The way I am putting together the intimate real wedding of Vicky and Jeff is slightly different to the Rock My Wedding norm. For one their photographer was the uber talented and internationally acclaimed Jeff Ascough and this guy captures moments like you wouldn’t believe, pure unadulterated magic….. so there will be more of those than the abundance of detail shots we regularly post.
Two: there are a lot of black and white, again we tend to sway towards colour the majority of the time but some of my favourite images are definitely in the monochrome category.
Three: Vicky is a long-term RMW bride and part of our community, you may recognise her as “Bride and Chic” from our comments section. Vicky has written a particularly brilliant account which is detailed, witty and informative and is well worth a butchers.
Four: Part two is in fact a film, a beautiful, tear-jerking, moving and delicious film.
This whole chic and contemporary affair was about family, intimacy and the parts of a wedding that really REALLY matter – the people, the love, the hope and the joy.
Prepare to be enthralled lovelies.
The Beginning
Jeff (Mr C!) and I were married in June 2010 at the beautiful Great John Street Hotel, Manchester in an intimate ceremony with 56 guests followed by an evening reception for 200 at the equally stunning Radisson Edwardian Hotel. We had been together for 15 years (childhood sweethearts!) and have a gorgeous 3 year old little boy and so wanted something low key and small for the day but the big wow factor party for the evening.
We set the scene from the start with our informal save the dates, then on to our beautiful stationery from Emily & Jo and Hello!Lucky, complete with informal wording and rsvp’s with a twist!
I Dream In Tulle
Dress shopping…eeek! I have to say this is what I was most looking forward too and I booked my appointments weeks in advance. I devoured the style pages of every wedding magazine cutting out shapes and styles that I could see myself in so I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted when I set out on the hunt. I went to a shop in my local village which stocked Pronovias and Charlotte Balbier, two designers I wanted to look at more closely and managed to pick out about 15 dresses on my first visit. It was quickly decided by all however that I didn’t suit the big dresses, I looked like a little girl let loose in a dressing up box, and I have to say I was a little disheartened..
However, before we left I saw a dress on the mannequin that was simply gorgeous. Antique gold colour lace with a subtle scattering of beads throughout the fabric, shoulder straps (something I had requested) a sexy low cut front and an amazing ability to give you the most curvaceous figure. It was Charlotte Balbiers Tabitha and I loved it. But there was something niggling me, something stopping me from handing over the credit card. I felt like looked nice in it and it suited my figure perfectly but it didn’t suit my wedding. Was this a reason not to buy a gorgeous wedding dress? Well it was for me and after a brief WAG-ish moment of considering getting two dresses I walked away from the dress that is now known as the “if-I was-having-a-country-house-or-marquee-wedding” dress.
So the hunt continued. Another designer that I’d always been drawn to in magazines is Jenny Packham as for me her design-led dresses were truly the non-bridal bridal gowns I lusted after, just enough ivory or sparkle to make them perfect for a wedding but at the same time not frightened to embrace the trends.
At the same time I was acutely aware that I was not a flat chested six foot supermodel without a drop of fat on her, something which seemed to be a pre-requisite for JP designs. So, without much hope really I trotted off to a JP stockist Aphrodite Bridal in Knutsford and excitedly ooh and ahh’d over the beautiful gowns in this French boudoir style shop.
My dress Lida is actually not typically JP in style but I loved the tulle and bead detail and for the first time I actually had butterflies when I went to try her on. I knew even before I looked in the mirror that this was the dress for my wedding, it felt right, it had straps, it was cupped and it was corseted. I walked out of the fitting room and instantly felt like a bride. The staff coo’d, my mum gazed and I danced around the shop swooshing my full tulle skirt. Hurrah, I’d found my dress, that wasn’t too hard was it?!
Furthermore, a few days later after I’d had a minor dress wobble (it’s the law to have a dress wobble) I began flicking through my dress scrapbook to try to verify my decision and there it was, in all its glory! Little did I know that I’d actually cut out the dress very early on in my search, it must be love!
Accessories Rock My World
I love accessories, they are my life (quite literally, I am an accessory buyer, its my job!) and so I spent a lot of time deciding what was going to have the privilege of sitting alongside my dress on my big day. Early on I pretty much decided that I was going to bypass the traditional wedding tiara and so kept my eye out for any unusual designs that could work. I checked out magazines, websites and trawled the shops but nothing was jumping out… but then came X-Factor. Sat watching it one Saturday evening I think I quite literally jumped out of my seat upon seeing a gorgeous headpiece worn by Cheryl Cole with a particularly bridal looking dress, it was perfect.
