An Art Deco Bride and an Elegant Vintage Wedding {Part 1} …

{Part 2 of this wedding features here}

Every Wedding featured on Love My Dress is very special, and makes it onto this little style diary for a number of reasons;  the beautiful photographs, a friendly, helpful and enthusiastic Photographer, a gracious Bride – proud to share her wedding day story with others and the little tingles all over that the whole lot packaged together leave us feeling as we hit that 'publish' button.  And we believe it a complete privilege to be in a position to celebrate these weddings through Love My Dress.

But this particular wedding is something a little extra special to me.

As I was sat working last Saturday on my laptop, that familiar little email envelope icon appeared to the right of my screen, alerting me to a new message in my inbox.  I paused briefly, almost deciding to shut down my email programme, to enable me to concentrate, but instead, I went to check who the mail was from.

Staring back at me, was this…

All Imagery Copyright (c) 2009-2010, Amy Jo West Click to enlarge imagery…

Art Deco Bride, Jo.... Art Deco Bride, Jo and her Husband Rob...

…and I had to catch my breath…  

This is Jo, and she married her Husband Rob on 29 December 2009 at one of the most stunning venue's I have ever seen (more on that shortly).   Jo purchased my 2-tier cathedral length wedding veil and faux fur shrug from me; like many other newlywed Brides, I was left with a rather large hole in my purse following my March 2009 Wedding, and took the decision to sell some of my wedding possessions on to others, who, I figured, could put them to far better use than I could…

"It was seeing Annabel’s
beautiful wedding pictures that changed my mind about wearing a veil ~ before this I was adamant I wasn’t wearing one! It just finished her
dress of beautifully so I had to have one! When my parcel arrived from
Annabel I was soooo excited, I put the veil and shrug on straight away,
it was perfect and it came with a beautiful note and a lucky shell
which Annabel had at her own wedding! This travelled with me to Canada
and on my wedding day I carried it with me in my handbag…"

I had all but forgotten, but the photographs instantly took me back to my special day, and reminded me how confident and proud I had felt as I stood and held my Husband-to-be's hands, as we exchanged vows. And wow, did Jo look stunning.  More than stunning!  Her beautiful Jenny Packham gown, her old-Hollywood glamour red lipstick and those accessories, and that bouquet! ….

But this story starts here, in the Canadian Rocky mountains ~ and the Fairmont in Banff Springs, Alberta, to be exact. 

"We visited
Canada in 2006 and we just knew that’s where we wanted to one day get
married, it’s just stunning there and The Fairmont is out of this
world, it is just huge!!! So after our trip in 2006 I started planning
our wedding there, this was before Rob had even proposed! But in 2007
when he did on our 3rd year anniversary I started putting those plans
into action!"

I can see the appeal just a little!…

View from The Fairmont, Banff Springs, Alberta, Canada...

What an incredible view!

The Fairmont, Banff Springs, Alberta, Canada... 

Art Deco Vintage Wedding…

Now, you may not be aware, but back in November, I wrote about a lady just setting out in business designing her own vintage head-dresses and jewellery pieces.  Guess who she was?  Yes, indeed, the very same lady you see here on this page today getting married.  And I adore how she styled her big day…

"I just love
everything about the 1930s, that decade was just pure elegance to me,
the clothes, the hairstyles and best of all that lovely bling! So I
just had to have that style wedding! I was definitely born in the wrong
era!

I was so thrilled to have found these wonderful dresses in a lovely pale pink/mink colour from Next! They were only £90 each."

The Bridesmaids wore a pink beaded flower headdress which matched their dress
perfectly and had a vintage feel to them! These will soon be available
at Jo Barnes!  I made their bouquets from pale pink feathers,
Swarovski crystals and other pretty silver beads.
  I created my bouquet myself from my Nana’s vintage
brooches and pearls.  I also added my granddads cufflinks and my Mother In Law lost her sister quite a few years ago and she asked if I would
wear her pearl necklace, I didn’t want to wear a necklace so I wrapped
it around the base of my bouquet…"

Such a lovely idea…

Art Deco Bride Jo, and her Bridesmaids...

Jo's stunning dress was 'Alice', by Jenny Packham

"This dress oozed 1930s Hollywood glamour to me so I just had to
have it! I just love all of Jenny Packham’s gowns they are so elegant
and classy ~ I especially loved the pearl and diamante detail on the
dress and the cut was amazing it hung beautifully.

My shoes were a real bargain from Next, my mum bought them for
me and they were perfect, peep toe with diamantes on them! The colour
was a perfect match to my beautiful gown! I then glued blue diamantes
of mine and hubby’s initials on the soles, this was my something blue,
my original something blue would have been a garter but I wasn’t able
to wear a garter with this dress, it would have been visible!"

