A Beautiful, Pregnant Bride And Her 1930’s ‘Louche Glamour’ Inspired Brighton Pier Wedding…

It seemed appropriate this morning, following on from Jess's personal, brave and thought provoking discussion post about trying for a baby, that I featured this beautiful expectant bride and her Brighton wedding.  I love seeing brides with baby bellies. Love it. There's something so wholesome about it; two people who are in love, committing to one another, and very evidently about to become three people as their love  manifests itself into the form of a whole new human being. Isn't that incredible?

A couple of years ago, I put my camera shyness to one-side to model for the Tiffany Rose label who specialise in producing wedding dresses for expectant Mums.  I did this with two of my good friends, Tiffany Grant Riley and Vicky Rowe – we were all expecting within three weeks of each other and  Emily Quinton took the photographs. Despite the pre-shoot nerves, it was a total hoot! We had so much fun being glammed up, but more than anything else, it proved to me that there is choice for brides with a baby bump – that these brides needn't worry that they're going to resemble a sack on their wedding day! No siree.

Jess and Toby tied the knot on 14th June this year with a relaxed
and somewhat slightly breezy ceremony held at Brighton Bandstand – the
same place the couple met for the very first time.  The
evening reception was held at the Brighton Ballroom, because its
slightly seedy decadence fitted in perfectly with the couple's 1930's 'louche
glamour' theme.

Jess chose Brighton based designer Joanne Fleming to create her gown…

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, McKinley-Rodgers

"Joanne Fleming created a bespoke dress for me, using her Elodie design as a base. 

 Joanne
was a delight to deal with from the start – just sitting down and
watching her sketch my ideas was a wonderful experience.  I met with her
many times to finalise all the details of the finished dress – no mean
feat as I was 6 months pregnant on my wedding day!

I wanted something that fitted our 1930's
theme, and I knew I wanted it to be unique, so bespoke was the only way
to go for me.  I also knew I’d have quite a bump being pregnant, so I
wanted a dress that accentuated bump, but wasn’t too tight.  I love the
way that the lace overdress comes off, and I can wear the silky
under-dress separately."

"Toby got his suit from Ted Baker. 
I always hoped he’d wear a blue suit to match his eyes, and this was
the first suit we saw on the first day of shopping – definitely meant to
be.  He looked like a film star on the day.

I bought Toby some cufflinks made from 1930s Swiss watch parts from Pretty Eccentric in Brighton, and he had a handmade trilby from Mad Hatters on Sydney St in Brighton."

"All my bridesmaids were dressed individually depending on their
relative tastes.  As we were on such a tight budget we couldn’t buy
their dresses for them, and so it was really important to me that they
wore something they were happy with and could wear again.  They all knew
about the 1930s theme, and all I asked was that they wore cream,
knee-length dresses (and not to spend more than £35!). 

As
it was, they all interpreted this individually (with dresses from Ebay, Zara, some borrowed, some vintage), but all ended up co-ordinated incredibly
well together. 

I trusted my bridesmaids taste, and didn’t ask to see
their dresses beforehand – they’re your best friends, they’re not going
to let you down."

"Our wedding photographer was the best decision we made about the whole
day – hands down, without a doubt (apart from saying “yes” to Toby of
course!). 

As soon as I saw Penny and Cam McKinley-Rodger’s
pics I know I immediately wanted them to chronicle our day.  There’s
just such a gorgeous atmosphere in all their photos – something almost
intangible and magical about them.  When we met them we just wanted them
to be our friends they were so lovely – and in fact all our guests did
think they were our friends!  The pictures speak for themselves –
something for us always to treasure."

"The groom’s 93 year old nan did all the flowers – she was
utterly amazing.  She used to be a professional flower arranger, and it
was so lovely having her such an important part of the day." 

"I got my flower headpiece made for me by Fancier Feather.  Jordana makes beautiful bespoke headpieces and head-dresses, and was able to match the colour of my dress perfectly."

"I really wanted a pair of massively impractical high heels to
teeter around on, but being pregnant I knew I had to be a little bit
sensible.  I also wanted shoes I could dance in that weren’t going to
kill me after wearing them for 5 minutes!  I got my shoes from Beretun
Designs, a little shop in Brighton’s North Laine. 
I’d highly recommend them, as the owner will dye shoes any colour you
like, and embellish them with whatever you like too, so you can have a
really unusual pair of shoes made for very little money. 

Beretun also make dresses, and boleros etc.  As my dress was quite embellished already, I
chose to keep my shoes plain cream with cream ribbons."

"My lovely bessie mate Sylvi made our cake, and what a cake it
was….  The bottom layer was hummingbird cake (banana, coconut and
pineapple) with lime coconut frosting, the middle was lemon cake filled
with homemade raspberry curd, and the top was rose and pistachio cake. 
She even made a boozy fruitcake for the traditionalists in the crowd. 
She covered it all in Sugarveil, which is an sugarpaste that looks and
bends like edible lace."

"I did want my make up done on the day, so I wouldn’t have to
think about it – and it was also something lovely to treat my
bridesmaids to, as we couldn’t buy their dresses.  So we had the lovely
Clara from MAC in Brighton – after my trial session with her I knew she
was right.  She did a fresh look for me, and slightly more edgy looks
for the bridesmaids.

