Welcome back to real bride diaries. Jenni, a 26-year-old teacher from Portsmouth, has been filling us in on her pre-wedding plans for her 2014 vintage nautical-themed wedding to fiancé Paul. Her latest instalment is filled with fabulous ideas about how to ask your best gals to be your bridesmaids!

How I chose my bridal party

I know that some people struggle with how to choose their bridesmaids. How they can pick one friend over another, how to involve both sides of the family, “if I ask her I should ask her too” etc.

I am happy to report that I got really lucky, I always knew who I wanted to be my bridesmaids and there was no agonising whatsoever.

I decided to have four bridesmaids and one flower girl in my bridal party. I have my lovely twin sister, Andie, as my maid of honour, my beautiful younger sister, Katie, my fabulous best friend, Sarah, and a very dear friend, Emma. The little flower girl will be my gorgeous (and oh-so adorable) cousin, Olivia.

How I popped the question

I wanted to ask the girls in an imaginative way. It was really funny as my sisters were starting to get annoyed I hadn’t asked them but little did they know that I was secretly working on a project to do just that.

I had seen a really lovely way to ask your closest friends to be your bridesmaids on Pinterest and wanted to put my own little spin on it.

I created a box which had some personalised gifts inside.The box contained:

♥ Some sweets (to keep them sweet)
♥ A small notepad (for writing important dates)
♥ A mug which had an inspiring phrase on it
♥ A cut out of a dress (showing them that I wouldn’t make them wear an awful dress)
♥ A picture of myself asking them to be my bridesmaids.

These boxes were a massive hit and made everyone cry! It makes me so happy going into their houses now and seeing the photograph displayed proudly.

Down to business

We have a group on Facebook for all of the bridesmaids where we discuss ideas and post images of dresses we like. As you know, my theme is vintage and nautical. We were looking at dresses that matched this criteria. A big front runner was this style of dress, however the fabric wasn’t right, so we arranged a date to go bridesmaid dress shopping.

I am so excited about my big day and the wedding itself, but this wedding is more than just the one day. We have lots of small things to look forward to which all lead up to the big day and it makes the journey even more exciting and special. Bridesmaids’ dress shopping was one of these exciting trips.

I invited all of the girls to my mum’s house. I also invited Paul’s mum to take part in the day, and it was so lovely having everyone there. We went to a big shopping centre in London and headed straight to the department stores. We had loads of fun trying on different dresses.

As the girls are different shapes and have different complexions I didn’t think we would find one dress to suit them all. I went in with a very open mind: if we found a dress they liked and they wanted it in different colours that would be fine, likewise if they wanted different styles in the same colour I also wouldn’t mind. I just want the girls to feel pretty on the day.

Incredibly, we found one dress that all of the girls like and despite their very different looks, it suits them all! What was even better was the fact that they were in budget! Well, I cheated a tiny bit by opening a store card which gave me 10% off, but hey, brides have to be resourceful!

We then had lunch at a champagne bar to celebrate a successful day’s shopping as we were all on such a high! I felt very spoilt and loved by the lovely ladies in my life and so glad that I picked them to be my bridesmaids. I’m really looking forward to more days like this one.

Here at Under the Vintage Veil, we’ve built up a fair few close relationships over the years. In this case, we were lucky enough to be there to exhibit at the very first ever Miss Vintage Wedding Affair, and witnessed something truly special being born. Today it’s London’s biggest vintage wedding fair with the largest selection of vintage wedding dresses available to try on. The show has gone from strength to strength – and it’s been a real privilege to be there every step of the way.

This Sunday, quirky, vintage-loving brides are in for a treat as Miss Vintage Wedding Affair returns to London for a fourth run. Following three successful fairs catering for creative brides-to-be, the fourth Miss Vintage Wedding Affair will be held at Battersea Arts Centre on Sunday 20^th October 2013 from 11am until 4pm. If you can’t attend the autumn event then there will be another spring fair at BAC on the 30^th March. Tickets are £3 on the door and are also available to purchase in advance online.

