‘You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, when I met you.’ She was you know. And he said so during his speech at the reception. It went down a storm of course, sending fits of giggles rising joyously into the luxurious sparkly chandeliers that hung majestically over the dining area. The groom had looked a little nervous up to now, I was nervous for him – having to give a speech to 150 odd guests. I needn’t have been. He was just fine.
My presence as both a guest {how lucky?!} and ‘photographer’s assistant’ at this wedding, was the result of a call-out I put to professional photographers back in August, when I asked if it would be possible to shadow them at a wedding, just to see what it was like and to help me understanding the role of a wedding photographer. The lovely Eliza Claire replied, as did a fair few others {thank you all}, and before I knew it, I was preparing to attend the nuptials of the darling ‘Love Audrey‘ – a long-term and loyal visitor to Love My Dress
Photography by Eliza Claire
Love Audrey is of course not the brides real name! I can’t help but call her that though in homage to her delightful little blog, where for the past two years, she has been documenting life as a Mother to her two beautiful children, daughter Izzy, 7, and son Jesse, 2 – where she has shared her latest baking achievements in the kitchen, talked of her love of all things glamorous {always glamorous}, and up to now, mused about being Carl’s Fiance.
Franky {her real name is Frances}, does have a touch of the Audrey about her though wouldn’t you agree? That petite, gamine, adorable sort of quality? There is a certain aura that she carries about her person, a warm glow that leaves a little impression of loveliness wherever she goes. It’s true; ask her husband, friends, family or anyone who knows her, they’ll tell you.
And so it was on a gorgeous and sunny {if not freezing cold!} Saturday afternoon on 14 January, that Franky elevated her status from Fiance to Wife in the most touching of wedding ceremonies at Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, a venue chosen as for it’s resonance with the couple’s shared love of the cinema.
I cried. And rather a lot too. But so did pretty much everyone else there…
“Carl and I met almost 10 years ago when we worked in a cocktail bar and restaurant in West London. He was a chef, I was a waitress. We got together at Carl’s 23rd birthday party and celebrated our 8 year anniversary the day before the wedding. We were mainly guided by our mutual love of film and my passion for vintage glamour – we are both great cinephiles, Carl himself is a filmmaker and I have a passion for classic Hollywood films and vintage cinema in general.
I don’t religiously dress in vintage, but I’m always inspired by the style of the past and the women I idolise such as Audrey Hepburn and Ginger Rogers. I tried to apply the same approach to our wedding day. It wasn’t ever meant to be historically accurate or representative of one particular era, just a reflection of the things we enjoy, love and admire…”
Now I have to say my loves, the one thing that blew me away was the Bride’s coat. A coat I tell you! What a genius idea or a winter bride…
“My coat was designed and made for me buy Joanne Fleming. Prior to meeting Jo, I had tried a few shrugs and even entertained the idea of my Mum knitting me something but nothing seemed to look right with the dress. I really wanted to channel some Old Hollywood glamour and wear something that made me feel more like the movie stars I idolise from the 1930s than a bride. I saw some of Jo’s designs featured on Love My Dress and quickly arranged a meeting with her at her beautiful studio in Brighton.
I went armed with a few images of 1930s day coats and, after a quick consultation, she roughly sketched out the most beautiful design. I chose some gorgeous silk velvet to compliment the ostrich feathers and the coat was lined in pale pink/peach silk…”
Doesn’t the word ‘coat’ suddently seem a rather nadequate way of describing the fine feathery, crushed velvet, just-perfectly-nipped-in-at-the-waist number above?
Franky wore the exquisite ‘Lace’ heels, by Jimmy Choo…
“I first saw these featured on Love My Dress. I had a lovely shopping trip to buy them in London with one of my bridesmaids!”
“We had originally hoped to get married in an old cinema, but we couldn’t find anywhere suitable. My Mum stumbled across Heatherden Hall by chance when she met some people that had recently married there. We fell in love with the place the minute we walked in, not only because of the sense of film history attached to it, but because it really is a beautiful venue in its own right.
