I can't think of a better way to start the week than with this colourful and quirky English garden wedding inspired by all things 1950s and fabulous!
Featuring a beautiful, Burmese bride in Charlotte Balbier with not one but two glam hairstyles and a pair of heart-tastic Vivien Westwood heels, classic tuxes for the boys were topped off with colourful, textured billy ball and thistle boutonnieres.
Add to that floral printed fifties bridesmaids' dresses with yellow petticoats perfect for swishing, teapots filled with flowers, handmade bunting, gingham details and the awesome FO Photography behind the lens.
Yep, Lwin and Ben's wedding is positively brimming over with sunshine, smiles and loveliness!
The Dress
I always envisioned wedding dress shopping to be magical moments but in reality, I had a pretty awful experience; I thought I was doomed to never find my dress but then, I went to a local bridal shop – Harrington and Cleur and it was wonderful.
I wanted a traditional wedding dress with a hint of 1950s Grace Kelly style and my Zara by Charlotte Balbier ticked all the boxes – it had a beautiful sweetheart neckline and a gorgeous lace bolero.
Hair & Accessories
As my mum is a hairdresser, she did my hair – it was perfect, plaits and a twisted bun in the middle. I’m not really a veil kind of girl, so I opted for a side tiara which I won in a competition on English Wedding Blog. One of my first ever wedding purchases was a garter, ‘Allegra' Silver Sixpence In Her Shoe!
An Emotional Walk Down The Aisle
When Ben proposed to me, he had ‘our song’ playing. Nick Cave's ‘into my arms’; I asked the Pianist to play this song when I walk down the aisle. As soon as it started playing, I started to cry! The crying carried on throughout the day!
Ceremony Reading
Ben’s Sister read Union by Robert Fulghum.. We chose this reading because we can relate to every single word. Every time I read it, I start to well up.
Wedding Rings
Both wedding rings were designed and made in Burma – my mum was living there at the time and generously brought our rings for us! Ben’s ring is a solid yellow gold ring and mine was a diamond wedding band. The diamonds have been passed down from both maternal and paternal Grandparents. Some of the diamonds are more than 100 years old.
Wedding Decor
I can’t believe how lucky we were to have our wedding reception at Ben’s Grandma’s garden, family means a lot to us and it was wonderful to have a personal wedding.
I really wanted a vintage undertone to our wedding. My mother-in-law sewed 42 metres of bunting for the Capri marquee and 8 table cloths. For table centres, I used teapots that we'd hunted for in charity shops.
The reason I wanted teapots is because when I first met Ben's family, I was amazed at how much tea one family could drink in one day! So the teapots were in honour of them and their ability to consume so much tea! We put vintage photos of loved ones who couldn’t be there with us on our tables.
Flowers
For my bouquet, I wanted a hand-picked look. I asked Ben what he wanted for his button holes, he did some research and came up with Craspedia and Thistles – they looked great!
My bouquet & the floral table arrangements were different combinations of Craspedia, Eryngium, David Austin Rosa, Aster, White Scabiosa, Pink Hypericum and Eucalyptus. Bridesmaids' bouquets were of Gypsophila.
Charitable Favours
My mum is a devoted charity worker in Burma. Our favours were made by blind children, the money we paid for the favours went directly to their education, health and welfare.
Jam Jar DIY Decor
Over the past year, my friends have been lovingly collecting jam jars for us! A couple of days before the wedding, my sister, mother-in-law, sister in law to be & I spent 4 hours wrapping wire around the top of the jars; I did this with freshly manicured nails.
We filled some of them up with Hydrangeas that Ben's Grandma had in her garden. I loved how we used fresh, home-grown flowers for our tree decorations; the remaining jars were filled with tea lights.
Bridesmaids' Dresses
I've adored 1950s fashion ever since I was a young girl, so when I was hunting for bride's maids' dresses, I came across a shop called Vivienne of Holloway. They make beautiful 1950s circle dresses and I had to have them for our wedding. The pink, floral print design was just PERFECT and the yellow petticoat was a must have!
The Food
Ben and I love good food. I really love the idea of a hog roast for my wedding and when I presented the idea to Ben, he loved it too! The whole run up to the wedding he couldn’t stop saying how much he couldn’t wait for the hog!! Charming! For the evening, we bought buffet style finger food from Marks & Spencer to keep our costs down, it was all delicious and affordable for us!!
DIY Cake & Cupcakes
My bridesmaids, Amy and Emma stayed up quite late the night before the wedding to make the wedding cake. 100 cupcakes and a cutting cake! I’m so lucky to have such amazing friends!
The First Dance
Ben and I danced to Ingrid Michaelson's ‘You and I’.
The line ‘don’t you worry there, my honey, we might not have any money but we’ve got our love to pay the bills’ really described what we went through and still going through in our relationship. Some of the lines were a bit saucy – they got our guests' attention!
FO Photography
Our Photographers, Funmi and Adrian of FO Photography were absolutely amazing. They took shots without interfering – we didn’t have to do silly poses, which made it natural. We felt so relaxed around them throughout the year of planning and on the day, they were so attentive and supportive.
We are so happy with our end results that we can't stop looking at our wedding photos as they really captured the special moments!!
Advice For Other Couples Planning Their Weddings
During the run up to your wedding day, people’s behaviour and attitudes might change, some people will let you down and some will even say stuff, to try and ruin your day but don’t let them bring you down! Focus on you and your groom and what the day means to you! Also, don’t forget to include your groom-to-be in the planning process, it’s their big day too!
Oh, I also wish I'd bought an evening dress, it was so hard to dance in my corseted dress!
Thanks so much to Lwin and Ben for sharing their wonderful wedding with us – wishing you all the best for married life!
Huge thanks also to FO Photography for sharing these beautiful photos too ~ see more on their blog and Facebook.
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