If you can’t make it on Sunday, don’t despair! John and I will be there with our blogging hats on live tweeting from the fair as Miss Vintage Wedding Affair’s media partner for the day. Follow us at @thevintageveil on Twitter and using the hashtag #MVWA to ask your favourite suppliers questions and follow all of the action! You can also find us on Facebook and on instagram (also under @thevintageveil) for exclusive pictures and content.

Unless otherwise stated, all post images courtesy of http://www.annamariestepney.co.uk © Annamarie Stepney Photography 2012 

Why visit Miss Vintage Wedding Affair?

The fair, run by vintage-enthusiast and fine artist, Amelia Barnes, has become renowned for its focus on high-quality and original suppliers offering handmade wedding services with a focus on stylish, contemporary vintage. Many of the wedding industry’s most talented and unique suppliers are already confirmed on the exhibitors list, including Annamarie Stepney Photography, Beaubuttons, Love Art Wear Art shoes, Vintage Floral Teas, Fiona Kelly Photography, Lindsay Fleming and many more.  With so many original vintage wedding dresses and bespoke designers it’s the place to find your dress.

In addition to its list of creative exhibitors, Miss Vintage Wedding Affair is well known for being a full vintage wedding experience. The first 400 brides to arrive at the fair will receive a goodie bag, with a few exciting gifts. Musicians such as The Vintage DJ and Vintage Rose Lancaster will provide entertainment throughout the day, and interactive stalls such as Lucy Lou’s Pop-Up Parlour will give brides the opportunity to relax, be pampered and try out styles for their big day. There will also be an amazing interactive photo-booth installation by Rhapsody Road Photography.

Images © Rhapsody Road Photography

You certainly won’t go hungry or get worn out from all the excitement: London caterers, FEAST, will be on hand to tempt brides with a full lunch menu of nutritious, mouth-watering food for lunch and afternoon tea  and a glass of bubbly in the vintage tea room.

We hope to see you there, if not don’t forget to follow the live chat on Twitter @thevintageveil or follow the hashtag #MVWA

My dear readers,

I wanted to write you a little note with some news before John and I head off on our road trip of a lifetime around the USA tomorrow…

As you all know by now, I’ve been plotting a new venture for a while now. The idea, initially, was to run Under the Vintage Veil in its existing form alongside a sister blog, Over the Vintage Threshold.

Over the last couple of months, we’ve thought really long and hard about how to bring you the best content, the most often and without leaving any of you out. After much consideration, we decided to move Under the Vintage Veil to become the fabulous weddings section of our new, all-encompassing lifestyle blog.

Image © 2013 Richmond Pictures

But then, my loves, we hit a little snag. The name.

Over the Vintage Threshold made great sense when paired with Under the Vintage Veil – it was a play on our existing blog name – but as a standalone name, we didn’t feel it said everything we wanted it to say about what the new blog represents.

We recently had the great pleasure of attending The Blogcademy with three of the best blogging masterminds on our world wide web. We spent two days really thinking about how to proceed – and then, with the help of Kat, Shauna and Gala, we found our name and our new identity. Sorry to confuse you all, but we know it will be worth it… we’re inviting all of our readers to join us and follow our…

This beautiful header by Lucy Ledger Designs is just the beginning. I’d love you to read our manifesto and see if you dig what we’re all about. We’ll be keeping our current Twitter and Instagram (just changing the names) and relaunching our Darling Lovely Life Facebook page on our return from America. If you “like” Over the Vintage Threshold” you already like Darling Lovely Life.

Our sponsors who are signed up beyond October will all be contacted today, so if you’re one of our lovely Veil family, don’t worry!

We will see you in two weeks where we’ll be giving you more details about how you can get involved with the new blog and when exactly we plan to launch (we are aiming for the end of October) but for now, please read our mission statement and we look forward to seeing you on the other side!

