Jenny Packham,
however when I realised their price tags I thought "typical!" I
couldn't justify spending so much on a dress especially after losing my
deposit on the first one! So that is when the wedding dress fairy must
have took pity on me! I had made a few phone calls to see who stocked
Jenny Packham dresses in Scotland. One shop in Troon happened to have a
half price sale on, so off I went! That is where I first saw my dress
the Jenny Packham Isadora.
They only had it in a size 14 and even at
half price it was still a lot of money, however I couldn't stop thinking
about it. I loved the simplicity of the dress combined with the
luxurious silk material, jewelled detail and the sheer back. As soon
as I tried it on I felt like a movie star! So imagine my delight when a
few weeks later I visited Anne Priscilla in Glasgow with my friend
Sonia and saw Isadora once more - this time in a size 12."
"That's the
dress I told you about!" I said, to which Sonia said have you seen the
price tag?! It was reduced to £320!! As it was a sample dress it was in
need of some TLC, one of the shoulders was ripped, a few buttons were
missing but I knew it was meant to be! I tried it on for Sonia and
that was that - decision made!
Now I just needed someone to restore it to its full glory and
to my size. I was recommended the Alter girls in Glasgow who did such an
amazing job. They were very experienced and professional and I would
highly recommend them to anyone."
"Eamon and I met on the dance floor of Glasgow School of Art union bar, 'The Vic', in 2006. We had both been students in Glasgow and had remained in
the city to start our working lives. Despite us both hailing from
Northern Ireland it seemed I had to come all the way to Scotland to meet
my perfect Irish man!
When we first started to discuss the idea of
marriage we both agreed that we wanted something non religious and low
key. We had decided to head off on a 3 month adventure around Asia and Australia in April 2011 & discussed the idea of getting
married while away. We organised all the paperwork told our closest
family and friends of our intentions and off we went!"
"However we
quickly changed our minds when we reached Bangkok, we began to think of
all the people who would not be there to help us celebrate and it just
didn't feel right My mum had also sent me a parcel in the post with
the precise instruction 'to be opened on your wedding day'. As soon as I
read it I burst into tears & needless to say never opened it on our
trip!
Eamon still needed to propose however - which he did in style in a
hot tub in Tokyo in June 2011! We then drank cocktails in the Park
Hyatt hotel bar just as Bill and Scarlett had done in Lost in
Translation and flew back to Glasgow the next day."
"A few weeks later we
travelled home to Ireland where my mum and Eamon's dad were delighted
with our news and admitted to being relieved that we had decided not to
get married abroad. I was given Eamon's mum's engagement ring which
meant the world to me, it is such a beautiful and unique ring and I
feel so honoured that Eamon's family wanted me to have it. Once back
from our travels the wedding plans were put on hold for a while as our
job security was under treat, but we enjoyed our time being newly
engaged.Then once work started to pick up again we began planning and booked The Caves in May 2012!
Despite
living in Glasgow, we both loved the idea of getting married in
Edinburgh. It is such a romantic city, especially in the winter. We had
enjoyed many trips to Edinburgh during our courtship, and thought it
would be the perfect city for all our wedding guests to enjoy a weekend
break as well as a wedding! As soon as we saw the Caves we knew we had
found the perfect venue! We loved the vaulted ceilings, cosy little
corners , the 'Cow room' with a chesterfield sofa which was a great
quiet space for the younger guests & of course all candles…it also
had a license until 3am! As a venue it perfectly encapsulated Edinburgh
for us; old, romantic, cosy and a great place for a party! The only
available date left for that year was Sat 10th November: 10/11/12 -
such a great date we thought and also an easy one to remember for
future anniversaries!"
"My hair was styled by the super
talented Sara Graham-McCombe from Martin Brown Hairdressers in Glasgow.
Sara completely understood the look I wanted for me and my bridesmaids. I loved the classical elegant style she created and the
Jenny Packham hair piece kindly borrowed from my friend Janine finished
it off perfectly. My bridesmaids hair styles were all slightly different
but equally elegant, they all looked so beautiful. Make up was done by
the Eamon's brother Paul's girlfriend Shabs. She very kindly offered
her amazing make up skills and it meant so much to me to have her there
on the morning of the wedding.
We had a few trial runs while on a family
summer holiday in Spain during the summer, where she was able to advise
me on colours & what products to use on the day. Always discussed
with a few glasses of Prosecco in hand! I realised the importance of a
good primer especially for photographs, Shabs recommend Smashbox which I
have used ever since aswell as the Nars illuminator for that dewy
finish.
I deliberated for a while about the red lips as I wasn't too
sure if it would be too much but Shabs recommended Mac's Ruby Woo &
as soon as I put it on I knew it was a perfect red. My only wish is that
I could have Shabs on hand to do my make up every day!"
"Once
I had decided on the red lips I thought I should go with red roses as
well! Erin at Narcissus did such an amazing and professional job. I
didn't throw my own bouquet on the day, instead I borrowed one of my
bridesmaids. I wanted my red roses to be sent back to Ireland to lay on
Eamon's mum's grave."
"My
bridesmaids wore navy strapless knee length dresses from Coast. It was a
much easier task finding my bridesmaid's dresses! My two sisters Jenny and Cathy (the Brunettes) and Eamon's two sisters Orla and Julie
(the blondes) were my beautiful bridesmaids.
My bridesmaids also wore faux-fur capes made by the very talented and speedy Little Deva in
Glasgow. After trying on a vintage mink fur cape in Mr Ben's vintage
store in Glasgow, Marianne the proprietor came up with the clever idea
of getting Little Deva to copy the pattern in a faux fur - they were
perfect and a lot cheaper than Mink!"
I just adore these Lulu Frost for Whistles Art Deco Earrings that Claire is wearing...
"My two brothers
Kevin and Paul gave me away and thankfully had cash on them to pay
the taxi to the caves - it was one thing I had overlooked as I had no
purse with me!"
"We
decided to have a Humanist ceremony and were very lucky to have been
recommended a celebrant called Sheena Johnston. She made the ceremony a
very personable & relaxed experience with spontaneous clapping and
laughter!"
"Our table plan, along wiht our 'save the date' cards,, invitations and table
settings were all designed by the Groom! They were quite
minimal and rendered in various shades of grey, you can tell he is
an Architect!
We also had a stamp made by Etsy with our names, venue and date on it, which we used to personalise a lot of our wedding
stationary."
"Our
cake designer, Patisserie Maxime in Edinburgh, created a macaroon tower
arrangement. It was delicious & so colourful! They even came &
assembled the tower @ 7pm as there was no room in the Caves fridges for
them all! I am a little obsessed by Macaroons after a few trips to
Laduree in Paris & London. However despite numerous attempts to make
them myself I gave up and left it to the professionals!"
"The
amazing Caroline of Candysnaps was our photographer - she is such a
talented, sweet and enthusiastic lady! We both loved the natural,
spontaneous style to her photographs and felt very lucky to have her
as our wedding photographer. Eamon had the idea of having some photos
taken at the Art house Cameo cinema in Edinburgh, which Caroline
captured magnificently. The surprised employee very kindly let us pose
in front of the popcorn stand and sweeties! These are probably some of
our favourite photos of the day."
