"The vision was to create a day where two quite different cultures could live together seamlessly, naturally and joyously – and just to create a massive crazy dance fuelled party…"
Hi everyone :) Let's squeeze another beautiful wedding into the mix today before I set off out to wreck the kitchen making chocolate cornflake cakes – on the joys of half term school holidays! ;))
Maria and Iranian born Peyrouz tired the knot on 21st May at their own home in Surrey and what a delightful surprise to learn that Dana from Once Upon a Time Dresses designed and created Maria's 50's inspired wedding dress – this is the same lady who made the beautiful baby blue number for me to wear to the Love My Dress Summer Soiree…
"My dress was the very first thing to be sorted. I'd always wanted a full skirted, but simple fifties dress and Dana of Once Upon a Time Dresses kept coming up in my searches, so my mum and I visited her for an initial consultation and I knew right away it was the right choice.
Because Peyrouz is Iranian and I was thinking of a Persian style theme, Dana showed us some gorgeous silk with a gold hue which we loved and she really listened to my needs to create something which matched my style and personality…."
Love My Dress – Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Maria de Faci
"I was fortunate enough to be able to wear my grandmothers antique pearl necklace which matched perfectly and then later Peyrouz’s parents presented me with a pearl choker, both of which I hope perhaps my own grand daughter will wear one day…"
"The lovely Dana also created me a little Rock star veil, which was just lovely, but then a few weeks before the wedding I freaked out and changed my mind and went with an equally lovely lady called Sarah who has a shop called Margolilly on Folksy.
Again she listened to my needs and I sent her some material swatches from the dress which she incorporated into the hair piece too and it got to me in record time, which I was grateful for!"
"Our bridal flowers were from a local florist Four Seasons Floral design. Rita did a great job and managed to find us the biggest burgundy peonies I have ever seen for my bouquet and the pew ends. She was also understanding about our minimal budget and the decision for my mum to do all the church and marquee flowers. She gave us loads of advice on our order and my mum dud an excellent job too…"
"I found my Bridesmaids dresses on sale in House of Fraser. We all agreed maxi dress was the way to go and burgundy one of our allotted colours, so I approved the choice and ordered them the next day and luckily they all fitted and the girls looked beautiful in them. My gorgeous flower girl’s dress was a Debenhams number…"
"We recently renovated our new home in Surrey, so it made perfect sense for us to get married there. The owner of the land behind us were kind enough to offer us the field next to us and while it was no perfect lawn and was on a bit of a slope, for us it was perfect. We decided on the teepee style tents from Beautiful World Tents, because they looked fabulous and pitched well on sloped ground!"
Maria and Peyrouz hired on the day co-ordinators Klass Act – which was great as planners had been struck from the budget quite early on…."
"After our church service everyone went back to the house and had prosseco and persian style canapes (basically hummus and salad olivieh – Russian style salad with chicken egg and potato) while we went for a private photo shoot.
Upon our return we had a Persian ceremony, which Peyrouz’s father conducted, which basically centres around a table called a Sofreh Aghd, upon which is a selection if items that represent what you hope will also be in your marriage (including a mirror, to bring light and life into the marriage and honey for sweetness). Following this, there is traditionally dancing…"
"We were going for the food Iranian style and loved the idea of each table being sat around chatting and helping themselves from big platters. We a lamb curry called Ghorme Sabsi (or the veggie version) and lamb shank with several different types of rice and salad. We skipped desert and served cake later and in the evening our catering staff rustled up hot dogs on our BBQ…"
"The decor was a joint effort by my family and friends, led in particular by my sister…
The colours were gold and burgundy with a bit of blue thrown in and we had metres and metres of gorgeous bunting and decorated endless jam jars with lace, organza and ribbons for flowers and candles throughout the church and reception. We made blackboards signs, massive straw letters to hang in the trees and a table plan and collected many and varied sparkling and lush materials to wrap around the tent poles and spread over straw bales in the garden.
The table for the Persian ceremony was painstakingly decorated by Peyrouz’s family and that was beautiful too…"
"We had hired some Iranian musicians, who played traditional Persian music and getting everyone dancing early, set a joyous and relaxed mood for the rest of the day, and then we danced to 'Always a Woman' by Billy Joel for our first dance…"
"We are also lucky enough to have friends in a brilliant blues band, who have just released their first single and are taking off in a massive way at the moment – The Juan Zelada Band. They played later in the evening and were absolutely cracking and had everyone bouncing off the walls, young and old…"
Words of Wedded Wisdom….
"Enjoy the planning process because these memories stay with you as much the day itself. Remember to take some time out with your partner on the day to soak it all up – nothing can prepare you for how you will feel and how surreal and elating the whole day is. Just go with the flow. Not everything will go to plan, but no-one else will notice or care, so relax and enjoy.
We're big advocates of the do it yourself wedding. If you think you've got the time and temperament, organizing it yourself and drawing in as many friends and family as possible to help made the whole thing so unique and personal and definitely helps strengthen you for the years ahead (as well as saving you a few pennies)…"
And that, my friends, is why I am a wedding blogger 🙂 Joyous photographs full of love 🙂
Huge thanks to Maria de Faci for sharing these images…
"Our photographer was brilliant. We had someone else lined up, but weren't convinced and when we saw Maria’s work we were blown away. When we met her she told us her aim was to make everyone look as beautiful as possible, which she did and so much more! She captured so many important and beautiful moments. I can't extol her praises enough.
She took us for a private shoot directly after the church for an hour in the park next to our home, while our guests had drinks, which was one of the most memorable part of the day for us, as it meant we had some alone time in the midst of the madness…."
Makes me all warm inside 🙂
Is anyone else planning a similar style wedding to Maria and Peyrouz's- maybe utilising their home as their wedding venue? I'd love to hear from you 🙂
Much love,
Annabel xXx
♥
Photographer – Maria de Faci
Venue – The couple's home
Brides dress + Veil – Once Upon a Time Dresses
Brides headpiece – Margolilly on Folksy
Brides shoes – Irregular Choice
Brides accessories – Grandmothers antique pearl necklace
Groom – Esquire of Caterham
Bridesmaids – House of Fraser
Flowers – Four Seasons Floral design
Transport – Shirley Chaeuffeurs
On the day co-ordinators – Klass Act
Entertainment – The Juan Zelada Band
Hair Stylist – Touch Hairdressing
