Ruth in Edwardian lace wedding dress – an enchanting vintage bride for 2016.

Dear Reader,
The Happiest of New Years to you! 
I'd like to start our 2016 with an enchanting vintage bride in the prettiest Edwardian wedding dress. Meet Ruth!

Ruth and Conor were married in late Summer at St Mary's Parish Church, Kilmood, County Down in Northern Ireland. Befitting this wonderful couple, their whole day has a beautiful handmade and simple vibe that perfectly suited the innocent charm of Ruth's beautiful Edwardian cotton lace wedding dress.

To complement her vintage wedding dress, Ruth wore a charming floral crown together with an elegant fingertip–length veil in silk tulle (the veil was handcrafted by the bride's talented mother!) The overall effect is simple and stunning.

The lovely, personal feel of their day continued inside the Church. Conor comes from a musical family, so Ruth walked down the aisle to a live performance by two family members of Simon and Garfunkel's The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy).

Their reception was held at Field of Dreams in Bangor, County Down. It's a stunning rural location – with a Scandinavian-style wooden lodge decked out in beautiful garlands, as well as marquee, meadow, lake and even a standing stone circle!

Inside a traditional canvas marquee – handsomely decked out with wooden tables, hay bales and floral garlands – a good friend played mixologist for the night, creating fresh juices and cocktails including Rhubarb Margaritas and Apple, Elderflower and Gin Rickeys. So good!

Groom Conor is a Fine Bench Joiner and Cabinet Maker and made the stunning maple and birch wood tables himself! (He's since sold half of them to a bar–restaurant in the French Alps, but the couple are determined to keep one as a memento of their fab day.) 

A wonderful, casual meal was followed by many hours of dancing to great music, courtesy of a band of friends and family. The first dance was to Twist and Shout by the Beatles and Ruth reports that after that she didn't stop dancing until the very end of the evening!

What a beautiful day! I'll leave the last word to our fabulous bride Ruth...

"Thank you again for helping me find the perfect vintage wedding dress. It was amazing – just wonderful! So comfortable, flowed beautifully when I walked and danced (and I did a lot of dancing!!) and it felt like it was made just for me. I received so many compliments. My dress really was such a big part of what made the day so special."

Thanks for visiting my vintage wedding blog, dear reader. I hope you'll pop back again. If you'd like to see more of Conor and Ruth's magical day, click here. And meanwhile, I wish you a magical 2016.
Love 
Helena 
Heavenly Vintage Brides

If you like this post, check out…
Sophie in pretty 1950s lace wedding dress – and sneakers!
And try more Real Vintage Brides on my website, here.

Groom's suit by ASOS
Bridesmaids' dresses by In One Clothing
Flowers by Floral Creations
Photographs with thanks to Honey & the Moon Photography

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Wedding Wednesday- Vendor Love- Jeremy Ganss

 

Ok, now it is time to sing the praises of another one of the vendors that helped for our wedding. This one matters a lot, I think, because it's not like we will have the chance to hire Jeremy too many times in our life (I mean, I am not sure if he dj's 2 person dance parties), so the best way we can show him support is to highly recommend him, which we definitely do. He is based out of Clarion, and works a lot of Pittsburgh weddings, but if you are planning a wedding in Western PA, you can't do better. He was our big splurge for the wedding, and it was totally worth it. 

 

Jeremy keeps up a blog of his own that you can find here-  http://jeremyganss.blogspot.com/ To be honest, this blog was what won me over in the first place. I never saw a dj who was that serious and enthusiastic about his weddings that he kept track of song choices and took pictures himself. He clearly cares. Then, when I called him to chat (actually the first time we talked I was just getting his opinion on Wanango, but we talked for practically an hour), he was generous, funny, and a well of information. He knew about all the sites, all my regular wedding complaints, and how to best strategize his weddings. He was genuinely a pleasure to deal with every step of the way.

 

These are all pictures from his blog- for real, check it out! Jeremy knows his stuff, but he has a very humble, open, and generous Western PA personality. He is not hungry for the spotlight. I have been to those weddings too.  The whole night the dance floor was full, and everyone told us that they had a good time. We didn't have to worry about the schedule, because Jeremy was on top of all of it.

