A Tiered Lace Vintage Wedding Dress for a Beautiful Persian Bride…

Afternoon all, goodness, I've such a beautiful bride and her wedding photographs to share with you this afternoon, courtesy of photographer Katy Lunsford.  I love learning about different wedding cultures through Love My Dress, and so was fascinated to read more about the Persian Bahá'í faith, and how couples marry within this faith. It's tradition during this type of wedding ceremony for couple's meet before and enter the wedding ceremony together - a little like a 'first look' I guess!

Coupe Yasmin & Andalib's wedding took place on 29th December last year, with a beautiful Bahá'í ceremony at Arley Hall in Cheshire…

"A few weeks after Andalib had proposed, on a visit to the US I
walked past a wedding dress shop and spotted a beautiful vintage tiered
lace dress.  I tried on the dress and walked down the fitting room, when
I turned around I saw my mum, grandma, aunt and sister with tears in
their eyes. The dress was simple, elegant and like nothing I had seen
before.

As I was about to purchase the dress, I hesitated as I wondered
whether Andalib would love the dress as much as I did.  At that moment,
I received a text that simply read “I love you’, and that sign made me
smile and I knew my choice was perfect."

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

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

"When our florist Gaynor of GD Flowers,
showed us the amnesia rose In the antique lilac colour, we knew It
would be perfect for our vintage style wedding. This rose has mystifying
beauty and is almost haunting. My bouquet included amnesia roses, cream
avalanche roses, Singapore orchids and viburnum berries. These were
arranged into a neat posy shape finished with cream satin ribbon and
pearl detail. It was stunning!
"

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

"Andalib and I had been
friends throughout university, and when our best friends got married to
each other they played cupid and set us up. Andalib asked me out for a
coffee and the rest is history!"

Andalib tells us about how he and Yasmin met; "The
first time we met was at the Manchester Bahá'í centre 9 years ago. We
were always friends, but started spending more time with each other as
our respective best friends got married. Initially, I liked Yasmin more
than she liked me, but after 3 months she finally caved in to my
ridiculously good looks and boyish charm!  The day I
proposed was a beautiful autumn day. I proposed in a forest at Alderly
Edge."

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

"The forest was enchanting; as the sun glistened between the trees
everything was golden. I found the perfect spot and told her I had a
gift and asked her to close her eyes. She opened her eyes to me kneeling
and before I had a chance to ask the question, came a choked 'yes!'

We
really wanted to keep to the Bahá'í teachings and get married 95 days
after getting engaged. We knew it was possible to plan a beautiful
wedding in that period of time. We wanted to marry each other and that
was the most important thing for us, the rest of the details were the
icing on the cake."

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

"The groom’s buttonhole was an amnesia rose with a Singapore orchid head, hypericum berries and viburnum berries..." 

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

"We instantly fell in love with Arley Hall,
and it set the theme of old world glamour for the whole wedding.  There
was so much character and charm, from the elaborate ceilings, the
fireplaces, the oak panelled library and the stained glass windows.

There was an incredible sense of grandeur amidst an intimate, warm and
inviting atmosphere.  The clincher must have been the Large Persian
Carpet in the front hall, we knew we would have the perfect balance of
rich Persian with old English history."

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

"It is Persian tradition that the Bride and Groom walk down the
aisle together.  Andalib’s favourite song is, ‘Here comes the sun’ by
the Beatles – and after we met, it soon became my favourite song too. We
chose to walk down the aisle to ‘Here comes the sun’ played on the
grand piano in Arley Hall’s magnificent drawing room.  The tables were
all named after Beatle’s songs!

The most special moment was when we exchanged our wedding vows
surrounded by all our friends and family, knowing our souls were
entwined for all of eternity. There was so much love in that room!"

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Arley Hall Wedding Photography-45

"Choosing our wedding photographer was the most important decision for us. So when we saw Katy Lunsford's work,
we knew that we would not find anyone else who would capture our
wedding day as beautifully as she would.  Her photography has a timeless
vintage sense, which was exactly how we wanted our wedding to be
captured. We were so overwhelmed when we saw how incredible the photos
were.

