A Classic Augusta Jones Gown for a Winter Wedding on the Isle Of Wight

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As I write this I’m sitting on the deck in my friends’ garden, and a hummingbird has just hovered next to me at the bird feeder. It’s moments like this where I’m reminded to sit back and take proper notice of all the details around me. One thing I love about the weddings we feature on Love My Dress is the insight they give into different places and their special beauty. Today we’re travelling to the beautiful Isle of Wight for the winter wedding of Rachel and Steve who married on 21st January 2017 at St Boniface Church, Bonchurch with a reception afterwards at The Royal Hotel, Ventnor.

The couple were keen to create a classic-feeling day with a hint of vintage elegance. Using the dusky pink of the bridesmaids’ dresses as a starting point, they developed their style from there, adding in nudes, greens and silvers for a romantic, toned-down look; just perfect for a January wedding. Ventnor has a special place in Rachel and Steve’s hearts, who live on the Isle of Wight, and so The Royal was the obvious choice of wedding venue.

“We have a real soft spot for Ventnor because we spent our first anniversary there nine years ago and dined at The Royal. It has lovely memories for us. The Royal is a fantastic mix of traditional and modern chic, the food is knock-your-socks-off incredible and the staff are wonderful.”

Photography by Jason Williams Photography

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Rachel worked with a seamstress to make some changes, adding sleeves, inserting a corset and taking it in around the bust. It really does fit her like a glove, and the keyhole detail is mirrored on the front of the bridesmaids’ long-sleeved ASOS gowns. She wisely chose to omit a veil, wanting to reveal the gown’s beautiful back design. Instead, she had sprigs of gypsophila woven into her relaxed up-do which frames her face; the white blossoms look so pretty against her dark hair. Hair and make-up was done by Jo Lofthouse, who has emphasised Rachel’s eyes wonderfully with a silvery-grey smokey eye.

Have you got a sweet tooth? If so then you may think that Rachel has the best job in the world. The couple own an ice-cream parlour, Bliss Ice-Cream Parlour in Cowes, and Rachel also makes fudge by hand (take a look at her mouth-watering Slab Artisan Fudge flavours) to sell in the shop and take to events. Steve is a senior technician for an electronics firm working at events and festivals. It’s no surprise, therefore, that fudge and ice-cream make an appearance later on in the day. They met on website myspace, so are another of our lovely Love My Dress couples who have met online.

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“We met on myspace, the social site that was popular for our generation before Facebook appeared on the scene. Steve had recently moved to the island and I had just returned here after living in San Francisco for a year. We chatted online for a couple of weeks then went out for drinks.

We got engaged in Nantes, France after having been together for eight years. Steve got down on one knee late on our last night by the river Loire, which was lit up by an art installation of coloured rings. We were engaged for a year and a half before getting married.”

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Rachel’s Augusta Jones ‘Daphne’ dress is such a delight with its three-quarter length sleeves, flowing train, lace detailing and an exquisite key-hole back. She remains true to her own style with her nose piercing and the star tattoo revealed by her up-do.

“It was the first dress I saw and tried and I just knew. I loved the classic style, the delicate lace with the barely-there transparent sequins that just shimmered in the light, the slim fit around the waist flowing down to the long train which pooled behind me when I moved, the pretty sweetheart neckline and most of all, the keyhole back. I just couldn’t stop looking at the back in the mirror when I tried it on!”

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Whilst Rachel prepared, Steve got ready with his groomsmen. He opted to wear a Farah suit with Ted Baker socks, cufflinks and pocket square, adding a wintry touch with his soft brown tie.  He and his groomsmen added delicate buttonholes designed by Ryde’s The Floral Boutique. The team there put together all of the wedding flowers, and I think that the soft hues of silvery greens, delicate peaches and thistles really conjure up a winter-time feel.

“The Floral Boutique is an extremely good florist based in Ryde. Nic really knew exactly what we wanted when I mentioned our colour theme and vintage style.”

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Rachel travelled to the church in the most beautiful sage green vintage Humber Hawk, and walked into the church with her dad to the sound of King Creosote’s ‘A Prairie Tale. She looked absolutely radiant walking down the aisle and exchanging her traditional vows with Steve.

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They chose ‘Love is a Temporary Madness’ from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières as one of their readings.

“We love the sentiment about real long-lasting love having such a deep foundation. We felt it applied to us perfectly, having been together nearly ten years.”

The weddings bands exchanged were bought at Cred Jewellery. Steve had chosen Rachel’s engagement ring there, and they decided to get the wedding rings there too as they have such an ethical approach to their jewellery.

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The couple chose Jason Williams Photography to capture their day. I especially love the quiet and restrained nature of the photographs of Rachel preparing to leave for the church. Jason has caught the beauty of the bay in the winter light to perfection.

“Jason was a really special part of our day. His photography style was exactly what we wanted – observational, authentic, vintage-style photography (no ‘cheesiness’). His photos are very special to us and looking back at them enables us to remember real authentic moments and elements from our special day. He is lovely to have around and his photos are just fabulous.”

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After the ceremony, the couple took time with their photographer to take some simply beautiful photographs overlooking the harbour and the wintry sea. These are some of my favourite as they are so soft and romantic, really capturing the sense of place.

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Rachel’s creativity shines through in the styling of their reception room. I really like the ice-cream-themed table plan, the ice-cream cone place-names, and the golds, browns and pinks of all of the signs and notices. In a nod to the season, they added winter thistle and slices of dried orange which must have smelt so beautiful. As the bride is a professional fudge-maker, the favours had to be fudge; Rachel boxed up squares of differently-flavoured fudge and decorated them with orange slices and cinnamon sticks.

The wedding breakfast was provided by The Royal’s in-house catering team. How delicious does the dessert of dark chocolate mousse with peanut butter purée, salted peanut brittle, caramel popcorn and milk ice-cream sound?

Rachel chose the speeches as one of her favourite parts of the day; “They were the perfect mix of funny, sad and moving.”

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Instead of a sweet traditional cake, the couple embraced their love of cheese and all of the fantastic varieties that the Isle of Wight has to offer with a stack of cheese from The Isle of Wight Cheese Co.

“We went with cheese because…we love cheese! We thought it would be a fun, quirky take on the traditional cake so we had Isle of Wight Cheese Co make us some wheels of cheese and we stacked and decorated them.We had IOW Gallybagger, IOW Soft and IOW blue cheeses, accompanied with IOW chutneys made at The Garlic Farm.”

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I love the letter-board order of events for the day, especially the last entry: ‘Go Wild!’ What a fun way to encourage your guests to keep partying.

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Entertainment was provided by the Isle of Wight’s Cornerstone band, and Rachel and Steve chose Dark Dark Dark’s ‘How it Went Down for their first dance.

“It is just one of ‘our songs’ that we felt had the perfect sentiment without being too cheesy.”

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Words of Wedded Wisdom

“It is a cliché and everyone kept saying it to me but having been through it I realise how valid it is: Stop. Breathe. Look around you. It will fly by like a snap of the fingers so just take time to recognise that you’re living the day.”

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Rachel and Steve, sending you so many congratulations on your marriage, and thanks for sharing your experience with us. I must also thank Jason Williams for his beautiful photography which has captured the beauty of the Isle of Wight so well. I’ve never been but it’s definitely on my list now.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy end of week.

Ele xx

Credits & Thanks

Eleanor Crossland

Eleanor Crossland View all Eleanor's articles

Ele lives in the Lincolnshire countryside, close to the beautiful coast. A qualified Pilates teacher, she loves fitness, yoga, Pilates and has a healthy addiction to baking, writing and travel.

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