An Antique Lace Wedding Dress For A Beautiful Irish Bride

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Good morning gorgeous – let us not waste an ounce of precious time today, let's get straight to another gorgeous and wonderful wedding day on Love My Dress – this time, with a couple who chose Northern Ireland to tie the knot.

Ellen and Liam got married on 31st May 2013 at St Patrick’s Church in
Dungannon, followed by a reception at Larchfield Estate

"I don’t think there was any one real inspiration for the style of
the day. I already
knew where I'd probably get my dress before even getting
engaged and I think the style of the dress ended up influencing our day a bit subconsciously.  Ultimately, w
e wanted a very laid-back and happy day first and foremost, but I think everyone does!  We
did have three rules for the day; no colour scheme, no chair covers and
no stuffy morning suits. We didn’t feel the need follow any traditions
that we didn’t want to."

Photography Copyright (c) 2013, The Campbells

Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"Liam and I met at a music festival in Clapham, London. Liam is 6’4” so I saw his head pop up over the crowd grinning at me!  He
proposed on a Saturday morning before taking me out in London for the
day, it was completely out of the blue so I was very shocked. We were
engaged for just over a year."


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"My dress was sourced, designed and made by the amazing Jane Bourvis.
I stumbled across her shop years ago on a crazy street near Portabello
Road. It’s truly a stunning shop and she is just lovely.  Jane's shop is
like no other shop I have ever been in.

You are guaranteed to leave
with something truly unique and beautiful. 
Jane sources pieces
of antique lace and then styles them together into the most stunning
dresses I’ve ever seen. The lace on my dress was over 100 years old!"

Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"I
tried on a few of her dresses and I loved them all! But this one had a
style all of its own and I just loved it from the first moment I saw it!
It had a different belt to begin with so I changed that but it's more
or less how Jane put it together. It's not white, it's a lovely golden
champagne colour. I really didn’t want a classic off the peg wedding
dress, though I did want something fairly traditional.

 I didn't wear a veil. I think the dress did enough! Jane did however give me the most beautiful old hair comb to wear on the day.
It was costume jewellery but fairly old. It suited the style of the
dress perfectly. She saw me admire it and she gave it to me as a gift a
few weeks before the wedding."


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"We searched high and low and scoured Pinterest for stylish
bridesmaid dresses that didn’t look  'bridesmaidy'. I hated all of the
dresses available 'for bridesmaids'. Why do they have to look like
bridesmaids in a dress they'll never wear again?? And any dresses in the
high street shops were too unsuitable as they were too short, tarty,
tight, etc. 
 

We ended up falling for these ones which were on a
website in America called Nordstrom. They're made by Maggie London (but
ironically not available in the UK). They are really beautiful dresses
and totally wearable, comfortable, stylish. I thought they were perfect
but it's a shame we had to go so far afield to find decent dresses!
"

Jane-bourvis-antique-lace-wedding-dress-irish-wedding_0033

"I went a bit off-piste and wore sky-high sparkly Carvella shoes
from House of Fraser
. I loved them and surprisingly they really worked
with the dress. I wanted to be tall for my very tall husband-to-be and
thankfully I didn’t break my neck!"

Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"Liam spoiled himself with a suit from Richard James in Saville Row
in London. He'd been planning on getting a good suit for years, this
seemed like a good opportunity to debut it!

He bought his bow tie from Mrs Bowtie. His shoes were from Barker as was the belt, his shirt was Hugo Boss."


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"A lady called Kate from Dungannon did my flowers. I loved
them! They were just what I wanted. She did both of my sister's flowers
at their weddings."

Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"I designed and made all the invitations, orders of service, place cards, menus and table names.   I
got the idea for the invitations online and I found the font
‘Landsdowne’ (for free) online. I wrapped the invitations in brown paper
and string and bought decorative stamps from the post office website. I
thought they looked like little packages from the war!  
I
bought cheap picture frames for the table names (for about £1 each from
Tiger). I used luggage tags for the place settings and tied them to
everyone’s wine glass. 

The table plan was written on an
old window frame which my brother found in a salvage yard. I wrote all
the names on each pane with a white glass marker the day before the
wedding.  
I found a lot of these ideas on Pinterest, it was great for original ideas!"


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"We loved Larchfield
from the moment we saw it so there was no question there really. The
outdoor gardens were so established and beautiful and the old barn was
just what we wanted.  

Jane-bourvis-antique-lace-wedding-dress-irish-wedding_0033

"We used my great-grandfather's car to take us around. My uncle
has had it completley re-conditioned and kindly lent it to us along with
Jim our driver! It was really perfect for the day.  Then we
hired a bus to get everyone to/from the church and Larchfield. Liam's
relatives had all flown/driven over from Wales or England, so they
needed some help. It meant it was one less thing to worry about."

Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"We found the The Campbells through a friend. She didn’t know them but was impressed by their portfolio and value for money.  We
met Neal in Belfast for a coffee one day and we really liked his
portfolio. We took a big gamble as we were almost going to go with
someone we knew already, but I am so glad we went with Neal and Kristy!
They were fantastic. Their photographs captured our day perfectly.

The Campbells knew exactly the kinds of things we wanted to focus on, all the kids,
our families, the dress(!), the venue. They were so friendly and
approachable and extremely hard working on the day. They knew Larchfield
quite well, too, so they brought us to all the secret little places to
take some truly amazing pics. We loved them and cannot recommend them
highly enough!"


