A Vivien of Holloway Bride and her Beautiful Barn Wedding…

Mooorrrnniing!!!  Thanks for being so patient this past 24 hours.  I've had the minor hiccup of a dieing laptop battery to contend with and I've been on my travels down to London so that I can spend time this evening at the Matthew Williamson boutique admiring his latest collection of beautiful bridal wear {that I'll also be sharing on Love My Dress, of course}.

OK, I'm wasting not a moment longer to share this latest wedding with you.  Jo and Alex tied the knot on 8th Oct 2011, at Rivervale Barn in Yately, Hampshire.  I love Jo's fabulous 1950's style full circle skirt dress was by Vivien of Holloway

"I bought this dress five weeks before our wedding (argh panic) and Alex came with me to London to buy it (I know…the groom seeing the dress before the wedding!? He is my best friend and I wanted to share that moment with him).

I had already bought a traditional dress (long before I planned my ‘vintage’ wedding) and as time went by I realised the dress didn’t fit my theme! So, we jumped on the train to London and bought my Vivien of Holloway dress and it was perfect.

I love the halter neck and the lace! It was so comfortable and amazing fun to dance in (lots of twirling). I’m sure I’ll wear it again too…"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copy right (c) 2011, Neale James

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"Our Florist was Blush Floral Design.  When we came to arranging flowers for our wedding I was nervous. All I knew was that I didn’t like any wedding flowers I had ever seen! The moment we stepped in to have our consultation with Blush, we knew they were perfect. The room was full of beautiful vintage pieces.

Bex and Beth from Blush were both lovely (and made brilliant tea)! Bex listened to us and created the most perfect centrepieces. She was also a wonderful friend throughout the planning process. I can't recommend Blush highly enough…"

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"Being an atheist meant that a church was out of the question – but I LOVE the architecture of religious buildings! I struggled to find a venue we both liked until we saw Rivervale Barn. The arched windows in the ceremony room gave it that church feeling and we booked the venue without viewing any others. Love at first sight!"

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"Before we were engaged, Alex and I saw the cakes on the English Cheesecake website and joked we would have to get one for our wedding. The look incredible!!! Then, as we actually had to make a decision on the cake, we thought ‘why the hell not’!? Alex loves profiteroles and I love cheesecake. Perfect! Our guests were amazed by the cake and we had it for dessert…"

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"Alex had four best men; Rich, Andy, Mark (were all in a band together for years) and Gareth (oldest friend).  Their suits were from Burton and ties/shoes etc were their own. As they’re all musically gifted they wrote us a best man song instead of a speech and performed it with acoustic guitars. It was absolutely brilliant and all our guests loved it. The chorus was:

“Alex and Jo, there they go,
If she’s Princess Peach then he’s Mario,
He works 5-9, answers to The Man,
Because his rock star dreams didn’t go to plan”

How cute is that?? 😉

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"We danced to to 'I'll Follow You Into The Dark, by Death Cab for Cutie.  It was always the song that Alex would hold my hand to when it played in the car. They’re my favourite band and Alex would always hold me a bit tighter when we heard it played at gigs. A

lthough it was always the obvious choice for us, I did resist choosing it throughout our engagement. The opening line is “Love of mine, someday you will die, but I’ll be close behind. I’ll follow you into the dark”. I was worried about people thinking we were morbid, as they didn’t understand the meaning of the song. I’m so glad we chose it though – any other song would have been second best…"

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Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Make it personal! I think so many weddings are planned as perfectly polished events but have no real connection with the Bride and Groom. Wedding trends will go in and out of fashion – but if your day is really personal, it’ll never be dated.

I spent a lot of my childhood being looked after by my Grandparents. As well as drinking a lot of tea, they bought me up on films like “Singin’ in the Rain” and all the old Rogers and Hammerstein classics. This I think has always made me have great affection for the 20’s – 50’s. I don’t think my wedding was era specific as there were bits and pieces from all decades. It was all the things that make me feel nostalgic pulled into one day…"

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Huge congrats Jo and Alex, what a beautiful day you had, thank yo so much for sharing it with me and my readers 🙂

The 50's style dress has been a really popular choice with Brides this past year – do you think the trend will continue? Do trends matter at all when it comes to your wedding day?

I personally think the look is beautiful, fun and timeless – and it also really suits and flatters a variety of shapes and figures, so bravo for Viven of Holloway and her team for reviving this fabulous circle style dress 😉

Much love all,

Annabel XXx

Photographer – Neale James
Venue – Rivervale Barn in Yately, Hampshire
Brides dress – Viven of Holloway + Lace Bolero from Wearable Artz + Beaded belt via Etsy
Brides Shoes – Bodini by Rainbow Couture
Brides Accessories – Lily Bella hair accessory
Daytime Necklace – gift from the groom from Pixie Dust on Etsy
Evening Necklace – 'Mrs Wilson', via Sugar & Vice DesignsGroom – West End (Simon Carter)

Bridesmaids Dresses – Dolly Dagger + Dorothy Perkins shoes
Flowers – Blush Floral Design
Cake – English Cheesecake website
Catering Company – Galloping Gourmet
Entertainment – Starsound Entertainment
Hair & Makeup – The Beauty Queens
Favours – Vintage Twee

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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