Take the prettiest of pink details, gorgeous Art Deco bridesmaids gowns, and a stunning English rose bride, and you've got wedding heaven. Lovely Nicola and James celebrated their wedding day at Dulwich College, and I've fallen for its stunning historic rooms, and lovely grand staircase. Nicola chose a pretty vintage feel for her big day, and spent months planning DIY ideas and creative projects on Pinterest. The end result is a gorgeous wedding day with tonnes of stealworthy wedding ideas. My favourite details? Nicola's elegant chignon and veil combo, her beautiful Sarah Seven gown with its lace back, and the white taxi transport! Beautiful pictures by Lily Sawyer Photography. Be sure to check out Lily's blog - I'm a huge fan of her work. Don't miss the wedding reception pictures - coming later today.
We celebrated our wedding at Dulwich College on the 23rd May, which was just around the corner from James and my first home. We'd always thought it to be a beautiful place, whenever we walked past on a sunny afternoon.
The ceremony was in the old library and our reception was in the Barry Buildings at the college which have some amazing features.
My wedding dress was made by an American designer called Sarah Seven that is stocked at Frou Frou Brides in Tunbridge Wells. The dress was the biggest challenge of my wedding planning as nobody tells you that a bespoke dress has at least a six month lead time and I was searching for a dress only four months before our big day.
Short of time, I took advice from a friend that was already married, and started in the shop where she bought her dress. It turned out I actually bought one of the dresses I first tried on, but I did have a few more appointments at different boutiques just to make sure it was the one!
I also made some small changes to my wedding dress - adding a cap sleeve and swapping the lace design, to one from another dress from the same designer. So if you're looking for a wedding dress, it's always worth asking if something isn't quite right.
The shoe choice was easy - my 21st birthday present was a pair of Manolo Blahniks so they were my something old. That left me with budget for a sparkly pair of French Sole flats for dancing!
My bridesmaids dresses were from Adrianna Papell, a designer stocked at House of Fraser. I wanted the dresses to be beaded, and these were perfect. I let them all pick the shoes they felt most comfortable in, so they were a mix of Dune and Kurt Geiger. We choose feather boleros from Coast but it was warm enough that they didn't need them.
My wedding florist was the The Fresh Flower Company in East Dulwich. They did an amazing job and really listened. The shop is just lovely and they have great taste. I had a fifteen minute consultation with them to discuss what I wanted, which was great fun. They were happy to look at my ideas from Pinterest and elsewhere, and then mock up a few ideas.
I was quite relaxed about the flowers chosen to create the look I wanted and put my trust in them as experts. We agreed on Sweet Avalanche roses and gypsophila for the bridesmaids and button holes, but my bouquet changed the day before the wedding, as they called me and said the most amazing peonies have just arrived, and would I like to use them? I did, and the bouquet was perfect.
I lucked in with my veil as it was a friends, so that was my something borrowed. For jewellery my maid of honour bought me a beautiful silver bracelet, and I wore earrings that were a present from James. I was really lucky, as not only were these things sentimental, it also meant I didn't blow the budget on accessories.
My husband chose a smart navy linen mix trouser and a grey linen jacket with brown brogues all from Marks and Spencer. We then picked the accessories together, so that they complemented the colours I had chosen for the bridesmaids and flowers.
The pink pocket squares were from Reiss and the grey and white ties from John Lewis. James loves pink, so he also picked pink socks from Charles Tywritt.
For our wedding decorations, I was keen to a have theme that complimented the venue which is why I opted for a pretty vintage feel. It all just sort of evolved as I planned. I didn't have anything in mind at all, so headed straight to Pinterest as soon as the venue was booked, and started my own wedding pinboard.
The colour scheme came from the bridesmaids dresses which were the first things I bought after seeing them on Pinterest, and madly dashing around London to find the right sizes.
I had key ideas like I knew I wanted to wear lace, so with that, and my venue I started building up a picture of a vintage wedding with typically British elements such as jam jars and tea cups.
