Art Deco Eliza Jane Howell For An Intimate Island Wedding in Slovenia

There is such a treat in store for you today. I’m whisking you away to the shores of Lake Bled, Slovenia – which has to be one of the most gloriously located lakes in Europe – for Charlotte and James’ summer wedding.

I visited with friends way back in 2004, so these beautiful photographs have brought on a strong case of wanderlust for me. You will not believe the colour of the lake and sky, and the perfection of the entire day and that Art Deco-inspired Eliza Jane Howell gown.

Solicitor Charlotte and James, a project manager, travelled to Lake Bled in Slovenia for their intimate wedding on 15 June 2018. They fell in love with the area on holiday in September 2016, and James also proposed here. As part of a week long holiday,  they married in a religious ceremony at the Church of the Assumption of Maria with a reception afterwards at the majestic Bled Castle, with its breath-taking views over the lake.

Photography + Film by Clara Cooper Photography

The look was classic elegance with a rustic twist, combining vintage inspiration and black tie  against a colour palette of white, foliage and muted blush pink. Just divine.

“We have always been avid travellers and having got engaged in Slovenia we knew it would be the perfect place for us to get married as it represented a place that we both loved. We chose the venue after having searched for a venue in the UK but were unable to find something that was really ‘us’.”

“The theme that we tried to follow was classic elegance, with a rustic twist. The groomsmen wore tuxedos and the colour palette was white, foliage and muted blush pink to compliment my Art Deco dress.”

 

If the day could get even more perfect, Charlotte’s Eliza Jane Howell gown made it just that. Inspired by the Art Deco era, it shimmers and shines in the Slovenian sunshine and looks so easy to wear. She chose it at Derbyshire boutique Alexandra Anne and added extra drama with a floating full-length Joyce Jackson veil.

“The pearlised, iridescent colour, full embellishment, the puddle train and flattering shape… I knew from the moment I tried it on that it was the one.”These fantastic photographs are from the camera of Lucy of Clara Cooper Photography, whose work is crisp, clean and full of colour. Just look at the vibrant blue of the lake and sky that she’s captured.

“We can’t recommend Lucy enough. We booked a photographer and feel like we have come away from our wedding with a friend. She made us feel at ease on the most special day of our lives and has created the most natural and creative wedding photos for us, which we will always treasure! The colours are so vivid and we have had so many comments on them. On the day, Lucy was assisted by Natalie Pluck, her second shooter who was also fantastic and definitely deserves a mention.”

The bride chose some really gorgeous accessories to complement her gown; a delicate crystal Vivien J navette headband worn across her forehead for a touch of 30s sass and emerald cut earrings by Carat London – a gift from James in a cut to match her engagement ring. Her block-heeled suede sandals are a Freya Rose design, and she wore a super-summery scent; Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue.

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“It was my ‘something blue’ and has a really fresh, citrus summer scent. I wanted to have a perfume that I don’t usually wear so as to always remind me of our wedding day.”

Charlotte went online to find a makeup artist local to Bled. She worked her magic to create the bride’s warm, glowing look. I adore her relaxed down-do which shows off her richly-coloured locks.

“Katja Spanka is a really talented young lady based in Ljubljana who we found online. She has a really excellent social media presence and accommodated us so well as an international bridal party.”

Charlotte and James are childhood sweethearts and had an engagement of nearly two years.

“We met at school and had known each other since the age of five although we became friends when we were around 14 and became boyfriend and girlfriend when we were 16.”

The groom and his groomsmen chose to follow a black tie theme, donning tuxedoes, Next braces and Marks & Spencer bow-ties for their dapper look.

James’ trousers were Noose & Monkey whilst his cream tux was a Moss Bros style. Special touches were his watch from Emporio Armani, shoes, Dune London and cufflinks sourced from CufflinksGalore.

Ghost London bridesmaid gowns were a great match for the couple’s colour palette. The girls look so elegant in their pink 30s-inspired satin and georgette gowns with softly draped cowl necks.

The florist for the day was also found online; Sanjski Sopek which translates as ‘Dreamy Bouquet’. Charlotte has shared the inspiration behind her hand-tied flowers.

“Meta of Sanjski Sopek is a really talented young florist based just outside Ljubljana. She has a really excellent social media presence and caters for weddings, styled shoots and more both inside and outside Slovenia. James’ mum and I met with Meta in Ljubljana in January before the wedding to discuss the options for flowers and she was so relaxed and inspired.”

“I have always loved roses and peonies (my grandad has always grown peonies in his garden) and knew that I wanted to incorporate these into mine and my bridesmaids’ bouquets. As our theme had a rustic twist, I wanted to make sure the bouquets were slightly unstructured and had a lot of foliage, which would tie in our table decorations at the venue. Again, our colour scheme was white, foliage and pale blush pink to tie in the bridesmaid dresses.”

