Jennifer & Sam: Real Bride Story

Let’s start with what was an absolute must have at your wedding...

A live band! Both our families and friends all love dancing, so it was important for us to have a live band at the evening reception to get everyone on the dance floor. They had all the guests up dancing and we’ve had countless comments since about how good they were.

How did you personalise your wedding day?

We copied a friend’s idea for our favours and donated to two charities close to our heart; The Down Syndrome Association and Christies. We bought pins from both charities for our guests who were able to pin those to their outfits. Plus, we borrowed an idea from Instagram and put our own twist on it; we had seen heart shaped name tags hanging from the chairs and loved the idea but instead of hearts we had navy blue hexagons and had the names written in gold to keep with the theme.

What colours did you choose?

We went for a navy blue, burgundy and gold colour scheme. The colours seemed to work perfectly with the time of year in terms of clothing and flowers, and we used gold accents in the invites, table plans, flower stands and bridesmaids’ jewellery to bring it all together.

Now let’s talk about that gorgeous dress of yours! Did you know what style of dress you were looking for?

I knew I wanted something quite slinky and with straps, as I didn't think I would suit a strapless style. I was relatively open to trying on most styles of dresses but had a simple yet classy style in mind. I have an hour glass-type figure so wanted to make sure the style was flattering and fitted around my waist

Who went with you to try on dresses?

I went with my Mum, Mother-in-Law (to-be) and Sister

Which style did you end up choosing?

My dress was a Ronald Joyce dress "Joyce”. I found it at Emma Louise Bridal in Bolton. It was a satin fitted dress with straps, cowl neck neckline and a low back, with buttons down to the bottom of a small train.

I ended up buying it on my first day shopping, the most decisive I have ever been! I chose it because I felt very glamorous immediately in it and loved that I was able to have such a low back as well as being fully supported. I came out of the dressing room beaming and spinning around to look at the back detail. My Mum and Mother-in-Law had a couple of tears when I came out of the dressing room in it and we all just knew it was special.

I also wore a white furry shrug cardigan from Monsoon whilst walking outside from the Town Hall to Oh Me Oh My where we had our reception. Oh Me Oh My is a former bank, with high ceiling and perfect for big gatherings. I didn’t wear a veil but had a beautiful art deco gold and sapphire slide that my bridesmaid found for me that matched my engagement ring perfectly. I wore diamond and sapphire stud earrings that were my ‘borrowed’ from my other bridesmaid.

My shoes were gold peep-toe sandals from LK Bennett that I wore for most of the day, though I did have some gold glitter flat pumps from Sonia Rykiel for dancing all night.

I made sure that my hair and make-up complemented the style of the dress so went for a glam look with my hair down and bright red lips.

Anything else you would like to share about your special day?

Flowers were a really important part of the day and I wanted to make sure that the bouquet complemented the dress. Sarah and Abi from Ewer-Roberts did our flowers. I wanted natural but statement style flowers. The time of the year worked well in terms of the colours. I loved my bouquet, it was a handed bouquet with trails and the flowers consisted of roses, freedom and sweet avalanche, protea, black brassica, eucalyptus, wax flower, red trailing amaranths, ivy trails, viburnum tinus berries and large magnolia leaves.

Any tips for future brides?

Make sure you don't let it get too overwhelming, it's one day and supposed to be fun. We determined what our priorities were and focused on those first, and were also quite strict on our budget in terms of not going over it with each element as it can be quite easy to do so. Just remember with your dress, hair and make-up all done you will feel a million dollars! I didn't want to take my dress off at the end of the night.

If you’re still searching for your perfect dress have a look at our latest bridal designs.