Who lives a Darling Lovely Life?

“The world’s a playground. You know that when you are a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.” – Yes Man

Everything in life can, and should, be beautiful.

We are the women who look at the world through pastel-tinted glasses, seeing the potential for pretty everywhere.

We are uncompromisingly creative, decadent decorators, detail eagles, glitter magpies – and we believe that everything looks better candy coated.

We are the learners and the doers of the world, the eclectic artists, the big-hearted listeners and the fearless gut followers. We trust ourselves and follow our noses to magical places, spreading beauty wherever we go.

We are smart, secure and unapologetically, unabashedly ourselves. We are here to spread a message of hope to every woman out there with a lioness heart: you are wonderful – don’t settle for anything less than your wildest dreams.

So whether you’re the writer girl, the geek girl, the artistic girl, the musical girl, the academic girl, the mechanic girl, the loving girl, the confident girl, the shy girl, the sassy girl, the girl on a journey (hey, who isn’t?) all of the above or anything else – if you share our belief in decorating everything you land on… well then you’ve landed in the right place.

Pour yourself a pretty mug of tea and immerse yourself in a land of dreamy, soft and whimsical colours, outrageously beautiful interior design, fabulous style, adventurous travel and chat to us about the heartfelt issues that matter.

This is our Darling Lovely Life – come and live it with us!

Put the kettle on and make sure you’re sitting comfortably to flick through these beautiful images. Emma and Paul got married back in April last year at the breathtaking Sussex venue, The George in Rye. 

This stunning photo spread was taken by Jacqui McSweeney and we’re just in love with the delicate details, the subtle bird theme running throughout and complimenting the beautiful decor at The George, the soft and dusky colours and Emma’s incredible Jenny Packham gown and headband! I’ll hand over to Emma to tell you all about their journey to “I do”.

“Paul and I met in a club during a New Years Eve party. In fact, my friends and I almost missed the evening altogether! Paul approached me with the line “who do we have here then?” we had a New Years kiss and the rest is history.

We had been discussing marriage for some time but Paul wanted to ensure that the proposal was a surprise. Dec 2010 we visited Paul’s Mum’s for Christmas, at the bottom of my stocking was a box, on top were some stamps ( Paul had meant to have bought some the week before so I was distracted by this little joke).  In fact it had an open ring box and during floods of tears(me) Paul proposed. Everyone was in on it apart from me!”

Images © 2012 Jacqui McSweeney Photography

“The wedding style was completed dictated by The George in Rye’s beautiful decor especially its silk, hand-painted wallpaper. We fell in love with the venue the first time we saw it. Our colour theme and all the styling was then fitted around this, birds played quite a strong part too due to the pattern of the wallpaper. We had bird cages, bird name tags and even I had a bird motif on the embellishment of my dress.

We had over a year to plan the wedding, Sarah at The George was great at supporting the ins and outs of the day. As an artist, I made as much as I could and sourced as much as possible. Each table had  vintage cup and saucers of flowers which my mum and I had been collecting from the day the venue was booked. All invites were designed and made by me, name places and table numbers too were all made by hand. I started a mood book of my favourite things, colours and styles the day after we got married which became so integral to supporting the planning of our day.

The time allowed me to make so many pieces even down to sweets decorating the venue and handmade jam used as favours. It saved us money and also ensured that the wedding was personal and unique to us and our family and friends.”

“We were living in Brighton before the wedding and therefore the morning before the wedding filled the car with all the wedding suits, bits and pieces for the venue, presents before heading off to Rye. Before we left Brighton we had to pick up our cupcakes. They had been wonderfully packed up by Angel Food Bakery with our topper cake being kept carefully in its very own box on my lap. Lets just say there were a number of roundabouts on the way to Rye. The topper cake didn’t fair too well but Paul promised to sort it the morning of the wedding. So as I relaxed sipping champagne and getting my make- up done the morning of the wedding, Paul was running around sorting a cake. Thanks to the chef and the little extras I had organised to be added to the cake tower the topper cake was saved and our roundabout slip up was rectified.”

