Showing posts with label My Beautiful Bride. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Beautiful Bride. Show all posts

Thursday 11 June 2015

A Boho Humanist Wedding with a Forest Ceremony - The Reception

Take one sequinned gown and mismatch it with a farm wedding venue, and you have the perfect big day combo of boho glamour. Hanna and Paul chose Hawthbush Farm in East Sussex for their wedding day and celebrated with a three-day extravaganza. All their friends and family stayed on site, and enjoyed a BBQ on Friday night, before the humanist ceremony and barn reception on Saturday. I love the relaxed atmosphere of their big day - there weren't many decorations, but the stunning rustic venue speaks for itself. Don't miss the just-picked wedding flowers, the naked berry cake, the festoon lights, and the hilarious wedding portraits. Huge thanks to Michael from My Beautiful Bride for sending me this wedding. Don't miss the Ceremony pictures here.


We celebrated our big day on 14th June - a summer wedding. We chose Hawthbush Farm in East Sussex as our venue. It's stunning with a clearing where we hosted our marriage ceremony outdoors in the woods.


It was the second venue we visited. It was perfect because we had the farm for the whole weekend, meaning it felt more of an experience, than an in-and-out job like other weddings we've experienced.



Wednesday 10 June 2015

A Boho Humanist Wedding with a Forest Ceremony

When I see a truly perfect wedding, I get goosebumps, and I literally can't wait to share it with you! Michael from My Beautiful Bride sent over these wedding photographs a few days ago, and I've been champing at the bit to get it edited and published as quickly as possible. Hanna and Paul celebrated their big day with a humanist ceremony in a forest. So far so rustic, but Hanna glammed it up with a s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g vintage sequinned gown, and colour-pop bridesmaids dresses in coral pink and lemon yellow. It's a feast for the eyes! I'm in love with their rural venue choice - Hawthbush Farm in East Sussex, and their freshly-picked flowers from the next door field. They managed to stay relaxed throughout their wedding planning, and you can really see the joy shining through Michael's pictures. Enjoy these shots, and don't miss the Reception pictures, coming later today!



Friday 4 April 2014

A Quirky Vintage London Wedding with a 'Super-Hero' Bride - The Reception

This eclectic vintage wedding is proof you can do pretty in London. With pastel lanterns, lace tissue bunting, and freshly picked flowers, you'd expect a marquee wedding venue, but Tasha and Niall decided to celebrate their wedding at their local - The Londesborough Pub. I've fallen for their relaxed wedding style and quirky details, from their Art Deco postcard guest book to their simple Victoria Sponge wedding cakes. Most of all, I love how happy they both look! Huge thanks to Michael from My Beautiful Bride, for his stunning pictures - hopefully more of his work coming soon on Before the Big Day. Don't miss Part 1 of this wedding.



A Quirky Vintage London Wedding with a 'Super-Hero' Bride

You can't fail to fall in love with this beautiful quirky wedding, with its gorgeous bride and groom. Tasha and Niall decided to celebrate their wedding close to home - hosting their reception in their local - a great gastropub called The Londesborough Pub, and their ceremony at the nearby Stoke Newington Town Hall. I'm slightly obsessed with Tasha's amazing wedding gown - it's a 1970s original, and would you believe, she found it on Etsy for only £80! The dress needed only the tiniest of alterations, and even came with a little lace cape - super hero bride-style! So many other stunning details to steal - starting with the pretty 'just-picked' bouquets, the forget-me-knots in Tasha's hair, and the elegant, Art Nouveau-style wedding invitations by Ellie Weehuizen. Big love to Michael from My Beautiful Bride, for his stunning pictures. I'm in love with all the portrait shots, and there's more to come in Part 2.



Tuesday 18 June 2013

Real Vintage Sunflower Wedding: Chanelle & Terry - Wedding Reception

If you're a budget-conscious bride, this wedding is going to fill your heart with joy. It's a complete detail-fest, with tonnes of DIY ideas, and all of them are wallet friendly. It's all about having your unique wedding style and keeping to a particular theme. Fantastic couple, Chanelle and Terry chose a sixties vibe for their big day, and DIY'd their flowers, photo-booth, table-plan and much, much more. Armed with blackboard paint and a huge fancy dress box, they kept their guests entertained late into the night with a music themed wedding reception in Terry's parents' back garden. Take a look at all these incredible photographs by Michael at My Beautiful Bride, and be sure to read Chanelle's answers to the Before the Big Day Bride's Questionnaire. She's a vintage genius {take a look at her retro clothes shop Annie in the Attic} full of fantastic wedding advice!



