Vintage Bride with tea and shortbread

Helen and her husband are good friends of Rob and I, knowing your couple can have as many advantages as disadvantages. Fortunately (for me at least) our relationship offered us the opportunity to gatecrash what was essentially a closed affair.

The wedding party consisted of the bride and groom's parents and siblings only. An intimate celebration for two private people. Quite the opposite to most of the weddings I have attended and poles apart from my own wedding on many a level.

Hassop Hall was the venue, a privately owned house in Derbyshire near Bakewell. The ceremony was at 11:00, tea and shortbread served immediately after and all photos were wrapped up by lunch at 13:30. Rob and I were de-rigged back on the road by 14:00. One of the shortest shoots I have ever been on.

I mentioned before that this wedding offered me advantages. I was able to sneak in to Helen's dressing room and capture the many emotions that rippled over her face, nerves, elation and the overwhelming conflicting grips of stage fright and confidence. Such honest accounts can be hindered by knowing someone too much, or too little. Perhaps says more about Helen's character than anything else.

Helen's dress is over 80 years old, bought from a vintage bridal fair. The dress was tweaked and fitted by her talented mum, a former Home Economics teacher, the lady who also created the wedding cake.

Details of names and suppliers to follow shortly, but I can advise that the stunning feathered headpiece was created by one of my tweeps DC Bouquets.

My first graphics tablet - Wacom

I have bought my first graphics tablet, about time too.

Graghics Guru Gareth of Doodledoo recommended the Wacom Intous3, which looks fab, but in that I am still on a super tight budget, I opted for it's baby sister, the Wacom Bamboo Pen from Amazon, £39.00.

This is the smallest and probably most basic, but as a starter, on a student budget it will do for now.

Delivery due within a week so fingers crossed.  I'll give it a whirl and see how I get on.

Our Rings, something old, something new

My engagement ring was my Grandma Doris'.  She was 19 when my Grandpa proposed, three diamond in platinum setting and shoulders, with gold ring, as was popular in those days.  I inherited at 16, but knowing how clumsy I was, my Mum did not let me have it until I was 21.  I have worn it and treasured it everyday since.

I had always known that I wanted a contemporary wedding band, and that the cut of grandma's ring would not sit well with such a style.  I had long hoped that should I ever get engaged, I be able to use Grandma's ring for the engagement, and get something different for my wedding band.

Rob was very happy with this arrangement, he also wanted to incorporate a family heirloom into the wedding.  Rob's Mum's wedding ring, although to small, is very good quality good, and very heavy.  Our friend's sister is a jeweller and she was able to insert a piece so that it would fit on Rob's huge finger, and Rhodium plate it.

We found my ring at Green & Benz.  It is made of palladium and is the perfect balance of sturdy, industrial looking, with a hint of delicate elegance with the inlaid tiny eternity style diamonds set around the ring.

Palladium is of the Platinum family and as of Jan 2010 is a registered precious metal which must be hallmarked.  At the time of purchase the palladium was approx 1/3 of the cost of platinum, which was a bonus as we saved money by chosing my favourite design, that was not actually available in platinum!  It is a super alternative if you prefer silver coloured jewellery.  It is stronger than silver and will not require coating, unlike white gold, as this is the natural colour of the metal, which can be brushed or polished as other metals.

I love my rings, and it was so wonderful to include Grandma and Christine in the wedding even though they could not be there with us.

Hair comes the bride

For those who have not got a wedding planner the endless planning and labouring at the venue, whilst thoroughly enjoyable in itself, can leave a bride a little detached from the whole princess experience.

As a do it yourself bride, I myself had been feeling ‘un-bridelike’ and with three weeks to go I was worrying a little that perhaps I should be getting more excited, after all I had dreamt of being a bride since I was six.  I had imagined that I would spend months growing my hair and hammering the gym, spend weeks of pampering, moisturising my skin, getting early nights, avoiding any opportunity where I might risk breaking a fingernail or breaking a limb.  Yet here was I still labouring  on the farm moving stone every weekend, earning a new cut, bruise or lump with every job.

