It's been way too long since I featured a gorgeous real wedding, and it's definitely time to introduce all you newly engaged brides-to-be to the wonders of stealworthy ideas. These are the snippets, goodies and wedding details that you can only get from the fabulous pooled creativity of real brides. Stunning couple Laura and Ben are a great example. With their rustic barn wedding, pretty mint and vintage theme, and eye for a bargain, their wedding is chock-full of wedding inspiration. Laura loves a good DIY project, and packed loads into her wedding to give it that personal touch so key to making your wedding stand out from all the others you'll go to this summer! You'll love her handmade table names, printed 'Wed-Libs', and rustic wedding signs. For favours, Laura chose to reflect her and Ben's heritage, with palm leaf fans sent over from the Philippines {Laura's mother is Filipina}, and miniature bottles of Ouzo for the boys {Ben's mother is Greek Cypriot}. I love Laura's elegant wedding style; the lace overlay of her fitted wedding gown, and her simple up-do and cathedral-length veil, decorated by her mum with diamante. Enjoy these brilliant pictures by Kate Gray Photography of the wedding ceremony, and stay tuned for all the reception shots, later this afternoon.
We got married at The Olde Bell, Hurley on Saturday 21st September 2013. We looked at seven local venues on Christmas Eve 2012, and this one just felt right.
I was spoilt as my hair and make-up was done by the ridiculously talented Lauren Appleby who again happens to be one of my best friends and one of my bridesmaids. Lauren is trained in everything from stage hair and make-up, to wigs and special effects make-up for TV and film, and even body paint! Having someone I know so well to help me get ready was what dreams are made of. Thank you so much for making me look so beautiful ☺!
I bought the first wedding dress I tried on….in shop number 5 - Pure Couture in Beaconsfield! Choosing my gown was a very difficult decision for me. Coming from a performing background it was hard to not feel like I was at a costume fitting. Even when I had found ‘the one’ I had it altered, so that it was a unique one-off.
Pure Couture did a fantastic job of making me feel special & putting up with the long list of alterations! I bought a hair vine from The Bridal Shop and also a plain full length single tier veil. My mum brought some diamante back from a recent trip to her home country, the Philippines, and hand-sewed them onto the veil, so that it looked scattered with diamonds. It was beautiful!
My earrings and necklace were my something borrowed from my now sister-in-law, and I bought my shoes from Karen Millen, 4" platform stilettos covered in Swarovski crystals… Princess shoes!
I had a red-head bridesmaid so had to be really careful with my wedding colour choices. In the end I picked mint green, with splashes of vintage pinks, ivory, hessian, pearls and lace.
My bridesmaids looked gorgeous in mint green. Their dresses were above the knee & baby doll style with capped sleeves & plunging neckline. I bought these from JJ’s House. DON’T DO IT!!!!! They came in the completely wrong sizes, they wouldn't take them back, and it cost me twice the cost of each dress AGAIN to alter them… nightmare!
My girls wore nude colour shoes of their choice, as I wanted them to be comfortable all day, and this worked well. I had their jewellery handmade as a gift, and they all wore sets of gold and pearl earrings, necklaces and bracelets.
Ben hired his outfit from Moss Bros, and wore a traditional tail coat with pinstriped trousers. All the groomsmen wore the same outfit, with waistcoats. Ben had an ivory cravat, and the boys had sage green. We bought them all cufflinks to wear as thank you presents.
The Olde Bell had a country feeling that Ben & I grew up with, and we instantly knew we could easily achieve the soft, romantic wedding atmosphere we were hoping for.
The grand hotels we looked at just seemed a bit formal for us, and we didn't like the thought of knowing that people other than our guests would be in the venue on the day. We could hire The Olde Bell exclusively, so that worked perfectly for us.
We had the wonderful Bethan Gillard playing her gorgeous harp throughout our wedding ceremony, a recommendation from Ben's uncle.
I walked up the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, and we walked out to Handel's The Arrival of The Queen of Sheba.
Our florist was a lovely lady called Anne Harris of By Arrangement Flowers, who was recommended by a friend. I actually already knew her, as I taught her daughter dance!
