Wed 10th Oct, 2012

A lilac and cream wedding featuring a Caroline Castigliano dress and Peggy Porschen cake

Sophie and Matt met through work. "He proposed on New Years Eve 2010 over a candle light dinner in our home. I was so happy, as he chose the ring on his own - it was a beautiful sapphire with diamonds. I was over the moon and so excited that he had finally asked me, I couldn't wait to be the future Mrs Hounsome!"

They were married at the Lainston House Hotel as Sophie explains: "I found our wedding venue through Brides Magazine, they described it as 'You and your groom could be Eliza Bennett and Mr Darcy for the day' because of the old fashion Georgian front and long drive up to the hotel. I fell in love as soon as I saw the venue and loved they had a private barn to host our wedding ceremony and wedding breakfast. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect setting and when asking all the wedding suppliers what they thought, they all spoke highly of it and how it was a lovely place to get married.

I found it very exciting planning our special day with my sister, and went to the Designer Wedding Show in London last October to find my bridesmaids dresses and our cake. I loved visiting the Peggy Porschen Parlour in London – we had a four tiered cake, with Victoria Sponge, Lemon lime cello sponge, chocolate sponge and then tipsy orange truffle sponge."

Congratulations to Matt and Sophie on their wedding, and a big thank you to Stuart from Cooper Photography for sharing their beautiful photos.

Photography © Cooper Photography

All the wedding suppliers I chose were amazing, I found them all on Lainston’s wedding suppliers list and they all made us feel relaxed on the day.

Choosing my wedding dress was so exciting and I couldn't believe I found it in the first wedding dress shop I went in. It was totally different to the idea/dress I thought I would wear for the day, but I loved the French lace over the silk and how comfortable the corset was. Caroline is really a great designer and made me feel beautiful - I didn't want to take the dress of at the end of the day.

I chose a romantic vintage theme for the day with lilac and cream roses and silver vases. Roses are my favourite and I had a very good future husband who let me chose anything I wanted for the day!

Getting ready at the hotel with the girls was lovely and it was fun to see everything coming together. We stayed in the hotel the night before and decided to have a pre-wedding meal, as we thought as we’re only doing this once we might as well make the most of it. By doing this it felt more relaxed on the morning of the wedding, I thought there wouldn't be too much of a rush and I wouldn't be late at all.

But me being me, I helped everyone else into their dresses and then ran over by 20 minutes because it took a while getting me into my corset dress. Looking back no one seemed to mind and I don’t think people really noticed me being late at all, except my dad who was nervous to walk me down the aisle.

Our photographer (Cooper Photography) made us feel so relaxed and we loved what he captured of our special day. We especially love all the photo’s his wife Anna took of our little girl.

My favourite moment was walking down the aisle and seeing Matt for the first time, I was very emotional and just couldn't wait to be standing next to him. For me it meant everything to be finally marrying him, to have his name and for us to be family. The day was about celebrating our love for one another and being a family. By the end of the ceremony everyone was crying and I was trying to hide my emotions by laughing.

Our little girl, Olivia, loved dressing up in her dress and thought she was a princess for the day. She thought it was one long party and loved her small bouquet.

Supplier info:

Ceremony and reception venues: Lainston House Hotel

Dress: Caroline Castigliano

Flowers: Arcade Flowers

Photographer: Cooper Photography

Caterers: Lainston House Hotel

Bridesmaids dresses: Twobirds Bridesmaids

Flower girl dress: Nicki Macfarlane

Groom’s suit: Harrington Hire Guildford

Cake: Peggy Porschen

Hair: Tori Riot

Make-up: Helen Spenser

Music: The Wedding Music Company

Stationery and Sweet Table: Sweet Dream Events

Rings: Marquise of Guildford

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Wed 3rd Oct, 2012

An outdoor love shoot

Sometimes the loveliest photographic sessions are those which don't highlight a specific event but highlight a specific emotion, such as love. Zack and Beverley's expressive emotions created such timeless moments which perfectly reflect their love of the vintage style.

Thank you to Civic Photos for sending over these beautiful images.