We married on the 30th June 2012. The ceremony was held in St Mary's Church in Buckland in Surrey, and the reception was held in the garden and marquee at Terry's parents' house in Buckland. Holding the reception at Terry's parents meant we had full control of all aspects of planning, styling and dressing which is exactly what we wanted.



Terry and I have known each other since high school! We didn't see each other for years and then met again in a local bar, and the rest is history as they say.


On our five year anniversary, Terry took me and our son {who was only 6 months old at the time}, to Brighton for the day, as this is one of our favourite places to visit. We spent the day there, trawling vintage shops, and had lunch before a walk on the pier. It was sunset and he timed it perfectly, when he got down on one knee on the end of the pier!


Our photographs were taken by the fantastic Michael from My Beautiful Bride, who we can’t praise enough. Michael captured our day perfectly, and he was great in the build up to the wedding, and on the day itself. 



Ahead of your wedding, Michael really gets to know you as a couple, and spends time brainstorming ideas for creative shots, to ensure he knows exactly what you want from your pictures. All our guests commented on how helpful he was, and we were flooded with messages and comments on the finished photos. 


The thing we realised about photos is that the day goes so quickly, that actually your photos are one of the most important elements of your big day. They're your wedding day story book.
 
We began planning the wedding the summer before our big day. We drew inspiration from wedding blogs, moodboards and places like PinterestAs I work in vintage, the wedding was always going to have a strong sixties influence, as this is my favourite era. I also found choosing the flowers really helped develop my ideas and colour themes, and I put together many moodboards.



We wanted lots of interesting things for our guests, so we had tonnes of DIY wedding details. We turned the potting shed into a vintage photo booth with old curtains that could be changed for different backdrops, and a huge chest of vintage clothing, props and hats. We purchased a Fuji Instax {a LOT cheaper than Polaroid, plus films are easy to buy} that produces instant pics, and hung out string with coloured pegs to create photo bunting. Guests had great fun doing this and wrote messages on the photo borders for us to keep. 


Another detail that added interest was our 'Family Tree'. We collected old and vintage pictures, and photo frames, and used them to display photos of Terry and I, and our families. They were tied on string and nailed into an old tree which looked really pretty. Guests loved laughing at old photos of us and reminiscing.


We chose records for our name places and table plan, and chose some of our favourite songs for table names; we also played these tracks in the background whilst we ate. 


We provided coloured chalks on the tables, and guests wrote messages on the record table names, and on their glasses, which we'd painted with blackboard paint so we could use them as name places.


Wedding stationary can be expensive, and I enjoy DIY projects, so I made our wedding stationery myself. The Save the Dates were simple magnets with the day, date and time and a 60s 'Just Married' couple photo in black and white. The wedding invites were the same design with further information printed on postcards. It was much cheaper than traditional invitations, and suited our wedding perfectly.


We DIY'd our wedding flowers. Ahead of our big day, we went to flower shows and wholesalers to select the flowers we liked. We then found a wholesalers close to the wedding venue, and ordered the flowers and picked them up the day before the wedding. We all made the bouquets and table decorations together, and left them in water in a dark shed overnight so they didn't wilt. Florists can be very expensive so we saved a lot of money by doing them ourselves.


Our wedding cake was made by a friend of ours, and an expert baker - Jody at Boola's Bakery. Jody created exactly the cake we requested, but she is great and has a whole portfolio of ideas if you need inspiration. We told her our ideas and she created the perfect cake!


For wedding favours we created a penny sweet table, with small pink and white paper bags. Our guests were encourage to help themselves. We also made little brown paper envelopes containing sunflower seeds with the words 'Let Your Love Grow' stencilled on the front. Guests really liked these and they were very cheap to make.


I loved planning my wedding! It can be stressful at times, but on the day when you and all your guests can enjoy all that hard work, is really worth it. I say all the time, I wish I could do it all again!



