Morning everyone! And what a beautiful morning it is too. I can’t believe how this week is flying by so quickly. Mother nature and Father time have clearly been working flat out – it’s so cold outside and it feels like time left to prepare for Christmas is rapidly running out. But there is always time to stop, take time out and enjoy a spot of wedding blog browsing, I think you’ll agree.
Personal Assistant Kirstin married Account Coordinator Lewis on 15 November this year at Bradbourne House, in East Malling, Kent – a beautiful Grade 1 listed building, set in 20 acres of stunning parkland. It was the perfect backdrop for this 1920s house party inspired wedding. And in case you were wondering, this is how to wear red lipstick on your wedding day 🙂
“I knew from the beginning that I really wanted to wear red lipstick on my wedding day, and from this, subtle references to the glamour of the 1920’s and 1930’s followed – but we ensured this didn’t overpower the day so stuck to little touches like the font used for table plan and menus on the table.”
Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Kerry Ann Duffy
Are you planning on creating in Instagram hashtag to use for your guests to use and share imagery from your wedding day?
“Lewis and I met in a bar in the beautiful Pantiles of Tunbridge Wells. I had only moved to Tunbridge Wells two months earlier, and made friends with Lewis’ younger sister Lianne, who introduced us. We got engaged in Paris on December 7th 2013 in a restaurant that overlooked the Eiffel Tower. It was all very romantic! We had been engaged just less than a year when we were married.”
Kirstin wore a gown by designer Martina Lianna, which she purchased via Isabella Grace in Tunbridge Wells.
“The beading on my dress is just amazing and I just loved all of the detail, it was actually one of the girls in Isabella Grace that picked it out for me and im so glad that she did!”
“The cake was made by Susan Pridie of All Shapes and Slices Co, we just wanted the cake to have a very minimalist look but with a little nod to the 1920s.”
“Lewis’s suit was from Next. He had previously brought a suit from Reiss that was blue but 3 weeks before the wedding and after having it altered we knew it just wasn’t quite right. As soon as he put on the next suit we knew that was the one to go for.”
“I discovered our photographer, Kerry Ann Duffy, through one of her photographs on Pinterest. It was a total coincidence that she was based less than an hour away from us! We have had so many comments on our wedding photographs, and also on how Kerry was on the day – people hardly noticed she was there which I think is an amazing credit to her. We’re both delighted that Kerry captured our day.”
“I had a trial with Katy from Gallery Salon just two weeks before the wedding and she was amazing, my make up and hair was just as I pictured it in my head – I felt so lucky that she had our wedding date free!”
“Florian Flowers were our florists and proteas were the focus of my flowers, I love them! Nicola matched the rest of the flowers to them beautifully and I ended up with the bouquet of my dreams! I loved it so much that I dried it out after the wedding and they are the centrepiece of my coffee table now. I wanted the flowers to feel rustic, rich and autumnal (I appreciate rustic and rich is probably a bit of a contradiction but I think it worked!).”
“My dad Donald walked me down the aisle to the sound of ‘She’ by Elvis Costello.”
“We had ‘You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving’, by Victor Hugo from Les Misérables read during our ceremony…”
‘You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. & great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. & even loved in spite of ourselves.’ (Victor Hugo, Les Misérables)
“Lewis maintains his favourite part of the day was seeing me walk down the aisle (according to those there I actually sprinted down the aisle!) It’s really difficult to pick out one standout moment, but there was a point when we went outside for photos that the sun appeared and mist surrounded the ground of bradbourne house – it did make everything feel pretty magical.”
“I’m a qualified graphic designer so I designed all of the wedding stationery myself and had it printed – this included the invites, table plan, menus, place setting and thank you cards.”
“I spent a lot of time on the décor, I sourced flower fairy lights from Australia, Hanging glasses from China, I went round all the local charity shops looking for old crystal and candle holders. I sprayed 80 apples (real apples – buying these in the supermarket was not fun!) with the help of my sister, to make the place settings, bought logs to put in all the fireplaces and covered in fairy lights (you cant have any real flames in Bradbourne House so I had to use my imagination!) I wanted to create warmth and a feeling that the place was really decorated.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
“Be together – weddings are so hectic and you can spend all day speaking to family and friends but don’t forget each other! Take a minute to chat and smile about your amazing day.
There isn’t anything that we were unhappy with but if we could do it again we would take time to appreciate the live music more and I think I would try harder to truly take in moment and look around, it goes by in a flash (as people always say it does).”
Laid back and glamourous and oozing with vintage bridal style. Huge thanks to photographer Kerry Ann Duffy for sharing this wedding today and many congratulations to you both Kirstin and Lewis – I hope you have the loveliest first Christmas together as a married couple.
All my love, Annabel x x
Photographer – Kerry Ann Duffy
Venue – Bradbourne House, in East Malling, Kent
Wedding Dress – Martina Lianna via Isabella Grace in Tunbridge Wells
Veil – Isabella Grace
Shoes – Jimmy Choo
Perfume – Calvin Klein’s Euphoria
Grooms Suit – Next + French Connection Bow Tie + Kurt Keiger Shoes + Reiss Shirt
Bridesmaids – House of Fraser dresses + Kurt Geiger shoes
Flowergirl dresses – Etsy
Florist – Florian Flowers
Cake – All Shapes and Slices Co
Entertainment – Flower Quartet (daytime) + Victoriano
Rings – Goldsmiths in Tunbridge Wells
Catering Company – Anderson Caterers
Stationery – DIY, the bride
Hair and make-up Artist – Katy from the Gallery Salon
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.