Images © Civic Photos

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Tue 2nd Oct, 2012

Florist in the Forest | Our newest sponsor

Today I'd like to introduce you to Florist in the Forest, one of our newest sponsors, who creates magic with flowers.

Nature is Katherine's biggest inspiration - preferring to let the flowers speak for themselves. She focuses on combining different textures and shapes, the all important fragrance and working with the seasons.

"I have always taken the more creative path (obviously always destined to become a Mrs Craft!). Having studied at Art college I went on to do a degree in Textile Design, which after a travelling stint, lead me to the role of Visual Merchandiser for a fashion retailer. However my country roots eventually pulled me back and I decided to go back to college and re-train in floristry.

I have always had a love of flowers and nature and now combine this with my textile love of colour and texture.

I also have green fingers and this had led to a cutting garden adjacent to my studio, which literally is in a forest! I love to grow a wide range of English cottage garden favourites, such as, sweet peas, nigella, delphiniums, scabious, dahlias to name a few, as well as lots of scented herbs and foliage. These help create the natural country style that I have become known for."

Katherine is exhibiting at the wedding fair at The George in Rye in East Sussex, and would love to meet new brides to chat all things flowers, so pop the 21st October in your diary.

Katherine's also been shortlisted for the hitched breakthrough award for best wedding florist. If you'd like to vote, please click through to this link - http://www.hitched.co.uk/HBA/voting.aspx

Katherine is based on the Kent and East Sussex border, close to Tunbridge Wells and the village of Groombridge. Many of the flowers Katherine uses in her work are grown in the cutting garden adjacent to the Florist in the Forest studio in the beautiful surroundings of Broadwater Forest.

You can contact Katherine on 07984 540 893, or email floristintheforest@gmail.com

Images © Florist in the Forest

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Sun 2nd Sep, 2012

Sequinned table linen and fluffy peonies for this inspiration shoot

This beautiful styled shoot was sent to me by Astrid Mueller. Astrid, who made her name internationally illustrating and designing for companies such as Marie Claire, Swarovski, and Diesel, teamed up with Heiley Bernstein to create this modern loft celebration.

Photographer, Yasmin Khajavi said "When Hailey Bernstein and Astrid Mueller, both contemporary creatives with a shared love of fashion and modern design, put their heads together, amazing things were bound to happen. For this styled shoot, they envisioned a fashion-forward, style-savvy couple planning the ultimate modern loft celebration. The look is clean-chic but full of warmth with soft, feminine sparkle. Hailey and Astrid decided on a light, neutral palette — tans, champagnes and mixed metallics with hints of blush and ivory. The light, breezy colors soften and brighten the raw loft space, offering a neutral canvas for some fun, fashionable and uber-chic details.

Sequin linens added unexpected glamour and sparkle, emphasizing the clean table lines yet luxurious texture. We alternated between tan sequin linens for tables, and tan and white chevron sequin linens for standing bistros, which brought extra variety and interest to the space. We designed a laid-back, yet luxurious tablescape with an abundance of soft and fluttery peonies, mixed metallic mercury glass votive holders, mirrored vases and tons of floating candles for ambiance. For the menus, table number and design pieces, illustrator Astrid Mueller, normally known for her delicate, fashion-inspired illustrations, took an abstract design approach and worked with minimalistic, circular design elements, inspired by architecture and the round shape of peonies. She devised a new, unique idea for this celebration design by introducing personalized, laser-engraved, perspex drink disks for the seating and cocktails. She also chose to create cool, urban-inspired but lavishly-printed stationery, lush and soft to the touch. The menus were artisan-printed and hand-debossed by Digby & Rose, creating a beautiful architectural effect.

Photography © Yasmin Khajavi

Contributors (US)

Photography: Yasmin Khajavi Photography

Venue: Castaway Portland in Portland, Oregon

Styling, tablescape, floral and event design: Zest Floral and Event Design

Invitation design and engraved perspex design details: Astrid Mueller

Stationery: Digby & Rose

Linens: La Tavola

Ghost chairs, table settings and glassware: West Coast Event Production

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Tue 28th Aug, 2012

The 2013 Jesus Peiro wedding dress collection

I'm delighted to be able to share Jesus Peiro's 2013 Soiree Collection on the blog today.

