Today’s bride and groom, Emily and Sam, are a seriously stylish pair. Emily looked stunning in her drop-waisted Charlie Brear gown and Sam donned a J Crew jacket and trouser combo with some amazing mustard yellow socks, for their cool and unconventional city wedding in Manchester. Their big day was held on 20th June 2015 at the historic Manchester town hall, with the reception at grade II listed Hope Mill, Ancoats.
“We didn’t want our wedding to be the same as number of the ones we had been to ourselves. We’ve both been to so many weddings, which whilst enjoyable, have followed the same standard formula of church/nice hotel/barn, ‘disco/band’. You start to forget who actually did what, and we didn’t want the same ubiquitous formula where, we felt, you just insert a Bride or Groom.”
Photography by Devin Ainslie
Emily’s flapper-inspired Charlie Brear gown was purchased via The White Closet, Didsbury.
“I adored the 1920’s style dropped waist, and the unusual lace – it wasn’t just floral lace like so many other dresses out there. It was a really relaxed fit, which meant I was comfortable all day and could dance freely all night.”
The beautiful imagery today is by a photographer new to Love My Dress, Devin Ainslie.
“Neither of us wanted staged photos, and whilst it seems a bit clichéd, we just wanted pictures of people enjoying themselves naturally, and generally just messing around. Devin was great at this and made sure everyone was relaxed. You hardly knew he was there sometimes!”
Emily accessorised with gorgeous Rachel Simpson shoes, and a hair piece, necklace and earrings all from Jenny Packham. Her perfume, by Chloe, was a gift from Sam.
The bridesmaids wore grey/silver Oasis dresses, tied with sparkly sashes from No.1 Jenny Packham for Debenhams. Gorgeous!
The coral flower arrangements were put together by Northern Flower.
“We wanted understated flowers, which weren’t showy but complemented the eclectic nature of the room.”
Sam and Emily were engaged for two years before tying the knot.
“It’s not your traditional love story, as it all started in the epicentre of romance; Batley. We both worked for Fox’s biscuits, and found love over Vinny and the custard creams. We had been together for 2 years when Sam Popped the question on a weekend break in Copenhagen back in July 2013”
“Our venue was Manchester town hall for the ceremony – we wanted a venue which had a wow factor, and the architecture and history really delivered that.”
“We chose Hope Mill, Ancoats for the reception – we wanted somewhere which would allow us to do pretty much what we wanted. Hope Mill were really accommodating on everything we wanted to do, there was no preferred caterer list, wedding DJ choice, set menus to choose from; we just had the shell and the rest was up to us. Plus the venue itself is amazing with all the original features from the cotton mill.”
“We planned all the details and sourced all suppliers ourselves, but hired day before and on the day co-ordination via Chelsea at The White Wedding company, who helped dress the venue and ensure everything on the day went as planned. This was money well spent, as they were amazing and took the stress away from myself and Sam.
We bought all our own furniture, and accessories ranging from standard lamps, Chinese lanterns, wooden place holders, Persian rugs, commissioned graffiti by local artist (Kelzo), chesterfield sofas, fairy lights, candles, the list goes on….”
Catering was by Las Paelleras.
“We didn’t want the standard three-course set menu, so went for tapas sharing dishes. This not only tasted amazing but was also very fun and sociable.”
“As neither myself or Sam are massive dessert fans, we decided to opt for a less traditional cake and went for a 3 tiered Pork pie along with various mini pork pies to accompany. This allowed us to use the pie for the evening food, as usually the wedding cake goes to waste and so we thought would have a double whammy where people could soak up the booze and enjoy our “dessert”!”
“Our entertainment was provided by Thomas Weatherall and Graeme Park (Hacienda DJ) not many people know he does weddings! This was a surprise from me to Sam, it was one of his favourite DJ’s growing up, and kept it a secret until the morning of the big day!”
“We decided not to have a first dance; however we did have a dance off to Xpansions ‘Move your body’.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Delegate as much as you can to your wedding party/friends, they know everyone and they know what you want. If there is one day you can get people to do things for you – it’s your wedding day!”
Love the relaxed and cool vibe of this stylish wedding, thank you so much to Emily and Sam for allowing us to share your beautiful nuptials with our readers. My thanks too to photographer Devin Ainslie for the captivating, natural imagery today. Are there any brides out there wearing Charlie Brear on their wedding day? I would love to hear about it below. Have wonderful weekend all.
Love Louisa xx
Photographer – Devin Ainslie
Venue – Manchester Town Hall and Hope Mill, Ancoats
Wedding planner – The White Wedding company
Wedding dress – Charlie Brear via The White Closet, Didsbury
Bride’s shoes – Rachel Simpson
Bride’s accessories – Jenny Packham
Bride’s perfume – Chloe
Bridesmaids’ dresses – Oasis
Bridesmaids’ accessories – jewellery by Azendi and sashes by No.1 Jenny Packham for Debenhams
Groom’s suit – J Crew
Groom’s accessories – tie from Marks and Spencer, flower pin from Lanvin, shoes by Bass Penny Loafers
Florist – Northern Flower
Hair – Matt Briggs
Make-up artist – Melissa Woods of Big Wow Make up
Rings – Kingston Jewellers
Catering – Las Paelleras
Wedding cake – pies by Toppings Pies
Entertainment – Thomas Weatherall and Graeme Park
Stationery – Alex Berry, Thisishel Agency