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"My mum gave me her gorgeous hexagonal citrine necklace which was
perfect for the dress. I didn’t wear any earrings, I completely forgot
to get any! Mum also lent me some simple gold bangles on the morning of
the wedding as I'd forgotten to get anything for my wrists either.

Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"Our make up was really lovely and natural, courtesy
of Laura from Beauty Within in Dungannon. She came down to my parents
house and looked after my two bridesmaids, my two sisters, my mum and
me!
  

Our hair was done by Amanda and Nicola from
the Surgery in Moy. They managed to make us all look very glamourous
with classic, elegant up-styles, all a little different."


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"My mum and dad have about 30 old milk bottles which we filled with
flowers from their garden the morning before the wedding. It was a
fairly cold Spring so we didn’t have as many flowers as we thought we
would, but we made do and ended up with a lot of Rhododendron and
foliage. 
I got beautiful varnished wooden platters  for the table centres from 'Into the Grain'.
They make bespoke wooden furniture and art.

They were really beautiful
and included the original detail of the wood. I know the owner quite
well so he did me a fantastic deal! We gave them out as gifts afterwards
to close family and friends and those who helped us on the day. I guess
they were kind of like wedding favours in the end!
  But the
venue really spoke for itself. We had the option of having drapes on the
walls, fairy lights, etc to decorate the barn, but we felt it would
take away from the charm of the place. Why book a barn if you intend on
covering up all the stone walls and wooden beams with white sheets?!"


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"We hired a ceilidh band which was great for getting everyone up and
moving after a big dinner. The band was organised by a guy called
Gerard McStocker and he was fantastic! No one had a clue what they were
doing but they guided everyone through the moves and helped everyone
out. It was really good fun and a perfect ice breaker. It made a real
change from the typical cheesy wedding band.

We hated the thought of doing a slow soppy first dance. So we chose
the song that reminded us most of us, it was 'The Look, by Metronomy'.
We just danced like we normally would, it was great!
"


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride
 

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

 "I would say, never be forced into
doing or changing something you don't want to. Some people were very
unsure about the venue, the dress, the ceilidh, the invitations, but it
all came together so well and they loved it all in the end! As long as
you and your partner are happy with things, then do not let anyone stand
in your way.

Keep a spreadsheet!  And don't spend too much money, it's just a day! 

Maybe make sure there’s somewhere to put all the cards on the day
because we ended up just shoving them in a room somewhere and hoping
they wouldn’t go missing. It would have been good to have somewhere to
put them. But I honestly wouldn’t change a thing, I’d go back and do it
all again if I could."


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

"I think a lovely meal is enough and I never really know what to
do with wedding favours myself, unless someone has spent a complete
fortune on them!

We
hired an additional room off the barn for any kids at the wedding. Any
parents who couldn’t get childcare just dropped kids off there for the
meal and speeches. We fed them fish fingers and chips, paid two creche
workers for a few hours, they brought all their own toys and we hired a
TV/DVD player. It was a great idea! kids were happy, grown ups were
happy. 
Neither of us really liked champagne or Prosecco, so we
got our favourite drinks for afterwards; Hendricks with cucumber. For
some reason the catering company added lemon too but it was delicious. I
found coloured straws on Amazon which made them look really fun."


Antique lace wedding dress, Jane Bourvis wedding dress, Irish wedding, Irish Bride

You can see more Jane Bourvis dresess here.  I just love the whole idea of crafting a dress from vintage fabric over 100 years old.

Huge thanks to The Campbells for so kindly sharing their work on Love My Dress today, and congratulations to you Ellen and Liam! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with our readers.

Inspired by this wedding? What appeals to you about these nupitals?

With much love,

Annabel

Heart

Photographer – Campbells
Venue – Larchfield Estate, Northern Ireland
Wedding Dress – Jane Bourvis
Brides' shoes – Carvella shoes
from House of Fraser

Groom – bespoke suit via Richard James in Saville Row + bow tie from Mrs Bowtie
Bridesmaids – Nordstrom
Flowergirls + Page boys – Monsoon
Flowers – Local Florist, name unknown
Entertainment – Ceilidh band organised via Gerard McStocker (no website)
Catering – Yellow Door

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.

12 thoughts on “An Antique Lace Wedding Dress For A Beautiful Irish Bride

  1. You are so welcome guys, such a beautiful day, I can see why you have a bit of a soft-spot for it. I adore Ellen’s dress too – I’ve long been a bit of a fan-girl of Jane Bourvis xXx

  2. Thank you so much for featuring us! This has brought back so many happy memories, it was such a brilliant day!
    The Campbells are such a talented pair, they captured the day perfectly! You’ve just made my day! 🙂

  3. This has made me so excited for our big day next year as The Campbells are going to be our photographers yay! These pics are amazing. I love the vintage lace dress what a fab idea! Ive never heard of larchfield before ,stunning!

  4. I really love your wedding it is exactly what my partner and I are looking for right down to the ceilidh! We also love Larchfield but we are trying to do our wedding on a budget I was wondering if you would allow me to ask you some questions about the cost of your wedding?

  5. Hi Sarah, sorry for late reply. Yes that’s fine, if you want to contact me you can try and find me on twitter @ellyboot, probably easiest! 🙂

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