Ebba in 1930s satin wedding dress: our Vintage Bride of the Week.

Dear Reader,
Our Bride of the Week is Ebba, who married Karl-Johan in a divine original 1930s satin wedding dress…

The wedding took place in Stockholm in November - so cool! - with a ceremony in Maria Magdalena Church, and reception at the beautiful Villa Ludvigsberg. The whole event was inspired by the 1930s styling of the dress and was filled with delightful vintage touches…

A beautiful couple and a beautiful day... Congratulations Ebba and Karl Johan!

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

Photos with thanks to Annevi Weddings

Kind Words from Make-Up Artist Omie!

Dear Reader,
I hope you'll forgive me for a brief moment of trumpet-blowing, but I recently found this lovely article online. I discovered it completely by chance and was so pleased!

I died and went to Vintage Heaven 

"Yesterday I had my first taste of vintage bridal heaven. I got on the train and made my way to London to meet with top vintage wedding dress expert, in my opinion, and all round super cool lady, Helena. Helena runs Heavenly Vintage Brides from her beautiful home situated just outside of central London.

 

Since being presented with my stunning 1930’s engagement ring and the loveliest proposal from Michael, my thoughts have been in over drive about wedding dresses. After all, it is the most important dress I am going to wear in my life. So since Christmas, yes that soon, I have been scouring the internet for small companies who deal in vintage bridal dresses. In truth I had been somewhat disappointed  by the lack of vintage dresses on offer. I found myself presented with many bigger companies who sell vintage inspired dresses and vintage looking dresses, but none the less these are new frocks. I love the idea of a slight imperfection on the hem, a button that needs re sewing and a hue in the fabric that can only be described as love. The thing with vintage is that the quality and mastery that goes into making a dress cant be matched. I have never thought of buying a new wedding dress and I think there is something very romantic about marrying in a dress that someone else married in, perhaps several people in some cases. It kind of feels like passing the love down and I like that notion. 

After a few hours of scouring you can imagine my excitement when I came across Helena’s website which just drew me in from the start. Just to add I do buy new clothes. I would love to say my wardrobe is all vintage pieces but that would be a lie. I love new clothes as well and every so often, when I can afford to, I treat myself to a designer piece. Often something from Vivienne Westwood or Marc Jacobs. I am quite clever when it comes to shopping so I will buy designer pieces in the sales when they are half the price. I look for the shape and the cut of the fabric. It needs to stand the test of time and suit my body shape in a flattering way. No one cuts fabric like Vivienne so I see it as an investment. 

So, back to my trip to London. I arrived at Helena’s an hour late. Fashionably? Id like to say so but it was actually due to the fact that I am terrible on London’s underground and waited at the wrong platform for my second train. Helena kindly met me from the train station and I was taken upstairs to her beautifully decorated and dressed room where the magic happens. I honesty felt so happy and excited when I saw her collection of vintage bridal dresses, and these were proper vintage. I like proper.

 

Helena explained everything to me about the process of picking out the dresses, trying them on and how she would help me find what suited my shape and the look I am after. It quickly became very clear that Helena’s knowledge was excellent. She really knows her dresses and designers. I listened tentatively when she told me the history of each dress; where it had come from, who designed it and the decade it was born. Helena has dresses from all decades and I was ecstatic when I saw the sizeable 1960’s section on the beautifully laid out rail. 

 

I don’t want to ramble on about trying on the dresses, unless anyone wants to know in which case please post me some questions. All I would like to say is that is was brilliant, from arrival to the end. In fact, I cant wait to go back. The Earl Grey in the vintage tea cup and the chit chat about Helena’s past career working at Vidal Sassoon was the icing on the cake. 

I have narrowed it down to 4 dresses, I think. Being a typical Libra I am sure I will change my mind several times and no doubt return to my first choice. I have a couple more appointments with vintage bridal dress specialists which I will post about in the near future. 

If anyone is thinking of having a vintage wedding dress I would strongly recommend Heavenly Vintage Brides and contacting Helena."

 

Shucks, too kind! The author was a client of mine earlier this year, and is a make-up artist who does lovely work for brides. You can see her own blog here. Thanks, Omie.

And thanks dear reader for putting up with my shameless showing-off. That's quite enough about me, I promise… back to gorgeous brides and heavenly dresses later this week!

Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides

If you like this post, try
MY GUIDE TO 1960s WEDDING DRESSES

Cassandra in 1950s Vintage Wedding Dress...

Dear Reader,
Our lovely Vintage Bride of the Week is Cassandra, who wore this beautiful late 1950s / early 1960s vintage lace dress for her summer wedding to Dave.



Cassandra tells their story here...

"David proposed on the last day of our holiday in Brooklyn in September 2013. It was a total surprise. We started to plan our big day as soon as we returned, knowing we wanted to marry in 2014 as it was a year of big family celebrations - with my grandmother's 80th and our mum's 60th birthday. We were also going to be celebrating the birth of our beautiful baby boy Leo! 

We decided we wanted a more informal affair, something akin to a big Sunday lunch with friends and family. We knew the best place for that would be The Crooked Well in Camberwell, SE London. The food and drink there is to die for! Southwark Registry Office is a five minute walk and has the loveliest garden area for photos so it made perfect sense to do the 'I do's' there.  

We were joined by a small group of our closest family and friends, its was wonderful to be able to walk down the aisle with mum and be able to catch everyone's face. After the photos we all gathered at The Crooked Well for our lunch and later we were joined by our evening guests for an evening of merriment!" 

A beautiful dress, a gorgeous bride and a wonderful day! I'm sure all my readers will join me in congratulating Cassandra and Dave!

Love
Helena 
Heavenly Vintage Brides

Photos with thanks to Jayne Kavanagh Photography

Vintage Wedding Dress of the Week in 1940s Satin...

Dear Reader,
My dress of the week is this gorgeous original 1940s satin gown, with lace appliqué trim at the neckline…

The dress is worn over a fitted slip in heavyweight satin, which helps give structure and drape. This stunning 1940s lace coat - with its open front and long elegant train - makes the perfect cover-up. 

This beautiful original vintage wedding outfit (slip, dress and coat) is approximately a size 10, and is available priced £1350 for the three pieces. 

The dress also looks fabulous with the ostrich and marabou feather cape, shown below. This a great way to create two quite different looks: one that is elegant and modest for the daytime service and reception, then add the cape for pure glamour for the party!

The cape is available separately, priced £150.

A gorgeous, flattering and really versatile combination. Thanks for looking, and do pop back later this week to see beautiful real vintage bride Jane.

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

If you enjoyed this post, please try

1940s LACE WEDDING DRESS 'DOROTHY'