The next day a quick bit of googling advised me that this too was a Jenny Packham piece, Acacia III to be precise but it unfortunately for me, it had star like quality but also a stellar price. Back to the drawing board then. Nah, who am I trying to kid, I was always going to get it, it was just a case of juggling the finances to ensure that it sneaked through on to the wedding budget under miscellaneous.
On a fab weekend in London with my mum I popped in to the JP boutique to try it on but horror of horrors, it was too dark, too vintagey for my sparkley dress! But no! It was ok as the assistant told me they had just begun to produce this piece in crystal and that they also did it in a slightly smaller size (Acacia II) which looked better on my little head and also on my budget spreadsheet, double hurrah!
The Oscars is always a good place to find inspiration for accessories and looks and I found mine strangely in Hannah Montana. Ok so it was Miley Cyrus looking particularly glam and grown up in Jenny Packham and sporting a cool sparkly gold cuff which looked great with her blush coloured dress. I set about sourcing a silver version and found a great style in House of Fraser (Aftershock).
For the day I intended on keeping it plain since I was wearing such a glitzy headpiece. However I received a gorgeous simple diamond Tiffany necklace from my mother in law to be as a gift for the big day and so just had to wear it. I then received a call from my step-mother-in-law-to-be to say that her jewellers said I could borrow a pair of earrings as well (talk about Oscars style although they’d obviously not seen me out on a normal drunken night as they would most certainly have declined to offer!) and so I picked out some amazing round art deco style bobby dazzlers! That just left my handbag which was a cute little taupe coloured hard clutch with a little diamante clasp, again from Aftershock in House of Fraser.
I am what most people would consider vertically challenged although I prefer short-ass. At just about 5ft 3” it was a no brainer that my shoes would be high and most certainly not bridal as then I could justify spending a little more on some skyscrapers so off I trotted to London. Using my tried and tested cost per wear theory I managed to convince Mr C that Christian Louboutin’s Yolanda’s in silver pewter were not a ridiculously expensive pair of shoes as it might seem but actually a bargain in waiting if I wore them every day for the next two years. So they were bought and I was what you might call a happy bunny.
Nailing It With Chanel
I am completely useless at hair and make up, fact.
I never had any intentions of doing my own and immediately booked my hairdresser for the day. I also spoke to a make up artist Michelle Cannon who I’d worked with before and she happily agreed to do me and the girls. I decided on smoky eyes with nude-y, glossy hint of peach lips to give an edgier look and finished it off with a classic rouge noir on the nails (much to the dismay of many around me, “you can’t have black nails!”…) I am so glad I stuck to my guns though, I loved them on the day.
My hair is quite fine and there is not a lot of it and so up do’s are quite the anticlimax on me, the bun I create looks more like a grape in reality! So, off to the salon for some hair extensions to add that necessary volume, I was really chuffed with them and have unwittingly now officially become a high maintenance wife. On the day my hairdresser created exactly the look I was after, the brief was a nice up do but then as though I’d been dragged through a bush and I think he got it just right.
Possibly The Loveliest Maids Dresses In The World
For my “small and intimate” wedding I ended up with an inordinate amount of bridesmaids, flowergirls, page boys and ushers who almost made up half of the wedding party. We’d already decided on black suits and black ties for the men so most already had these and the little boys had cute little suits from Next. The two flower girls wore Monsoon dresses which weren’t dissimilar to my own and finished them off with boho headbands and satin pumps.
For my bridesmaids, I knew we would be going high street, there didn’t seem to be much point in spending a lot of money on a dress that realistically (as much as you say you would wear it to a ball or a cocktail party) would only be worn once.
Out shopping one Saturday I spotted an ivory dress that I already had in black from French Connection and thought it would make a really cute city wedding bridesmaid dress so got the girls together for a little try on. There were thumbs up all round (what was there not to like, it was uber-flattering, cute and very wearable) so four were bought and off we skipped…
A few days later though I did have a little wobble (probably after reading too many bridal magazines and seeing heaps of traditional taffeta bridesmaids dresses) and thought that I’d been too hasty, a short chiffon cap sleeved dress was not really a bridesmaid dress. Luckily for me however, before I marched back down to the shop for a refund I stumbled across a stunning wedding report on YAYW that had rocked the same dresses and they looked A.Mazing. Fab, wobble over!