We adored the stunning ballroom filled with twinkling chandeliers and the gardens that managed to look wonderful even in the middle of January…”
Franky’s bridesmaids dresses were from Monsoon – though her Sister’s shorter dress {far left} was from Coast. Izzy, Franky’s Daughter who was a flowergirl on the day, also wore a dress from Monsoon…
“I adore baking and decided very early on in the planning process that I I would prefer a buffet of homemade cakes to a more traditional wedding cake. My Mum and I collected cake stands from charity shops and markets and also bought a beautiful vintage lace table cloth. We hired a few additional plates and stands from Idyllic Days {who also provided the candelabras we used on the tables}.
The cake buffet was a lot of work, and I found the day before quite stressful, especially when we realised we didn’t have a cake box big enough to transport the largest cake. My Mum had to give up her hatbox so we could get it to the venue! It was all worth it though when I walked in and saw it all laid out on the table. Our guests all thought it was such a lovely touch and the cupcakes disappeared very quickly!”
“All of our ‘on the day’ stationery {including the menus described above and the A4 signs used with our cocktails and cake buffet} was designed and made by Elle is for Love. I have a weakness for beautiful paper goods and stationery in general and I adored what she came up with for us. Elle’s customer service was always impeccable, even when I was being awkward about the ‘Who’s Who’ and kept changing the information!”
“Jenna from Lucky Sixpence Events provided invaluable help on the day itself and in the last few weeks leading up to the wedding. I would highly recommend her to other brides, she removed so much stress from the final stages of planning and did an amazing job of setting up all the details we had spent weeks agonising over. I
believe it took her two hours to hand tie each of our guest’s place names to their napkins with bakers twine. Now that’s dedication!”
The vision that greeted me on arriving at the suite in the Pinewood Hotel, where Franky was getting ready…
“Another supplier I first came across via Love My Dress was Katy Messer! Katy did an incredible job with my makeup, and is genuinely one of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. She has such a calming manner and her conversation and general chit chat really soothed my nerves on the morning of the wedding.
I had originally planned to do my own makeup but I’m so glad I opted to get it done professionally in the end. It gave me so much confidence on the day, plus it was rather wonderful being pampered on the morning of the wedding!”
“My hair was done by a family friend who has been cutting my hair since I was about 2 years old. I always joked that she wasn’t allowed to retire until she had done my wedding hair! I wanted a style that complimented the 1930s feel of my outfit and also something with a bit of detail at the back as I wouldn’t be wearing a veil. I actually sent her an image of one of Annabel’s hairstyles for inspiration!”
All praise and credit to the master Severin Hubert of Hepburn Collection for coming up with that very inspiration!
“My Magpie Vintage headband was one of the nice things about the band I chose was that it had detail on both sides so there was a bit of sparkle from every angle. I think I would go so far as to say that this was my favourite wedding purchase.
Whenever I need a little lift I pop it on my head for half an hour and just wear it round the house! Instantly makes me feel more glamorous!”
Franky wore the Phase Eight ‘Eve’ Dress….
“They no longer make this style but the ‘Elizabeth’ design is quite similar.
I was shopping in central London with my Mum and sister, with absolutely no intention of buying a wedding dress, when we spied ‘Eve’ hanging up in the Phase Eight concession of John Lewis on Oxford Street. Despite being convinced it wouldn’t fit as I often find size 8s too big on my somewhat scrawny frame, I was persuaded to try it on.
As my sister fastened the zip and I turned to look at my reflection in the mirror I realised how perfect it felt. It fitted like it was made for me and featured the small puddle train I had imagined wearing…”
“The lace took me by surprise, I had envisaged plain silk I think, but I loved the way it sparkled and shimmered under the lights. We drew quite a crowd in the busy changing room as I practiced walking in the dress and I couldn’t stop smiling when I had it on. My Mum suggested we go for lunch to stop it all from feeling quite so impulsive, so after a reassuring bowl of pasta we went back to purchase the dress. Carl was quite shocked when I came back from London with my wedding dress in tow!