“It’s hard to pick our most indispensable wedding supplier. The George was brilliant and the staff are still lovely a year on offering a wonderful anniversary package for our first anniversary but to be honest we could not have done it without any of our suppliers, everyone was so reliable could work with our visions and whose quality was exceptional.

When it came to my favourite detail I was really lucky as my dress was gorgeous. I was so fortunate to have such a beautiful item, my mum gave it to me as a gift.  Our bird cage table plan has been really popular and now sits in our  bedroom as a beautiful reminder and our vintage cups and saucers now decorate all our friends and families homes.”

Venue: The George in Rye
Photography: Jacqui Mcsweeney Photography
Bride’s outfit:
Dress- Saskia by Jenny Packham, Accessories: Acacia 2 headband and cuff again Jenny Packham all from White Mischief Bridal.
Shoes day-  Taupe silk, Kurt Geiger
Evening- Silver and white Irregular Choice as the Kurt Geigers were far too high to wear all day.
1940s vintage beaded clutch bag
Shrug from TK MAXX
Bridesmaids’ dresses & accessories:
Sage green Dresses both from Coast brought before brides own! Bride added wide ribbon band and secured with a vintage pin. Shrugs the same as bride’s.
Groom’s outfit: Groomsmens’ / ushers’ outfits:  Grey and sage green details hired from Moss Bros
Flowers:  mixture of hydrangeas, roses and herbs in bouquet, other garden style flowers for decor, vintage bottles and cups and saucers all Cafe des Fleurs, Rye. 
Styling / décor: By Emma – (an art teacher, artist and photographer) also has own wedding blog and styling, stationery website.
Hair:  Truffle Rye
Make-up:  Truffle Rye
Cake:  Cupcake tower by Angel Food Bakery Brighton, mixture of chocolate and vanilla decorated cupcakes. Extras, cases etc by Emma. 
Catering:  The George in Rye
Band / DJ:  DJ Organised by The George.

A first dance symbolises the start of a couple’s married life. But for many couples, it can also be a source of anxiety in the run up to the big day. Luckily today on the blog, help is at hand with Zoe Puliston, director of Forever First Dance Company.

Forever First Dance Company is an expert team of the UK’s leading choreographers. Each teacher has extensive teaching and performing experience, between them having graced the stages of Dirty Dancing, Chicago, Fame and Hairspray as well as dancing for international superstars such as Justin Timberlake, Elton John, Madonna and Leona Lewis.

Couples are assigned a specialist choreographer based on the style of dance they would like to learn and are taught in the comfort and privacy of their own home or Forever First Dance Company’s spacious London studio, with a teacher for every type of technique. Today we’re learning the basics – how to pull off that all-important first dance. I’ll hand over to Zoe for some expert advice…

We definitely needed this – for our first dance we sort of stood there and rotated on the spot, masking the fact that neither of us can dance with inappropriate wedding smooching. Also I hate that word. Image © Satureyes 

Ten tips for pulling off an unforgettable first dance

1. Think carefully about your song choice –  So many clients ask me what I would recommend for the best first dance song. I always advise that they choose as song they absolutely love and that means something to them both, reminds them of each other or will make them smile every time they hear it.

2. Listen to the lyrics –  Some songs sound like they should be love songs, but delve deeper and you might get a shock! Sometimes when you actually listen to what your song is about it may not be appropriate for a first dance, whether it’s a break up song or worse! Lyrics are as important as the tune when it comes to expressing how you feel about each other.

3. Practice – Practice makes perfect. Not even professional dancers would think about dancing with out a rehearsal. Unless you have time to dedicate to practicing just dance to half of your song of the verse and chorus and then have your guests come and join your for the rest of your song. Practicing your first dance can also be a fun way for you both to spend some quality time together and let off steam in the run up to your big day.

