A Tea Length Candy Anthony Dress For A Literary Inspired London Wedding

The realisation is dawning on me that I am more than a tiny bit obsessed with weddings…I know, no real shock there, but I’ve realised I’ve accidentally mentally been compiling lists of my favourite florists, designers and venues, though my wedding date looms closer and my (slightly terrifyingly lax Italian) suppliers are all booked. I hope.

So I was utterly delighted to delve into this wedding when the email from Annabel popped up in my inbox, not least because it was photographed by one of my all time favourite image-makers, Caro Weiss Photography. We’re now in our seventh year of sharing weddings captured by this wonderful woman and we’re immensely proud to support Caro through our sister site, Little Book for Brides.

Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Claire, a PA for publisher Penguin Random House, and her husband Gareth, Head of a Programme Office for Lloyds bank. These two beauties wed in literary inspired style on 16^th September 2016 at the Mayfair Library, followed by a sweet afternoon reception at The Booking Office Bar at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. They also had an super intimate (and therefore undocumented) dinner with their families and wedding party at City Social to round off celebrations.

“One of the earliest things we decided on for the wedding was my bouquet made from book pages, and the literary theme and styling evolved from there. We wanted an intimate and low key day without any fuss; the venues we chose didn’t require much added décor so we included thematic elements where we could, without being carried away. We knew we wanted to be married in London because it’s the city where we have made our home together and have spent most of our relationship.”

Photography by Caro Weiss

“As regular readers of Love My Dress will know, Caro’s photographs are amazing, I cannot recommend her enough. I have been following her work for years after she photographed the wedding of a friend’s sister and I knew I had to have her for our wedding long before Gareth proposed. Luckily Caro was free and willing to come down to London from Glasgow.

She was so unobtrusive on the day and really put us at ease. Our guests were impressed by how much she blended in and became one of us, while always looking out for things, people and moments to photograph. I love her documentary style and can’t stop looking at all the details and memories that she captured for us to cherish.”

Claire wore a divine tea length gown by Candy Anthony, a gorgeously British vintage inspired brand that you may well have already seen gracing our pages, and added a pair of heels from Irregular Choice and hair pins from Anthropologie.

Her gorgeous up do and flawless make-up were taken care of by Viktoria from Lipstick & Curls; a darling Little Book for Brides supplier and super knowledgeable about era inspired beauty. Both Claire and Gareth rocked their glasses on their wedding day, something we thoroughly approve of at team Love My Dress.

“I had a very clear idea from the outset that I wanted a tea length dress with three quarter length sleeves. I came across Candy Anthony almost by accident in a magazine, noticing the dress matched the style I was going for, and searched for more photos on Love My Dress.”

“I had another dress designer in mind and thought I had found a dress at a trunk show, but went into the appointment I had at Candy Anthony later the same day (on my first and only day spent shopping for dresses) and fell in love with my dress, conveniently during Candy Anthony’s first winter sale.”

“Rachel in the boutique could not have been more professional, supportive and encouraging. I hadn’t been looking forward to dress shopping, feeling unfounded pressure to lose more weight in a window that allowed time for a dress to be made. I will always remember Rachel telling me that the dress wouldn’t look better if I lost weight, but only because I felt better in it.”

“I was standing there in lace and tulle overlay with a blush pink satin underlay, and knew that I would be happy wearing it if I was getting married that day and that Gareth would love me in it regardless. I felt like a princess on my wedding day, something Gareth has always called me, and I hope that showed.”

“I wore Jo Malone perfume; English Pear & Freesia layered with Peony & Blush Suede and the only jewellery I wore, other than my engagement ring, was an Alex Monroe bracelet that Gareth gave me for my birthday. There are three charms on it: a heart, the signature Alex Monroe bumblebee, and a forget-me-not.”

Etsy and Pinterest were indispensable to Claire when it came to wedding décor and those sweet personal touches. Beautiful books, a Jane Eyre cat print and a guest page all came from Etsy, while a card catalogue drawer for wedding cards was sourced from an antique shop. The talented Maisie Fantaisie pulled out all the stops to create a scrumptious, literary inspired wedding cake.

“My book bouquet and the groom’s boutonniere were by made by The Papergirl on Etsy – the book pages were taken from the Shakespeare play, The Tempest. It’s the first Shakespeare play that I taught Gareth about and took him to see, and an inscribed copy of the play he gifted me is very special to me. We also had confetti hearts made of book pages and our stationery was from Lola’s Paperie.”

Claire’s talented aunt very kindly made dresses from Liberty Tana Lawn Betsy fabric for the flower girls; a little something blue and a subtle nod to their London location. High street gem Marks & Spencer came up trumps with adorable page boy ensembles while Claire’s bridesmaid’s shoes were a Dorothy Perkins sale bargain and her pretty dress came from Oasis.

“The design on my flower girls’ dresses had forget-me-nots and we liked what they represent for lovers. My ‘something blue’ was a Rob Ryan designed handkerchief that my mum surprised me with after we saw an exhibition of his on the last weekend we spent together before the wedding. I also had an Orla Kiely blush wristlet purse and birdcage umbrella. I’m a huge Orla Kiely fan and couldn’t resist incorporating her designs into the day.”

Bridesmaid Laura also wore a beautiful Alex Monroe engraved shell necklace gifted to her on the wedding day by the lovely bride, a sweet gesture embodying Laura’s love of the sea.