The Spanish bridal fashion house describe the collection as "Reflecting the light structure and exquisite artisanal details reminiscent of the early 20th Century. The collection balances femininity and romanticism with the sophistication that is synonymous with the brand."

Throughout the 2013 collection, designer Merche Segarra combines surprising textures with beautiful silhouettes. Fabrics adorned with glass, nacre and mother of pearl come into play with rich metallic threads and accessories.

Images © Jesus Peiro

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2013 Soiree Collection will be available in the UK from October 2012. For further information or stockist details visit

www.jesuspeiro.com

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Wed 15th Aug, 2012

Feather headbands inspired by Alice in Wonderland

This morning I'd like to share Sheena Holland's new range of beautiful feather headbands with you. The range is called The Sheena Holland Alice in Wonderland Collection which has been created with inspiration from Lewis Carroll's masterpiece, with vintage jewels and unique colourful pieces. As with all Sheena Holland work, they are all one of a kind and we can also create bespoke pieces taking inspiration from the range.

All pieces are signed by Sheena and are exclusive to the collection.

Sheena says: "We invite you through the rabbit hole and in to a wonderful world of beauty and adventure. With mystical creatures, stunning jewels and flowers; the new Alice in Wonderland collection will inspire and amaze."

Black Fish in Wonderland

A beautiful black goose feather headband with antique diamante pieces, featuring jewellery that is glass and hand-painted with a goldfish and 1950’s pearls and various antique acquisitions.

Price: £225

Dragon in Wonderland

A beautiful antique feather headband with antique pieces featuring jewellery that is glass and hand-painted with a cameo and gold dragon fly and various antique acquisitions.

Price: £250

Fairy in Wonderland

A beautiful hand-dyed pale blue goose feather headband with antique pieces, featuring jewellery that is glass and hand-painted with a pretty fairy and gold bow and various antique acquisitions.

Price: £225

Green Alice in Wonderland

A beautiful green petal headband with antique pieces, featuring jewellery that is glass and hand-painted with a green deck of cards and a lady bird and various antique acquisitions.

Price: £225

Late in Wonderland

A beautiful grey feather headband with antique diamante pieces, featuring jewellery that is glass and hand-painted with an antique clock face and 1950’s fresh water pearls and a purse and various antique acquisitions.

Price: £250

Pot Kettle Blue

A beautiful spotted dark blue goose feather headband with antique diamante pieces, featuring jewellery that is glass and hand-painted with a pretty fairy and gold tea pot and various antique acquisitions.

Price: £225

Pretty Pink in Wonderland

A beautiful hand dyed pale pink goose feather headband with antique pieces, featuring jewellery that is glass and hand-painted with a pretty gold insect and gold bow and various antique acquisitions.

Price: £250

All items in the Sheena Holland Alice in Wonderland Collection are available from www.sheenaholland.com or from our shop in Derby, 31 Queen Street, Derby, DE1 3DS.

Bespoke items inspired by the range are also available to order, for more information please email: info@sheenaholland.com

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Wed 1st Aug, 2012

A styled wedding shoot in a secret garden

Back in September last year, a team of super creative people gathered at a secret location in East Sussex. A privately owned home with incredible gardens. How lucky were they to be able to use it for the day?! Formal gardens, teamed with wild flower gardens, secret pathways, manicured lawns and a custom built water feature which had to be lifted in by crane. They were spoilt for choice for locations to shoot.

Hannah says "We were joined by Sev from The Hepburn Collection who was our super hairstylist, Daniel K Palmer for fabulous make-up, LK Lily who created the florals, styling by me and of course Sarah Gawler who captured it all beautifully.

Aiming for an intimate garden scene, we teamed dresses from Clinton Lotter, Claire Pettibone and Rivini with accessories from Liberty in Love, Jenny Packham and What Katy Did Next. Our groom wore suits from Favourbrook and A Suit That Fits.