4. Structure – Think about the structure of your dance – I always recommend walking onto the dance floor when you song has already started instead of waiting awkwardly in the middle of the dance floor, and have your ending planned so that you don’t awkwardly shuffle off either!

5. Shoes – Make sure to practice in your bridal shoes (a great way to break them in and avoid blisters on the night) or shoes with a similar fit and heel. My top tip: if you are going to practice in your bridal shoes wear socks over the front to avoid you fiancé scuffing them.

Image © Forever First Dance Company

6. Confidence – What ever style you choose, dance it with confidence and don’t worry if you go wrong – its only you two that actually know what steps you are supposed to be doing. If you’re having fun, everybody else will enjoy themselves too.

7. Talk to each other – Feel free to talk to each other during your dance – perhaps tell each other what’s coming next! Your guests will think you’re whispering sweet nothings to each other and you will get great photos as your faces will look relaxed.

8. Don’t look back – Never walk backwards in your dress. Enquire about having a bustle so you can hook up a long dress train or consider a shorter dress for the evening party (a word from Sara – a very long dress can seriously rain on your parade if you plan on dancing the night away). If you have a strapless wedding dress ensure the moves are suitable to avoid any wardrobe mishaps or that you’re securely strapped in.

9. Band vs DJ – If you have a band playing your first dance be prepared that it may be a different tempo to what your used to. Perhaps ask the band if they can send you a recording in advance and to stick to that tempo on the night. If a DJ is playing your track, I would recommend emailing them the track to ensure you have the correct version of the song, particularly if it’s been covered a few times.

10. Have fun – Finally enjoy yourselves and have fun dancing as husband and wife for the first time. As I said, if you are having a great time your guests will too. After all, they are there to support you and see you have the best time on your wedding day.

Image © Forever First Dance Company

For more information on Forever First Dance and to make an enquiry/booking please visit http://foreverfirstdance.com/, call their booking hotline on 0845 519 6491 or email [email protected].

Are you dreading your first dance? Have you got anything special planned or are you keeping it simple? We’d love to hear from you in the comment box below!

We’re back online after our office was taken over by building works for the last two weeks. We’ve made some HUGE changes here which we will blog about shortly, but for now, please enjoy our belated instalment of our regular floral feature!

Our columnists are vintage-loving expert florists, Nancy Moon Flowers the dream duo from Nancy Moon Flowers with a nostalgia for old style romance and a time when a gentleman would greet a lady with a pretty flower. Our lovely dream team has already brought us a special factfile on Dahlias, a write up on heavenly Hydrangeas and a romantic report on Peonies, dished on the delicate Nigella flower, mused about mini Muscari blooms, cooed over climbing Clematis, lusted over lovely Lavendula and forayed into fragrant Freesia!

Every week, Nancy and Bolly share their flower of the week with you to help you learn all about the world of wedding flowers, which flowers are in season for your big day, how much you might expect them to set you back and which flowers to match them with for the perfect floral love affair!

If there’s a particular flower you want to learn about for your big day, drop us a line ([email protected]) or leave a comment in the box below,  and we’ll ask Nancy and Bolly to give us their insight. With years of experience behind them, the team at Nancy Moon Flowers are experts in all things flowers and will be able to match you with your perfect blooms.

This week’s flourishing fancy is the “Smiling Sunflower…”

Nancy and Bolly say: “We can’t let summer pass without giving sunflowers a mention. These bold blooms always make us smile; they remind us of little singing faces!  We haven’t had many requests  for sunflowers as wedding flowers, however when we do use the little darlings have never failed to brighten up the room!”

Good morning everyone. Today on the blog, we are so, so lucky to have one of Britain’s most respected luxury bridal shoe designers in the Veilgirls hotseat. Emmy Scarterfield has seen a meteoric rise to success with her unique and beautiful brand, Emmy Shoes. With a history working for luxury brands such as Bottega and Armani, Emmy took her considerable design skills and love of vintage design and married them to make swoon-worthy wedding shoes and accessories that are honestly like pieces of art in themselves. Now one of the UK’s most sought after shoes and accessories designer, we chat to Emmy about her journey to business success.