“We both have quite classic, traditional tastes and knew we wanted to get married in a church, and have our reception/day in a place with historical cultural significance – we therefore had our wedding ceremony at the Church of the Assumption of Maria (the church in the centre of the lake in Bled) and our wedding reception at Bled Castle.”

As you can see, the church is on the most gorgeous island in the centre of Lake Bled, so the whole party jumped into taxis to get them to Pension Mlina boat port. They then sailed over the water in traditional wooden boats from local Pletna boat operator, Gregor Pazlar. What a way to arrive at your wedding!

The church is one of the lightest, airiest spaces I’ve seen, and Charlotte and her father Shaun entered to Wagner’s ‘Wedding March’.

“We had a traditional church wedding ceremony and decided not to write our own vows. Our maid of honour gave a reading from Corinthians 13. This is our favourite passage: ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud’.”

“James had a solid yellow gold wedding band with a cushioned band from a local jewellers – Stanley Hunt Jewellers in Retford, Nottinghamshire. As James isn’t a big fan of wearing jewellery it was important to him that his ring was timeless, conservative and easy to wear.”

“My delicate half eternity diamond platinum wedding band was made by Green & Benz Jewellers, Sheffield and was commissioned to match my engagement ring.”

After the ceremony, everyone piled out in to the sunshine to enjoy traditional Potica cake, savoury cakes, fruit and Champagne and drink in the beautiful location.

The boat ride back to the mainland gave the newly-weds chance to take in the day together, and Lucy Cooper had the chance to capture these gorgeously vivid shots against the blue water.

Back on dry land, Bled Castle and its views over the water beckoned the guests. Their laid-back, rustic theme meant the historic building needed little decoration other than masses of fresh leaves and white flowers.

I love the table settings, with combined rose gold cutlery, a simple sprig of foliage and brown kraft paper menus.

“We had just flowers supplied by Sanjski Sopek and kraft paper placecards designed and printed by us. The venue was so impressive, we didn’t think it needed anything more!”

“Food was always going to be an important part of our day as well, so part of our decision to hold the reception at Bled Castle was guided by the very modern and elegant food served in its restaurant.”

“In Slovenia it is customary to drink blueberry liqueur and we were given some by a local B&B owner as a gift when staying in Bled for the second time. We sourced bottles in the UK from Wares of Knutsford and made our own labels to take with us.”

“The night before the wedding, me and my bridesmaids filled the bottles with some local liqueur which we purchased in Ljubljana. We think that our guests really enjoyed the gesture and it was important to us that our favours were relevant to our special day.”

“Being in our favourite place in the world with all of our closest friends and family for a whole week was a dream come true. We wouldn’t have changed anything about the day. With hindsight we maybe would have tried to tell ourselves to worry a little less in the run-up to the day and trusted that our hours of planning and organisation would come through in the end.”

Charlotte and James created their own playlist for the evening party, and their first dance song is just dreamy.

“We prepared our own music playlist and took a children’s disco light – the setting and company were enough!”

“Both James and I love Coldplay’s ‘Green Eyes‘. It talks about life being better since you met a person and feeling solid and unshakeable when you are together, so it felt fitting for our wedding day. We also both coincidentally have green eyes.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“You’re constantly told that your wedding day should be ‘the happiest day of your life’ but yet you’re bombarded with images of what ‘your’ wedding should be like. We got engaged and immediately jumped into planning. We compiled a shortlist of local venues but were shocked by the prices and underwhelmed by their offerings. When we asked if we could tailor our day to our own style we were repeatedly told no. Feeling the pressure, we provisionally booked the best of the bunch but as the date approached for us to make things final we still weren’t sure.”

“We decided from then on that we were going to make our wedding the best day (well, week) of our lives and for us, that meant a celebration of everywhere, everything and everyone we both love! In the end, this turned into a simple registry office ceremony, followed by our dream destination wedding week in our favourite place in the world, with just 35 guests and a party when we got home. Yes, we had doubts and stress along the way but we are both so glad that we decided to make ‘our special day’ actually ours!”

“Our original budget was around £20,000 for a UK wedding. As we decided to hold our wedding abroad, we came in well under this figure.”

 

Are any of you planning a wedding abroad? You can find some really lovely destination weddings to enjoy. You can also join our Facebook group to get support and ask advice from other brides? We’d love to see you there. Thank you so much Charlotte and James for letting us feature your beautiful day here. Many thanks as well to Clara Cooper Photography too for your vibrant, joyful photography.

Ele xx