Three Weddings and a Touch of ’50s Style…

It gives me much pleasure today to be featuring a wedding that was photographed by the lovely Hertfordshire and South East England Wedding Photographer (covering the whole of the UK), Kim Hawkins :)  The Bride and Groom in this feature, who would prefer to remain anonymous, tied the knot on 18 June 2010 at Ardoe House Hotel in Aberdeen.

I love this wedding, not only because the photography captures some wonderful moments, but because this wedding is just so colourful, and Zaa has the most fabulous smile!

The Bride's wedding dress was a Melissa Sweet called 'Fiesole', from the Reverie collection, that was purchased from Angelica Bridal in Angel.  And just like yesterday''s fabulous Bride, this one has a bit of a story to tell about her dress…

"Being petite, I was worried a floor length dress would drown me, and would be restrictive during the dancing, so I was very sure I wanted a tea-length dress from the start. I had initially had my heart set on one of Stephanie James Couture dresses. However the imported dresses cost a lot more in the UK than we could afford. I was walking aimlessly in Angel after trying on some wedding dresses when I came across Angelica Bridal by chance and saw the 'Fiesole' dress on a mannequin. It was so dreamy, so amazing – not only a tea-length dress but also so very 'me'. It is quite detailed but at the same time simple as all the delicious details are in the same shade of ivory, even the sequins…."

Be warned – this is quite a long post! But there were simply too many lovely photographs 🙂 …

 Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Kim Hawkins

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a  Touch of 1950s Style...

"One of my best friends who was dress shopping with me at the time thought it was too busy and baulked at the idea.  I tried it on regardless and she beamed and changed her mind the moment she saw me in it.  iI knew it was 'the' dress! I was ecstatic but alas, again over budget. I researched tea-length dresses online but couldn't bear the idea of potentially regretting buying a dress I wasn't able to try on before hand….

Four months on and still without a dress, I was walking back from the tube station to our flat when I bumped into Dora- the owner of Angelica Bridal.  She remembered who I was and told me the dress was reduced by almost a third in price – within my budget!   And so it was meant to be!"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Irregular Choice…

For the most part of the day I had on my uber cool, red,  'Dance the Night Away' shoes from Irregular Choice.  I also had white Filippa Scott 'Emma' shoes (www.filippascott.com)

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

A Veil that Never Was…

The Bride had a DIY/homemade veil, but decided at the very last minute that it didn't compliment her hairstyle.

Oh my! I think you looked amazing with your beautiful veil! But just as beautiful without 🙂 …

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Pretty butterfly detail on the Bride's bouquet…

"All the flowers for the day were DIY. The flowers were purchased from J Van Vliet- a flower wholesaler in Aberdeen with branches throughout the country. The flower selection was made after hours of scouring the internet and bridal magazines to find what I really liked. I was quite insistent on having ranunculus even though it was towards the end of their season and Nick from J Van Vliet was helpful in ensuring I actually got them!  We used hydrangeas, ranunculus, roses, peonies, carnations, billy balls and chrysanthemums in white, yellow, fuschia and red…"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

I love the colourful shawl's below that were to keep the shoulders of the Bride and her Bridesmaids warm…

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

1950's Wiggle Dresses…

Bridesmaids dresses were Vivien of Holloway's Halterneck Pencil Dresses, that provided a stylish nod towards the Bride's love of 1950's style…

"My tea-length dress was the starting point of a 'theme' for the bridal party- it has a 50's feel, so bearing that in mind Yannis decided to go for a semi skinny suit for himself and his best man Simon. My bridesmaid and sister were kitted out with a halterneck wiggle-esque dress to keep to the 50's feel…"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

The Groom got his suit and cufflinks from Paul Smith's 'Abbey Road'

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Zaa & Yannis-149Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

"The Groom got his wedding band from Joule, which used to be outside our flat in West Hampstead. My wedding band is from a shop in Malaysia…"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings…

"The civil ceremony was our third wedding- to each other! We first  had a small religious ceremony in London with only our close family and friends as witnesses. The second ceremony was a big traditional Malay reception in Kuala Lumpur, where I am from and where my family still resides. I say big but the 450 guests we had was a relatively small number by Malaysian standards (where guest figures normally reach the thousand mark). It was also very formal, and filled with protocol.

We knew the third and the final wedding would need to be more fun and creative- and having guests from all over we wanted a more laid back atmosphere so our guests would be encouraged to mingle. I had spent hours on websites especially Style Me Pretty (oh so pretty!!!!), but also various others for inspiration. Knowing that we wanted something slightly different but also within budget meant only one thing- DIY!! I was very lucky as my Husband, who is also an Architect was interested in details that could personalise our day and make everything more throughtful- he encouraged my OCD and was willing to discuss every minute details."