We’re very lucky to have the wildly talented Emmy on the blog today so please leave her some love in the comment box below!

Veilgirls – Emmy Scarterfield of Emmy Shoes

All images kindly provided by Emmy Shoes

How did you first get into design and how did your interest in designing accessories and shoes develop?

I studied at Cordwaines, a specialist shoes college in London. I always wanted to be a shoe designer – I feel lucky in the sense that I do a job that I love, but also I always knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life – a real blessing. I grew up in Somerset, in a village called Chilcompton. It is house to super brand Mulberry – a career in luxury accessories seemed completely attainable. I always loved shoes, one of my earliest memories (at about two years old) is putting wooden building blocks in my socks to create high heels!

You had an extremely impressive with top brands such as Bottega and Armani. What were the most important design and business lessons you learned from these experiences?

In terms of design, I truly believe that quality, attention to detail and the finish wins out every time. In terms of business I quickly learnt that as a designer/business woman you have to completely believe and be passionate about the whole picture, not just product. The brand image, the marketing, the team, the package – every aspect has to be spot on. This is what drives me and keeps me very busy!

You get a lot of your inspiration from vintage designs. Do you have a particular era or style that you like to draw from? What are your other influences?

I love the 1920s and ‘30s because I am drawn to the glamour and elegance of that era. However, in the collection there are influences from the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s too. My inspiration very rarely comes from shoes. I find architecture – windows/doors etc really beautiful and these are often the starting point of my designs. Plus insects and other intricate structures are inspirations to lots of the detailing.

How would you describe an Emmy bride?

An Emmy bride is a woman who appreciates the finishing touches, believes in investment pieces and the art of indulgence! For most Emmy brides, the chance to wear beautiful bridal shoes is as important as the dress. Shoe lover or no shoe lover, every woman deserves their own Cinderella moment, right?

Do you have any mentors or fashion designers that particularly inspire you?

Jenny Packham has been hugely inspirational and influential in the evolution of Emmy. I also have a fabulous financial advisor, I like to call him business counsellor – he manages to keep me focused, on track and allows the pleasure of reorganising my goals and achievement.

Your designs are famous in their intricate and luxurious detail. Is detail a staple of Emmy shoes and will that level of detail continue through future lines?

Detail is hugely important, but actually what makes an Emmy shoe stand out from the crowd is the silhouette, the comfort and the timeless, elegant quality.  As a development team, we are committed to maintaining this going forward.

How would you describe Emmy shoes in ten adjectives?

Beautiful, elegant, stunning, sparkle, wearable comfortable, transforming, feminine, addictive, unique and hand finished.

What is your top tip for brides to be?

Be yourself, treat yourself to the best for your budget. It is a once in a lifetime day and the memories last a lifetime.

What is your top business tip for women starting out in the wedding industry?

Definitely believe in yourself and follow your instincts. The bridal industry is real joy to work in. I absolutely love my job, I’m surrounded by beautiful things, and meet genuinely lovely people at the happiest time of their life. There’s really something very special about helping a person with such a big decision about their wedding day, to be part of that is immensely fulfilling. I am ambitious and hugely driven and feel very lucky to be doing a job I love and have the balance of family life.

You can buy your own pair of glittering and gorgeous Emmy heels from Emmy Shoes online, directly from Emmy Studio for bespoke appointments or at selected boutiques nationwide. For more information, visit the Emmy Shoes website. 

Welcome to the very latest instalment of our favourite floral feature! Our regular columnists, vintage-loving expert florists, Nancy Moon Flowers the dream duo from Nancy Moon Flowers with a nostalgia for old style romance and a time when a gentleman would greet a lady with a pretty flower. Our dream team has already brought us a special factfile on Dahlias, a write up on heavenly Hydrangeas and a romantic report on Peonies, dished on the delicate Nigella flower, mused about mini Muscari blooms, cooed over climbing Clematis and lusted over lovely Lavendula!

