A Dress To Dance In – Coast Bridal Collection For A Belle Epoque Wedding

In this our final piece for today, Shahad and Simon tie the knot in their fun, elegant and family focused wedding that was held on 1st September at The Belle Epoque in Knutsford.

Shahad decided that a high street wedding dress was the best (and I have to say, quite stylish) option to go for and purchased her gown from the Coast Bridal Collection.

"My dress was from the Coast Bridal Collection. I wanted something that I could be really comfortable in, that I knew I
could dance in all night! I loved how simple it was but it still felt
really special, and I thought it fitted in perfectly with the venue.
" 

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Jonny Draper

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"We’re both in the same line of work in the NHS and met at a
national conference! We realised we lived fairly close, became friends
and got together a few months later. Five years on we’re living together
and working in the same hospital! We had always talked about our future
but I was still completely surprised when Simon popped the question just
before Christmas in 2011

He had been planning it since the summer and
had spent months designing my engagement ring and picking the perfect
sapphire and pearls from an ethical jewellers.

It’s absolutely beautiful
and I love that it’s one of a kind and exactly what he wanted me to
have! After Christmas we didn’t waste any time booking the wedding for nine
months later!"

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"When we started looking for venues we wanted something unique and a
place that would reflect our personalities. We did a lot of internet
surfing and discounted lots of places! The Belle Epoque in Knutsford
in Knutsford was the first place we actually visited in person and we
absolutely loved it from the second we walked in! We took advice from
family and visited a couple of other places but nothing compared and we
knew we had found the perfect place.

We especially loved how flexible
and accommodating they were, allowing us to plan our day exactly how we
wanted it and going out of their way to make sure it all went smoothly."

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"Our venue was so well dressed and they even provided
centre-pieces for the tables so that we didn’t really need a lot of
flowers. I wanted a bouquet for myself and my bridesmaids so went to my
local florist The Mustard Seed Florist.
They were wonderful as I didn’t really know what I wanted but they were
full of fantastic ideas to suit my budget.

I just wanted something to
suit the venue and so gave them some pictures to work with and left them
to it! The first time I saw my flowers was on the day and they did not
disappoint! They have also dried beautifully so are a lovely reminder of
the day."

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"We had decided not to have favours because we didn’t feel they were
necessary. But my sister lives in America and she brought over some
Hershey’s hugs and kisses which we put in a tray by the dance floor that
people could help themselves to all night.

This worked really well and
everyone loved them (especially Simon’s 2 year old nephew who made
several trips back and forth!)."

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"My bridesmaids were my sister-in-law and my best friend. They have
very different complexions so we knew finding a dress that they both
felt comfortable in would be tricky! So we decided to have their dresses
handmade so they could wear the same dress in different colours! We
picked the fabrics and they were made by Emmy from Sew n Reap who did an amazing job!"

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"My 18 month old niece was my flowergirl and she looked so cute in
her BHS The Wedding Boutique dress. The colour was perfect as it matched
in nicely with the adult bridesmaids. Unfortunately she had flown in
from America only the day before so was a bit jetlagged throughout the
day!
"

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"We didn’t really have any inspiration for our day, the
only thing we both wanted was for it to be as relaxed and informal as
possible and for everyone to have fun. We practically planned the whole
day ourselves (with a few ideas from our friends and family!) so it was
exactly as we wanted it to be. It helped that our venue was so flexible
so we could have the food and entertainment we wanted.
"

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"We were lucky enough to have Jonny Draper
as our photographer. We met a few others before we found him but we
immediately felt a connection and were confident that he understood what
we wanted.

We loved his relaxed style and it was good to know he had
shot at the venue before. He has an amazing eye for a photo opportunity,
which meant we could really take advantage of the beautiful sunset that
we weren’t expecting. His service was excellent from start to finish
and his support has continued well past our big day!
"

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"We bought our wedding rings from the same jeweller that made my engagement ring, Cred.
Simon was really impressed with their service and having ethically
sourced gold was very important to us both. They offer a bespoke wedding
ring service also so I could have one that fit my engagement ring
perfectly. They are so important to us and we will truly treasure them
forever.
"

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"During the ceremony we had two readings. When
we first found An Excerpt from Union by Robert Fulgam, it felt like it
had been written for us. The second reading was A Lovely Love Story by
Edward Monkton and really helped to lighten the mood!"
 

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"Simon’s suit was from House Of Fraser.
We weren’t even looking for a wedding suit but just came across it and
he loved it. He did have his heart set on a 3 piece though so we had a
waistcoat made to complement it at Moss.
The service there was fantastic and they spent a long time advising on
fabrics and customising the buttons on the suit to match the waistcoat.
In the end it was a lovely outfit and he can’t wait to wear it again.
"

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"Simon’s mum made the whole cake with her own fair hands.
She’s an artist so is very creative and we knew she would do a great
job. She even hand painted the flowers on individually! Everyone
commented on how tasty it was and we are still indebted to her for how
much she did.
"

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"It’s impossible to pick my favourite part of the day as
the whole day was so amazing. But one of the highlights had to be when
Simon’s dad called everyone down to the lounge where he had set up a
slide show entitled ‘Simon and Shahad – the journey so far’ and which
consisted of photographs from when we were babies up to the present day.
It was hilarious and such an unexpected surprise! When we found out our
whole families had been involved we couldn’t believe how sneaky they
could be!"

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

"We both thought it would be fun to provide our own
entertainment. We are both from quite musical backgrounds and have lots
of talented friends who were happy to chip in! So we kicked the evening
off and instead of a first dance, we had a first song! We hadn’t told
anyone we were going to do it (in case I changed my mind at the last
minute!) so it was a fun surprise for everyone. It turned into a bit of
an open mic night and everyone seemed to really enjoy it!

Afterwards we
danced the night away to a playlist we had put together with all our
favourite songs and any requests that guests had made on their RSVPs. We
didn’t miss having a DJ at all and it saved us a lot of money.
"

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"One tip I would give is to create a wedding website! We set one up through Getting Married.
It was really good fun to put together and a really easy way of getting
all the important information about the order of the day and where to
stay to our guests without the need for expensive inserts in the
invitation. Our guests also used the website to RSVP which meant we
didn’t need to provide cards or pay for postage.

When you first start planning a wedding you can become quite
overwhelmed with everything you think you need. Our advice would be,
don’t feel under pressure to have anything that is not important to you.
For example, we didn’t have traditional favours because we didn’t feel
we needed them and they weren’t missed, but we were able to spend the
money we saved on things we thought our guests would appreciate more,
such as an evening cheese board!
 

Plus, it’s the small details that cost little but really count
and that make the day individual and memorable. For example, we created a
crossword about ourselves that people could do over dinner as a fun
conversation starter and I put together a hamper for the ladies bathroom
which had things like hairspray, lip gloss and party feet in! These are
the things that our friends commented on after the big day, not how
expensive the wine was."

Coast Wedding Dress Belle Epoque Knutsford Wedding

Anyone else looking to Coast or an alternative high street store for their wedding dress?

Thank you so much Shahad and Simon for sharing your wedding day with us, and to photographer Jonny Draper too for asking us to feature these lovely photographs.

Much love all,

Annabel

Heart

Photographer – Jonny Draper
Venue – The Belle Epoque in Knutsford
Brides Dress – Coast
Groom's Attire – House Of Fraser
Bridesmaids – Sew n Reap
Flowergirls –
Flowers – The Mustard Seed Florist
Cake – The groom's Mother
Entertainment – The bride and groom!

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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