1940s–style wedding dress 'Bette', worn by vintage bride Caroline.

Dear Reader,
Today's gorgeous vintage bride is Caroline, who married Andy in a wonderful country wedding last August.

Caroline chose my 1940s–inspired Bette dress from the Heavenly Collection: a chic choice for a very stylish lady.


All of Caroline's family contributed to a wonderful day. Even Caroline's beautiful vintage shoes had originally belonged to her glamorous grandmother...

And the adorable bridesmaids' dresses, in Liberty print fabric, were made by her talented mother (with help from a friend too)...

Even the vintage wedding car – an elegantly appropriate 1940s sky blue Citroen – was driven by a friend from his uncle's collection of vintage motors...

And of course Dad always has a very special role on the day…!

Caroline and Andy continued their vintage theme even to their first dance: 1935's romantic 'Dancing Cheek to Cheek' (this time in a wonderful 1950s version by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald). 


The happy couple performed brilliantly. And as you can see, this is a dress you can REALLY dance in!

Caroline looks absolutely beautiful in her elegant vintage–styled outfit, as all her friends' noted. In Caroline's own words,

"Thank you so much for being such a warm and wonderful place to come and find the perfect wedding dress! We had such a wonderful day and literally everyone loved the dress! I'm now wondering whether I can wear it to other events!"

We say it looks too good NOT to wear it again! 
Caroline, thanks for sharing (and thanks to Sarah Farnsworth for the great photos). It's warming us up just looking at your lovely summer wedding.
Love 
Helena 
Heavenly Vintage Brides

For more amazing Real Vintage Brides check out the page on my website here

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Wedding Dress Trends 2016: The Gospel According to Vogue.

Dear Reader,

This week Vogue Magazine published their guide to bridal trends for 2016 – based on the latest couture collections. 

Wedding dresses by Monique Lhuillier, Oscar de la Renta, Marchesa

I'm not sure my clients would agree with all of them – and I'm not giving away my own predictions yet! As always, I'll make mine at the end of this year, based on what my brides are loving and asking for. But it's fun to see these from Vogue, and to give you my take on them…

Wedding Dress Trend 1 – Sweet Nothings
The first trend Vogue noted is for barely there dresses, almost lingerie. This is a very couture look – much easier to carry off on a catwalk than in an English church or a garden reception. Super pretty, though. And very reminiscent of all those slinky 1930s and sultry 1940s dresses…

1930s inspired Butterfly wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Original 1940s lace wedding dress from my West London vintage studio.

Wedding Dress Trend 2 – Sparkles
Always in fashion, and rightly so. A generous sprinkling of sparkle appeared on the catwalks for next year, particularly from Badgley Mischka, Carolina Herrera and Marchesa. A little sparkle has always been one of the delights of vintage wedding dresses, of course. With many of the dresses in my Heavenly Collection, you can choose to add just a little bling… or a lot!

My 1940s style wedding dress, Bette, with its sparkly trim.

Pretty bling: Florence, 1940s style dress from my Heavenly Collection.

Wedding Dress Trend 3 – Knee Length
Shorter dresses made a welcome appearance on the bridal catwalks. But to see this trend at its best, simply look to the 1950s for the most fabulous tea–length wedding dresses…

'Blanche', 1950s style wedding dress, from my Heavenly Collection

Original 1950s 'cupcake' wedding dress from my West London vintage studio.

Wedding Dress Trend 4 – Bare Shoulders
Always popular with so many brides. Yet vintage dresses often take a subtler approach. Think of pretty keyhole openings, lace shoulders or tiny petal sleeves. Every bit as sexy, but a lot more subtle.

Angel, 1930s inspired lace wedding dress: vintage is more subtly sexy.

Original 1950s wedding dress from my West London vintage studio.

1970s off–the–shoulder wedding dress, from my West London vintage studio.

Wedding Dress Trend 5 – Separate Overskirts
A full-length transparent overskirt, cut to reveal a shorter one underneath...? Oh so fashiony! Very modern, a little bit mad, and quite fun – but not exactly a classic look. What do you think?

Wedding Dress with Overskirt, by the usually classic designer Vera Wang!

Wedding Dress Trend 6 – Cream
Ahhhh, beautiful. Now here's one I really can enthuse about – drawing as it does from the softness and romance of vintage wedding fashion. White is lovely too, of course. But cream, blush and ivory are so much more flattering to all skin tones. Often my clients come to me expecting to choose a white wedding dress, but once tried they fall in love with these lovely muted tones. That's why I offer my Heavenly Collection dresses in a range of pretty and flattering shades.

