This is one of those weddings I take such huge pleasure in preparing for a blog feature. This is the wedding of Laura and Nick, who had a beautiful ceremony at The Tithe Barn in Ditcham, Petersfield, Hampshire, on 19 June this year.
There are so many things I utterly love about this wedding – Laura's choice of dress (a David Fielden number), her headpiece (the Jenny Packham Acacia II) and not least, Laura and Nick's excellent pick of Photographers. These photos were shot by the fabulous David McNeil, whose work I've been looking forward to featuring on Love My Dress for sometime now. David seems to have effortlessly captured every episode of this beautiful day so perfectly, from the Brides and her girls getting ready, to the ceremony, to the photobooth photographs.
Bride Laura told me…"The very talented David McNeil took our wedding photographs. He also organised our photo-booth which
was a delightful addition to the more traditional photos and something
guests commented on no end…". You'll have to wait until the end of this feature to see some of those photographs 🙂
But for Laura's dress? "I liked its simplicity and vintage elegance.
It made me feel like an extra-special version of me. I went for comfort
and the freedom to dance in the evening…"
There are a fair few photos in this feature folks – though I didn't want to tease you with a two-parter. I hope you enjoy this fabulous suite of wedding photographs just as much as I do 🙂 …
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, David McNeil
Brides Other Accessories (necklace, bracelet, earrings etc –
please list each separately) I decided to keep the jewellery really
simple as I felt the headdress added enough sparkle. I wore my
grandmother’s diamond cluster ring which has been in our family for a
long time and my dad gave me a pair of diamond earrings on the day which
worked beautifully with the headdress!
The Girls Getting Ready…
Don't you just love a smiley set of snaps of the Bride and her ladies getting ready, especially when they so wonderfully capture the excitement and anticipation…
Jenny Packham Acacia II Headdress…
…which really needs very little introduction if I'm honest, because really, it speaks for it's beautiful self…
I love how Laura had her hair styled on the day, with this pretty plait. All hair and make-up was done by Laura
Gleed…
Green, Grecian Goddesses!
Laura's Bridesmaids wore olive green grecian style maxi dresses from Alfred Angelo – and I LOVE them….
"We found some simple cream flower hairclips to put
into their boho up-do. I wanted to keep all of our hair very casual and
added plaits for a romantic look, and they
each wore a pair of their own drop earrings…"
Laura's ring is a 1920’s antique ring found in an antique
jewellers in Brighton…
As I look at the image below, I sigh a sweet sigh and smile a sweet smile….. oh David, you did Laura and Nick so proud capturing this absolutely beautiful image…
Here Comes The Sun…
"I walked down the aisle to Pachelbel’s Canon, but we walked back up to
The Beatles “Here Comes
the Sun” played on the harp…"
The Venue & Decor…
Julia from My Fleur provided the flowers on the day…
"From a starting point of peonies and
gerberas she managed to add layer upon layer of beautiful country
flowers without overpowering the minimalism of the bran. She managed to
create a fantastic spectrum effect while using a very subtle palette of
colours. We also used a topiary company for the ceremony to provide impact
and simplistic charm…"
"We decorated the barn ourselves. Personal highlights were
Polaroids of our friends and family strung up around the venue,
hand-painted wooden signs (courtesy of the groom’s dad) to help the
guests find their way around and a basket of flip-flops in the ladies
toilets! We also used mason and jam jars filled with candles all round
the venue which looked beautiful once the sun had gone in. For the bride
and groom’s exit we gave everyone giant sparklers to form an arch as we
left which we skipped through three times!
We hired our crockery from The English Tea Party Company, which set
the tone of the reception by giving it a vintage feel. We also used Cath
Kidston and Laura Ashley table runners, which tied in with our handmade
stationery (made by us).
Outside the barn we put bunting up and had a croquet area, which was
very popular. For the evening the trees were then transformed with fairy
lights."
"We were very lucky to have so many people that could help out in one way
or another and gave the whole day a unique feel to us. My auntie made
the cake for us…"
Photobooth Fun!…
David's Colleague (and soon to be Love My Dress sponsor) Anna-Marie Stepney took these fabulous photobooth images 🙂 Click to enlarge the images below…
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photobooth Photography below Copyright (c) 2010, Anna-Marie Stepney
"Our first dance track was “I Was Made For You” by She & Him. We both
adore this duo. We didn’t get time to think about how we were going to
dance to this quirky number until one of our guests bet us to do “the
robot” to it. After opening the dance with our best robot moves we then
kicked the habit of a lifetime and danced in time and with grace!"
Words of Wisdom…
"If you decide to handcraft parts of your wedding as we did, make
sure you enlist the help of your family and friends, as they will be
happy to help. Throw an invite making party or something, as these tasks
will take a lot longer than you think!
By emphasising a personal touch to your wedding you might be surprised
how many useful talents (or wedding cars!) your friends or family might
have. It’s also nice on the day as those that have helped feel a certain
affinity throughout the proceedings.
What, if anything, inspired you
to style your wedding the way you did? Eg, a particular era, muse,
colour, place, etc. Our wedding was inspired by the things and
people that we love and by a desire to mix vintage with English tea
party themes. We first bonded over cups of tea and together we have
discovered a love of all things retro. We wanted this to come across in
our wedding and for it to be about us."
Wow. How's that to brighten your day? And I tell you, once this darling baby of mine is born, and I'm back to looking like my Brigitte Bardot normal self (!?), I am booking my David McNeil photoshoot!
Thank you so so much Laura for taking the time to supply so much information about your wonderful wedding day – HUGE congratulations to you and Nick :) Thanks of course are also extended to David for kindly allowing me to reproduce his beautiful photographs on Love My Dress.
Ahhh *sweet sighs of contentment*………. have a lovely afternoon everyone! 🙂
Annabel xXx
♥
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.