Our eye catching centrepiece hanging over the table was a beautiful wire candle chandelier from Rayment Wire, decorated with garden roses, fern and jasmine. Absolutely beautiful vintage china from Roses All Over and a delicious butter cream tiered cake from Tempting Cake.

I'm thrilled to be able to share this shoot with you today and a big thank you to You and Your Wedding for featuring it."

Photography copyright 2012 Sarah Gawler Photography

Contributors

Venue: that's a secret!

Photographer: Sarah Gawler

Styling: Hannah Gooch

Dresses: Clinton Lotter, Claire Pettibone, Rivini all available from Blackburn Bridal

Floral bolero: Claire Pettibone from Blackburn Bridal

Linen 3 piece suit: A Suit That Fits

Hair: The Hepburn Collection

Make-up: Daniel K Palmer

Flowers: LK Lily

Vintage china: Roses All Over

Cake: Tempting Cake

Dark corduroy suit: Favourbrook

Jewellery: Libery in Love

Shoes: Jimmy Choo available to hire from Cinderella Me

Floral headband: What Katy Did Next

Jewelled headpiece: Jenny Packham

Wire Chandelier: Rayment Wire

Models: Kate and Dag from MOT models

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Mon 23rd Jul, 2012

Celebrate with your hens at William Clarke Flowers

South African-born William Clarke has been around weddings his whole life, with his love of floristry dating back to his childhood, happily working on family weddings with his aunts. It was on moving to England that William moved away from his hotelier background to work in floristry for nine years, before taking the plunge and founding William Clarke Flowers twelve years ago.  He says: “At William Clark Flowers, we offer a truly bespoke service for our couples. For me, that goes further than just recreating a picture from a magazine. We really get to know our couples, their personalities, their tastes and, rather than following trends, we make each arrangement reflect the couple we’re looking after.”

On 1 September this year, William Clarke Flowers launch their new floral workshops. Gather your bridesmaids, mum's and best friends and create some beautiful arrangements at one of William's courses:

Hen Parties - All hen party workshops will be bespoke and created around the individual requirements of the hen party using the guidelines of the various courses listed below. Champagne and delicious nibbles will be provided. This workshop is interactive, lots of fun, relaxed and a good giggle. Prices start from £120 per hen.

Master a Hand Tied Bouquet – A 3 hour interactive morning, afternoon or evening course. Following a demonstration you will be guided and assisted in order to create your own hand tied bouquet to take away with you. Tools and flowers supplied  - £85.00 per person.

Table Arrangements – A 4 hour interactive morning/afternoon course. Following a tutorial on design and basic floristry skills with demonstration you will be guided and assisted in order to create your own table arrangement to take away with you.  Tools and flowers supplied  - £150.00 per person.

Style my Wedding (Recommend group size 1 – 5 people). Spend 3 or 5 hours with the team at William Clarke Flowers, designing / styling and creating a look for your wedding. We will share with you a wealth of knowledge and tips that will allow you to make informed decisions on how to style and design your dream wedding. We will guide you through colour choices, seasonal flowers and what works with each of the choices you make. You will be armed with the knowledge and confidence to get exactly what you want from suppliers and vendors. Standard fixed cost of £450.00.

Photography copyright ©2012 William Clarke Flowers

Other non-wedding workshops include:

Christmas and your home – Full day course with lunch. Course covers all things Christmas from table arrangements to door wreaths and festive garlands. You will leave with your very own table arrangement and door wreath as well as the knowledge on how to decorate your entire home for a very festive Christmas - £350.00 per person.

A – Z Beginners introduction to floristry – A 10 week course, consisting of 8 x 3 hour modules followed by 2 days of hands on work experience in the studio on real jobs. Tools and flowers supplied £1200.00 per person.

 

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All workshops take place at William Clarke Flowers, Unit 17 Spaces Business Centre, Ingate Place, London SW8 3NS.

To book your place, contact: www.williamclarkeflowers.com. Telephone 020 7402 3399. Email shop@williamclarkeflowers.com.

