An English Summer Fete Wedding with Full-Circle ’50’s Skirts…

Hi folks!  I've a page of prettiness to make up for a lack of any post this morning – this time from the lovely Photographer Emma Case.  I tell you, the more I work with Emma, the more I am so excited about meeting her sometime soon – she's definitely up there when it comes to genuinely warm, friendly, and passionate people; we've exchanged many an email that has veered away from the topic of weddings and I can see how this girl's magic personality rubs off so easily on to all those around her.  Love her I do :)  And I love her a little bit more today for having sent me these FAB photographs of the wedding of her clients, Sharon and Phil, who tied the knot on 30 July at Rockingham Castle in Leicestershire for the service and drinks reception, followed by a reception at Kibworth Cricket Club in Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire.

Sharon's beautiful dress is 'Paris' by Forget Me Not Design – and was a purchase from Wedding Belles of Kibworth

"I love the 1950's look, full-circle skirts and floral fabrics and everything else flowed from that. My theme was an English Summer fete.  As soon as we started planing the wedding I knew I wanted a dress that had a vintage feel and reflected my personal style…"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog ~ Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Emma Case

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"I'm a practical, hands on and quite clumsy person but I love feeling girlie and dressing up. In my resarch I was drawn to 50's style cocktail length dresses as they felt really feminine but were also practical I wasn't going to trip over in them! I was all ready to book an appointment with Candy Anthony in London when one Sunday morning I drove past the bridal shop in the village I grew up in and where at least part of our wedding would be held. There in the  window was the perfect dress I quickly booked an appointment and it looked just as beautiful on as I had imagined…"

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The detailing was exquisite with layers of antique looking lace, organza and bead work, a fabulous belt and a gorgeous matching lace bolero. It also had the twirliest skirt that any girl could ever ask for. BUT as it was the very first dress I had tried on in the most convenient dress shop I felt slightly cheated in the experience so did go to other shops and tried other dresses on but none of them could even begin to compare with it so within a month I was back and had ordered it…"

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Emmy Bespoke, Handmade Wedding Shoes…

Yes. I have a pair! 😉

"As soon as I knew I was having a shorter dress shoes became top of my priorites my Mum and I had always said that my wedding  would be the excuse we needed to both have a fabulous pair of shoes. I considered loboutins and Jimmy Choo's but once I found Emmy shoes I knew that they were meant for me. My Mum did get Jimmy Choo's though!"

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I love it how Emma captures the shots that other wedding photographer's wouldn't go for. These non-traditional, more unconventional style shots of the details that made up the environment in which the couple got ready for their wedding will help to bring back so many memories of the day itself…

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Aren't these little lovelies being good, waiting ever so patiently? 🙂 That's Kizzy (left) and Lola…

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"One of my main principals in planning my outfit was that I wanted to look like ME so I had decided early on I was not going to grow my hair in order to be able to put it up but to stick with my classic bob – long hair just isn't me! So a veil was out although birdcages were considered to fit with the vintage theme but in the end I bought  a beautiful feathered and beaded hairband (practical, comfortable and pretty) from the same shop as I bought my dress…"

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Sharon wore an antique pearl necklace that had been handed down through her Mum's family…

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Vivien of Holloway…

"My Bridesmaids all wore Vivien of Holloway dresses – which I bought before my own and they directed the main themes of the wedding, floral vintage and fun.  I also bought enamel pink flower hair pins from Peacocks and a large fabric flower from Debenhams for my chief bridesmaid and ordered individual charm bracelets through etsy seller Lottie Blyth, as a gift…"

Good gracious – how much do I love these dresses and those teasingly pretty pink petticoats?

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Kibworth Castle…

"The wedding planning started from one point I wanted at least part of the wedding to be in the village I grew up in and where my parents and brothers still live, Kibworth Beauchamp. After going to a family friend's evening reception at the beautiful cricket pavillion we knew this had to be part of our plans. It also helped that it was an extremely reasonable price!

This then set in place the next stage of planning we needed to find a venue where we could get married that was within half an hours drive and was both beautiful but also within our budget. I had visited Rockingham Castle as a child and it fitted all of  our criteria perfectly.

Kibworth is currently being featured as the main location in a BBC series – Michael Wood's Story of England…" 

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Phil's suit was a purchase from River Island and he wore a Paul Smith tie and Shirt by Hugo Boss, all bought from Christopher Scotney of Leicester.