I did have a fair few dress wobbles over the course of planning the wedding, one of the downsides to buying it so early on in our 18 month engagement. However, on the day itself, when I had all my hair and makeup in place, as well as my fabulous accessories, it was incredible. I can honestly say I have never felt so beautiful in my entire life…”
“My daughter Izzy wore a headband designed and made for her by my friend Susie Baird. Her work is stocked by Isabelle Montagu in Exeter – Susie’s pieces are bespoke and handmade to order. Each tiara, comb and fascinator is created to look as organic as if the flowers were freshly plucked from the field, but with a vintage couture feel using semi precious stones and pearls…”
“I bought each of the older girls a necklace by New York vintage costume jewellers Bohm. The design was called ‘Old Hollywood’ which seemed very fitting.
I also bought them a small pair of crystal studs by Pilgrim, I wanted to get some Danish design into the wedding somehow as my Step-Father {or Bonus dad as I like to call him} hails from that part of the world!
“Our flowers were done by one of my closest friends Hayley from Haymarket Flowers.
One of the perks of having a friend that’s a florist, apart from the gorgeous flowers of course, is that we could conduct all our consultations in the run up to the wedding over a few bottles of wine! I was a bit useless at describing what I wanted, I think I just kept saying ‘vintage’ and ‘blousy’ to her! She somehow managed to read my mind though and I adored what she came up with. T
he table displays and the bridesmaid’s bouquets featured Ocean Song and Faith Roses, Antigua Carnations, Eucalyptus, Double Pink Lisianthus, Brunia and Alstromeria. Izzy carried a pomander of the carnations and eucalyptus and I had an over-arm bouquet of calla lilies…”
“I purchased some Star Wars TIE fighter cufflinks as a wedding present from me to Carl. I found them via an American store called The Purple Armadillo though Amazon ~ {I also gifted Carl some matching Star Wars Lego on the morning of the wedding!}…”
“I had nothing to do with Carl’s choice of clothing; he knows what he likes and what suits him. I didn’t see him in his suit until I came down the aisle and I have to admit I though he looked very, very handsome!”
“My coat also featured delicate beading on the cuffs. Most of the design process was completed via email but Jo very kindly organised a final fitting for me at her parent’s home near Plymouth which was a little more local to us in Exeter than Brighton. I loved the coat so much I decided to keep it on to walk down the aisle.
I’m so glad I did, the coat felt incredible to wear and I can honestly say I didn’t want to take it off, even when I was getting rather hot and bothered holding our three year old in the bar after the ceremony! I really did feel like a movie star in it, which can only mean that Jo totally nailed the design brief!”
“Before the doors opened we played the Pearl and Dean theme tune. Not only did this tie in with the location and theme but the tune always reminds me of trips to the cinema with my Dad. Carl is overcome with embarrassment every time I sing along to it in a packed auditorium!
The track that played as we entered and made our way down the aisle was the main theme from the movie ‘True Romance’ composed by Hans Zimmer. One of the first conversations we ever had about films involved me quoting the famous line from the movie, ‘you’re so cool, you’re so cool’. I’ve always loved the sentiments expressed in the film, that anything is possible when it comes to love. Plus, it’s a beautiful, goosebump inducing piece of music!”
“My step-father {or Bonus Dad as I like to call him} Hans. My father passed away just over 6 years ago and, although getting married without him was incredibly painful, I feel so lucky to have had an equally great man to give me away. I did chuckle when we got to the bottom of the aisle and he asked Carl to sign for me!”
“We walked out to ‘Misirlou’ by Dick Dale which features in the film ‘Pulp Fiction’, another of our favourites….”
“Our son Jesse wore a grey tweed waistcoat from Marks and Spencer’s Autograph range, a white collarless shirt and some black cords I picked up in H&M for £5! He also had his own Converse trainers on. It was really important to me that he was comfortable on the day, and I’m not personally a fan of really little boys in suits or ties {they just seem so restrictive}, so this combination seemed perfect…”
Old Macdonald anyone? {it’s a private joke, the bride will get me….}
Well lookee who we have here? It’s only Emma, the Wedding Reporter, with her trusty notebook and pen!