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

I'm in LOVE!…

Yes, me. I have a total love affair infact with these next 4 photos.  Just look at that smile!!!! …

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Ardoe House…

"There was a long discussion about where we would like to be married in the UK. We were torn between London, where we live and fell in love, or in Aberdeen, where my Husband's family lives and where we met. Since we had a reception in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for my family, we thought it was only fair for us to hold our civil ceremony and reception in Aberdeen.

We originally wanted parts of the wedding to be held outdoors, potentially in a marquee by the river with fields and rolling hills as the backdrop to our day. We surveyed various venues in Aberdeen- a few ticked the boxes but were over our initial budget. We even surveyed renting a marquee and getting an acquaintance who is a  starred chef to be in charge of our wedding breakfast, but it worked out even dearer. As Ardoe House has beautiful grounds that overlook Deeside (and also equally as important- within budget) and is a handsome stately home that shouts 'Scottish' we decided to have our ceremony and celebrations there. This is the opposite of and compliments the very traditional Malaysian Malay wedding ceremony we had in Malaysia the previous month…"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Decor…

"The most important thing in the wedding to us apart from our outfits and good food was the table centrepieces as they set the mood for the day. After researching on the internet I decided to go with birdcages as they are versatile and are a decorative on their own merit. I added flowers to the base of the centrepieces and decorative birds and butterflies to  them. The birdcage and bird also gave us  a direction and theme for the the day.

We both wanted colour in our wedding so were selective in choosing a colour scheme to go with the red Ogston Suite where we were married and had our wedding breakfast. We settled for white, yellow, fuchsia and accents of red to link our decorations to the venue.

We collected various bottles and jars to use as vases for the day and had sugar cubes with hearts printed on them to sweeten the teas and coffees (even further!)…"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Escort Cards…

"I found a lovely escort card template from Martha Stewart Weddings website and used the idea of allocating a fabric pattern for each table for the meal. I selected lovely fabrics to compliment our colour scheme from Purl Soho. We also used the fabric in bird shaped cut outs to form the table numbers…"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... 

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... 

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Cheese Cake Please…

A Wedding cake was a stacked cheese cake from The Cheese Shed; "it was only fitting, as I married a a cheese-aholic!"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Photobooth Fun…

"We had a photobooth where our guests could take photographs to leave along with their messages in our guest books. We purchased Lottery tickets and individual chocolate squares which we packaged in the respective fabrics for each table with a note hoping our guests would be as lucky as we are to have found each other!"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s  Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

A Kilt and a Ceilidh…

 "My Husband was quite adamant about not wearing a kilt for his own wedding after having been to a lot of traditional Scottish weddings. But he felt obligated to don a kilt after so many of our non-Scottish guests queried if he was wearing one, so changed into his kilt as a surprise in time for the dancing.

Billy Main, jazz/swing singer performed during and after the ceremony and The Reel McCoy played Ceilidh and cover music for everyone to dance to. The Ceilidh was extremely popular with our guests- which was lucky because we had originally wanted to omit the Ceilidh and have a more 50's/60's kind of music for guests to dance to!"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style... Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Words of Wisdom?…

"Your Wedding is the most special day in your life; all brides should try to have the wedding they dream of – without living in debt for years to come! Our wedding was very special to us as we tried make everything as thoughtful as we could- both for our guests and to ourselves. 

One thing I wish I had done was to have a mood board and a list of tasks to do before the wedding! I knew exactly what I wanted in my head so didn't bother with them. However in the last minute rush before our wedding I had to be in many places at the same time, therefore rendering my 'helpers' helpless as they can only do as much as I can describe before running off to do something else.

It also helps if you could start at least 6 months before and were more organised than we were. It took both my Husband and I ages to finalise our outfits and the 'theme' for our wedding. Though having three weddings almost back-to-back to plan for is  a lot of tasks to handle with military precision in our defence! ;)"

Three Weddings and a Touch of 1950s Style...

Wow! Another absolutely stunning wedding to be inspired by!

Thank you so much to the Bride for providing such a huge amount of wonderful detail to share with our readers. Special thanks too, to Photographer Kim Hawkins for providing all this beautiful imagery.  For more information, please visit the Kim Hawkins Photography website.  You can view more of Kim's work on Love My Dress by clicking here.  The Bride told me "Kim was fantastic and did all the creative directing on her own- we would be lost without her!".  Look her up people, she's one fine Photographer – and lovely lady to boot 🙂

Have a wonderful Thursday everyone 🙂

Much love,

Annabel xXx

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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