Thursday 17 October 2013

Real Wedding: Vintage Barn Wedding With A Rustic Vibe



"George and I are both so grateful to theme-works weddings for making our special day an even more beautiful and memorable experience. The professionalism and support shown by both Philippa and her team made the wedding theming process an enjoyable and fulfilling journey, to take a vision from us and then make it come to life like they did with such enthusiasm really was incredible - it was better than I ever could have imagined. "

.... The are the words of one of the most wonderful couples I have ever worked with. You may have seen this bride mentioned a couple of times on our blog, and this was the final result. It's almost sad when a journey with one of our brides come to an end, but what a day to remember this was!


Starting from scratch
Pam came to us with her venue already booked, and she wanted to use her venue as inspiration to create a magical wedding theme. When Pam and I sat down I soon realised that our bespoke option was best for her, we looked through our packages and nothing really fit her vision. So after a site visit we settled on our plan of action for Pam’s big day.



With Pam’s wedding I really wanted to capture her personality. She used to work in the theatre so I wanted to add an air of the dramatic, she also is an avid reader and collector of romantic literature anything from Shelley’s poetry or the scripts of Shakespeare. She also has a love of all things vintage so this was an obvious choice for a theme. 
Pam’s venue was set in grounds of a beautiful old boarding school, with glorious grounds, the ceremony and reception was to take place in a stunning old barn with the added extra bonus of many garden areas to take advantage of. With all this in mind we settled on a main vintage barn theme.

Poetry & Plays



For centre pieces I decided to use vintage style crockery, filled with flowers, each centre piece was to be its own scene. Laid upon a hessian runner, with tree trunk slice base, the crockery was laid under and around a vintage style bell jar. I wanted to tie in vintage books, so Pam and I went on a hunt through boot sales to collect up a lovely collection of poetry & plays each book carefully chosen. We then creating table numbers out of the books adding to the personality of the theme.
There were some very un-sightly carpeted basis to glorious wooden beams holding up the barn, and Pam was keen to cover them up it some way. So I decided to try and blend them into the vintage barn environment, I settled on using hessian wrapped round the outside of the base, and covering the top with green moss. 
The entrance of the barn was huge, it had arched beams and stone steps leading up into the barn, so we designed huge white draped curtains reaching from top to bottom to soften the entrance but also create that dramatic feel. 

Flora & Fauna


The flowers were designed to be soft and simple, with the main flower being baby’s breath and the scent of rosemary and eucalyptus in the air. The bride’s bouquet was elegant with soft roses and vintage touches with the adorable flower girl carrying an orb of baby’s breath on a length of sage green satin ribbon. 
We set about creating various chill out areas in the garden and grounds, such as fountains, seating areas, and giant games of chess and croquet. Pam & George were a huge influence on the design of the wedding, George’s grounded nature, and Pam’s love of the theatrical. 



Happily Ever After




The overall effect was wonderful, a really intimate feel with the happy couple marrying in front of the candle lit fire place, with hand carved ring box made out of a copy of Jane Austin’s Emma, a gift from George to Pam years ago recycled to be part of their day.  



Pam was stunning in vintage lace and the happy couple enjoyed the day in a haze of French champagne and Scottish traditions. I haven’t seen a happier couple in long while!


Supporting cast 

Special thanks to....
The Brighton Flower Company
Jeff Carrigan Wedding Photography



Tuesday 1 October 2013

Real Wedding: Traditional Jewish Wedding With a Vintage Vibe


"Thanks so much. It was just the most incredible day, it  was more than I could have imagined.You & Kate were just amazing and we were so grateful for her hard work to make it perfect for us."

 ... These are the words of one of our beautiful brides, Amanda. Her Jewish wedding got a hint of classic elegance with accents of vintage styling in the hands of our fabulous team.

Starting from the Scratch
Amanda wanted a traditional Jewish wedding with all the trimmings, but with a glamorous vintage vibe. She decided Theme-Works Weddings was a good fit to bring her vision to life after meeting with our one of our special account managers Kate. Amanda opted for our bespoke design package, this means designing her wedding from a scratch instead of choosing one of our set packages. Bespoke styling makes each wedding very personalised, creating something unique for the bride. It was perfect option for Amanda who had a clear goal on what she wanted for her big day.

Candelabras and Hand Made Chair Covers

After having a clear vision on what Amanda wanted, Kate and  I started designing a perfect wedding for her. As with every wedding, attention is often in the details and smaller accents. Amanda's wedding was no exception, a true example of this was the oversized candelabras. The glossy black finish teamed with the floral design was a perfect harmony of glamour & vintage, the extra height enhanced the visual experience as guests enter the room. Rather than using our own, we out sourced for the perfect candelabras to fit brilliantly into this theme. And the result was absolutely stunning! Dashing candelabras with elegant flower décors were totally eye-catching.




To encompass Amanda's theme, we also worked on a chair design. Together with my team we hand made 300 new sashes for Amanda, with a vintage embroidered satin ribbon fastening. This really enhanced the styling, chairs in our book should not be an afterthought any more than accessories be an afterthought for an outfit.




Tying all the flower designs in was very important, Amanda had a clear idea of what she wanted, and we wanted to bring this together for her. After working closely with our florist we put together a simple & timeless design with hints of colour & understated sparkle.


The most important thing for me as a wedding designer is to never loose site of the bride's original ideas while developing a wedding design, only work towards her vision & support her as much as possible.

Happily Ever After
The end result came together perfectly, even the weather was on our side. The clouds parting only minutes before the outside ceremony started, and the sun shining down on the risen chuppa we bravely put in place in the drizzle! Amanda of course looked stunning, along with her handsome groom, and the two of them & their friends and family celebrated in true style. What an amazing day!



We would like to give a special credit to "The Brighton Flower Company" who bought our styling ideas to life with their floral flourish.