A Sassi Holford Gown for a 1940’s and 1950’s Inspired Wedding

You all know I love an Autumn wedding and this gorgeous vintage-style day really pulls together all the most wonderful parts of the season with its beautiful colours and some fabulously-lit photography.  Meet Harriet and Sam, who met during their first week of University and married on the 22nd of October 2016 at Christ Church in Port Sunlight, followed by a reception at Thornton Manor, Cheshire.

Harriet looked fabulous in a beautiful Sassi Holford gown which she purchased from Bridal Haven in Cheshire.  We’re thrilled that Sassi Holford is a member of our Little Book for Brides Directory.

“I originally thought I wanted a huge dress, but when I started shopping they all drowned me so I changed tack completely and looked for a sleek design, only none of them felt right- I just couldn’t shake the idea of looking like a princess on my wedding day.  My Sassi Holford dress encompassed everything I wanted.  It had a nod to vintage with the lace and Audrey Hepburn style neckline, was fitted to the waist but then had plenty of drama from the tulle skirt.  I also had a train added.”

Photography by Kerry Woods Photography

“I love the 1940’s and 1950’s so it was important to me that our day had a vintage feel. However, we wanted our day to be timeless so I was cautious of making anything too themed. Most of all we wanted our wedding to be a special day for everyone to remember.”

Stationery was by Jen of KatBlu Studio and Harriet worked closely with her throughout the design process.

“I worked with Jen to come up with a design of Sam and I walking with the dogs on an autumnal day, using photos from our engagement shoot as inspiration.   I also designed a ‘Wedding Timeline’ and ‘Story of Us’ insert for the Order of Service, which KatBlu put together for us.”

Hair styling was the work of Russell and Browns, while make up was by Amy Matthews.

Flowers were by Fresh Floral Design and I absolute adore the mix of colours Harriet chose- the yellows and reds are so vibrant.

“My Mum used to be a florist, so she helped me with deciding on which flowers would be seasonal and match the autumnal colour scheme.  Caroline understood our vision completely.  I wanted a teardrop bouquet with trailing ivy to match the drama of my dress and I couldn’t have been more pleased with it.”

The bridesmaids looked lovely in wine coloured lace dresses from Coast, with their hair in vintage-style curls.

Harriet’s veil was an original vintage piece which her Mum bought her for an engagement present. She wore shoes by Irregular Choice and in her hair she wore red Grand Prix roses which went wonderfully with her dark red lip and nail colour.

Her earrings were by Shrieking Violet.

To travel from the ceremony to the reception (as well as transporting the bridal party to the church), Harriet and Sam hired the most beautiful vintage cars from Grosvenor Classic Cars.

Sam looked very smart and wonderfully traditional in full tails (including top hat) from Moss Bros Chester and he and his groomsmen wore wine coloured ties to match the bridesmaids.  His cufflinks were by Rogue Fairy Boutique on Etsy.

The day was captured on camera by the talented Kerry Woods and filmed by Aaron Rose.

“The moment I met Kerry, I knew I wanted her to photograph our wedding. She takes stunning pictures but she is also a lovely person and makes you feel so at ease in front of the camera. She also managed to get all of us organised, which is a challenge in itself!  I wholeheartedly recommend her.”

“It was very important that our two gorgeous dogs, Winnie and Watson, featured in the wedding and we were lucky enough to be able to spend a short while with them on the day.  Our photographer Kerry got some amazing photos of the four of us which we will treasure forever.”

“We chose Thornton Manor as our venue because we wanted somewhere grand that was also homely.  We liked that we had exclusive use of the Manor too, making it feel more intimate and private.”

“The Raspberry Tree dressed the venue on the day.  Carrying through the colours of red, oranges and golds. Sinead spray-painted pinecones gold and we used these as place card holders.  We also had cut flowers in jam jars to complement the candelabra arrangements, our favourite love quotes on the tables and vintage cups and saucers which my Mum spent hours collecting.”

“We had a big mirror for the seating plan, a suitcase for our cards and lace ties on the chairs as well as a memory ladder with pictures of our loved ones who have passed on.”

“One of my favourite parts of the day was being announced as Mr and Mrs Cooper and walking into a room filled with all our closest friends and family. We asked our friend Ed to be our MC, which made it even more special.  All the nerves had gone at that point and we could relax and chat to everyone. It’s such a unique experience to have everyone you care about in the same room. We walked in to ‘Feeling Good’ by Muse and it was one of the best choices we made.”

“Dr Twist’s Photographarium provided a print for each group they photographed as favours.  They went down so well and were a great way to incorporate a vintage feel.   My best friend and bridesmaid, Anna, also made cupcakes for every guest.  They were incredible and I don’t know how she pulled it off.

Catering was by Anne Wilson Cordon Bleu, while the five-tier cake was the work of the Pink Frosting Cake Company.

“We wanted the cake to have a real wow-factor and I knew that Kelly was the lady for the job. We wanted to incorporate our love of Harry Potter so we had the text of the ‘Unbreakable Vow’ on the top tier and ‘Always’ on the bottom tier.  The sugar flowers that Kelly makes are fabulous and it was her idea to incorporate the silhouette of our dogs from our invitation suite onto the cake. It worked so well and our cake certainly had the impact we desired.”

  

Entertainment came in the form of Carlton Ensemble String Quartet and Flute and The Mac Bros, who did a beautiful cover of La Vie En Rose for the first dance.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Keep on top of your Pinterest board. Update it as you go along and only keep things you love. It makes it so much easier to communicate your ideas to suppliers this way.”

“The day goes so fast so you really do need to enjoy every moment. We had a few mishaps on the day – Sam forgot to pick up the buttonholes before we reached the church, Dad forgot his pocket square, it was windy when we left the church and our confetti cannons fired the confetti too high and it landed miles away, the sparklers were damp and wouldn’t light – but all these little things helped to make our day more memorable and we actually got some amazing pictures of us all laughing.”

So many thanks to Harriet and Sam, what an amazing day.  For more of Kerry Woods’ work, take a look here, while for more brides wearing Sassi Holford, look here.

Much love,

S x