And for Jo's beautiful Art-Deco style haircomb?

"This was one of my very own creations! Made with a large diamante
brooch and 2 dress clips! I also made 3 diamante pins which I put in
the back of my hair.  My earrings were from "

Personalised Diamante Bridal Shoes... Art Deco Bride Jo, taking a moment to herself before making her way to the ceremony...

"My earrings were from Coast along with a matching bracelet which
my naughty maid of honour broke on the wedding morning! We were in such
a hurry it was funny you should have seen her face, she was horrified!
I wasn’t worried at all I was more worried about walking down that
aisle! But she kindly gave me her lovely bracelet that she was going to
wear which to be honest was much nicer than mine and matched my
earrings better, but poor old Jen didn’t have one to wear! This was
from Marks & Spencers.
I also wore my Nana’s cluster ring, this
was the ring she always used to wear one that my granddad bought for
her, so that was really special to me. I have told my mum she isn’t
having it back hehe!

I had long vintage gloves but my mum forgot to pack them! "

Our Bride making her way to the ceremony... Our Bride making her way to the ceremony...

"The groomsmen had
buttonholes to match made with the same pink feathers (as in the Bridesmaids accessories)…"

Rob wore a light grey suit and pink shirt from T.M Lewin

Harpist... The Groom and his Groomsmen...

"The night before the wedding I was so excited I couldn’t sleep
so we only got 3 hours sleep!!! I had the most wonderful card from
hubby in the morning that brought tears to my eyes, it was just so
sweet, and at this point, I couldn’t wait to see him!

When I entered the room and first saw hubby I just wanted to hold his
hand, I literally ran down the aisle! It was so funny Patricia the
commissioner asked if I wanted to go and do it again! My song for this
was Stand by me but as I walked down the aisle so quickly the harpist
only got to play about 2 notes!"

Groom Rob... Jo entering the Ceremony Room ...  

"We have nicknames for each other Fred
and Miffy, I asked the commissioner just before if she could use these
at the ceremony and she did when we exchanged rings it was brill! 

I asked Jo about her wedding ring…

"We really blew the budget here!!! Robs ring was from John
Greed
he absolutely loves it, he didn’t want a really expensive one due
to the job he has so he picked tungsten as this is a really strong
metal! I spent ages looking for a ring to match my engagement ring but
I just couldn’t find anything and I’d left it too late to have anything
made.  At the beginning of December I was beginning to panic as I still
hadn’t found my ring!  Eventually I found the most perfect ring the only
trouble was it was from Marks and Spencers! Yep I have a wedding ring
from
Marks and Spencers that cost me, wait for it….. £13.50!!! Believe
me this is only temporary as im going to now get this made with real
diamonds and platinum in the meantime I just have to hope that this one
doesn’t make my fingers green!!! 
During the ring exchange, the commissioner commented on what a
gorgeous ring I had, everyone knew it was from M&S and just burst
out laughing!"

A beautiful Bride full of style, and a sense of humour 🙂 …

Finally together and ready to exchange vows... Will thee take this £13.50 Marks & Spencers Wedding Ring?...

"Fred and I like to giggle lots
and that we did through the whole of the ceremony along with all our
guests, it was just how we wanted it, fun, relaxed and informal!

Our friend did a reading, it’s called a perfect wedding cake but she personalised it for me and Rob, it was perfect!


The perfect recipe for a long and happy future


4 lbs of Love


2 lbs of sweet respect


1 lb of buttery smiles


1 lb of adoring freaky ways


1 lb of good humour


1 lb of giggles


A shot of sweet arguments


A pint of making up


And a bucket full of smuggles



Put the love and smuggles into a well furnished home.


Beat the buttery smiles into a cream and mix well together with sweet respect and adoration of freaky ways.


Stir
the good humour and the giggles, then add a shot of sweet arguments and
the pint of making up with a bucket full of smuggles.


Work the whole ingredients together until everything is well mixed and bake gently forever.
"


The perfect recipe for a long and happy future... They did it! Kiss the Bride... 

Signing the Registry... Signing the Registry...

The whole day was extremely stylish and elegant – look at these Mum's! Aren't they looking utterly fabulous in their glamorous 1930's style garb – wow!!

Kiss.... Congratulations...

The Newlyweds... The Newlyweds...

I love this wedding so much, it is the epitome of grace and elegance, and of course, Jo is a stunningly beautiful Bride if ever there was one…

Do check in tomorrow for part 2 of this beautifully elegant affair…

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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