Every week, Nancy and Bolly share their flower of the week with you to help you learn all about the world of wedding flowers, which flowers are in season for your big day, how much you might expect them to set you back and which flowers to match them with for the perfect floral love affair!

If there’s a particular flower you want to learn about for your big day, drop us a line ([email protected]) or leave a comment in the box below,  and we’ll ask Nancy and Bolly to give us their insight. With years of experience behind them, the team at Nancy Moon Flowers are experts in all things flowers and will be able to match you with your perfect blooms.

This week’s flourishing fancy is…. *drum roll* the fragrant Freesia. Nancy and Bolly say:

“Although these little beauties have been a favourite for years they never seem to date, at our floral HQ we still get many brides requesting them to take a role in their wedding day, this is due to their intoxicating scent… dreamy!”

Good morning all. Today on the blog I’m really happy to showcase Vanessa and Phil’s elegant and floral vintage-inspired Canadian wedding. Shot by Just For You Photography, we fell in love with the soft pink detail – and the coordinated but mismatched bridesmaids… swoon! I’ll hand over to the beautiful bride to tell you about her planning journey:

“Phil and I were not really in the same place when it came down to the planning – I thought we didn’t have enough time to plan our wedding in a year and five months, and he thought we had a lifetime. Looking back at it now we have a lifetime for our marriage and there were things that got us busy and stressed but everyone that helped, all our vendors and guest made it special.

So with the planning Phil was OK with any theme that was not to over the top. The theme that we were going with was vintage – we had hints of gold, burlap, lace and several DIY items at our wedding from the invitations to the centerpieces, signs, seating chart etc. Most to all the ideas for the wedding were sourced through Pinterest and Wedding Gawker.

Our photographer was  my sister in law, who asked me to check her out when we were looking for photographers – we fell in love. We knew that Becky at Just For You Photography would be able to capture our wedding in a beautiful way incorporating her style keeping the vintage feel to our images and we were right – our photos are breathtaking. We loved our wedding and everything and everyone that was there made it beyond perfect”

Images © Just For You Photography 

The suits were from Derks in Edmonton – full combination of grey from the groom and grey and pink for the groomsmen. And we picked a short ombre dress for our best woman. We opted for not giving her a long dress to make her stand out with the guys.

Since day one I knew I didn’t want the girls all looking the same, so we picked the pallet “seafoam” – it included three shades of pink, grey and turquoise blue. We bought them from the Dessy Collection at Bridal Debut (Edmonton) – all dresses were long in chiffon but all different styles, and they matched beautifully

My dress was bought from Bridal Debut along with the bridesmaid dresses. I walked into the store with one dress in mind only and when I tried the Allure dress that my sister in-law picked out I instantly fell in love – full lace, beautiful details – it fit perfectly into our wedding theme.

Bouquets and buttoniers were done by the amazing Maggie David Flowers – with beautiful peonies, hydrangeas, anemones, ranunculus, cotton… with details of burlap, lockets, buttons and lace – she incorporated the vintage feel perfectly into them.

Hair and make up was done at “the House Spa” in Spruce Grove. Our wedding coordinator Tanya Neves at Unveiled Event Coordination Services helped us decorate, organize, keep track of our day and any issue that came up that day she made sure it was taken care of and before the wedding day she always found a way to keep me calm and assured me at all times that everything was going well. She was simply amazing!”

For our ceremony we chose the Governor’s room at the Prince of Wales Armouries. The room, in one word, was beautiful. When we first went to check it out, it was love at first sight: big windows, beautiful laminate floors, there wasn’t much we wanted to add to the room since we wanted to show of those two big features for the room.