My advice to brides planning their wedding is - enjoy the day! Its cliché but it goes so quickly. Get a great photographer {I couldn’t recommend Michael from My Beautiful Bride enough} so that you have perfect memories, and don’t be afraid to do things yourselves. You can save lots of money and its really rewarding.


 ♥ Want to see DIY wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more garden wedding ideas? ♥
If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter
Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.

Monday 17 June 2013

Real Vintage Sunflower Wedding: Chanelle & Terry

This is one of those amazing weddings, where the bride and groom's exuberance and sheer joy just leaps out of the pictures. Chanelle and Terry celebrated their big day in vintage sunshiny style, with a gaggle of girlfriends and a fabulous 1960s theme. Chanelle owns and runs the fantastic vintage shop in Balham called Annie in the Attic, and I'm slightly obsessed with her retro style. Just take a look at her bridesmaids mini-shift dresses, white tights and cute lace gloves for starters! Anyone planning to scrimp on the number of maids of honour should think again - getting ready looks like a riot, and the matching outfits make for amazing pictures. With a church wedding and a marquee reception in Terry's parents' cottage garden, this is the DIY-wedding of your dreams. Don't miss Part 2, published tomorrow - it's packed to the brim with original wedding details, including a photo family-tree, a table-plan of vinyl LPs, and a potting shed turned vintage photo-booth! Huge thanks to Michael at My Beautiful Bride for his truly fantastic photographs. He didn't miss a single shot!

We married on the 30th June 2012. The ceremony was held in St Mary's Church in Buckland in Surrey, and the reception was held in the garden and marquee at Terry's parents' house in Buckland.


My dress was from Ronald Joyce and I bought it from The Wedding Service in Wallington, in Surrey. My shoes were Benjamin Adams, and my jewellery was vintage. 

I handmade my oversized bow hair accessory in the hotel the night before the wedding {which gave me something to focus on!}.



Until a week before the wedding I had an original 1960s wedding dress hanging up in a dress bag ready to go for my wedding day. I'd fallen in love with it, and bought it from a supplier I know in LA. But then my mum took me shoe shopping the week before at a bridal shop and my eye caught on the Ronald Joyce gown... I tried it on and couldn't take it off!




I had ten bridesmaids! When I first told people this, they thought I was crazy... but it was fantastic! It meant I didn't have to choose between my best friends, and I had support the whole time. They were all great and helped me out in different ways.



They wore special edition dresses from River Island {including Rhiannon, my Maid of Honour}, and I sourced them white tights, vintage court shoes and communion dresses from eBay
 



Terry went for a sharp, mod inspired style with a two tone blue Ben Sherman suit, Ben Sherman shirt and accessories, a vintage tie-clip and Lambretta shoes.




When we started planning our wedding, we started looking at venues, and then remembered St Mary's Church near Terry’s parents' house. We looked around and it was perfect. 



A quaint village church, with medieval characteristics, beautiful and within walking distance of Terry's parents where we decided to have a garden and marquee reception. 


Holding the reception at Terry's parents meant we had full control of all aspects of planning, styling and dressing which is exactly what we wanted.

We DIY'd our wedding flowers. Ahead of our big day, we went to flower shows and wholesalers to select the flowers we liked. We then found a wholesalers close to the wedding venue, and ordered the flowers and picked them up the day before the wedding. 

We all made the bouquets and table decorations together, and left them in water in a dark shed overnight so they didn't wilt. Florists can be very expensive so we saved a lot of money by doing them ourselves.

Our photographs were taken by the fantastic Michael from My Beautiful Bride, who we can’t praise enough. Michael captured our day perfectly, and he was great in the build up to the wedding, and on the day itself.

Ahead of your wedding, Michael really gets to know you as a couple, and spends time brainstorming ideas for creative shots, to ensure he knows exactly what you want from your pictures. All our guests commented on how helpful he was, and we were flooded with messages and comments on the finished photos.

The thing we realised about photos is that the day goes so quickly, that actually your photos are one of the most important elements of your big day. They're your wedding day story book.



 ♥ Want to see quirky wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more vintage wedding ideas? ♥
If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for our free newsletter
Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...