“We didn’t spend a lot on the decor and tried to use things we had already or that we could DIY easily; I decorated around 40 jam jars with ribbon and used them for the flowers on the tables and the mantelpiece in the ceremony room…”
“I also stamped all the place names on to small luggage tags which were then attached to the guest’s napkins with grey and white bakers twine. My parents purchased the small tea light holders from a store in Denmark while they were on holiday…”
“I knew I wanted a lot of candles so we also hired candelabras for each table. It looked so pretty when they were all lit up…”
“We displayed old family wedding photos on a table just inside the ball room, alongside some of my Dad’s old vintage camera collection. We found a vintage suitcase at a junk shop which guests used to leave their cards and gifts in. Draped across this was my late Grandmother’s pale blue wedding dress that we recently found in some old boxes of my Dad’s…”
“I baked and froze most of the cakes well in advance and then spent the day before the wedding icing them all. My Mum, Grandmother, Mother-in-Law and some family friends all contributed cakes too. We had a great variety in the end; lemon drizzle cake, Victoria sponge, red velvet cupcakes and a whole host of delicious tray bakes. Everybody’s tastes were catered for. I made a cake-topper for the centre-piece {a four layer spiced apple cake with brown sugar frosting!} from paper straws, grey card, bakers twine and my trusty alphabet stamps…”
“The most important form of entertainment was definitely the crèche! We booked Artful Splodgers from 3pm until 11.30pm and they were INCREDIBLE.
As we have two children of our own, we obviously have an awful lot of friends with small children. We had around 20 children at the wedding in the end, including 4 under 2s. It was so important to us that the parents were able to come to the wedding, relax and really enjoy themselves. The same goes for all the children. I figured it’s quite a big deal, your parents getting married, and I wanted it to feel special for our two in particular. I also didn’t want any of them dying of boredom having to listen to all the speeches etc!
The girls from Artful Splodgers transformed the ceremony room into a child’s idea of heaven, complete with craft activities, plenty of toys and a Wii console for the slightly older children. They also provided things like highchairs for the babies and all the other essentials…”
The children ate their meal in the crèche and were then able to get on with the serious business of playing. Every time we peeked in the kids were clearly having an amazing time. As it got later, they dimmed the lights and let those children that needed to sleep and rest do so. So many friends and family members thanked us for putting it on and said ours was the first wedding they’ve really been able to enjoy attending since having children.
As the crèche weren’t in attendance during the ceremony we gave each child a lollipop and a small sign to hold up during the ceremony. This kept most of them quiet. It was really only our little boy that was making a racket while we tried to say our vows!!”
“We gave small gifts to all the children. Under 2s were given books and all the older children had a small package containing a couple of small toys. The adult guests didn’t have favours as such, but we had special menus printed for each table with a ‘Who’s Who’ on the reverse. We wrote a few lines about each guest {who they were, their relationship to us and a couple of details about their hobbies/likes/interests etc} in the hope that it would spark conversations and help people get to know each other.
Of all the things we put together for the wedding this took the longest and was, at times, the most soul destroying as it was really tricky thinking of funny things to say about over a hundred guests! However, everyone really loved it and I think it showed we had thought about each and every person we invited to the wedding…”
“We used a company called Stage Engage for the light and sound. They did an amazing job of creating a different atmosphere for the day and evening and they were also able to provide a large screen on to which we projected the silent movie ‘Pandora’s Box’ starring Louise Brooks.
We really didn’t want the typical ‘wedding disco’ look for the evening and Chris did a fantastic job of keeping things subtle and making the ball room look even more beautiful while still putting everyone in the party mood…”
GREAT idea Franky – I also had the very same silent movie playing in the background at the Summer Soiree I held last year, my guests loved it too!
“We also hired a popcorn machine for the evening ~ This was served in the evening alongside what we called a ‘cinema supper’ of hot dogs. The children especially enjoyed the popcorn…”
“I was dreading the ‘first dance’ and we left picking a song to the very last minute. We finally went for ‘Where is my Mind?’ by The Pixies. This features in the film ‘Fight Club’, which is Carl’s favourite film EVER, but we also used to spend a lot of time listening to the Placebo cover when we were first seeing each other.