 

I could go on about Jeremy a long time, but The Boy wrote Jeremy a note that I think sums up his awesomeness pretty well:

 Jeremy,

Where to begin? You were absolutely phenomenal in every way, from the moment Barbara contacted you out of the blue to ask, not about DJ’ing, but for your opinions on Wenango (having seen your online review for it, not knowing you were a local DJ), it was immediately clear that you were passionate about your job and fully committed to delivering well executed, extraordinarily fun weddings. You always went above and beyond reasonable expectations to offer exceptional service, and it really showed.


You were always proactive, patient, and flexible to our schedule, not an easy thing to do when Barbara and I both were thousands of miles away for all but a handful of whirlwind visits back to Pennsylvania through the year+ of planning. You actively sought our opinions and took the time to meet us to get to know us, our tastes, and our goals for the wedding. You did more than pick a bunch of songs (though you did do that too, and your website made that easy to do in our own time!); you helped us to create the overall schedule of the night.


Once the reception began, you kept us on task and on schedule without ever being pushy or controlling or trying to take center stage; you gently guided us and our guests from dinner, to toasts, to cake, etc. without any jarring transitions. Once the dancing began, the floor was never empty—not even close—for more than four hours!  You transformed our eclectic requests (modern pop, Motown, obscure big band music, etc.) into the non-stop dance party we asked for.


You kept everyone, from the youngest cousins to our grandparents, excited, pumped, and moving the whole time. Unlike most of the DJ’s I’ve seen at weddings, you take your craft very seriously: your equipment is modern and your library and tastes are trend-leading rather than trend-following (Norah Jones: out; acoustic covers of the Bieb: yes, please). Most importantly, you actually know how to DJ: you did more than put together a giant playlist, press the ‘play’ button, and then walk away to eat cookies, take MySpace pictures of themselves, or fiddle on their phones for the majority of the night (yes, we’ve seen these before).

The level of service Jeremy provided was unparalleled, and he was key in making our night the most fun I’ve ever had at a wedding. Thank you for making our wedding kick ass!

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Weddingness- Top Ten Wedding-related Websites for Planning

10. Emmaline Bride-Emmaline sometimes has cute posts, but mostly they schlep for a bunch of independent (read- mostly etsy) sellers. If you have something in particular in mind, sometimes you will have better luck starting here and then getting linked over to Etsy.

9. The Perfect Palette- This blog is the best for the very beginning of your wedding planning, when you are trying to figure out exactly what you want the feeling to be. She even organizes her blog by color, so if you have one color that your really love you can start thinking about combos. I personally think that color is the heart of all happiness, so people should really keep it in mind when they are making those big picture decisions in the beginning.
8.WeddingBee-I have to say, I never really navigated WeddingBee as I site on its own, but if you type in an angsty question on Bing, often weddingbee chats will be the first thing to come up. It is nice to realize that other people are going through the same thing, hearing these things won't matter in the long run, and even hearing actual solutions! It helps for making decisions and moving on.

7. Style Me Pretty-  Pretty classic WeddingPorn. Nothing too outside the box, but the photos are beautiful and they put up more than anyone. You can definitely identify the trends by going through the pictures.

6. Love my Dress wedding blog-Great British wedding blog- since they are European, you of course can count on them to be super fancy and fashion forward. This blog also is great because it offers a lot of different body types without congratulating itself for doing so. If I wanted to see what a dress looked like on a model, I would just look at the pictures with models. I like seeing women with curves- even more so, I feel like this blog is encouraging because it is mostly women who are genuinely cool with who they are and choose dresses that correspond accordingly. They show off their bodies and personalities in a way that you can go through the blog and see a ton of women who look amazing, but you don't want their look, because they totally look like themselves.
5. Ruffled- Wedding Porn if your favorite store is Anthropology. Also, if you want all of your wedding pictures to look like instagram. In all seriousness, their photographs are often so pretty. They also talk about people's song choices and which have reminded me that we will never be cool enough to be on this blog.