I didn't know a lot about flowers but with the help of internet searches of bridal bouquet images and Anne's advice, I decided on a mixture of roses, freesias, hydrangeas and gypsophila. For an extra special touch I asked Anne to wrap pieces of satin and lace that had come from my dress alterations around each bridesmaid bouquet.
Luckily for me my photographer was also one of my very best friends, Kate Gray Photography. To have someone I knew so well with me all day to capture every moment was so calming and reassuring, I am very lucky.
Kate also did a pre-wedding shoot with us to see how were as a couple and to help us feel less pressure on the day. The whole experience was amazing and the pictures are truly awesome, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Thank you so much my friend ☺
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We got married at The Olde Bell, Hurley on Saturday 21st September 2013. We looked at seven local venues on Christmas Eve 2012, and this one just felt right.
I was spoilt as my hair and make-up was done by the ridiculously talented Lauren Appleby who again happens to be one of my best friends and one of my bridesmaids. Lauren is trained in everything from stage hair and make-up, to wigs and special effects make-up for TV and film, and even body paint! Having someone I know so well to help me get ready was what dreams are made of. Thank you so much for making me look so beautiful ☺!
I bought the first wedding dress I tried on….in shop number 5 - Pure Couture in Beaconsfield! Choosing my gown was a very difficult decision for me. Coming from a performing background it was hard to not feel like I was at a costume fitting. Even when I had found ‘the one’ I had it altered, so that it was a unique one-off.
Pure Couture did a fantastic job of making me feel special & putting up with the long list of alterations! I bought a hair vine from The Bridal Shop and also a plain full length single tier veil. My mum brought some diamante back from a recent trip to her home country, the Philippines, and hand-sewed them onto the veil, so that it looked scattered with diamonds. It was beautiful!
My earrings and necklace were my something borrowed from my now sister-in-law, and I bought my shoes from Karen Millen, 4" platform stilettos covered in Swarovski crystals… Princess shoes!
I had a red-head bridesmaid so had to be really careful with my wedding colour choices. In the end I picked mint green, with splashes of vintage pinks, ivory, hessian, pearls and lace.
My bridesmaids looked gorgeous in mint green. Their dresses were above the knee & baby doll style with capped sleeves & plunging neckline. I bought these from JJ’s House. DON’T DO IT!!!!! They came in the completely wrong sizes, they wouldn't take them back, and it cost me twice the cost of each dress AGAIN to alter them… nightmare!
My girls wore nude colour shoes of their choice, as I wanted them to be comfortable all day, and this worked well. I had their jewellery handmade as a gift, and they all wore sets of gold and pearl earrings, necklaces and bracelets.
Ben hired his outfit from Moss Bros, and wore a traditional tail coat with pinstriped trousers. All the groomsmen wore the same outfit, with waistcoats. Ben had an ivory cravat, and the boys had sage green. We bought them all cufflinks to wear as thank you presents.
The Olde Bell had a country feeling that Ben & I grew up with, and we instantly knew we could easily achieve the soft, romantic wedding atmosphere we were hoping for.
The grand hotels we looked at just seemed a bit formal for us, and we didn't like the thought of knowing that people other than our guests would be in the venue on the day. We could hire The Olde Bell exclusively, so that worked perfectly for us.
We had the wonderful Bethan Gillard playing her gorgeous harp throughout our wedding ceremony, a recommendation from Ben's uncle.
I walked up the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, and we walked out to Handel's The Arrival of The Queen of Sheba.
Our florist was a lovely lady called Anne Harris of By Arrangement Flowers, who was recommended by a friend. I actually already knew her, as I taught her daughter dance!
I didn't know a lot about flowers but with the help of internet searches of bridal bouquet images and Anne's advice, I decided on a mixture of roses, freesias, hydrangeas and gypsophila. For an extra special touch I asked Anne to wrap pieces of satin and lace that had come from my dress alterations around each bridesmaid bouquet.
Luckily for me my photographer was also one of my very best friends, Kate Gray Photography. To have someone I knew so well with me all day to capture every moment was so calming and reassuring, I am very lucky.
Kate also did a pre-wedding shoot with us to see how were as a couple and to help us feel less pressure on the day. The whole experience was amazing and the pictures are truly awesome, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Thank you so much my friend ☺
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Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.