The song reminds me of falling in love, of a time before children, of it being just the two of us and of having no idea how everything was going to turn out. Playing it at the wedding felt like coming full circle, like we had found our way….”
“We decided against having a band or a DJ. Instead, Carl put together around 12hours of music on his laptop. We played film scores throughout the wedding breakfast {guests had great fun trying to guess which film they were from} and had a really eclectic mix of tracks for people to dance to in the evening…”
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
“It is such a cliché, but the day goes really, really fast. Try to step back occasionally with your new husband and take it all in. We stood at the top of the ball room while everyone was eating and not paying any attention to us and just tried to absorb the fact that all these people had come together for us. It was an incredible feeling.
When we were first planning the wedding someone told me to remember that the only things you take away from your wedding day {aside from your new husband or wife and your amazing memories} are your wedding rings and your photographs, so invest in them accordingly…”
“If there are things you really want to do on the day ask someone to remind you or prompt you at the relevant time. For example, I was so caught up in the day that I totally forgot to give my bouquet to my step-mum when she left. I had hoped she would place it on my Dad’s grave for me and was really upset when I realised the moment had passed me by. I really wish I’d asked one of my bridesmaids to remind me to do it….”
Oh I love this wedding so much. These photographs encapsulate so much love – it was just everywhere that day, the atmosphere was so relaxed and friendly and welcoming.
I just want to extend a HUGE thank you to Eliza Claire for allowing me to shadow her at Franky’s wedding – now I know just exctly how hard wedding photographers work! I exaggerate not one iota when I say I was pretty much exhausted on leaving to get my train after the wedding – and all I did was carry a bit of lens kit around! My respect for photographers has reached a new level after this experience.
Franky left a few words about Eliza and her assistant Marie Donn – who I had so much fun with on the day…
“It’s hard to find the words to describe how much we adore Eliza. She is such a talented photographer and a complete joy to be around. Her and her second shooter Marie put us both at ease, made Carl smile {which is near unheard of in photographs} and even managed to get some decent shots of our two year old son who really isn’t keen on staying still for very long!
Eliza really captured the cinematic magic of the venue and I can’t help but think she made Carl and I look like a couple of 1930s movie stars that have just wandered off set. I can honestly say her incredible photos of our day will be treasured by us and our families forever.”
♥ ♥ ♥
I’d love your feedback on this gorgeous, cinematic style wedding. Is there anyone else planning a wedidng at PInewood studios? What about a movie theme, or are there any Brides who, after seeing Franky’s here, might be considering a coat to keep cosy warm and look super-stylish on their wedidng day?
Don’t forget you can see more related categories to inspire you, including photography from Eliza Claire, 1930s wedding inspiration and more from designer Joanne Fleming.
Have a lovely morning folks 🙂
Much love,
Annabel
♥
Photographer – Eliza Claire
Venue – Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios
Styling & on the day co-ordination – Lucky Sixpence Events
Brides Dress – Eve by Phase Eight, no longer in production, but Elizabeth is very similar
Brides coat – Joanne Fleming
Brides shoes – Jimmy Choo
Brides headpiece – Magpie Vintage
Brides accessories – pearl bracelet {a gift from Carl} + ‘Renee’ clutch from LK Bennett
Groom – Grooms Suit – Ben Sherman Kings Fit in Black + tie from Debenhams + shoes by Base London + starwars cufflins, a gift from the bride
Bridesmaids – Monsoon + Coast {shorter dress}
Flowergirl – Monsoon
Stationery – Elle is for Love
Flowers – Haymarket Flowers
Cake – The bride
Transport – Black Rolls Royce Silver Cloud from London Legend Wedding Cars
Entertainment – Artful Splodgers
Sound & Lighting – Stage Engage
Makeup Artist – Katy Messer
Hair Stylist – Family friend
Popcorn machine hire – Love Candyfloss
Additional china plates/cake stand hire – Idyllic Days