We had two flower stands at the beginning of the aisle (by Maggie David Flowers) and made the backdrop at the end of the aisle– I had my photography stand and my mom made the backdrop with tulle and we added lights that we hung up with shower hooks (DIY ) we placed thank you notes and we had “wands” out for our family – we made them with bells that we painted in a bit of gold and attached them with lace and ribbon on wooden skewers.”

“We decorated the mason jars for our sand ceremony and my sister in-law did our beautiful table runner in burlap and lace with our initials. Our reception was at the Days Inn in Edmonton (West End) The centrepieces were mason jars wrapped with twine and lace. We decorated the mason jars and painted baby food jars in turquoise blue, there were five per table and all had tea lights in them – they were placed on pieces of vintage wood (another DIY project for us). For flowers we had white hydrangeas provided by Maggie David Flowers.

We did our table numbers as well again trying to go for the vintage feel we distressed the wood and the colour of the numbers was grey. Our favours were coca cola bottles that we purchased at the “Tienda Latina/ Argyll Foods” in Edmonton – tagged with “Merci” on craft paper that we stamped and tied on to each bottle. It was a neat way to incorporating our French and Spanish ties.

Our delicious cake and cupcakes were done by Rachel’s Cupcakes. For our invitations we bought a DIY package from Etsy from DIYpaperie – We printed the invitations off and added blue/white/red/ washi tape as a decoration and a stamp of the Eiffel tower. We took a similar approach with our thank you notes that we had laid out at the ceremony.”

Credits

Photographer: Just For You Photography
Event Planner: Unveiled Event Coordination Services
Floral Designer: Maggie David Flowers Ltd.
Reception Venue: Days Inn and Suites
Dress Store: Bridal Debut
Ceremony Location: Prince Of Wales Armoury
Tuxedo and Mens Attire: Derks Formals

Good morning all, today I’m really happy to share Catrece & Bob’s Florida antique-themed wedding with you. Shot by Andi Diamond Photography, this wedding is truly unique with details and decor plucked straight from another era. I love how Catrece and Bob have really done things their way – I’ll hand over to their photographer, Andi, to share her perspective on this truly original wedding: 

Catrece and Bob’s love is a testament to time, in more ways than one! After meeting by chance through Catrece’s father, the two went on their first date in 2008 and have been inseparable ever since. Bob proposed to Catrece in Ashville, North Carolina on December 12th, 2011 at the Biltmore estate. “Bob wanted a place that would stand the test of time,” says Catrice. “This is the reason he picked the Biltmore to propose because the Biltmore has been around since the 1880s.”

“From the start of planning their wedding, Catrece and Bob knew they wanted their wedding to be different than every other they had been to. Their quest was to be unique and think of something outside of the box that would wow their guest and make it an experience they would never forget.”

“I was the editor for my high school yearbook and for my senior year the theme for the yearbook was “Time Marches On,” says Catrece. “At that time, I had no clue that I would marry someone that was an avid collector of antique pocket watches and clocks. Bob’s love of these timepieces just had to be incorporated into our wedding. So what better way to do this then to use clocks set to different hours as the table numbers? We made the escort cards to look like clocks and everyone was assigned to a table by an hour that we set on the clocks.”

Not only was time an important factor when planning their wedding, but the influence of New Orleans, Louisiana was as well.

“I have always loved NOLA and wanted to use special touches to represent my family that live in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. I have been going to New Orleans since I was little and there are very few Mardi Gras I have missed. The fleur-de-lis symbol was used on our wedding invitations, to decorate the cake table, I had a fleur-de-lis brooch in my bouquet and the symbol on the wedding favors for our guest.”

Images © Andi Diamond Photography

Photographer: Andi Diamond Photography
Caterer: Amici’s Catered Cuisine
Floral Designer: Events in Bloom Florida
Reception Venue: Kapok Special Events
Cinema and Video: VH Video
Dress Store: David’s Bridal
Cake Designer: A Better Cheesecake
Band: Bay Kings Band
Linens and Coverings: First Class Rentals of Tampa Bay
Makeup Artist: Collective Creations