I entered the hair salon (Havana, Marple Bridge, Stockport, UK) with no expectations whatsoever, I have had no former experience of ‘hair up’ and I had not visited the salon since I had moved out of town four years previously.  The salon was still frequented by my Mum and youngest sister Sophie, so I new I should be in rather good hands, and I really had no other option but to use these ladies.  Five weeks previous I had been stood up by my friend, hair and make up stylist, on the evening I was due to have my bridal trial.  She subsequently vanished under a veil of scandal and I have not heard from her since.  

Havana are based in the village local to my parent’s farm (the wedding venue) and through divine intervention, had received a cancellation for the date of our wedding, it was surely fate!  

My stylist was Mandy, I had a whole album of hair designs that I had downloaded to my iphone, she patiently let me flick through all the styles pointing out which part of which style I liked and why.  I explained the theme of the wedding was festival meets country fayre and Mandy asked to see my wedding dress.  With this information, and a notion from me that I was happy to try anything and everything to discover the perfect style, Mandy starting weaving her magic into my dull locks.

As I sat in the chair, coffee in hand and Mandy styling away I suddenly feel a wave of emotion take hold, the realisation that I was going to be a bride!  With each curl that was created, I felt more beautiful and each pin that was placed, more elegant.  I was going to be special, I would be walking up to meet my groom.

There must have been roughly 12 styles, loosely based around four main themes, up twisted, half up half down, side sweeps and braids.  The style I chose was a variation on two of the previous styles, a side sweep, braided at the back with a cascade of curls down one side of the face.

I have pictured some of my favourite styles.

What I would recommend for any bride considering her hair is the following:

1. Most importantly – book practice sessions.  If you are not happy with the stylist, or the styles, communicate the issues and if needs be try another stylist.
2. Do plenty of research – leaf through all the wedding magazine, fashion magazines, celebrity gossip papers, take lots of clippings, or screen grabs from websites to show your stylist.
3. Along with the clippings, take your scrapbook of ideas/ design boards to your consultation/ trial.  This will show your stylist the dress design and general theme of your wedding, they can incorporate these themes within your hair style.
4. Don’t limit yourself to one style or one specific design – the more variety, the more likely you are to find the perfect style when you try it out.  Remember, not every style will suit every face, body, dress.
5. Take plenty of photos of the style, from different angles, while you are at the salon, most places will be happy to snap away for you.  You can then view the photos at leisure to ensure you are happy with your decision.
6. Take advice from the friends and family that you trust.  If you are happy with their style advice on a night out, and can take honest constructive criticism, they will be the best people to help you chose your style, should you be torn between designs.
7. Wear your hair for you, not how you feel you are expected to wear it.  Chose a style that reflects your personality and style, do not try to be too removed from who you are.  You may not want to wear a starched French upsweep if you always wear your hair laissez faire.  You may be unrecognisable to your Groom, or even yourself when you look back at the photos.
8. If possible, when scheduling your appointment for the day of the wedding, allow time to rectify any styling emergencies, but not so much time that your style may droop before the ceremony or photos.
9. If at all possible, should you be able to afford it, ask your stylist if they can be on stand by for touch ups later in the day.  Many styles may not require this, but unexpected weather extremes can upset the most secure of styles.

The best laid plans often go awry, I was very fortunate that my stylist was available at such short notice.  

I hope these tips will be of use to you, I can only offer this advice as a recent bride based on my own experience.   I did get rained on, despite the huge umbrellas, I got hugged and pulled, my curls drooped, my pins and fascinator were dragged out when my hair got stuck on buttons of enthusiastic wellwishers, so many of the photos do not do Mandy’s work justice.  However, despite all the wear and tear, the style held up very well, and still looked a darn sight prettier than anything I could have done myself.  In terms of up do’s I am completely sold, I shall certainly be booking Mandy’s creative talents for any future parties.