Well, have I got a treat in store for you guys today. I almost fell of my chair when I spotted this wedding on Steve Gerrard’s blog, and then had to send a very excited email to Charlotte to share. As you know, we like a bit of unique chic here at Rock My Wedding, and we also like a couple who aren’t afraid to do their wedding their way so this just put a big fat smile on my face. Lauren, the Bride, has written all about the day and her planning ideas so lets get straight down to the good stuff!

Lauren & Ashley were married in January at Hogarth’s Hotel, Dorridge, Solihull. The cooler than cool photography was all by Steve Gerrard.

A Polka Dot Bride

I knew what I didn’t want from my wedding dress but wasn’t sure what I did want until I found it. Unfortunately the dress I set my heart on only came in pink or gold, so Claire & Sarah from Quello set about creating a dress from scratch which was even better than the first one I found.

It was great because I had so much say in the fabrics used to really tailor it for me. I loved the idea of incorporating polka dots so the spotty voile on the layers was a subtle way of doing that!

Custom Accessories

I decided against having a veil as I felt it would detract from the dress. Instead Claire & Sarah made a headpiece which was a smaller version of the flower on my dress using some of the spotty voile & wool.

For jewellery I went for quite simple designs. My bracelet was by Lily Belle from notonthehighstreet.com – I liked the fact that it was quite rough looking hammered silver which isn’t typical bridal jewellery.

I then found some earrings which were really similar by Genna Delaney although I accidentally ordered the necklace instead of earrings! I’d left it a bit late & by the time I realised it was too late to get them sent to my house. Genna was so lovely & sent the earrings to the hotel for me to pick up on the morning of the wedding. Luckily it all turned out OK.

Pink Shoe Love

As I was wearing ivory & had ivory flowers too, I decided to use my shoes to add a splash of colour.

I was looking for a really rich dark pink but didn’t want massive heels or flats – I found them in LK Bennett & the colour was perfect.

Gunmetal Girl

My Mum (Marian Shaw) is a designer with a clothes shop in Kenilworth & she made my sister’s bridemaid dress. The three of us designed it together & tied it in with the design of my dress by using layers and crinkled fabric. We went for gunmetal grey to match the boys’ suits & to make the colour of her flowers stand out. Her anemone necklace was a gift from me on the day which I found online at Abigail Percy.

Putting on the Ritz

Ashley has always said that he’d want me to look like me on our wedding day & as I don’t usually wear a lot of make-up I was mindful not to go over the top. For that reason I decided to do my own make-up, got some advice from a lady in Boots & just bought a few special bits for the day.

Up-dos don’t suit me so I decided to have my hair down & curly to make a change from my usual straight style. My hairdresser blow-dried it in the morning, then my bridesmaid (my sister, Gemma) & I curled a few extra bits later on.

Anemone Adoration

I wanted bold flowers & we eventually decided on anemones as the main flower for the bouquets & button holes. They’re so cute with a little black dot in the middle & we could get them in all the colours we needed. They’re also available in the winter which was an issue I hadn’t really considered.

I loved the hanging anemones from my bouquet! We did consider having knitted or felt flowers but for the amount we needed it would have cost a fortune (& my knitting’s not up to scratch).

‘Knitting out’ the Boys…

We found suits really early on in Next! Everyone liked them so we bought them before they ran out! As we’d decided on a woolly theme, we asked my great aunt to knit some ties – they were a massive hit with our guests! The shirts were white with a polka dot texture & my mum changed the single cuffs to double cuffs & added a pink lining. They looked fab but I don’t think anyone else noticed the details!

Although our three little nephews weren’t official page boys, we still wanted them to be involved so they wore grey corduroy suits, spotty shirts and the cutest dark pink Converse trainers.

OMG. I love this wedding. The quirky style. The wool thing. The fabulous Dress and accessories.

Really. Seriously. Cool.

Come back for more wool love tomorrow…

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

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