A Maggie Sottero dress for a 1920s, New York Speakeasy Inspired Wedding

Good Morning, I hope the back to work blues are finally starting to subside, worry not though – this is a wedding that will do the job, I’m sure. Doctors Lucy and Araz tied the knot on the 11^th of October last year in the truly grand surroundings of Ashridge House in Berkhamsted, Herefordshire, a sumptuous Neo-Gothic mansion located close to Lucy’s hometown of St Albans.  It is as spectacular inside as it is out, as these photographs will prove and the most fabulous of all venue’s to host a 1920’s inspired wedding.

Photographer David of Modern Vintage Weddings captured the essence of this glamorous wedding day beautifully.

“I’m definitely not the kind of girl who has been planning my wedding since I was a little; I genuinely didn’t have a clue. We just wanted the day to be fun and a bit different, yet we didn’t want it to deviate too much from tradition.”

Photography Copyright (c) 2015, Modern Vintage Weddings 

Araz proposed to Lucy in Central Park, on a surprise trip to New York in October 2013. Prior to visiting Araz had researched speakeasy style bars so the couple incorporated touches of the 1920s into their wedding as a nod to their newly engaged adventures in gorgeous New York.

“We loved the whole glamorous feeling of the 1920s and the prohibition era speakeasy bars, so when planning the wedding it seemed a great idea to personalise it with this theme.

As soon as we had the venue, everything else seemed to fall in to place.”

Lucy wore the absolutely stunning ‘Cassidy’ dress by Maggie Sottero. She wore a pearl necklace in her hair with some embellished hair grips and a full length veil. Scouring the internet paid off, she managed to get great deals on her shoes and earrings to finish her look.

“I went with my mum and best friend to Mignonette in Slip End, near Luton. The shop had been recommended by old school friends and it was amazing. Weirdly I ended up with a dress almost identical to the first one I’d pinned on Pinterest, it was about the 5^th of 8 I tried on and I knew as soon as I’d found it. I hadn’t really thought of a veil but my friend, mum and mother-in-law basically chose one for me at one of my fittings.

It was full length with subtle crystals, I am normally not a fan of diamantes but these were really delicate. I wore Tom Ford White Patchouli perfume, it’s my signature scent.”

Lucy chose from colour swatches before ordering the grape coloured bridesmaid’s dresses online. They wore their own pearl bracelets with pearl and crystal earrings, and gypsophilia in their hair. Lucy’s baby niece Rosie looked adorable in her feather headband.

“Our photographer David Wickham at Modern Vintage Weddings was brilliant from the word go. He wanted to Skype with us before we agreed to any contract and we booked an engagement shoot too which basically meant we got to chill out with him for a whole afternoon and get to know him prior to the wedding day which made us so much more at ease for the day itself.”

“I wanted to get ready at my family home, which was my only pre-requisite for the venue. We looked at about 8 venues over 2 weekends! We weren’t looking for anything as grand as Ashridge to begin with but we fell in love with the whole place – its character, wow factor, and the cathedral-like feeling inside. We also realised how fun it would be if all our guests could stay at the venue.”

“My dad drove me to the venue in their Morris Minor convertible, his first car. I was driven around in it when I was little, and they recently completed a loving restoration of it so it had great sentimental valu

“Araz had wanted to buy a tailored suit for ages! We found out about Whitfield and Ward at a vintage wedding fair in Manchester. He chose a dark blue and wore a bow tie and a peacock feather lapel pin. The groomsmen wore dark navy suits with tweed waistcoats, teal coloured ties and pocket squares. I liked the mix of colours with the bridesmaids and peacock feathers.

I made the lapel pins with peacock and guinea fowl feathers. I am very proud of them.”

“I think it was my dad’s proudest moment walking me down the aisle. One of our friends played Ludovico einaudi “I giorni” on the piano as we walked.

We wanted an upbeat recessional song so we chose ‘You make my dreams come true’ by Hall & Oates.”

“One of my oldest school friends and one of Araz’s oldest school friends chose the readings; ‘On your wedding day’ and ‘Marriage joins two people in its circle of love’.”

“We bought our rings from the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, it’s such good value. We love that we have a bit of Birmingham, the place we met as first year med students, with us at all times, especially as now that we have moved to London!”

“The table plan was one of my favourite details! We named each table after a speakeasy bar in New York and framed a map of Manhattan with pins.”

“My Mum made our cake. It was the first time she’d made a wedding cake and she did an amazing job! It oozed a bit and the boys put it together at the venue so it had a few fingerprints on it but I love that it was homemade!”

“We used the florist from Ashridge and she did an amazing job. I showed Kelly my Pinterest board and we brainstormed. I wanted rich colours with berries but wasn’t bothered about exact flowers and they couldn’t have been more perfect. Ashridge is decorated with flowers all year round so she tailored the colour scheme to our wedding. It is such a grand venue with a lot going on so we didn’t feel we needed add lots to it.

We opted for all different vintage decanters and vases with peacock feathers, foliage and roses. Going for peacock feathers really saved on the cost.”

“On the tables we had games of tiddlywinks, dominos, pick up sticks, a deck of cards and some poker chips. We created a fill-in-the blanks advice sheet for guests to fill in on the tables. Instead of a guestbook, our guests signed a piece of Jenga.”

There were some very stylishly well dressed guests in attendance…

“I made headpieces as favours for all the women out of lace and feathers with rhinestones and pearls.The men had stick on moustaches and Turkish Delights. During the meal everyone was wearing their headpieces and moustaches; it was really fun.”

“It’s so hard to choose a favourite moment but sitting on our friends’ shoulders belting out ‘never forget where you’re coming from’ whilst wearing a wedding dress with a glass of bubbly was a definite highlight!”

“Our brilliant band Mister Kanish had two personas; Mister which was more dancey and Classic which was more vintage. Words cannot express how much of an awesome band they are!”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Enjoy it, and capture a few moments together throughout the day- it goes so fast.

If you have the flare, get creative! You don’t have to spend lots to get amazing detail if you’re willing/enjoy doing it yourself. Whilst detail is definitely not everything, personal touches make it extra special.”

Congratulations to Lucy and Araz, thank you so much for sharing your wedding with us. Some of our regular readers may remember that we featured the wedding of Mister Kanish.

Bass player Chris to the lovely Laura last September. You can look back at their wedding here.

Love Caoimhe xx

 

 

Photographer – Modern Vintage Weddings
Venue – Ashridge House, Berkhamsted, Herfordshire
Dress + Veil – Maggie Sottero from Mignonette + Shoes
Bridesmaid’s Dresses – Queenie
Flower Girl’s Dress – Monsoon
Groom and Groomsmen’s Suits – Whitfield and Ward in Wilmslow, Cheshire
Hair – Natale Milone + Make Up – Abbi Rose Make Up
Band – Mister Kanish
Planner – Chloe Painter at Ashridge House
Cake Supplies – The Sugar Smith
Baklava + Persian Tea – Venus Foods
Photo Booth – Vintage Booth