Diana and Omar got married in August just around the corner from me at St Mary’s Church in Bearwood in Birmingham. They had a Reception at Moxhull Hall in Wishaw.

It’s always nice to a wedding that took place on your home turf – Diana chose some fabulous local suppliers to help make her wedding run like clockwork, so if you are a midlands bride-to-be in the throws of planning then this feature may be exactly what you are looking for. We can particularly recommend The Bridal Rooms Broadway, Chloe McCall makeup and the legendary Passion for Flowers who are all members of our Love Lust List in the West Midlands area.

Photography today is by Daffodil Waves.

Second Time Lucky

I did eventually find my dress after making a mistake and buying firstly a dress I wasn’t 100% happy with.  I eventually sold that dress and was really happy that I did.
 
Then I found my Dress which was Demetrios it cost £2000 it was from The Bridal Rooms in Broadway in the Cotswolds. 

 
When I first tried on my dress and came out of the changing rooms we all gasped.  It was a vintage gold colour lace with a layer of sequins underneath which gave it a very shimery subtle sparkle.  It was embrodered with tiny pearls.  My only worry was the neckline was v-shaped and a little bit low but Emma Said I could have a lace panel put in.  I also asked for buttons to be added up the back as I love buttons.
 
I also had my veil from The Bridal Rooms Broadway – Emma has lots of different veils from English designers and mine was Richard Designs it was a very subtle gold/cream colour hand made with a thin lace edge that alsmost looked liked tiny daisys.  It was very pretty and was cathedral length stopping just before the edge of my train.  I had always wanted a long veil after seeing a picture of my mum in a long veil when she married my dad.

Soft Dusky Pinks

One of the first things I bought for my wedding was my head dress.  I went to Modern Bride show in London and I met Gillian Million of Million Design.

Gillian has a shop in Teddington and makes gorgeous bespoke hand made headresses.  I tried on the vintage Lepley and fell in love with it. It is a stunning headdress that lies flat to the head and replciates gypsopholia in the hair. It is incredibly intricate and made of tiny seed pearls. I told gillian I loved the soft dusky pinks, so for my headress she used cream and pink freshwater pearls laced with lots of tiny swarvoski crystals so that it sparkled. It was £450 but I think it was worth it as it was an original piece and so classic I will keep it forever. Once I had my headress I took it with me when I went to choose my dress to make sure it would match and it really influenced what dress I went for.
 
I also had a bracelet earrings and necklace from Chez Bec which my mum and husband bought for me as my wedding presents.

Something Different

I love shoes and wanted something different from the classic wedding shoe which I dont really like.  I saw Rachel Simpson shoes at Vintage Chic Wedding show – All of her shoes are quirky with a vintage twist.  They are also beutifully made and comfortable too.  I had Mimi which where in a cream colour satin with a gold T Bar they have a 4 inch heel so not too high.

Light And Natural

I booked Natalie Bartram to do my hair. She has won lots of awards in the Midlands for Bridal hair and she is really friendly and bubbly and amazing at her job.
 
for my hair I wanted a vintage style up do and found lots of pictures Taylor Swift with the type of style I wanted. I showed the pics to Nat on my trial and she recreated it but with a few changes and it was exactly what I wanted.  She curled all my hair through and then pinned it to the side.  It stayed in place all day.
 
 I had booked someone originnaly to do my makeup who I did not like – she wasnt very friendly or helpful so I asked Nat and She reccomended Chloe McCall to me. Chloe had won Midlands best Bridal makeup last year, she uses arirbrush to apply your foundation and it gives a lovely effect that is not heavy or sticky and lasts all day. this was good for me as I have quite oily skin and don’t usually wear a lot of foundation.  I wanted my eyes to stand out with a vintage look but nothing too heavy or unnatural looking.  I really loved the end look.  She also did my Mum and my sisters make up and they both looked fab.
 
Both Chloe and Nat were amazing on the morning of the wedding they kept me calm and just helped things to go smoothly.

Pink and Cream

I absolutely love flowers – to me it’s not a wedding without lots of pretty flowers and the colours I wanted were soft pinks and dusky pinks and creams.
 
I saw Passion for Flowers also at the Vintage Chic Wedding show and loved their work.  They are so different to other florists I have seen they use lots vintage pieces to display the flowers and no wedding looks the same. They help you not just with your flowers and table centres but the whole venue styling too.
 