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Carol Bull of The Flower Pot, Little Brington, Northhamptonshire provided the beautiful florals…

"I had seen Carol's designs both at a wedding fair and at a friends wedding so I knew she was easy to work with and did designs that were just a bit quirky.

At our planning meeting I took a bridesmaid dress with me. We worked together to come up with designs that were both traditional but unusual. The men had sprigs of tiny pink flowers which we used again in my bouquet (along with fabulous peonies) and the beautiful baskets covered in' lambs ears' that Carol made. When it came to additional arrangements that could be moved between the ceremony and the evening venue I gave the vaguest of instructions saying that I liked window boxes and hydrageas.

I was stunned by designs that she produced and many guests commented on the fabulousness of the flowers.The small arrangements in teacups were made with flowers from their respective gardens by my Mum and Aunts the evening before the wedding. My grandparents, Great Aunt and Uncle all in their eighties made the arrangements of daisies at the Cricket Club"

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"The wedding planning started from one point I wanted at least part of the wedding to be in the village I grew up in and where my parents and brothers still live, Kibworth Beauchamp. After going to a family friend's evening reception at the beautiful cricket pavillion we knew this had to be part of our plans. It also helped that Kibworth Cricket Club was an extremely reasonable price! This then set in place the next stage of planning we needed to find a venue where we could get married that was within half an hours drive and was both beautiful but also within our budget. I had visited Rockingham Castle as a child and it fitted all of  our criteria perfectly."

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It's Kizzy and Lola again 🙂 …

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"I and my friend Anna made lots and lots of bunting from the Darla range of fabrics by Tanya Whelan as they almost exactly matched the bridesmaids dresses…

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"The main cake was made by my Aunt with a topper custom made by etsy seller Together Forever – and featured our two dogs Kizzy (black) and Lola ( Cream) as well as a pile of books for my love of reading and a Baksetball for Phil's love of the sport. A cake buffet was supplied by a local cakemaker while I and a friend covered large cardboard letters with floral fabric to make the cake sign…."

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A Vision, dear – and lots of planning!

"I loved every minute of the planning as it was a chance to let my creative side out  as by day I am Head of Maths at a secondary school in Leicester. I gave up on wedding magazines very early on and turned to the internet and blogs as more fresh and original sources of inspiration. I tried really hard to not become a perfectionist and realised that you just can't have everything if you are to stick to any sort of budget. So entire vintage teasets were bought and went mainly unused. The ice cream van was talked about but never booked. The sweet buffet was a nice idea but -  we didn't need it. BUT I did make my bunting, we did have a photobooth (best idea ever) and we both had outfits that we loved and photographs and memories that we will treasure forever.

I'm sure all men are different but Phil just wasn't interested in certain details once the food was sorted and the band booked very little mattered to him so it was hysterical on the day when he kept saying "but everything GOES together, how did that happen?" A vision dear and lots of lots of planning!"

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Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Be yourself, make choices that both reflect yourself and your husband to be. Phil loves the James Bond style of smart dressing so his suit and tie were chosen to fit with the vintage theme but also to suit his style and personality.

Decide which parts of the wedding you want and which just don't matter to you. We didn't want to have a sitdown meal with speeches so had simple toasts directly after the ceremony saving Phil, my Dad and Paul the best man a lot of anxiety. We had no favours at all and no one said a word.

Spend money on the things that matter to you – we splurged on (my) clothes and flowers but saved on invitations (TKMaxx and eBay!) and the cake and all the men apart from Phil wore suits they already owned. A hog roast also costs a lot less than a sit down meal but it fed all 200 guests at the evening reception.

Your photographer is with you all day on the most important day of your life so make sure you like THEM as well as their photos.

Have lots of fun and remember on the day a lot of things just don't matter. We forgot to take the guest book to the wedding but we have the best photos and memories and we got married so who cares?"

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I coulnd't have given any better advice Sharon!

Thank you so very much to Photographer Emma Case for once again allowing me the pleasure of featuring her beautiful images on the Love My Dress Wedding Blog

"Our Photographer was the fabulous Emma Case – I fell in love with her style when I saw her second ever wedding on Rock n' Roll Bride. She is also one of the greatest people to spend your wedding day with fun, approachable, considerate, emotional – in other words perfect!"

You can see more Emma Case Photography on the Love My Dress Wedding Blog here.

Congratulations Sharon and Phil! May you have a beautiful, long and very happy married life togehter 🙂

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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