A couple of weeks later one of my bridesmaids quite selfishly went and got herself pregnant (joke?) and so we took back her dress (a heavily pregnant bridesmaid in a short ivory dress would probably not be a good look!). She was reluctant to wear ivory so we hunted down something gorgeous but that would fit in with our “look” and found that in a lovely soft grey chiffon knee length tea dress from ASOS maternity. Although I didn’t really have a colour theme for the wedding, we had stuck to neutrals and the day invitations were grey and white so the dress would suit it perfectly. Then for the shoes, a shopping trip resulted in the purchase of four pairs of grey suede hidden platform high heels from Dune, perfect colour co-ordination.
Get Thee To Saville Row
Mr C had said from the start that he wanted a bespoke suit for the big day and so it felt only right to go with a classic black 3 piece suit with waistcoat. We made a date with Kilgour on Saville Row who created the most gorgeous suit I have ever seen (ok, so it nearly cost as much as my dress but as he quite rightly pointed out that he’d probably get a whole lot more wear out of his suit than I would my dress!).
He finished it off with a Thomas Pink plain white shirt and Nicole Farhi black shoes and when I saw him waiting for me at the ceremony I was so proud that the handsome dapper man in front of me would be my husband.
Capturing The Memories
Photography is really important to me and I knew this would use up a chunk of the budget. I really didn’t want the usual wedding photography, cloned images from wedding days, brides with face ache from spending hours grinning at the camera. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted as many images from my day as I could and I always have my camera with me on a night out and, particularly after a few drinks, like to get my own pose on. But I wanted the photographer to capture the memories, real ones of nervousness, trepidation, happiness, excitement and relief.
So I set about with this in mind and started looking for a reportage photographer who shared this vision and was stopped in my tracks by one particular image whilst flicking through a bridal magazine. At first I hadn’t realised it was an advert for a photographer I was just stunned by the image. I quickly noticed it was an advert though and immediately went about googling him which resulted in more spectacular images and more excitement within. Needless to say he was quickly contacted (he was free and he was local, hurrah!) and so he was booked, Jeff Ascough, one of if not the pioneer of photo journalistic wedding photography.
Today when I look at all the fabulous images from the day, I am easily transported back there, that is what Jeff excels in, story telling and vision and he captured every emotion I remember from the day.
Fantastic Florals
I am not a big flower person, so much so that when I did find a centre piece I liked, I emailed it to flower obsessed bridesmaid to show her the lovely roses for her opinion and she replied that the peonies were gorgeous.
Anyway, I completely left it up to the professionals, Blossom in Chorlton, and gave them a few ideas on colour etc and left it that. I remember walking in to the ceremony room and after clocking my gorgeous husband, the second thing I noticed were the beautiful flower arrangements around the room. Small posies in vintage style vases were scattered around and candles flickered next to them. In the Oyster bar downstairs Blossom had done an amazing job, I had calla lilies and foliage in long vases which worked brilliantly with the high ceilings and then in the adjoining library we had round fishbowl versions which were lovely. These were finished off with vintage cracked votives and tea lights scattered on each table. Magical.
For the evening my wonderful wedding co-ordinator Julie Dawson ferried all the tall arrangements over to the Radisson to add them to what was already displayed there and again the effect was spectacular.
Originally I wasn’t going to have a bouquet but that was until I spotted an amazing creation by Mat Hepplestone of Red Floral Architecture that appealed to my inner magpie. It was faux silk roses (this time they were roses!) intertwined with lace, tulle, chiffon, pearls and with diamante brooches pinned on for an amazingly vintage look and better still, it would last forever. I went to visit him and discussed my requirements and he also created matching corsages for my bridesmaids.
Make A Wish
I love macaroons and so it seemed like an obvious choice for a favour but struggled to find a supplier in the north west. However, about a month before the wedding I stumbled across a company Forman and Field that made and delivered them in ice packs and so quickly arranged delivery of vanilla flavoured beauties. These were boxed in to mini bird cage boxes from Confetti and offered as favours at the day.
I also wanted to give another separate gift to the ladies and in one of my many Etsy browsing sessions little wish bracelets jumped out at me, perfect. I redesigned the cards myself to match our stationery and attached the little hemp and bead wish bracelets to them and as I type, I’m still wearing mine, my wish yet to come true (although I can’t remember now what I wished for!). I love seeing friends and family still wearing theirs as well, it’s like a little reminder of the day.