I love that she and Claire went out for a pre-ceremony coffee together in their full wedding finery – oh the heads they must have turned! After hopping in a taxi to the Mayfair Library, the bride and her beau, resplendent in his Walker Slater suit, shared a sweet first look while they waited for their guests to arrive.

“On the day I didn’t even realise it was raining until my bridesmaid sent me a message. We thought some drizzle and clouds made for more interesting photographs and love the ones of us under Gareth’s umbrella. Caro’s pre-wedding advice told us not to worry about rain and we embraced it as another fun element to the day.”

“Gareth discovered Mayfair Library and it was perfect for the intimate ceremony that we wanted as books are a shared passion for us. We met in Glasgow when we worked at a bank while at University and we got together shortly after. The first time I saw him he was reading a book and soon he was driving me home, even though I lived four miles out of his way. 

A few years later we moved to London for work and, after twelve years, Gareth decided to pop the question. We had a romantic picnic in Hyde Park in July 2015 and were married in September 2016.”

Claire walked (though she admits it may have been more of an excitable a run) herself down the aisle towards Gareth to ‘Songbird’ by Fleetwood Mac, played on the harp.

The couple made the age old promises to one another in front of their loved ones, rather hilariously and loudly interrupted by a young guest at the crucial ‘does anyone object’ point – a moment that Claire says perfectly broke the ice and alleviated any nerves she and Gareth were feeling.

Gareth’s sister read an extract from Appetite by Nigel Slater during the ceremony and the newlyweds exchanged platinum bands from Tiffany & Co., matching Claire’s engagement ring and the sweet Mr & Mrs Tiffany keyring Gareth gifted her on the morning of the wedding.

“There are many favourite moments but the ceremony was my favourite part of the day; we were surrounded by so much love and happiness. We had lots of laughter, some tears, a few nerves and the solemnity of our vows to each other. Of course, perfection is subjective. Our wedding didn’t go completely to plan but we think it was perfect even with the flaws.”

“There were thunderstorms in London the night before that caused mudslides and transport chaos with several of our guests caught up in it, including the groom’s parents who we thought we were going to miss the ceremony! Luckily we were able to push it back by half an hour until they arrived. Mayfair Library had its own drama on the day with a power cut! As it was, we were thankfully able to carry on and now we have some amusing stories to tell.”

After their legal nuptials, the couple joined their guests on a Routemaster voyage of joy around London before arriving for their afternoon reception at The Booking Office Bar.

The Booking Office Bar is located in the beautiful old ticket office of St Pancras station and provided delicious food, wine and cocktails – an absolute priority laid down by Claire and Gareth while hunting for their reception venue.

“We chose not to have any dancing; neither of like to be the focus of people’s attention and preferred the idea of finishing the night talking to our loved ones. We did, however, have an amazing playlist that Gareth made for the bus. On the day the one he had prepared in advance had vanished from his phone so he made one there and then (the power of technology!) and we listened to it often on our honeymoon road trip.”

“The Routemaster was the best way to convey us around London and both our adult and child guests loved it. We served Ladurée macarons, Chapel Down Three Graces sparkling wine and Fentiman’s soft drinks.”

“We planned the wedding on our own but special mention has to be made to Nikola, the Sales & Hospitality Manager at The Booking Office Bar, who coordinated our afternoon reception. She really went over and above to make our day special.”

“She arranged for us to have access to the hotel staircase for photos during a quiet moment at another function – the staircase was the one the Spice Girls used for the ‘Wannabe’ video so my girlfriends and I had fun trying to recreate that! The kiddies’ table she set up with colouring kept our littlest guests entertained and she also sourced an exclusive dessert wine that we wanted to serve with our wedding cake from Chapel Down.”

“We responded best to suppliers who seemed genuinely pleased and excited for us and who understood our vision. May from Maisie Fantaisie definitely understood what we wanted from our cake and brought that to life. I have to credit my husband as he was the real driver behind it; he wanted an elegant cake from the front with a ‘curtain effect’ at the back, that displayed a bookcase of some of our favourite books. The flowers on the front have a passage from The Tempest printed on them.”

“A favourite moment occurred at the very end of the day when my little cousin Lucy, my eldest flower girl, cried and said that she wished that we could start the day over and do it from the start – not because we needed to change anything but because she wanted to relive it all. It sums up the day for me: perfect and over too quickly.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Be true to yourselves as a couple and plan the day that is right for you. Surround yourself with supportive people who you can bounce ideas off, but have faith in your own convictions. Try to find the parts of it that you enjoy and focus on perfecting those areas, and everything else should fall into place; it’s a lovely moment when you realise that it’s all coming together and you are creating a special, fun day that reflects you as a couple. It’s a whirlwind so try to take time out together to soak it in – everyone says that but they say it because it’s true and over before you know it.

The Love My Dress private Facebook group was an invaluable resource to me – what a wonderful gathering of creative, kind, intelligent, helpful, inspirational ladies! Without them I wouldn’t have found my cake designer, or decided at the last minute to go and buy my Orla Kiely purse the day before the wedding. Until you are wedding planning you don’t realise how many little queries, thoughts, stresses and experiences crop up, and sometimes nobody else will understand except for another bride-to-be (or bride).  Thank you to Annabel for creating such a safe place for women that is as enriching as it is supportive.”

You can find the author of these wonderful pieces of advice on Twitter at @paperbk_reader and also on Instagram – Claire, we just can’t tell you enough how grateful we are for your wonderfully kind words. A massive thanks of course also goes to Gareth and to Caro Weiss Photography for these absolutely flawless captures.

Love, Em x