Beautiful, ethically made AND affordable? My newest Heavenly lace wedding dresses mean you CAN have it all...

Dear Reader,
I hope 15 May is in your diary! My first vintage wedding fair of the season is only a few days away, and I'm in the middle of planning what delights to take. 

Perfectly boho! Original 1970s lace wedding dress.

Original French lace wedding bolero, priced £235 

In the elegant surroundings of Charlton House, I'll have over fifty romantic and boho vintage wedding dresses to show you. As well as samples from my own collection of beautiful boho dresses.

Original 1970s lace wedding dresses available from Heavenly Vintage Brides. So boho!

And completely new for the fair, I'm delighted to be launching an affordable line of the most beautiful, ethically–produced lace wedding dresses. All my vintage and boho wedding dresses are handmade here in London, using only the finest quality English laces. And now they're amazing value too – priced from just £950!

Butterfly floaty lace wedding dresses, now available from just £995

I've spent SO many hours researching, refining and talking to new suppliers to make this line possible – at amazing value (from just £950 including a pretty underslip) with no compromise on quality or principles. 

Violette, shown here in satin, is now available in lace from just £950

The dresses are all ethically made here in London, by hand, and feature the most beautiful silks and laces. Even the buttons are hand–covered in real silk... and their teeny–tiny delicate button loops too! All are created by a wonderful team of skilled traditional seamstresses here in London for the best possible quality and ethical credentials.

Angel lace wedding dress – beautifully handmade in England.

So by choosing these dresses you're supporting local industry, and helping the planet a little... as well as choosing the most fabulous, romantic lace wedding dresses possible!

Boho lace wedding dress Butterfly, now from £995

One of the pretty tulle and lace wedding dresses for sale at my stand on 15 May.

I'll be showing affordable – and stunning – new versions of my most popular dresses: Angel, Butterfly and Violette. I'll have samples of these beautiful new wedding dresses with me on the day (as well as many beautiful vintage boho wedding dresses, of course).

Angel, one of my new romantic lace wedding dresses

Butterfly, one of my romantic and boho lace wedding dresses from £995

My new Violette is now available as a lace dress over a satin slip (it's shown here in satin only, as it's so new I don't have the photos yet. So you'll have to come and see if for yourself!) It's in the most beautiful delicate 'cobwebby' cotton lace for a supersoft feel and a lovely drape – and still priced from just £950.

Violette, shown here in satin, is now available all in lace from just £950

Violette is similar to Butterfly and Angel (both pictured below), both of which are always very popular. But with its higher back and more structure, Violette is exceptionally flattering to a curvier figure.

Violette (shown here in satin) is now available in lace from just £950

My new Butterfly is in a gorgeous cotton blend lace, with a geometric 'art deco' style pattern. It's available for £995, including a pretty underslip in a choice of three colours. 

Butterfly lace wedding dress, so romantic, available from just £995

One of my other most popular lace dresses, Angel, will now be available in a very soft floral lace – very flowing and SO romantic – priced from £995 including a pretty underslip in choice of three colours.

Angel floaty lace wedding dress – now available from £995

The dresses can be bought online and will soon feature in my Etsy shop or you can find them at my studio in Brentford, West London. I'm proud to say they're all made as one–offs here in London, and the lace is also made in the UK. I really believe you can combine amazing beauty, quality and still use UK suppliers and manufacturers.

Angel lace wedding dress, handmade in England and priced from just £995

Look forward to seeing you on 15 May at Charlton House, or just contact me to visit my studio!

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

If you'd like to see more of my lovely lace wedding dresses for sale, 

click here to visit my Etsy store...

The Vintage Wedding Fair Season Begins…!

Dear Reader, 
In the last few weeks I've moved seventy, very delicate and precious original vintage wedding dresses to my new base: a gorgeous new studio in West London, neatly situated close to the tube station and the picturesque River Thames. And now the satin and lace is all unpacked, my new studio is pretty as a picture. 

Armfuls of silk tulle to be carefully folded, packed, unpacked, steamed...

And SO much tissue paper for all those delicate little things!

And West London itself is pretty as a picture at the moment. Spring really IS sprung now, isn't it. Outside my window the froth of cherry blossom is sprinkled with snow. (Yes, snow… in April!) And it can only mean one thing: the start of the vintage wedding fair season! 

Come and see my vintage wedding dresses for sale in Charlton House on 15 May!

And here's the first on my calendar for the year – Charlton House in South East London, on 15 May. It promises to be a treat. If you love to browse among beautiful vintage wedding dresses, pretty accessories, gorgeous shoes and all manner of girly treasures, then please put 15 May in your diary and make a beeline for me first!

Come and see us at the Fair. We'll be waiting…!

I'll show you a few of the lovely vintage wedding dresses for sale there in another post soon – as well as a teaser of the other pretty stalls you can find. In the meantime, you can find more of my dresses here on Etsy, or arrange a visit to my new studio! 

Our first Vintage Wedding Fair of the season!

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

If you like this post, why not click here to visit my new Etsy store?

Emily's Spring boho wedding in the prettiest 1940s vintage dress

Dear Reader,

Who doesn't love a Spring wedding? The first glimpses of sunnier days, longer evenings and early Spring flowers are such simple pleasures.