For the evening guests we kept it a bit lighter and put some comedy props on each table ranging from glo sticks to googly eyes and of course every guest got to take home their photobooth picture as a keep sake.
The Big Party
After the venue and photographer were booked we looked in to the next main thing, the entertainment. For us this wedding was to be an intimate ceremony followed a huge big party to celebrate us finally making it down the aisle and so we wanted to make the evening reception extra special.
The first thing we looked in to was the band which was probably the most difficult part of the organising since we’d both seen many a band make or break a wedding reception. What we were looking for was a band who would appeal to all ages but who would not just play the usual cheesy wedding songs that get a few old aunties up. No Abba, No Robbie Williams and certainly no “Build me up Buttercup”.
We set about googling and came across ReelDeal, an 8pc band made up of session musicians and singers who seemed perfect. Their set list was varied from new to old stuff, rock to pop and so we booked them (at a not cheap price!) with some trepidation as we had not had chance to witness them live. However, we needn’t have had any concerns as they were out of this world, absolutely by far the best band I have ever seen play a wedding. From the second they came on blasting out Stevie Wonder to the minute they finished they had everyone up and dancing, young and old with an amazing collection of motown, pop, rock and soul hits. I had so many people come up to me and say how amazing they were and I’ve never seen a dance floor so full.
We also booked a DJ Matt Maurice to finish the night off until the early hours and he managed somehow to keep the atmosphere alight following Reeldeals performance by playing a great set until the early hours, the final song being a very drunken free-for-all-storm-the-stage- karaoke style sing song of Take That’s Never Forget.
However, the master stroke of the entertainment was to book a photo booth. I had dillied and dallied over this for months after having first contacted a company called SayFromage the year before but Mr C wasn’t bowled over saying you can book it if you want but it will stand empty (you don’t know my friends Mr C!). Well they would be what you call “famous last words” as I went ahead and booked our uber-cool photobooth and it was for most people the highlight of the evening with a queue for it all night. Not only did each picture get projected on to the hotels big screen that dropped neatly from the ceiling but you were also able to quickly print out the photos there and then, one going in our guest book and the other to keep. I put some props by the booth (we love a good prop!) which resulted in some amazing/ funny/ downright weird photos!
A Dramatic Ambience
The room where we had our wedding breakfast at the Great John Street Hotel is spectacular, from the second I walked through the door I knew it was right. You enter through heavy tied back curtains to see flickering candelabras a high ceiling from where a vintage art deco chandelier hangs, luxurious velvet baroque style furniture and opulent gilt edge mirrors adorn the walls. I felt like I’d walked in to a secret gentlemen’s club (not of the spearmint rhino variety) and if someone had offered me a Cuban cigar and glass of whiskey I think I would have sat down and puffed the afternoon away.
So for the actual day I wanted to keep hold of this vibe and although we had to lose the furniture I ordered in some silver colour chairs and asked the hotel to put as many candles around the room as possible. Apart from adding the flowers to the tables we could not have made it look more inviting.
At the Radisson we requested the black out blinds be pulled down and tea lights to again be scattered around the room and on the tables and I also booked some small up lights for a bit of mood lighting throughout the room. Again however we were very lucky in that the room in this listed building sold itself, the high ceilings and original arched windows looked so dramatic.
Cheese Cake
I am not a huge fan of wedding cake and I think it’s quite an expense for something that nobody really eats so we decided on layers of cheese instead which we thought would be great for the midnight munchies. I know this is not really a novel idea nowadays but I was surprised at how many people were gobsmacked it was cheese!
We chose some fab local cheeses from our village deli and they decorated them with some fresh white flowers, sparkly brooches and ribbons that I had supplied. I also sourced some rather cute bird toppers from the fabulous cottonbird designs on Etsy which she turned into mini me’s by adding a little sparkley headband to mine and little black suit to Mr C’s.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
We decided that since we both have two left feet (unless we are drunk and then we think we are Diversity!) we would not have first dance as such, we just requested a big opening number from the band which they said they would surprise us with. Well, surprised we were when we were invited on to the dancefloor to sing Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder with the band! Ok, we can safely say that we won’t be giving up our day jobs but it was so funny and we had all our friends and family up clapping and singing along with us.
Were you a little bit astonished by the amazing photography? there were just so many “blow up on your wall and keep forever” images.
The gorgeous video and photo booth hilarity is coming right up in part 2
With HUGE thanks to Jeff Ascough for letting Rock My Wedding feature his work, you’re a legend.
Big Guiding Light Love
Charlotte xxx