Our wedding photographer was Lily Sawyer. We choose her from looking at her shots online, we didn't want the photos to be cheesy or too arty and she got it just right.
Love Before the Big Day? Find us on Facebook and Twitter, and check out our Pinterest boards. Don't miss a single post - sign up to our free RSS feed on BlogLovin!
We celebrated our wedding at Dulwich College on the 23rd May, which was just around the corner from James and my first home. We'd always thought it to be a beautiful place, whenever we walked past on a sunny afternoon.
The ceremony was in the old library and our reception was in the Barry Buildings at the college which have some amazing features.
My wedding dress was made by an American designer called Sarah Seven that is stocked at Frou Frou Brides in Tunbridge Wells. The dress was the biggest challenge of my wedding planning as nobody tells you that a bespoke dress has at least a six month lead time and I was searching for a dress only four months before our big day.
Short of time, I took advice from a friend that was already married, and started in the shop where she bought her dress. It turned out I actually bought one of the dresses I first tried on, but I did have a few more appointments at different boutiques just to make sure it was the one!
I also made some small changes to my wedding dress - adding a cap sleeve and swapping the lace design, to one from another dress from the same designer. So if you're looking for a wedding dress, it's always worth asking if something isn't quite right.
The shoe choice was easy - my 21st birthday present was a pair of Manolo Blahniks so they were my something old. That left me with budget for a sparkly pair of French Sole flats for dancing!
My bridesmaids dresses were from Adrianna Papell, a designer stocked at House of Fraser. I wanted the dresses to be beaded, and these were perfect. I let them all pick the shoes they felt most comfortable in, so they were a mix of Dune and Kurt Geiger. We choose feather boleros from Coast but it was warm enough that they didn't need them.
My wedding florist was the The Fresh Flower Company in East Dulwich. They did an amazing job and really listened. The shop is just lovely and they have great taste. I had a fifteen minute consultation with them to discuss what I wanted, which was great fun. They were happy to look at my ideas from Pinterest and elsewhere, and then mock up a few ideas.
I was quite relaxed about the flowers chosen to create the look I wanted and put my trust in them as experts. We agreed on Sweet Avalanche roses and gypsophila for the bridesmaids and button holes, but my bouquet changed the day before the wedding, as they called me and said the most amazing peonies have just arrived, and would I like to use them? I did, and the bouquet was perfect.
I lucked in with my veil as it was a friends, so that was my something borrowed. For jewellery my maid of honour bought me a beautiful silver bracelet, and I wore earrings that were a present from James. I was really lucky, as not only were these things sentimental, it also meant I didn't blow the budget on accessories.
My husband chose a smart navy linen mix trouser and a grey linen jacket with brown brogues all from Marks and Spencer. We then picked the accessories together, so that they complemented the colours I had chosen for the bridesmaids and flowers.
The pink pocket squares were from Reiss and the grey and white ties from John Lewis. James loves pink, so he also picked pink socks from Charles Tywritt.
For our wedding decorations, I was keen to a have theme that complimented the venue which is why I opted for a pretty vintage feel. It all just sort of evolved as I planned. I didn't have anything in mind at all, so headed straight to Pinterest as soon as the venue was booked, and started my own wedding pinboard.
The colour scheme came from the bridesmaids dresses which were the first things I bought after seeing them on Pinterest, and madly dashing around London to find the right sizes.
I had key ideas like I knew I wanted to wear lace, so with that, and my venue I started building up a picture of a vintage wedding with typically British elements such as jam jars and tea cups.
Our wedding photographer was Lily Sawyer. We choose her from looking at her shots online, we didn't want the photos to be cheesy or too arty and she got it just right.
Love Before the Big Day? Find us on Facebook and Twitter, and check out our Pinterest boards. Don't miss a single post - sign up to our free RSS feed on BlogLovin!