A Needle & Thread Wedding Dress, Vegan Wedding Shoes & a Crochet Floral Crown

Bride in pale pink Needle & Thread wedding dress. Confetti shot. Groom carries little flower girl in his arms.

Legal Secretary Rose married Accountant Josh on 3rd September this year at Norwich Castle, followed by a second, less formal ceremony at The Octagon Barn, an historic 17th century Barn, nestled within beautiful parkland at Little Plumstead in Norfolk.

The bride wore the prettiest Needle & Thread wedding dress in pretty pale pink, which she accessorised with a pair of vegan wedding shoes by Esska and the most delightful, colourful, crochet floral crown.

This delightful wedding was captured by Charlotte Wotton Photography and you can see more Needle & Thread brides here on Love My Dress.

Bride wearing pink Needle & Thread wedding dress & crochet floral crown

A Needle & Thread Wedding Dress

I wore the Midsummer lace dress in pink, by  Needle and Thread London.

I am not comfortable making a big scene out of things and so the whole ‘wedding dress’ try on sessions felt too stressful and overwhelming for me.

Ordering my dress online worked perfectly and meant I could avoid all of that.

I didn’t want to wear a classic wedding dress, it’s never been something I have envisaged. I have a love of the colour pink, and wanted a dress which wasn’t necessarily bridal, but more me.

Needle & Thread wedding dress

Vegan Wedding Shoes & a Crochet Floral Crown

My shoes were Esska’s metalic ‘Valerie design.

My oldest friend, Sophie is an amazing crocheter and she crocheted me a flower crown. The pattern was from a very old issue of Simply Crochet.

For perfume, I wore Molton Brown’s Jasmin and Sun Rose. I borrowed my mum’s pink pearl drop earrings, by designer Jewels by Jess and wore a very simple pearl bracelet from Lisa Angel. I also carried a Lulu Guiness clutch bag.

We all styled our hair ourselves and our make-up for myself and three bridesmaids was styled by Michelle Paton.

Crochet Flower Crown

Bridesmaids in Jumpsuits

My three beautiful sisters were my bridesmaids. They all wore Phase Eight jumpsuits in electric blue, and personalised them to their styles and tastes by wearing different accessories.

My bridesmaids also wore shoes by Esska as well as New Look and Topshop.

We wanted the children in the family to still look like children, and playful. Our daughter Patsy and our nieces, Ivy and Amelie, wore Cath Kidston ice cream dresses, with Kidly jelly shoes. Our nephews Arthur and Isaac wore Cath Kidston shark shirts, with Kidly jelly shoes.

A Garden Wedding Ceremony

At Norwich castle registry office, Josh and I walked in together with our daughter – Patsy. She was always going to be an integral part of the day.

At the less formal ceremony, at the barn with everyone there, my dad, Stan, walked her down the aisle to Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love with You’. I am an Elvis fan, and we visited Graceland together in 2019, and it was our most reliable song to get Patsy to sleep as a baby.

Pink wedding dress by Needle & Thread London. Colourful wedding bouquet. Crochet floral crown.

My wedding ring was by Zelleys and was a pre-loved eternity band. I’ve always loved the history of preloved jewellery. Josh wore a silver ring which I had actually made at a jewellery workshop years ago.

We hired a celebrant, Hilary Walshe, who was also a close friend of Josh’s mum – Roz. It was lovely to get to meet and know Hilary on several occasions and have the ceremony completely personal to us.

We both wrote our own vows separately, although ended up basically being the same which was rather amusing. I also chose my favourite poem, ‘Serenity Prayer by Brian Bilston‘, to be read by my sister, Alice. Emotions took over and another sister, Sally, read this in the end.

Explore more readings here.

Photography

We hired Charlotte Wotton Photography. We loved her candid shots, and style of capturing people’s special day.

Charlotte’s reviews repeatedly said that she slotted into the day so seamlessly and made everyone feel at ease – we can certainly vouch for that.

How They Met

Met over nine years ago through a mutual friend. Josh ran a sandwich bar, and I worked as a waitress in a local restaurant. I went into the sandwich bar on a split shift with said mutual friend.

Eventually, we hung out a lot more and as the only non-smokers amongst the group of friends, we ended up spending more time together.

We were escorted in a 1968 convertible Morris Minor, hired by Norfolk Classic Car Hire, which drove us from the lunch to the Barn.

Florist

Our florist was Kali of ‘Rambling Wild‘. Kali created beautiful loose and wild bouquets, and my only request was a brightly coloured bouquet with seasonal dahlias.

Colourful summer wedding bouquet

The Inspiration

Sammi at The Octagon Barn was incredible in assisting the set-up and smooth running of the day.

I’ve always loved colour, and am drawn to kitsch and retro patterns and designs. I am part of a lovely ‘Stitch and Bitch’ group, I paint animal portraits as a side hustle and have always been interested in art and design and would say i’m quite a creative person.

Josh pretty much gave me creative freedom over the decor of the venue.

A Lambeth Cake

I wanted to incorporate the lace work on my dress with the vintage lambeth style cake and I knew I wanted it to be bold and bright. My sister Ruby’s partner’s mum made my dream cake a reality. It was a three tier pink and blue lambeth cake, Victoria sponge and chocolate.

We also had wood-fired pizzas served by Crabb & Fox Mobile Bar, and invitations were created by designer and sign-writer, Alice Harrey.

Lambeth wedding cake in pale pink and blue

Reception

The wonderful ladies in my Stitch & Bitch group all crocheted hundreds of small flowers for table confetti.

My mum, Sarah, ordered and arranged all the flowers for the tables, which were all in miscellaneous vases, along with vintage crystal candle holders which she had been collecting from charity shops over the years.

Evening, Entertainment & Favourite Moments

We hired DJ Dan, via Pop-up Party People and danced our first dance to ‘Come on Over To My Place’, by The Drifters

We had a few favourite moments; at the end of the ceremony at the barn, we all had the lyrics to the song ‘What a Wonderful World’, by Sam Cooke, and invited everyone to join in and sing.

Happy smiling bride in Needle & Thread London wedding dress.

Turning around and seeing everyone there supporting us was really lovely.

My sisters surprising me with a joint speech.

My family, friends all being there to support us, we felt so utterly loved and cared for.

Bride wearing Needle and Thread wedding dress on the dance floor.

Words of wedded Wisdom

Stick with your vision. Don’t change what you want to please others.

Absorb all the love, it’s not often you get to spend a whole day with everyone you care for.

We inevitably spent more than we initially imagined, but felt that the extra we had spent was worthwhile for making the day be enjoyable for all involved.

Wedding Smoke bomb. Bridesmaids in blue jumpsuits. Pink Needle & Thread wedding dress.

Explore the Love My Dress Wedding Directory

 

 

 

Credits & Thanks

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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