Alice from Pod in Brighton
did my hair on the day – she always does my hair, and I didn’t want
anything experimental or different!  She did some gorgeous 1930s smooth
sleek bobs for the bridesmaids too."

"Toby sorted our wedding car as a surprise through Imperial Wedding
Cars of Sussex, and it was one of my
favourite moments of the day walking out of my parent’s house and seeing
a huge silver car waiting for me.  The car was a refurbed London cab,
and the vintage look of the car fitted perfectly with the era of our
wedding." 

"Toby’s proposal was really special.  He painted it on a Victorian
phrenology skull! He took me to a pottery cafe, where he had specially
asked for a pair of skulls to paint.  I was busy drawing pretty flowers
etc on mine, and I could see he was very busy with his, dividing it into
sections, in which he painted all the beautiful thoughts he had about
us and our future together as a couple.  Then he spun the skull round,
and on the front was painted “Marry Me?”.  And we’ll always have that
permanent, romantic reminder."

"We decided to make our own wedding favours – it just seemed so
much more personal, and we wanted to give the guests something they
could remember the day by.  I made raspberry cupcakes for everyone and
decorated them in the reds and golds of the ballroom.

My
other lovely bessie mate Suzy made each guest a placecard.  She sourced
vintage postcards, and then typed up a little poem about every guest on
each one.

The order of service and all the stationery were designed and printed by another amazing friend of ours, Kieran Hood;
he’s a brilliant designer, and everything was beautifully elegant and
1930s themed.  The black and white looked gorgeous, and actually quite
understated next to the excess of the ballroom."

"We kept the decor simple; the ballroom was
so extravagant and over the top.  We simply filled white birdcages with
tealights, which looked very pretty when they flickered in the dim
lighting."

"We chose 1930's stye DJs to party with till 2am, and their music
selection (well known tracks with an electro swing makeover) was
inspired.  The ballroom also provided a contortionist, which was
absolutely hilarious, particularly when my mum caught the sweaty t-shirt
he threw into the crowd!"

"We REALLY didn’t want our first dance to be a big OTT thing –
awkward shuffling is much more our style.  I was also slightly concerned
I wouldn’t have the usual prop of being slightly tipsy due to being
pregnant, so just wanted something fun and silly.  We chose “Call Me Al”
by Paul Simon, which was just a brilliant laugh, and everyone came and
joined us on the second chorus."

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Have fun, have fun, have fun!  Honestly, I know it’s easy to say now
with hindsight, but try and be as relaxed as possible.  We planned our
wedding in a few months, some of which time I was pregnant – and it was
one of the best experiences we’ve ever had.  We just had such a laugh
doing it together – do get your groom involved.  Toby contributed to
most aspects of the wedding, and took great pride in creating and making
the seating plan himself.  But if yours is less keen on the minutiae,
then you could maybe give him a few of the major tasks to sort, like
being in charge of transport, and alcohol and even budgeting.  It’s less
work for you, and makes him feel so much more a part of everything. 

Ask
your friends and family to be involved too.  All ours were so brilliant
– and most people have something they would love to contribute.  It
makes the day so much more personal, and meaningful, and people are
generally happy to get involved."

"You can do it on a
budget.  I read a few wedding magazines, and panickingly convinced
myself we’d have to spend at least £15,000 if we were going to have an
amazing day.  In the end we did it for a third of that.  We had the
wedding on a Thursday, which really helped, and we chose the three
things that were really important to us (photos, food and dress) and
splurged on those.  For everything else we improvised, begged, borrowed
and stole – and got creative! 

Have a theme – it’s your
day so just go with what you love.  Everyone else will surprise you with
how much they get into it.  We ummed and ahhed about asking people to
come in 1930s clothing (and of course we didn’t force anyone to), but it
was one of the best decisions we could ever have made – everyone looked
AMAZING.  One guest had even found original Vogue patterns from the era
and made their own dress, others had hired things, others had been to
vintage shops, others just accessorised high street finds.  We had so
many passersby asking us if we were making a film etc, and telling us
how incredible everyone looked.  And I will never forget pulling up to
the bandstand and seeing everyone for the first time."

How much do I LOVE?!

Huge thanks to Jess and Toby and all my love for the safe arrival of baby!

Massive thanks too to the adorable Penny over at McKinley-Rodgers for sharing these images.  Ladies, you might want to check out these category links; expectant brides, babies, and more beautiful weddings from McKinley-Rodgers on Love My Dress.

I'd love some comments on this wedding, are any of my readers planning a wedding whilst expecting, and if so, what has your experience been of dress shopping and the like?

Pop back at 1pm for some absolutely beautiful images from one of my favourite industry designers.

Big baby bump love all,

Annabel

 

Photographer – McKinley-Rodgers
Venue – Brighton Bandstand
Brides dress – Joanne Fleming
Brides headpiece – Fancier Feather
Brides shoes – Beretun Designs
Groom – Ted Baker suit +  Pretty Eccentric cufflinks
Bridesmaids – Their own
Florist – Family
Cake – Friend
Transport – Imperial Wedding
Cars of Sussex