Our wedding album is absolutely priceless to us. The wedding day
comes and goes, the dress sits in the closet, the flowers dry and perish
and the wedding day becomes a hazy memory. But when you pick up your
wedding album and look at the pictures, everything comes back to life.
"

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

"On the morning of the wedding, I received the most beautiful
message, which made me all teary. The text was from Andalib’s father to
him, which Andalib forwarded to me. It read ‘Ok son, let go get you
hitched to the most beautiful princess ever created- Dad’."

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress 

"Andalib wore a three-piece tailored tweed suit from Walker Slater, accessorized with a vintage pocket-watch, stripy socks and of course a pipe!"

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Arley Hall Wedding Photography-48

 

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

"We
had Persian music played on the violin by my talented Father during the
ceremony. This was one of the most special moments of the whole
wedding. Not only to have a massively talented violinist at your
wedding, but for that person to be your father is a huge privilege."

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

"Our Bahá'í vows were very beautiful and simple, but within it lies guidance not only for marriage but for all of life.  The bride and groom both recite the following sacred verse: ‘We will all, verily, abide by the Will of God.'

Our
Bahá'í marriage ceremony consisted of Bahá'í writings, prayers, poems
by Rumi and music played on the violin by my (Yasmin) father. One of our
favourite readings was:

'Wherefore, wed Thou in the
heaven of Thy mercy these two birds of the nest of Thy love, and make
them the means of attracting perpetual grace; that from the union of
these two seas of love a wave of tenderness may surge and cast the
pearls of pure and goodly issue on the shore of life.' (
‘Abdu’l-Bahá)."
 

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

The top table arrangement consisted of Singapore orchids, cool
water roses, amnesia roses, berries and foliage. Candelabra arrangements
were finished with ivy trailing to the table held with flower detail.
Gaynor did an outstanding job and we were delighted with the flowers and
her creativity.  During the evening meal the candles flickered amongst
the exquisite flowers. They were breathtakingly beautiful and created
such a romantic atmosphere."

Arley Hall Wedding Photography-118

"The cake was the most amazing creation! It took our wonderful
cake maker Joan, months to make. She worked day and night on the
intricately designed 4-tiered cake, which was filled with red velvet
chocolate cake and decorated with individual hand made sugar flowers and
leaves. It was not only visually stunning but mouth wateringly
delicious. The top layer sits in our freezer until our one-year
anniversary." 

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

"Our first dance was to Nat King Cole.  It was the perfect choice as
that moment on the dance floor as husband and wife was exactly that,
unforgettable."

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Don’t get lost in the details; remember that so long as you marry the one you love your day is perfect.  If
you have to blow your budget on one thing, let it be your
photographer.  Our photos were incredible, and definitely the single
best investment of the whole wedding.

Surround yourself only with your nearest and dearest. It’s so much more special and intimate that way. 

Because
we had decided we would get married in 3 months, we didn’t labour over
the detail. We agreed on details easily, and within 3 weeks everything
had been booked and organised. It helped that Arley Hall was so
beautiful – we didn’t need to add too many details as the venue had so
much charm and magic."

Tiered lace vintage wedding dress

Yasmin makes such a glamorous bride and I truly can't imagine a style of dress that could have possibly suited her any better – great choice Yasmin!

Huge thanks to photograhper Katy Lunsford for sharing these photographs.  Katy accepts wedding photography bookings all over the UK and beyond, drop her a line if you fancy your own beautiful, winter wedding.  You can see more goregeous tiered lace wedding dresses here.

Annabel

Heart

Photographer – Katy Lunsford
Venue – Arley Hall
Wedding Dress – Vintage tiered (possibly 1950s original), purchased in the USA
Brides Veil – Richard Designs
Brides Shoes – Charlize, by Benjamin Adams
Bride's accessories – a pair of vintage diamond earrings + Flower with Feathers headpiece
Groom – Walker Slater + Pocket Watch, Pipe and Shoes via Paul Smith
Florist – GD Flowers
Cake – family friend, Joan
Entertainment – Groovy Revolution
Hair and make-up Artist – MAC, Selfridges Manchester

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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