Good morning beautiful, I so hope you've had a wonderful weekend so far. We have been utterly blessed again with the most beautiful bank-holiday sunshine, currently streaming through the windows and bringing with it the most stunning natural light in to our front room. Heavenly.
As it's a holiday, there will be just one post today, but a post worthy of occupying the top spot on this wedding blog for a whole day if ever there was one.
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Eve Photography
I'm often asked by readers where they can purchase original vintage bridal wear outside of London – there seems to be a huge misconception that you can only buy decent vintage in the big smoke – which is completely un-true! I know of many suppliers located in the midlands, North East and Scotland who specialise in the most gorgeous original vintage bridal wear and today I want to shout about one of them.
Vintage at Number 18 is located in the centre of Newcastle Upon Tyne and is the city's only specialist vintage wedding dress supplier. This photoshoot is a stunning example of the type of gorgeous original vintage bridal wear that is available to brides in the North East of England via Vintage at Number 18, as well as testimony to one of the most fabulous wedding venues the city proudly boasts, not forgetting the incredible wedding day styling services on offer to Brides in the North too.
More on this amazing little North East find shortly, for now let's enjoy some of the beautiful bridal wear this fabulous North Eastern treasure trove has in stock.
Owner of Vintage at Number 18, Lynne, told me about how these images came about…
"My daughter Jess and her fiance Andy (pictured further down) are getting married in 2015. After meeting Charlotte of Eve Photography at the Metro arena wedding show,
Jess and Andy decided they wanted Charlotte to take their wedding
photographs.
Having had a meeting with Charlotte to talk things
through, we decided it would be good to do a shoot
together to help showcase some of the very talented wedding industry
suppliers located in the North East of England – and, of course, some of
our beautiful original vintage wedding dresses."
"Although Jess was nervous about being photographed, Charlotte soon put them at ease and
they actually enjoyed the whole day and did a fantastic job, it brought a tear
to my eye seeing them like that, they are now not so nervous about being photographed on their wedding day.
As You Like It is a brilliant, quirky, unique and beautiful venue for a wedding or photo
shoot in Newcastle – they also put on am amazing lunch!
Andy had his hair done by Patrick Forster
and Jess and Faye had theirs styled by Becci. Donna Ganley of Violet Beauty was our makeup artist for the day – I asked for the 1930’s and 50’s look and they both came up
with exactly what I wanted."
I'd also like to introduce you to the photographer who took these photographs, Charlotte Graham of Eve Photography…
"I'm really excited to share the photos from this shoot
at As You Like It with an amazing group of suppliers. I feel so
honoured to be photographing Lynne's daughter Jess and her fiance
Andy's wedding (see Jess and Andy pictured below) in 2015 at Newton Hall and it seemed perfect that Jess should
model the dresses at the shoot at Newton Hall's sister venue As You Like It. I
wanted to show the story of Jess and Andy's love through the photos as we
wandered around and explored the venue together.
They're a young couple very
much in love and their natural styles fitted perfectly with the venue. Our
model for the other dresses, Faye, looked amazing in the dresses too, I wanted
to photograph her separately from Andy and Jess so that Faye's images would
tell their own narrative but keeping the same feel."
"We wanted the shoot to work with the amazing venue, the fun and frivolous feel
it has as well as using the natural warm tones in the decor. The look we aimed
for was opulent vintage with rich natural and jewel like tones, keeping an air
of mystery and fun about it too. The venue is full of the unexpected at every
turn and I wanted the shoot to have elements of that as well."
Karen of Sweet Pea Events was responsible for the detail and decor styling on this beautiful photoshoot…
"As the venue has such a quirky feel we wanted to work with
the decor, rather than detract from it. I chose bright marbled effect
vintage crockery placed on light golden platters, which worked really well
against the wooden table and complimented the tones the flowers perfectly.
With the outdoor balcony we created a French chic bistro styled
space, set for a lazy morning, drinking coffee and reading books. I added
beautiful silverware and china set alongside a stunning glass tray, carrying
friendship birds."
I absolutely adore the florals featured in this photoshoot, beautifully prepared by florists Darling and Green – who are no strange to this blog. I first met Darling and Green at The Wedding Institute and was blown away –
"To style the private dining room in As You Like It we chose
a dark, scientific theme to complement the unusual features, bold colours and
beautiful wooden table. A collection of yellow glassware was styled alongside
vintage bell jars and stoneware pots including an original Victorian inhaler.
Antique books were used to lift the heights of some jars providing
interest. Snakeshead fritillary and maidenhead fern gave a delicate
yet striking main centrepiece, softened with a mossy base. Succulents nesting
on moss also featured under miniature bell jars. Throughout the various vessels
we arranged a mixture of Blue Curiosa roses, daucus carota, clematis, white
ranunculus, maidenhead fern and white astrantia."
"An overarm bridal arrangement of the above flowers was
created alongside a buttonhole featuring a white ranunculus and succulent, tied
with twine.
A second bridal style was created to showcase the stunning
bridal dresses from Vintage at Number 18. Soft white ranunculus were teamed
with wild hellebore and finished with delicate pieces of jasmine. The brides
headdress was simple lengths of jasmine giving a wild, natural and subtle
look."
I'd like to thank the whole creative team behind this photoshoot for sharing these quite exquisite images to inspire you all today.
And please can I encourage all North east based brides interested in exploring original vintage bridal wear to contact Vintage at Number 18 to enquire about their fabulous range of wedding dresses, that I know Lynne is adding to all the time.
Are any of my North East readers looking in to an original vintage wedding dress?
Annabel
Photography – Eve Photography
Wedding Dresses – Vintage at Number 18
Venue – As You Like It
Styling – Sweet Pea Events
Flowers + Styling – Darling and Green
Hair Stylist – Becci + Patrick Forster (mens hair)
Makeup Artist – Violet Beauty
Models – Jess & Andy + semi-professional model Faye Hunter Mode
Headpiece by Kathryn Russell (no website but contactable via Vintage at Number 18)
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, getting in the sea, 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.