Karen from Passion for Flowers spent lots of time with me discussing what look I wanted.  She used roses and hydrangeas heads and gypsophilia in china teapots, teacups and old fashioned perfume bottles to decorate the room. For the centre pieces we had wide footed vases filled with pearls and roses and hydrangea heads and also tall candelabras decorated with roses and hydrangeas – it looked very glamorous.  I had lace table cloths on each table and a scattering of dusky pink rose petals and pearls. Each table had lots of tiny tea lights too.

 
For my bouquet I had beautiful avalanche roses and with a deeper dusky pink rose and atsrantia and trailing whites scented flowers.  It was hand tied with lace. I loved my bouquet, after the wedding my mum took it to my granddads grave. The bridesmaids had hand tied bouquets of Hydrangea heads and astrantia and my flower girl had a pommodore of gypsophila.  I didn’t want the flowers to be all exactly the same as I think it looks really pretty to have a contrast.
 
The groom had a dusky pink rose with a white spray rose and the groomsmen all had a single dusky pink rose.

Evening Tails

Omar wanted to wear black tie as he doesn’t like cravats and I thought that white tie evening tails would fit well with our smart vintage theme.  We hired the suits for the groomsmen and Omar from Moss Bros.  Omar wore a white dickie bow and the others wore black.  The dads  wore their own suits but bought a black dickie bow.  The guys looked really smart in their evening tails.

Straight Out Of Downton

Omar looked lovely in the evening tails and white tie he looked like he had stepped straight out of Downton! I bought him some silver cufflinks and had then initialled with our names and the date.  He bought his shoes from Jeff Banks.

We Had Fun

My photographer was Nicola from Daffodil Waves.  Nicola is a very talented lady with a very individual style.  We saw her pictures on a blog and both loved them straight away.  When I met her we got on like we had known each other for years.  Omar and I now definitely consider Nicola and her husband our friends.  On the day Nicola made me feel at ease and we had fun.  We were really happy with our pictures and we have had lots of compliments about them.

Cupcake Tower

Our cake was from Cotton and Crumbs. For our cake we went for a cupcake tower with a top two tier.  I wanted the cake to reflect our flowers and I sent Tracey from Cotton and Crumbs a picture of my type of bouquet and the type of colours I was having and it was created to match that.  the cupcakes all either had roses or edible pearls on top of them.  The top tier had cascading roses.  It was gorgeous and matched the room and flowers perfectly.
 
We kept one tier for ourselves lol!! it was Carrot cake.  The cupcakes were sponge either filled with lemon or raspberry jam… It was yummy!!

Perfect Harmony

For the church we had a 30 piece all male choir – The Kidderminster Male Choir.  I found them online as I really wanted a choir for the church as I think it adds to the atmosphere.  When I saw them they were all wearing red blazers and dickie bows and I knew they would be perfect.  They sounded ammazing too.  they sang before I arrived to entertain the guests and they sang the hymns and while we signed the register.
 
On the evening we had a great band called The Redfords who also sang our first dance for us.  I love a band as I think it gets everyone up and dancing.

A Fun First Dance

For our first dance we had I Just Can’t Stop Loving You by Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. It was a really fun part of the day doing our first dance.  Its just a really nice song that says it all for us – I bought the song in as a framed vinyl for one of Omars wedding presents.

Decor Galore

We had bunting oustside the church.  I had name places made in the shape of luggage tags with a dusky pink rose lace pattern on and tiny pearls.  The table plan and guest book were of the same design and from Lilylou and You.
 
On the evening our photographer organised a photowall that was really fun and it got everyone chatting and having a laugh together.

A Final Thought

Don’t try to overmatch things. I think it looks so much nicer if there is an ecclectic mix.  Try and keep a little mood board of your ideas, I collected mine on pinterest.  Get good suppliers try and find out about people before booking them
 
Also, only invite the people you really want there – we felt our day was really fun as everyone who was there we really like and care about and it was mainly a young crowd – so try and keep a hold on your guest list if possible.

Venue – Moxhull Hall, Wishaw

Boutique – The Bridal Rooms Broadway

Dress –Demetrios

Headpiece – Gillian Million

Shoes – Rachel Simpson

Hair – Natalie Bartram

Makeup – Chloe McCall

Flowers – Passion for Flowers

Photographer – Daffodil Waves

Cake – Cotton and Crumbs

Stationery – Lilylou and You

Choir – Kidderminster Male Choir

Band – The Redfords

I bet the 30 strong Kidderminster Male Choir lifted the roof off that church in Bearwood – such a nice idea, music really helps to create an atmoshphere and I bet there were quite a few tingly spines on that summers day in Brum.

Adam.