Simply boho, Emily in the prettiest 1940s wedding dress

And perhaps the very best Spring weddings are the ones that keep it simple (and it surely helps that Spring weddings don't need to be expensive!) Here, showing us how to do it SO beautifully, is one of my favourite real vintage brides, Emily... 

Emily's 1930s / 1940s wedding dress with its pretty Peter Pan collar.

In her pretty late 1930s / early 1940s vintage wedding dress, complete with adorable Peter Pan collar, gorgeous pixie crop and bright flower headpiece, Emily is a picture of charm and happiness. 

Vintage wedding dresses are perfect for a simple Spring wedding.

In Emily's words…

"A big thank you for all your help in finding and creating such a beautiful wedding dress for me! We had a fantastic day in April, and I got lots of compliments on my stunning and unusual dress."

Spring flowers for a chic and boho look. 

"I'd recommend Heavenly Vintage Brides to anyone looking for a vintage wedding dress."

She and Peter let their simple, fuss–free style speak for itself. With just a few brighter–than–bright paper pompoms for decor, echoing the colours of the flowers. 

Here's Emily's words of wisdom, on how they made their day so special…

"My advice would be to not get too worked up about it all. Easier said than done, I know! There's a lot of pressure on couples, and especially women, to make the perfect day and for everything to somehow represent you both as a couple. Not everything has to mean something, you’ll probably make some random decisions because you don’t want to devote your whole life to organising a wedding. The most important thing is that you are marrying the person that you love, and that you’re committed to the marriage ahead."

I was delighted to come across Emily and Peter's wedding featured on Boho Weddings recently, a great blog with lots of advice about planning a boho or vintage wedding. If you'd like to see more, you can check it out here.

Thanks too, to Benjamin Mathers for his wonderful photography.
Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides

If you'd like to see more, beautiful original 1930s and 1940s 
wedding dresses for sale please check out my Etsy store here.

And to see more gorgeous real vintage brides, why not Like 
my Facebook page here.

Friday Inspiration: a Vogue Vintage Wedding from 1929

Dear Reader,

A charming story for our inspiration today: this beautiful bride is Francesca Braggiotti, serene and graceful in her 1929 satin and lace wedding dress... 

Francesca Baggiotti in 1929 wedding dress, photo by Edward Steichen for Vogue.

This demure and elegant 1920s wedding dress was made for Francesca's wedding to John Davis Lodge, and was something of a departure from Francesca's usual style. As you can see, Francesca didn't always look so butter–wouldn't–melt...! 

Mrs Lodge wows on stage. 1930s but so glamorous and so modern.

A famed beauty, Francesca and her sister Berthe were a renowned Italian dance duo, who ran a dance studio above the barracks of the Brookline Fire Department in Massachussetts. Francesca's costumes required special authorisation by the Mayor himself – as they were deemed too small to be worn on a public beach! All in the name of art, of course…

A fan photo of renowned 1920s beauty, Francesca

Francesca met her husband–to–be on the set of a movie; John Davis Lodge was the grandson of a famous Senator and would himself go into politics in later life. But in 1929, at the time of their wedding, he and Francesca made a fabulous glamour couple – the IT couple of 1929! 

Francesca and husband John Davis Lodge

Once his career in politics began to take off, Francesca successfully transformed herself into a very respectable Mrs John Davis Lodge. The papers called her 'the First Lady of Connecticut' and 'a popular member of New York society's younger set'.

A popular member of New York's younger set!

Francesca and John had a long and happy marriage. Here they are in 1971, while John was US Ambassador in Buenos Aires… Still looking rather fabulous.

In the grounds of the US Embassy, Buenos Aires

Francesca lived to the grand age of 96. What a fantastic character, and what a life she must have enjoyed!
Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides

If you'd like to see more original 1930s wedding dresses and vintage–style dresses,
try my new Etsy store...

And for more vintage–style wedding dresses, 
please check out my Heavenly Collection here…

Gorgeous vintage bride Sophie wears one of my 1950s–style wedding dresses...

Dear Reader,
Remember gorgeous vintage bride Sophie, utterly fabulous in one of my 1950s–style wedding dresses for her wedding to Jeremy…? 

Well, I'm enjoying Sophie's pictures all over again – since I've found a great feature about their wedding on one of my favourite wedding blogs. I only gave you a glimpse of Sophie's vintage–inspired style, with her silver Jimmy Choo 'Luna' peep toe pumps, chic birdcage veil and bright Spring flowers...

But if you like what you've seen so far, you can find much more on cool wedding blog RockMyWedding.

Don't miss stylish groom Jeremy, too – in his blue Reiss suit, Thomas Pink dress shirt and Alexander McQueen tie and cufflinks...

Check out the feature on RockMyWedding to see much more of their day – from the London Bus Tour to the 'Molly Bakes' cake-pops!

For a glimpse of more real vintage–inspired brides, visit my website. And if you love Sophie's 1950s style dress, you can find more like it here and in my new Etsy store.

It's always nice to take a moment's breath, to look back and admire some of the beautiful women who've worn my vintage–inspired wedding dresses!
Love
Helena
Heavenly Vintage Brides