A 1930s Vintage Dress For A Pastel-Hued Spring Wedding

Friday greetings to you from among the clouds somewhere above Norway! I so enjoy writing to you while I’m travelling (exploring new places is kind of my favourite thing ever), it makes the weddings I feature feel that much more magical and love-filled.

Today I’m sharing the beautiful spring union of Sasha, who works as a packaging technologist in a laboratory, and Nick an electrical power engineer, who wed on 1st May this year. Their traditional church ceremony was held at St Mary’s Church in Sandbach, Cheshire, followed by an evening reception at Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa in Nantwich, and their day was full to bursting with vintage loveliness.

“Nick and I absolutely love all things vintage so we were heavily influenced by the 1930’s to 1960’s. I also have a passion for all things lace and pastel-coloured so I knew from the beginning there’d be no set colour scheme. Just pretty pastels and lots of hessian and lace.”

Photography by Amanda Balmain

Sasha fittingly chose a stunning vintage gown from Sixpenny Bride, which she paired with a complementary sash from VHbridal and shoes from Monsoon. Her striking Silver Sixpence In Her Shoe head piece added a further touch of vintage whimsy. I absolutely adore the collar of Sasha’s gown, flowing elegantly into a nipped in waist, delicate lace skirt and intricate full sleeves.“My dress is an original vintage gown from 1936 from a collector I found online. No alterations were needed as it fit like a glove. I love the collar, the long sleeves and of course, the lace! I felt like it had a very ‘Kate Middleton’ look and I felt like a real traditional Princess.”

“Nick and I met as teenagers and have been together for five and a half years. Nick proposed when I was pregnant and after the birth of our son Frankie, we knew it was the right time to marry and make our little family official.”

“Nick carried his late grandfather’s RAF wings and his late grandma’s wedding ring in his chest pocket all day so they were close, and he wore his cousin’s cufflinks who sadly passed away in 2015 at the Isle of Mann TT.”

The images of Nick visiting the resting places of loved ones just before the ceremony are so redolent with emotion and so sensitively captured by photographer, Amanda Balmain. The couple chose to wed in their family parish, St Mary’s Church in Sandbach, where Nick’s grandfather used to be the vicar.

Sasha’s beautiful bridesmaids wore elegant, knee-length frocks from ASOS in the same delicate colour palate as the blooms, while Sasha and Nick’s adorable little boy Frankie wore an ensemble sourced from River Island, Zara and Ted Baker.

Nick donned a suit from Peever’s Menswear in Sandbach, a shop local to the couple’s home.

Lizzie Hamilton took care of our bride’s glowing golden make-up while hairstylist Vicky M Hair crafted a softly braided up-do, perfect for Sasha’s period-style head piece. A spritz of La Vie Est Belle by Lancôme was the finishing touch, and of course a pretty bouquet of sugar-sweet, pastel spring blooms, cascading with dainty greenery.

“My youngest brother walked me down the aisle to The Bridal March. My favourite moment of the day was waiting outside the church doors and hearing the organ begin playing before walking down the aisle. It was a really special feeling.”

“We kept to the beautiful church vows for our ceremony. Nick’s mother read ‘The Song of Solomon ,Chapter 2 versus 10-13 and Chapter 8 verses 6 and 7′ – a poem between two lovers. It was passionate and the words were perfect for our spring wedding.”

The newlyweds exchanged the time old vows their families made before them, swapping rings purchased from Fraser Hart before hopping into a beautiful vintage car together to head in true style to their evening reception at Nantwich’s Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa. Nick even donned a period appropriate flat cap to chauffeur his new wife to their celebrations.

“We chose our local florist, The Flower Shop in Sandbach. We believe in supporting small and local. We had a large range of different flowers in the bouquets and table decorations and due to the colour palette of the wedding, our flower options opened massively and allowed the florist to create a beautiful pastel arrangement.”

“The cars we used were 1934 Austin 7’s. One of which (the two seater) belonged to Nick’s uncle, Andrew Rigby. He taught Nick to drive it before the wedding so after the church ceremony, Nick and I took off in the vintage car to Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa. The second car was the same age but a four seater, which belonged to Andrew’s friend.”

Amanda Balmain has so wonderfully captured the serene joy pervading from the newlyweds, using the softest light to further emphasis the vintage quality of the styling of the day. The couple made sure to take some time away from their celebrations to bask in the glow of the wonderful commitment they’d made to each other in front of their loved ones.

“I would highly recommend Amanda Balmain. She has been nothing less than professional from the first meeting and we knew she was the one straight away, softly spoken and very kind and smiley. She was very discreet on the day but got the all shots I had imagined and more. I love her unique-looking images and they suited our wedding perfectly.”

“Before the wedding a lot of people told me and my husband to take fifteen minutes away from everyone on the day so we could really soak in everything as it all goes by so quickly.”

“Luckily our venue encouraged this and before the meal, while our guests were busy catching up, we went to a secluded balcony overlooking rolling Cheshire hills and just stood in the present and truly embraced everything that had happened so far.”

Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa catered the wedding breakfast, the softly lit room where the couple’s hosted their loved ones beautified with an abundance of pastel-coloured lanterns, tapered candles and fresh spring blooms.

Sasha and Nick carried on their vintage theme in their stationery, which they ordered from The Vow Sheffield on Etsy, personalised once they arrived with twine and pearlescent beads. The couple’s wedding cake was another DIY beauty, created by Nick’s mum.

“Nick’s mother made our naked wedding cake. I think they look rustic and vintage and are very ‘in’ at the moment. Nick’s mother loves making cakes and it made it that much more special. She did a fantastic job.”

“For our favours we made two batches of jam; strawberry and apricot, and alternated the flavours between adults. For the teenagers we provided personalised chocolates from our local chocolatier and for the young children we made wedding party bags, which included a wedding activity book, crayons, plastic rings, wedding photo props and pastel coloured party blowers.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Have fun, wedding planning shouldn’t be a chore and I really believe in always supporting small businesses when and if you can. You’ll find the items are always made with more love. Also, if you can do things yourself, do! The sense of accomplishment and pride when you create something yourself is immense and in our case, a big money saver.”

We have such a gorgeous collection of DIY weddings in our archives, take a look here for oodles of inspiration. All that remains is to say a huge thank you to Sasha, Nick and Amanda Balmain Photography for sharing this lovely day with us all.

With love,

Em x