Our Wedding Part 1: Getting Ready With The Girls

Having just celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary, it's time to share our wedding story.

Did you see my wedding inspiration board yesterday?

I think it's important to mention that our wedding did not turn out exactly as the inspiration and vision I had in my head. It was pretty close but there were some things that we just couldn't afford or didn't have time to organise.

But, despite all that, our wedding was far more amazing than I ever could have imagined. I don't think I've smiled so much in all my life. Things weren't perfect {wilted peony in my bouquet, tiny boutonnieres, mismatched groomsmen anyone?} but it really didn't matter, we were having far too much fun to care!

Getting Ready

As you may have guessed by now, what with all the pink around here and my regular beauty posts, I am quite the girly girl and one of my favourite parts of a night out is getting ready with the girls. So I was really REALLY looking forward to getting ready on the big day with my beautiful bridesmaids and closest friends, Kelly, Emma, Jackie, Amie and Gemma.

I felt surprisingly calm and happy watching as the girl's flitted about while I was having my hair coiffed to perfection. My wonderful maid of honour, Kelly, just happens to be an amazing hair stylist so she offered to do the rest of the bridesmaid's hair. I didn't mind how they wore their hair as long as they felt comfortable.

Hair

I always knew I'd wear my hair down on my wedding day. My hair is very long and poker straight but I envisioned beautiful Rita Hayworth waves in keeping with my vintage theme. Thankfully, Sev Hubert, of the Hepburn Collection, specialises in vintage hair and he perfected my waves, making me feel like a glamorous film star! He was also really lovely too, with lots of French charm and flair.

Make up

I'd had a few make up trials but just didn't feel comfortable wearing so much make up (Zee saw me after one trial and said I looked like I was auditioning for Dancing on Ice!) so, needless to say, I chose to do my own make up on the day. I did have a cheeky set of eyelash extensions the week before which helped to make me feel a bit more glam!

The Dress:

I sketched my dream dress a few days after Zee proposed; a slim fitting vintage looking lace dress with delicate lace straps and a sweetheart neckline. I had only been to one wedding dress shop before I discovered Sassi Holford but that was it, I had to have a Sassi Holford gown! The inbuilt corsetry is so flattering and the laces are exquisite. I spent many many hours at their Fulham road boutique trying to decide what gown to go for-it was so difficult because there are so many stunning dresses!

My wonderful, patient mum sat outside the dressing room week after week as I tried on and retried the same 3-4 dresses, trying to decide on ‘The One’. I was an indecisive, nightmare bride yet the ladies at Sassi Holford and Sassi Holford herself were so patient and lovely with me. In the end, Sassi designed a gorgeous, demure, bespoke dress that I absolutely adored. She also designed a long waterfall veil with lace edging at the bottom to complement the dress perfectly.

Good job I did love my dress because I ended up wearing it again the next day when we left the honeymoon suite of our hotel because I forgot my overnight bag! {That’s a story for the grandkids!}

Bridesmaids:

I always knew I wanted my bridesmaids to be in dresses that reflected their own style. They are all so beautifully different and I wanted to celebrate that rather than stick them all in a dress that I liked but that they would never want to wear again.

So the brief I gave my bridesmaids was simply that they could choose any Dessy dress they wanted in ‘Blush' and any gold shoes of their choosing. They even chose their own accessories too! I had so many compliments from our guests about opting for different yet complimentary bridesmaid’s dresses and the girls looked absolutely gorgeous in their dresses.

Accessories

While I was at an accessories fair on the hunt for a vintage headpiece, I tried a Dolecka fabric flower on a whim and loved it! It still looked vintage but was very romantic and complemented the English rose look I was going for. I chose a small pale blush pink rose and an ivory larger rose and Sev pinned them in place perfectly on the day.

I also wore a simple pearl bracelet made out of my Aunt Bell’s pearls that she’d given me on my 21^st birthday. It oozed pure vintage elegance and I loved how delicate it looked on my wrist.

I chose ivory satin, peep toe sling-backs with a slight platform and I had my pillar-box red nail polish peeping through to add a bit of colour. On the bottom I stuck some rhinestone stickers that said ‘I do’ as my something blue!

So what were my dad's words of wisdom as advice as we headed off on our journey to the ceremony? “Just don't do what we did!” {My mum and dad have been amicably separated since I was little.} Gee, thanks Dad!

Come back tomorrow for the next installment of our wedding story…

Any other Sassi Holford brides out there? Or anyone else planning on opting for mismatched bridesmaids dresses? I'd love to hear from you.