An Heirloom Vintage Gown for a Colourful and Quirky London Wedding

Happy Friday readers, I hope you have something lovely planned for the weekend?  Whatever you do, make sure to make time to sit down with a drink and enjoy this cool and quirky London wedding, featuring an heirloom vintage gown, red shoes and the most fabulously colourful flowers.  Its an absolute delight and I hope marks the perfect start to your weekend.

Meet Bridhe and Will, who married on the 30th of September 2017 at Hackney Town Hall and celebrated afterwards at The Roost, also in Hackney.  The day was captured on camera by the talented Bethan Haywood Jones.

“Bethan was brilliant from the minute we first made contact.  She was super enthusiastic, friendly and totally got what we were after (which was non-cheesy, non-posed and lots of photos of our friends and family having fun).  The photos are absolutely stunning and really capture the happiness and fun of the day.  She is possibly the nicest person ever and they were a totally non-obtrusive team on the day and made us and everyone feel super relaxed.”

Images by Bethan Haywood Jones

Bridhe looked beautiful in a very special wedding gown, one worn by both her grandmother and mother before her, altered and mended by vintage dress specialist Nana from Splendid Stitches.  I just love the delicate lace and the ballerina feel of the scooped back.

“My dress was worn by my grandmother when she got married to my grandfather in 1947 then my mother also wore it in 1980 when she married my father.  It was very special to be able to carry on this tradition.  I loved the lace and the long sleeves and the fact that it has produced two long and happy marriages.”Bridhe went for a beehive-style up-do for her hair, which creates a beautifully vintage feel, especially when combined with her beautiful dress and the natural make up with pink lip she chose.  I love that her overall look feels most definitely vintage, but mixes elements of many periods and has a modern twist as well.

“My regular and fantastic hairdresser Eri Imura did my hair, I went for a classic up-do which she did a wonderful job with (as she always does).  Make-up was by Scarlett Rainer who was amazing and fun.”

On her feet Bridhe wore a pair of bright red pumps by Jimmy Choo, chosen so she could wear them many times again.  She kept all other accessories to an absolute minimum, allowing her gown and shoes to do all the talking.

The little flower girl looked just lovely in a cream lace dress which was made by Will’s talented mum, worn with a fabulous floral crown by florists Rebel Rebel, while the little pageboy looked very sweet in his own blazer and bow tie.

I absolutely adore flowers, and these are some of the most wonderfully colourful and spectacular I’ve seen- huge, and so full of texture and eye-catching hues.

“I wanted bright, colourful, wild flowers that were fun and relaxed and Rebel Rebel nailed it.”

“We didn’t use transport- we walked everywhere!  Between ceremony and reception we dragged our friends into being part of a musical procession through the streets.”

Will had his blue checked blazer and red Liberty print bow tie made in Vietnam a few months before our wedding when he and Bridhe spent a holiday in South East Asia.  Worn with grey tailored trousers and a white shirt the result was a smart and quirky look which suits the day perfectly.

“We love the art-deco style of Hackney Town Hall and the fact that’s its right by where we live, literally a five minute walk.  The Roost was the first and only venue we visited as we loved it immediately.”

“It has the vibe of an old pub with quirky décor and interesting artefacts and we liked that we could go upstairs for the main meal then down into the basement for dancing later on.  We also loved we didn’t have to do anything to it as it’s already overflowing with eclectic decorations.”

The couple married in the smart wooden-paneled surrounding of Hackney Town Hall and laughed and smiled throughout the whole ceremony.  I especially love the photograph of them leaving the Town Hall, clutching the bouquet and marriage certificate and being showered in brightly coloured confetti.

Friends and family alike picked up trumpets, drums, tambourines and cymbals and accompanied the newlyweds through the city streets to the reception for further celebrations.

“We just wanted to have a big party.  The food, wine and beer were really important to us so we were glad to have a venue where we got to choose all of that ourselves.”

“The incredible Patrice Douglas did our invites, menus, order of service, place cards and table plans.  She was a dream to work with, super professional, accommodating of all our changes and delivered a super slick design output.”

With its stripped floorboards, huge stained glass windows and quirky styling, The Roost didn’t require much additional decor, so Bridhe and Will simply added flowers, a beautiful floral topped cake and plenty of food and drink and let their happiness be the main focus of the day.

“Our cake was made by Kiwi & Roo who are the most amazing caterers and cake makers and a delight to work with.  It was totally delicious and looked spectacular!  Everyone was raving about it and the leftovers were polished off quickly the next day at the pub.  It had three tiers: courgette and pistachio, chocolate and coconut and raspberry.”

Catering was the work of Warburton Catering, and looks absolutely delicious.

“Paul and his team did an amazing job.  The food was really important to us and he totally understood what we wanted and put up with all our questions and multiple changes to the menu.  The food was delicious – loads of guests said it was the best they have ever had- and the team were really professional and made the whole event run seamlessly.”

“We also had a whole jamon serrano leg from our local deli Spandeli in Hackney which was carved by Richard.  The kegs were from Mother Kelly’s, which Will spent a lot of time choosing and were a huge hit.  We also had some cans from °Plato.”

“The wine was from The Vintner which is a fantastic wine company with really great quality, great value and unique selection of wines.  We absolutely loved choosing (and tasting) them and were really impressed with the service, quality and entire experience.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Don’t sweat the small stuff.  We didn’t fuss over any minor details and just planned the kind of party that we wanted to go to.  It also helped that everything was right where we lived so super convenient.”

“The whole experience was stress free and fun and we had an amazing time (our guests seemed to like it too).”

So many thanks to Bridhe and Will for sharing their gorgeously styled, smile-filled wedding with us all today, I’m completely in love with it all.  Are you lucky enough to be wearing a family wedding gown at your own wedding- let us know in the comments below!  Take a look here for some other lucky brides wearing heirloom gowns too.

Much love,

Shona x