An Officer and a Gentleman…

A little Friday afternoon mood enhancer for you today peeps. Just look at these photos, aren't they the sweetest? First thing I thought of when I saw them was that gorgeous, uplifting scene at the end of An Officer And A Gentleman {Richard Gere, you still make my knees quiver}.

This is Vincent and Ellie, whose wedding was photographed by Jo Garlike of Summer Love Photography, and their wedding took place on Saturday 3rd September 2011 with a ceremony at St Michael’s Church in Irstead, Norfolk, followed by a reception at The New Victory Hall, Neatishead, Norfolk.

Ellie wore a cute summer-style Mori Lee tea-length dress, a purchase from Swoon Wedding Gowns in Weybridge and altered by Ning Cooper…

"I really wanted a shorter, tea-length dress (because as well as loving that look and wanting something more unusual, I wanted to be able to dance without it dragging around and get on/off the boat without the risk of falling in).  One problem, there were very few around. I was also determined not to spend a huge amount of money (while still getting a dress I loved). My good friend, Claira, found the dress on line. I was very lucky; it was the first dress I tried on and it was the one!

I also had a little silk dress from Damsel in a Dress, which I changed into for the last hour of dancing (the ceilidh was energetic!)…"  

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Summer Love Photography

"Vincent wore his US Coast Guard formal summer uniform, Service Dress White…"
 

"I had just he one Bridesmaid- Marion’s orange dress was from Bridesmaids Dresses – Reiss…"

"When it came to styling our wedding day, orange had to be the colour! It is a colour close to both our hearts as we met in the Netherlands, and I happened to be wearing an orange dress at the wedding where we started dating. As a country wedding we tried to keep that feel, with the handmade bunting and the straw bales supplied by a local farmer.

The venue was a blank canvas. Our transatlantic relationship brought about a loose theme of travel to the wedding, and on the walls we hung large vintage travel posters. We also had bunting; much of it made by myself and my mum with material sourced from friends, charity shops and end of rolls in haberdasheries. My cousin also made us some orange personalised ‘Ellie & Vincent’ bunting that we hung above the stage…"

"Vincent and I originally met at an international school in The Netherlands in 1996 but did not date at that time. Lucky for us, his good friend Peter dropped into my year and became my bike buddy, cycling home from school together most days.

Ten years later, Peter married in a castle in Scotland in 2008 and it was here that Vincent and I met once again. We began our transatlantic relationship, he in San Diego and me in Guildford. Vincent proposed on a deserted little beach in the drizzling rain in Kodiak, Alaska on 3rd July 2010. We now live together in Kodiak, I emigrating the week after our wedding celebrations and making our marriage official in the US on 10th September 2011."

"I wanted to celebrate our marriage near my parents’ village of Horning and we were so delighted that so many of the community were excited and involved with our day. The church and hall were ideal as their locations allowed us to travel between the two by boat.

I loved the contrast between the old 16th Century church and the new eco-build hall, which provided a wonderful blank canvas for the reception. Vincent and I wanted complete control over the catering, and so I was pleased to find a venue where I could bring an outside caterer…"

"Florist – Petals of Hoveton, Norfolk supplied the bouquets, buttonholes, cake flowers and some individual flowers used in the table decorations. I wanted a smallish, relaxed but vibrant bouquet. I had seen too many pictures of brides swamped by their bouquets! My main colour was orange and we went with small orange gerbora to give the bouquet a fun, vibrant look. The pink fresias added a lovely scent and great contrasting colour, the lime Kermit contrasting texture, and the orange ‘thistles’ reminded me of Scotland where I grew up and where we became an item.

My green-fingered mum made the oasis table decorations with greenery from the garden, flowers she had grown, plus a few flowers bought from Petals. Mum also did the pots and hanging baskets that decorated the outside of the village hall.

The church flowers were done by a friend from the church, in the same colours of orange with some pink…"

"I have very narrow feet, which made getting pretty shoes a hard task. I wore narrow fitting dance shoes- Amelia custom made, from DanceShoes2u.

On the boat and walking to the reception, and later for the Ceiledh, I wore a pair of gosgrain ivory classic TOMS www.toms.com. I love the TOMS philosophy of ‘One for One’…"

"My mum baked the fruit cake (on the day of the Royal Wedding no less). She then passed the cake to Kath Lynch to ice/decorate. The cake was topped with flowers from Petals florist…"

"Each table had a jigsaw puzzle- made from a photo of us (made through Snapfish.co.uk) at a different place in the world. The tables were names after the place and each person was given a few pieces of the jigsaw in a clear little bag. The bags had little tags with their name on it made to look like luggage tags and were tied with orange ribbon…"

"My wonderful sister-in-law, Laura Jansen, accompanied by the talented Cary Bothers, also sang at our reception, prior to the ceilidh beginning. The band Skiphire showed their talent by spontaneously accompanying the two! We sat in the middle of the dancefloor and listened- a very special moment for us.
The ceilidh seemed an obvious choice to me for a band. I grew up in Scotland and the first time that Vincent and I danced together was at Peter’s wedding ceilidh. The band came recommended by locals who had seen them at a barn dance…"

"Prior to our first dance, Vincent’s sister, Laura sang Make You Feel My Love. For our first dance we had Lucky by Jason Mraz, which is a lovely song with appropriate words (whispering to each other across the sea, and moving to an island! All too true!) which then blended into American Boy, which was constantly on the radio the first time I went to visit Vincent in California…"

 

 

 

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"It’s easy to let things get bigger and more complicated than you want. Make a few things a priority and stick with those, and be willing to be less picky about the rest, especially if you are on a budget. On the day stay focused on what is important- being there with the man you love. The few minutes we had together, just us, on the boat after the ceremony were magical and essential for taking in the enormity and emotion of the day. Oh, and I was so much happier with a pair of flat, comfy shoes to dance in!"

Isn't that the sweetest wedding?  Congratulations Vincent and Ellie, thank you so much for sharing your day 🙂

Love and thanks to Jo Garlike of Summer Love Photography too…

"Jo Garlike was wonderful, very organised and took the time to meet up before the event and scope out the venues. She was far less obtrusive during the day than many other photographers I have seen at weddings, and we were delighted with the pictures…"

Let's show some Friday love to this couple – thoughts in the comments box below please.  Who'll be renting An Officer and a Gentleman to swoon over soon? 😉

See more short wedding dress and orange inspiration here.

Much love,

Annabel

♥

Photographer – Summer Love Photography
Venue – The New Victory Hall, Neatishead, Norfolk
Brides dress – Mori Lee via Swoon Wedding Gowns with alterations by Ning Cooper
Brides shoes – Amelia, custom made shoes via DanceShoes2u
Brides Hair Accessories – Flowers supplied from the florist, Petals
Grooms Suit – Formal US Coast Guard Summer Uniform
Flowers – Petals
Cake – made by Ellie's Mum
Bridesmaids Dresses – Reiss
Hair – Jon Cook, who works at Transformers salon in Norwich
Entertainment – Ceilidh band, Skiphire