Enquiries are being taken from June 2012, courses commencing 1^st September 2012.

Group Sizes - Minimum of 8 people and a maximum of 12 for any of the workshops. Please enquire about tailor made workshops for smaller groups or individuals.

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Thu 12th Jul, 2012

A styled wedding shoot at The Orangery, Holland Park

A few weeks ago, Sarah Gawler and Hannah Gooch met with a top team at The Orangery in Holland Park, London, for their latest inspiration shoot.

Back in April, they'd planned to shoot in an apple orchard in Kent to time it with the blossom. But the good old British weather put a swift stop to their plans. So they thought an undercover location would be more reliable considering how much rain they've had, and they were delighted when they were given the OK to shoot at The Orangery in Holland Park.

"We chose a 'less is more' look and were going to work with a base of grey, whites and greens. Trying to keep it chic and classic. The look was based around a beautiful washed linen dove grey tablecloth from The Linen Works.

Lindsay and Helen from LK Lily, who we've worked with on a few of our previous shoots produced some stunning bouquets and an elegant table arrangement. We were also really delighted to work with Daniel K Palmer again, who creates magic with hair and make-up. And for the first time, we were helped on the day by the lovely Emily Nicholson, who used to work with me at John Lewis. She was a great pair of hands!

Our model, Zsanett from MOT, was a dream to work with. So professional and the dresses fitted her perfectly. The dresses and veil were selected from Blackburn Bridal in Blackheath. The first, a sequined, backless dress designed by Amanda Garrett, the lace dress with the bow and flower detail is from Cymbeline and the silk dress with pink detail is from Claire Pettibone. To finish off the look we were lent some stunning jewellery from Alex Monroe, which tied in perfectly as we had the company of a rather confident and very loud peacock on the day! So we chose some items from their Peacock collection.

I discovered Victoria Made via twitter and was really impressed with the unique designs of her wedding cakes and noticed that she also made other treats such as delicately iced biscuits and meringues. So I was really excited when Victoria not only offered to make two bespoke cakes, some meringues and marshmallows just for our shoot, but that she would drive them all the way to London from Yorkshire! Thank you so much Victoria.

Artcadia were so kind in producing some bespoke stationery for us too. Beautiful letterpress invitations and menu cards, and some little tags which were used as place settings. They worked perfectly with the look we were trying to create."

So... here you have it. Photography by Sarah Gawler and styling by Hannah Gooch. Their latest styled bridal shoot.

Photography copyright 2012 Sarah Gawler Photography

Contributors:

Dresses: Claire Pettibone, Amanda Garrett, Cymbeline and veil all Blackburn Bridal

Venue: The Orangery, Holland Park

Photographer: Sarah Gawler

Model: Zsanett from MOT

Stylist: Hannah Gooch

Styist Assistant: Emily Nicholson

Florist: LK Lily

Hair and Make-up: Daniel K Palmer

Stationery: Artcadia

Cakes: Victoria Made

Table linen: The Linen Works

Jewellery: Alex Monroe

Plates: John Lewis

Bell Jar: Ebury Home and Garden

Cutlery: Zara Home

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Mon 9th Jul, 2012

Ellie and Dylan's vintage inspired Surrey wedding

Ellie and Dylan tied the knot in April at The Church of St Peters and St Pauls, in Godalming, Surrey. They then transported their guests, via a fabulous old Routemaster bus, to their reception venue, Northbrook Park.

"Dyl and I first met in a bar I worked in, in Fulham when I was at university in London. He was a regular at the bar (so to speak) and we just really clicked!

We got engaged last year in Costa Rica. We always wanted to go to Costa Rica and when the travel agents started doing great deals there again we snapped up a 2 week holiday. Half way through the holiday we decided to hire a car and drive down south and stay in a beautiful treehouse lodge that one of my friends had recommended. Once we had checked in and had some lunch we decided to go for a walk along the beach. I had a quick swim and then we walked on to some rocks at the end of the beach. Whilst just looking in the rock pools I turned round to Dyl to show him something and found him down on one knee in the middle of the beautiful secluded beach proposing on the rocks. It was the day after our 7 year anniversary and I couldn’t have been any happier! For that moment nothing else around us existed, just Dyl and I, and the moment……it was a dream come true."