Full length lace wedding dress in cream by Oscar de la Renta

Butterfly, from my Heavenly Collection in a soft ivory.

Florence: a lace wedding dress with toning underslip (Heavenly Collection)

Well done, Vogue – fun predictions and a good showing for vintage styles. What did you think of them? Later this year, you can see how my own predictions match up!
Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides

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1940s–style wedding dress, for elegant vintage bride Terry.

Dear Reader, 
Often, my brides have no clear idea what they're looking for. They love the romance of vintage wedding dresses, or the glamour. Sometimes its the timeless quality of vintage that appeals. Beyond that, they have no picture of which decade or style is right for them. 

That's absolutely fine – showing the many options that vintage offers is always enjoyable. But there's a special pleasure that comes when I meet a bride who has a clear sense of her own style, and knows exactly what she's looking for.

Lovely Terry was just such a bride – a very elegant lady with clear style ideas. Terry came to me knowing exactly how she wanted to look for her Brighton wedding: simple, elegant... and gorgeous.


So we adapted the 1940s–inspired Bette dress, from my Heavenly Collection. It's already a very elegant shape, and we made it just as Terry imagined by raising the skirt a little to show off her lovely jewelled Harriet Wilde shoes. We slimmed the A-line silhouette too, for a very slender line...

The silver beaded trim used for the belt and neckline was a one–off, a vintage find that perfectly suited the dress. 

The same attention to detail went into the choice of dresses for bridesmaids Carli, Sian and Rhian – a different Alfred Sung design to suit each bridesmaid but all in Terry's favourite Bluebell colour.

And of course, the same colour threads through the wedding – from the groom's tie, to the pretty delphinium in the bouquets.

Thanks go to Terry for showing us your lovely seaside wedding. We love your style!

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

For more Real Vintage Brides, check out my website page here...

Photographs with thanks to Brian Handford Photography

Hair by Terry's dear friend Mavis

Wedding Flowers: Dazzling Decor

Bride's Bouquet and Bridesmaid Posies: Ginger Lily Floral Designs

Bride's Shoes: Harriet Wilde Wedding Shoes

Bridesmaids's Dresses: Alfred Sung by Dessy

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My vintage inspired wedding dresses are now available in Ireland! Meet lovely Pam of Vintage Bride!

Dear Reader,
Today I'm thrilled to introduce my charming new stockist, Pam of Vintage Bride.

Pam has her own private showroom in Dublin, Ireland. Here she stocks beautiful original vintage dresses and a small range of carefully selected vintage-inspired wedding dresses and accessories... 

My Butterfly 1930s style wedding dress at Vintage Bride's 'Bridal Showcase'

From the moment we met, I knew Pam was the right person to bring my own Heavenly Collection of vintage-inspired wedding dresses to Ireland. I'm delighted to announce that Vintage Bride is already stocking my Butterfly and Angel 1930s-style wedding dresses and my Bette 1940s-style dress. 

Butterfly 1930s style wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Angel 1930s inspired wedding dress from the Heavenly Collection

Butterfly 1930s style wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Butterfly 1930s style wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Bette 1940s inspired wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Bette 1940s inspired wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

In addition, Vintage Brides will soon be stocking my 1940s-inspired Florence and 1960s-style Stella wedding dress...

1940s inspired vintage wedding dress, Florence, with keyhole back

1940s style wedding dress Florence

1940s style Florence wedding dress, elegant lace shoulders

Florence, 1940s style wedding dress with lace flutter sleeves

1940s-style Florence from front, showing lace flutter sleeve version

Stella 1960s inspired wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Stella 1960s style lace wedding dress from my Heavenly Collection

Pam has just organised the first fashion show featuring my dresses. Her 'Bridal Showcase' looks like a wonderfully fun and elegant affair!

My Butterfly dress (right) at the Bridal Showcase

Butterfly (left) at Vintage Bride's Bridal Showcase

If you'd like to contact Pam, you can find her website and Facebook pages here. 
Good luck Pam and Hello Ireland!
Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides

Dress photos with thanks to Robert Lawler Photography
Bridal Showcase photos with thanks to Paul Kelly Studio 3 Photography

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