Weddings with a fabulous theme make me happy! And there's nothing I like more than an Alice in Wonderland tea-party - there's just so many fabulous details to choose from. Lewis Carroll was a genius! So when Louise and Sam from
Pavone Photography got in touch with Cheryl and Jack's amazing monochrome Alice in Wonderland themed wedding, I jumped at the chance to feature it on Before the Big Day. Many months later, and here, finally, it is! Don't miss all the DIY wedding details - Cheryl and Jack came up with everything, including their brilliant themed portrait pictures, complete with Alice in Wonderland props. It's such a clever idea to come up with a few props for your portrait pictures, particularly if you're slightly nervous in front of the camera. Other wedding details to steal include Cheryl's gorgeous second-hand wedding gown {which she personalised herself}, the flower girl's alternative bouquet {a clock!}, and the hilarious fancy dress kit for classic guest entertainment. Huge thanks to
Pavone Photography for their stunning shots!
We got married on 2nd July at Little Hallingbury Mill in Essex, surrounded by our family and close friends. Our theme was vintage Alice in Wonderland with a black and white stripped twist.
The venue was a quirky old mill surrounded by fields and just seemed to scream 'Tea-Party'!
I bought my wedding dress second-hand, and customised it by adding as much black as possible. My shoes were an old pair from my wardrobe which again I customised in black.
My dress was so beautiful {and totally over the top}, that I didn't want to distract too much attention from it. So I didn't wear a veil and chose understated accessories, which were of course, black and white.
My husband’s outfit was a plain black suit, with an all-important waistcoat. He wore my great-grandfather’s pocket watch to add a hint of ‘Mad Hatterness’ to the day.
My bouquet was a single large black rose head which matched the black roses in my hair and on my shoes.
Apart from this, we didn’t have anything other flowers as instead chose to decorate the venue with playing cards, spoons, teapots, teacups, clocks, books, white rabbits and any other Alice in Wonderland item you can conjure up!
My flower girl was mostly in white, but instead of carrying flowers she held a black old-fashioned alarm clock, set to the time we got married.
We tied black and white stripped ribbon to it in keeping with the theme. It added a fantastic element of ‘Don't be late, don't be late for an important date!’
Jack and I me on a night bus in 2007! Jack was my knight in shining armour, as he made sure I got home safely. We got engaged on Christmas Day in 2010 in front of our twinkling Christmas Tree.
We chose Pavone Photography {Louise and Sam} as our wedding photographers. We felt they were the only people who had the talent to do our unique wedding day justice, and we were so right!
Our entire wedding was a DIY project – nothing was pre bought, and we put all the ideas together ourselves. I really enjoyed planning every part. My advice to other brides would be, leave yourself plenty of time. Make as much as you can to give you a truly original wedding. Go wild – you will only do it once! Enjoy every last second.
We made our own wedding invitations. They were made to look like 4 large playing cards held together by black and white ribbon, and a small silver key. All the phrases on the invitation, directions and RSVP were taken from the original Alice in Wonderland Film - e.g. ‘Help us Paint the Roses Red’.
For our wedding favours, we bought miniature 2cm high glass bottles with a cork cap, filled with red wine, and labelled with a 'Drink me' tag.
We slotted a playing card into the corks of each of the bottle favours, and they doubled up as place markers too.
My sister-in-law handmade our wedding cake! It was three layers, and covered in black and white Alice in Wonderland decorations, like clocks, teaspoons, books, teapots and teacups. It was amazing!
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