Thank you to Laura Dodsworth, Ellie and Dylan for sharing your story and beautiful photographs with us today and huge congratulations on your wedding!

Photography copyright 2012 Laura Dodsworth

"We went for roses in beautiful vintage colours of dusky mauves, pale pink and ivory (purple haze, blue curiosa, sweet avalanche and avalanche roses). Our flowers were done by Carrie Macey from The TopiaryTree with the exception of my bouquet and Dyl’s buttonhole though, which Dyl’s mum did for us.

I chose long strapless dresses for my bridesmaids in antique mauve, and for the flower girls I chose ivory dresses with the contrast antique mauve sash around the waist."

"I actually got back from Costa Rica after Dyl had proposed and had to go straight away with work to Hong Kong, so it was in the airport that I bought my first wedding mag where I found the designer of my dress. Having then gone to try on the dress I had seen in the image, it became clear that it didn’t suit me. I actually tried on a number of dresses my with Mum and sister after that one and it was with them I decided that an emalgumation of 3 dresses was what I wanted, and that is how we got to my stunning bespoke dress, by Italian designer Le Spose di Gio."

Dyl chose grey herringbone tails with ivory waistcost and cravat that had a softer feel and worked very well with the floaty, more ethereal style of my dress."

We had various different cars for the day. My bridesmaids, mum, flower girls and page boys travelled in the beautiful old Daimler limousine and the bridal car Dyl and I chose was Olivia….the 1923 Buick in Ivory with red interior (which matched the sole of my gorgeous shoes☺). We also had an old route master for the guests to travel in to the venue from the church."

"The day itself was everything and more than we had dreamt of. From two of our friends singing/playing guitar whilst I entered the church and walked down the aisle, through to the fabulous magician that blew everyone away by making a bottle seem to disappear through each of the dinner tables. The most special part of the day for us both was getting married in front of all our friends and family, but also having all our friends and family in one place, especially with my brother coming in from Thailand, my sister and family from Ireland and a number of friends making the journey from france, australia and New Zealand."

"It's hard for us to name any extra special moments as the day was just so lovely. I did however get a gorgeous bunch of flowers from Dyl at the hotel on the morning of the wedding that blew me away. And sharing the moments with my dad on the way to the church, and Dyl on the way from the church to the venue were incredibly special….they’re moments that you hold on to forever."

"Our stunning stationary was done by Anna burrows at Purple daisy cards. She was amazing at creating all our beautiful designs and they seemed to be very well received by everyone."

"We went for a lovely chocolate cake continuing with the vintage theme and had this designed with two layers that had a quilting effect and pearls designed in the icing. The cake was in pearised ivory with pink edible flowers as well and we also included some ‘snowball’ small style cakes and also cup cakes in the same theme."

Supplier info (UK)

Ceremony venue: The Church of St Peters and St Pauls, Godalming, Surrey

Reception venue: Northbrook Park, Bentley nr Farnham, Surrey

Dress: Bespoke from an Italian designer called Le Spose di Gio

Flowers: The TopiaryTree with the exception of my bouquet and Dyl’s buttonhole though, which Dyl’s mum - Kristina Cousen from The Blacksmith's Daughter did for us.

Photographer: Laura Dodsworth

Caterers: Moodies

Bridesmaids dresses: Dessy

Groom’s suit: John Goodridge in Farnham

Transport: Daimler limousine and a 1923 Buick in Ivory with red interior from Classic and Vintage and an old route master from Memory Lane

Cake: Oscars Oven

Hair: Giorgio from the Soma aveda salon in Chelsea, London

Make-up: Claire Dennis

Music: A Gospel choir in the church, a steel band for the reception drinks and The Rocksters for the evening

Stationery: Purple daisy cards.

Filmaker/videographer: The Camera chaps

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