Hello lovelies! Up next on this beautiful Autumn afternoon is the pretty summer wedding of Mr and Mrs Catantan – Nathan and Vikki, who married on 26 July this year. There’s so much good stuff in here, from the stunning venue to one of the most spectacular wedding cakes I’ve ever seen (with some surprise singing waiters along the way). But what I love most is how totally, utterly, over-the-moon happy everyone looks.
Inspiration for the day came from Vikki’s love of anything vintage and mild obsession with birdcages. Many of the decorations were homemade, so in the last two weeks before the wedding the couple were busy decorating jam jars, making the suitcase table plan and fluffing up pom poms.
“Our photographer was Liam Smith. He was great and very professional and captured the day perfectly, especially the candid moments.”
Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Liam Smith Photography
“My dress was by Ellis Bridals, it’s called Buttercup and I bought it from was bought from Serenity Brides in Colchester. I kept looking through the rails in the shop and nothing really stood out to me, then as I came to the end of the rail I saw the dress. It was very different as it was tea length and had beautiful lace beaded full-length sleeves. It was very vintage, very me! I instantly fell I love.”
Nathan looked very dapper in a bespoke suit by Suits My Size in Colchester, a black silk self-tie bow tie, Hugo Boss shoes and belt and a rather swish Rolex Submariner watch.
As you may know, we love a bride in glasses here at Love My Dress. Vikki’s beautiful frames are by Tiffany & Co. She accessorised with a simple diamante comb clip, See by Chloé perfume, a vintage-inspired pearl clutch by Lydia Bright and a vintage umbrella. Hair was by Holly Arnold and make-up by Sarah Drummond…
“She did an awesome job we all looked flawless all day! Her airbrushing skills are second to none.”
“My shoes are from Harriet Wilde, they are the most beautiful shoes I’ve ever seen, the detail on the heel is stunning and they suited my dress perfectly!”
“We got engaged on Vikki’s birthday in 2013, and had no intentions of getting married so soon but after visiting a few venues and wedding fairs we found the perfect place. Braxted Park just blew us away the first time we saw it, and it just so happened that a date we both liked was available. The planning went by so quickly and, before we knew it, we were two weeks away from the big day!”
“All the bridesmaids’ dresses are by Kelsey Rose. I decided to go for five different colours, and allowed the bridesmaids to pick whatever style they felt most comfortable with as long as they stuck to the chiffon range. They also wore Links of London bracelets which I gave them as gifts.”
Nathan, an accountant and Vikki, an administration officer, met when she was working in a shop. Nathan tells us, “I noticed Vikki while she was working at Halfords, and being a car guy I visited the shop a lot. Even more so when I noticed Vikki! After a few money-wasting trips to Halfords I managed to pluck up the courage to speak to her and because I hadn’t a clue what I was about to say I just started asking about the gear knobs, which she was standing next to! Haha! We also used to bump into each other in town and I somehow got her number.”
Oh giggles!!!
Vikki was accompanied down the aisle by her father, Steve, with O Mio Babbino Caro played by Regent String Quartet.
“We chose not to have any readings and to keep the ceremony simple – short and sweet. It gave us more time to mingle and, more importantly, party with our guests!”
Vikki and Nathan did a brilliant job of personalising the already fabulous venue to reflect their own sense of style.
“We handmade paddle fan programmes, menus, place cards and suitcase table plan. We bought the suitcase for £1 and frames for the table numbers and photos ranging from 20p to £1.50 from the local boot sale. We collected and decorated jam jars for our florist, Jades Flower Design to use for the flowers, made green, pink and white pom poms and bought wicker hears. We also had a sweet buffet with sweets and homemade cakes and cookies. And we hired a photo booth and an ice cream cart for the evening, which was great fun.”
Would you look at that cake?
“We chose the bird cage cake because it suited the theme. Vikki loves baking and only wanted the best, so when she came across Rachelle’s cakes she knew it’d perfect.”
Guests were treated to an acoustic band, The Live Lounge Project, as well as music from Piano DJ. Vikki’s parents also arranged singing waiters and a chef via Soprano Bella which was a huge surprise and resulted in some brilliant reactions captured on camera!
“Our first dance was to The Only Reason by JP Cooper. We first heard it on a video our videographers made. We decided to have it as our first dance track as not everybody would recognise it. As it was a song you don’t hear on the radio much it felt more personal and special to us.”
“My favourite part of the day was when we were partying and just enjoying the evening after all the traditional things were out of the way such as the speeches, cutting of the cake and first dance.”
Words of wedded wisdom…
“Relax and enjoy it because you may not get the opportunity to do it again. Make sure you plan and book the perfect photographer and videographer to capture the precious moments as they are one of the only things you can look back at and reminisce. And most importantly, have the most fantastic day, enjoy every second and take everything in – after all it will be one of the best days of your lives.”
Thank you so much Nathan and Vikki for sharing so many wonderful details. Your wedding was absolutely beautiful and I love that your love story started with a Halfords gear knob! I hope married life has been amazing so far.
Huge thanks also to photographer Liam Smith Photography for sharing his beautiful work with us all today.
Love Kate xx
Photographer – Liam Smith Photography
Venue – Braxted Park
Dress –Ellis Bridals, purchased from Serenity Brides
Accessories – Shoes Harriet Wilde, glasses Tiffany & Co, clutch Lydia Bright, vintage umbrella
Hair – Holly Arnold
Make up – Sarah Drummond
Bridesmaids – Kelsey Rose
Flowegirl – Monsoon
Groom – suit Suits My Size, shoes and belt Hugo Boss, watch Rolex
Pageboy – Anthony Formal Wear
Flowers – Jades Flower Design
Rings – Tiffany, Cartier
Cake – Rachelle’s Beautiful Bespoke Cakes
Favours – Lindt heart chocolates in birdcage boxes
Stationery – invitations Debenhams, save the date cards handmade
Caterers – Le Talbooth
Transport – AC Cobra
Entertainment – Regent String Quartet + singing waiters + chef Soprano Bella + The Live Lounge Project + DJ Piano DJ
