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.
Before the Big Day - the Best UK Wedding Blog.