4. Green Wedding Shoes-A little bit quirkier than Ruffled, and they often feature cool how to's which are very simple and useful.I have so many pictures saved from that site. My favorite part is where you hear the couple's favorite memory and advice for the big day. So important to see what people can come up with while simultaneously maintaining having a life and being a couple.
3. The Knot-sign up. If nothing else, you will love actually getting to check things off their online task list. It shouldn't be as satisfying as it is, and yet, I love it. Also a good choice for etiquette advice. Or you can read some of their chatboards if you want to feel better about your dramas.

2.Pinterest- Pinterest is a clear window into every woman's psyche, but it also can be very useful in early brainstorming phrases. My main advice would be to use the search as much as possible, rather than just browse the wedding section. That area gets repetitive (really, how many of the cutesy picture of bridesmaids butts do I need to see? definitely between 0-1), but if you use it to look up retro hairstyles or wedding shoes, you will be impressed with things you find. Remember, it's all about maintaining inspiration!

1. Offbeat Bride- When you are going through the heavy blog, always always always check Offbeat Bride. First of all, some of the ideas there inspired the ideas we are most proud of in our wedding. Way more importantly, you need to see the 99% of the content you would never use, because it is totally them, not totally you. I mean this as much as I have meant anything in planning- the more you can throw out what you should do for what you want to do, the happier you will be not only with the wedding but just enjoying the planning itself. Even if you don't want a super retro backyard lesbian polka dot wedding (I mean, I do, but I get not everyone does), this blog and all of its super fun posts serve as constant reminders and inspirations to do what is actually true to yourself and your relationship. They also write great, very thoughtful posts on everything from brides who want to wear their glasses to secular wedding readings and more. Plus, it is just way way more fun than other blogs. If you want to wade in, try following them on Pinterest, and just see how many of their ideas you love, you closet nerd!

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Farewell Lauren Bacall, Vintage Icon and Queen of Cool...

Dear Reader
Sad news today that the fabulous Lauren Bacall has passed away at the grand old age of 89. Let's take a minute to remember how utterly glamorous she was...

Lauren's publicity photo for HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, 1953

From the 1940s and right through the 50s, 60s and 70s, Lauren was always super-stylish - a vintage icon with a very modern style. 

Harpers Bazaar, March 1943

Her career was launched after a chance meeting with legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland at the age of 16. As Lauren recalls,

"Vreeland put a suit on me, told me which makeup to use—but very little. 'Betty, I don't want to change your look.' When all was done she put a scarf round my neck—knew just how to tie it, a little off-center—and I was ready for my first sitting with Harper's Bazaar." 

The March 1943 Harpers Bazaar cover that resulted from this shoot grabbed Hollywood's attention, gaining Lauren her first screen test, a name change, and ultimately a host of amazing movies and awards.

With future husband Humphrey Bogart in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT

Lauren kept a lifelong interest in fashion, and was muse to Yves St Laurent and friends with many other designers including Pierre Cardin and Jean Paul Gaultier. She's even name-checked as a style icon by Madonna in the hit song, 'Vogue'. Here's a few of her great looks, through the vintage decades...

Lauren in 1940s crepe blouse and black pants 

In slinky black satin for TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, 1944

Sitting pretty in a 1944 jumpsuit

Diana Vreeland taught her to tie that scarf!

In fabulous 1940s floral gown

What a girl! Lauren in 1943

In the famous dogtooth suit from THE BIG SLEEP, 1946

A picture of elegance, 1949

Classic sultry Lauren look in white dress and red lips, 1950

In white lace blouse and pleats for YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN, 1950

With Marilyn Monroe in HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE

With Marilyn Monroe for HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, 1953

In 1957 Ceil Chapman gown

1950s evening glamour

On the set of NORTH WEST FRONTIER, 1959

Iconic 1970s style in tweed pant suit, with Bianca Jagger

In head to toe sequins, 1972

1970s and so Gucci, with low cut shirt and long necklace

With Yves St Laurent (right) and designer Paco Rabanne (left)

Still just as glamorous at the 1981 opening of DREAMGIRLS

Amazing, aged 88, dressed by Dior

But I'd most like to remember Lauren with these gloriously happy images of her wedding to Humphrey Bogart at the age of 19, in May 1945...

Thanks, dear readers, for joining me in wishing Lauren a warm farewell. More lovely wedding fashion later this week.

Love

Helena 

Heavenly Vintage Brides

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1940s Wedding Dress Inspiration from Bette Davis

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