Happy Weekend everyone! And so to start the morning with – a little pale blue pretty I thought 🙂
This is the wedding of Anna & Miles, who tied the knot on 1st May 2010 at The Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Their wedding was a celebration of pale blue pretty, co-ordinated by the Bride and Groom, as it is Anna's favourite colour and
matched her pale blue aquamarine gemstone engagement ring.
Anna's dress was called ’Ideal’, by Pronovias, from their 2006 collection, bought from a seller
in America from a second hand dress website, for about half
the price of buying it new…
"I had Cheltenham dress maker Rene Pyrka
alter it to fit, creating a boned corset to give a streamlined look and
bust support – I tried the dress on in a London wedding shop and it felt light and
comfortable. I didn’t want to look too formal, I loved the dropped
waist, the antique look of the lace and the overall vintage style which
suited our venue. I then set out to find it second hand so the money
saved could be spent elsewhere!"
We wanted it to be relaxed so I didn't want to look or feel too
formal – I chose a dress I could move easily in, and a comfortable
relaxed hair style and low shoes! The overall style tied in with the
venue – vintage but not too grand…"
These Photographs were taken by Jay Rowden, who was recently picked up as a Hot Shot Photographer, by Vogue Magazine…
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Jay Rowden
Pale Blue Pretty…
Anna's Bridesmaids wore pale blue, "the light sky blue
A-Line strapless Chiffon Dresses, with attached satin belt & bow,
were from Light In The Box (made to order in China) and worked out
around £40 each. It’s a great website with hundreds of styles, each
dress can come in any colour and a range of fabrics. It was a risk as
the girls couldn’t try them on but it paid off – they looked great."
Something blue…
A dinky little concealed pale blue ribbon inside Anna's dress provided the perfect 'something blue'…
"My shoes were very simple, low heel ivory satin weddings shoes from Nicholas Millington – only £33 from Littlewoods online (good job as they were filthy by the end of the day!)"
Anna's Bridesmaids all bought their own nude high heeled shoes
in different styles from Aldo, New Look and Russell & Bromley…
So Pretty Pearls…
Anna designed a pearl necklace with a double drop at the back and Y shaped drop at the front, handmade by Australian company So Pretty Pearls, using freshwater pearls. Anna's bracelet was matching from the same company, all brought over by an Australian guest.
Anna's hair was styled by Leeds hairdresser Matt Robinson, who used clip in extensions to create a side swept romantic but relaxed style.
Make up was by by Harrogate makeup artist Jay Galton…
"I wanted to focus on the eyes so Jay used Laura
Mercier eye basics followed by Mac Plumage by (eyes) and Chanel mascara;
Laura Mercier primer, then Mac pigment over the blush to give a
gorgeous glow and Mac Underage lipglass."
Flowers…
"We used Jill Springall who has been doing flowers for the Old Swan
Hotel for over 10 years. She was lovely and helpful – we didn’t have
strong ideas about what we wanted and she guided us throughout the
planning process. We didn’t go over the top – just had one large
arrangement used for both the ceremony and the top table, then tall
vases for the guest tables. The bride's bouquet was a lovely cascade
shape and the bridesmaids wore wrist corsages.
We kept things classic with a vintage twist – ivory roses, gypsophila,
ivory peonies and a touch of blue with hyacinths all brought together
with classic green foliage and stem grasses for the vases."
Groomed to Perfection…
"Miles invested in a dark grey Ozwald Boateng suit
which he wore with a silk shirt and ivory tie. It cost more than the
bride’s dress but should last a lifetime!"
Anna wore a lace-edged wedding veil, that she borrowed from a friend…
Anna is a cellist and her friend put together a string quartet to play
when the guests were arriving. They then played an arrangement Anna had
already prepared of 'The Swan by Saint-Saens' when they walked up the aisle.
The Old Swan Hotel…
"There are many beautiful venues in the area, but we chose The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, because it had plenty of character without being too grand. It’s an interesting hotel because Agatha Christie went into hiding there when she mysteriously disappeared for 11 days in 1926.
We used the Red Room for our ceremony and then the huge light Garden Room for the wedding breakfast, opening that out into the ballroom for the evening. It was great having everything in one place, with plenty of rooms that our guests could stay in too."
Just-In-Time Transport…
Now here's a story!
"My Dad booked a lovely 1930s vintage
rolls royce to transport us the short distance from their house to the
venue. It sat gleaming in the sunshine for half an hour whilst we got
ready to leave. My Mum and the Bridesmaids were picked up first and
delivered safely to the hotel, before the car returned to fetch my Dad and I. Only it didn't quite get there!
Time was
ticking on back at the house, but still no car. Miles was waiting at
the top of the aisle, nervously wondering where his bride was. Then I
received a phone call to say the car had conked out at the bottom of the
hotel drive and wouldn't start. It really was vintage!"
But not to
worry, Anna's friend Dave came to the rescue in his Mazda and delivered
the bride, not quite on time, but in one piece!! Anna found the whole
thing hilarious and we still had some (stationary) pictures taken in the
Rolls later!
Decor…
"For the favours on the tables we bought a load of blue and white
retro sweets from www.aquarterof.co.uk, split them between cellophane
bags from www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk and tied them with blue
ribbon…"
The wedding
breakfast was in the Garden Room, which has decorative pillars
throughout…
"Miles is a graphic designer and our wedding invites were unusual, telling the story of how we met travelling and all the countries we have been to. This continued on the day with each table being named a country and stating what we were doing there. Miles' eye for detail also influenced the overall look a lot!"
Cup Cake Tower…
"Luckily a friend we know is a fab cake maker. She made us 120
cupcakes decorated in light blue and cream to match our colours and a
small traditional wedding cake to cut at the top."
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
"We
had over a year to save and plan for our wedding. This meant we could
have periods of thinking about it and then weeks when we didn't have to
so we would recommend planning it a bit at a time otherwise it can
easily take over…
I found good ideas in wedding magazines like
Wedding Ideas and Perfect Wedding and a really good spreadsheet template
from one of the magazine's website which really helped pull everything
together (contacts, budgets, timings, gifts etc).
Also,tTake
advantage of the skills of friends and family – you can only ask! We
had a special handmade beeswax candle made by a champion chandler who is
a friend of the family and a beautiful handmade guest book by a friend
who is a bookbinder. These personal touches really make the day much
more special…"
"Don't let it take over your life, though preparation seemed to be the
key for us having a great day and feeling relaxed. Also, we knew what we
were prepared to spend money on (e.g. the photographer and the band)
and where we didn't mind spending less (the dresses, favours) which
helped, as you could spend a fortune on everything. We were paying for a
lot of the wedding which meant we felt in control the whole time.
We felt slightly overwhelmed the night before the wedding as we'd
agreed a group meal whereas we probably should have just kept it a quiet
night in. However that meant the stress was out of the way the night
before so we were really relaxed on the day!"
Thanks to Anna and Photographer Jay Rowden for helping make our blog pages look so pale blue pretty today 🙂
Much love,
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.
