Two Bespoke Wedding Dresses for a Beautiful, Vintage Inspired Lesbian Wedding

It's Friday! And despite working for myself and never really getting a day off, Friday forever seems to bring with it a feeling of joy at the weekend being almost here, and me having a chance to see my children live, laugh, sing dance and play together.  Friday gifts me with that sense that I've two days ahead where I can just relax and be me with the people I love, something that brides Debs and Maisse so obviously enjoyed doing judging by these wonderful photographs, on their wedding day earlier this month at East Quay in Whistable.

Regular Love My Dress reader Debs {left in the first image below} shared the couple's reasons behind choosing the location for their elegantly laid-back wedding day full of smiles and love…

"We both had many memorable weekends in Whistable; it was a place that we both connected with – in terms of its relaxed, laid back atmosphere, it is close to London, so was an easy and comfortable weekend away for us.

Having our ceremony away from the stress and business of London was also important to us – and so we felt Whistable took us away from this.  It was also dear to me, as parts of Whitstable reminded me of my upbringing in New Zealand, brought home a little closer to me every time we visited…" 

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photgraphy Copyright (c) 2012, Mark Carey

I love how those playfully pretty lace dresses fit in so well with the vibe of the day…

"Our bridesmaids wore the 'Lucky Lace' Strapless Dress in ‘Dark Intimate Pink’ from French Connection.  Our style was vintage – although I suppose it was also just an eclectic mix of things that we found and liked, so while the main idea was ‘vintage’ – we ended up personalising it to make the theme our own…"

Both brides wore a beautiful dress by designer Sally Lacock…

"When it came to a wedding dress, I was looking for something vintage inspired, that was quite relaxed in how it felt and looked, and also one that was different from a ‘standard wedding dress’.  The material of my dress felt amazing, and the dress fitted so perfectly – there was no harsh corset, so I could just completely relax in the dress, while still feeling elegant and beautiful.

The dress really suited my body shape too (so I was told!), which enhanced my sense of confidence.  The dress was also quite playful – especially when Sally put the little train at the back – it was great to wear on the dance floor and while walking along the beach.  I also loved the dress for how precise and careful Sally had made it – she made every last detail perfect, from the slip worn underneath to the detailing of the lace on the edge and train…"

"Jane at Graham Greener – Whitstable.  We wanted flowers that looked like we had just picked them from the garden – we both wanted quite loose bouquets.  Maisse particularly wanted Daisy’s  & I really wanted a pose with roses, freesias and anything else that fitted in with the vintage theme.  Each table was fitted with Jars of flowers – all with the same relaxed/informal – ‘just picked’ feel…"

 

"We had four girls in Morning Suits hired from Moss Bros – they were our two ring bearers and two ushers…"

"My brother was also a ‘best man’, and part of the bridesmaid group!   His outfit was from Topshop (Shirt, Waistcoat, Trousers and Shoes) – my Dad wore the same too…"

 

 "I wore fresh water pearl-drop earrings from John Lewis. a vintage broach on my dress and necklace (worn as a bracelet) from Sally Lacock.  I also wore my Grandma's wedding ring on my right hand, and a beautiful original vintage fur cape, also via Sally Lacock.Maisse wore bangles from John Lewis, a necklace from Tiffany and shoes made by Che Mihara, purchased from Black Truffle…"

"I wore some little silver slides/hair grips with small pearls from Claire’s Accessories {embarrassing!! – I was desperate though, as I couldn't find anything simple for my hair!}"

"Mum and Dad walked me ‘up the aisle’ and Maisses two sisters walked her ‘up the aisle’.  We both walked in to the sound of Desert Rose, by Sting…"

"We used a lot of bunting, paper flowers, paper fans, fairy lights, table numbers were homemade on a small piece of slate & there were also signs on blackboards outside ‘Maisse and Debs wedding’ – lots of small lanterns on the tables, tea light candles, stained glass candle holders & various jars with homemade doile decorations on them – it was a real mix match of things we bought on the internet and from places like Asda and Ikea!"

"Two of our friends made the cakes – we didn’t want to have one ‘traditional’ cake so we opted for a table of cakes, which steered clear from the formal cake-cutting scene! (However we ended up doing it anyway – as one of the girls made a cake with a Dr and Nurse on top (resembling Maisse & I) so felt we had to have some sort of cake cutting session!)…"

"We wanted to choose a song for our first dance that was a bit of fun – as we didn’t want to get up for a formal first dance. So we chose ‘girls just want to have fun’ by Cyndi Lauper. We got all the bridesmaids, ushers, close friends etc. to come and share the first dance with us…"

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Use an excel spreadsheet for the week before – to help plan everything that needs to be done!

Ask your friends / family for help (to do chores etc.) – they won’t mind at all and will probably be quite chuffed being asked to get involved with the planning etc. – as we found out.

Don’t run a marathon (as I did), leave your jobs, get married, sell your house and move country at the same time (as we are doing) – too many life events at once!  Try to go on Honeymoon straight after the wedding – so you can really soak up the atmosphere from your wedding, reflect on it and enjoy your first week of married life! – Away from normality!"

Debs and Maisse, thank you so very much for sharing your beautiful day with Love My Dress. I simply adore your photographs, they capture a day full of love and a sea of smiles from adoring family and friends – you are both very lucky indeed.

Huge thanks to photographer Mark Carey too for sharing this magic…

"We couldn’t of asked for a better photographer than Mark.  He created images that were exactly what we were looking for (& more) – his subtle presence on the day and his reassuring words throughout made him such a great person to be there photographing our special day. 

Mark has such a creative eye which kept watching and looking out for various things to capture (people, places etc.) – whether they were big or small (an oyster shell or a group of people) – this meant that he captured not only the scenes from the day but also the emotion felt on the day…."

I hope you can join me in congratulating Debs and Maisse and maybe show some love for this sweet wedding below.  Which of my readers are also planning a seaside wedding, or for those of you having a dress made bepoke, how is the experience coming along so far?

With so much Friday morning love all,

Annabel

 

Photographer – Mark Carey
Venue – East Quay in Whistable
Bride's dresses – Sally Lacock
Brides Shoes – 'Lantano Sandal’ from Monsoon + Che Mihara, purchased from Black Truffle
Bridesmaids dresses – French Connection
Bestman – Topshop
Florist – Graham Greener
Morning suits – Moss Bros
Hair Stylist – Hair: Anthony Dunn (from London, works at Tommy Guns in Shoreditch)
Make-up – Frances Prescott via One Makeup
Nails – Kelli Waldock at ‘Pinkies’ in Whitstable
Entertainment – Barakah {jazz band}