The Wedding Cake

We ordered a three tier wedding cake from Cakes by Millrise in Biddulph Staffordshire. All tiers were chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream in the middle. The icing was soft and tasted great. We got to taste a few options before we decided on the chocolate. We wanted little minature figures of me, Mark the groom and our dog Toby on the top of the cake made from marizpan. We wanted pink roses cascading down one side of the cake, like one we saw on the Cakes by Millrise website.

The cake we loved on the Cakes by Millrise website.

The ribbon we had around each tier was a burgundy colour and was finished with an ivory pearl trim. 

Here was our Wedding Cake:

The Hair & Beauty

For the big day, we had the experts in to do our hair and makeup. This was a brilliant idea and started the day off smoothly, if I had to do these things myself I may have stressed a lot, as it were, we got to drink prosecco and be pampered. We had both hair and makeup trials. Harriet opted to do her own hair. Me, my mum and maid of honour had our hair done, and all four of us had our make up done.

I wanted quite loose curls and purposefully grew my hair. I also had subtle highlights put in a week or so before the big day to give my hair depth, as it was looking a little dull. 

This was me with my hair and makeup complete.

The hairdresser, Nikki, fitting the hair bands that my mum made to Amy (my big sister and maid of honour).

Harriet wanted to do her own hair and I respected her wishes, she did a great job!

Getting my hair done, Nicola also put highlights in and cut my hair a week or so previous.

Seeing the finished look.

 For my makeup, Lauren gave me pink eyeshadow with a smokey eye effect, I love the smokey eye look, peachy pink lipstick, foundation (that she had to order in specially for my whiter than white skin!), blush, eye liner and mascara. The pink eye shadow complemented the pink rose head piece I wore.

Getting my makeup done by Lauren from Bronze & Beautyful.

Amy and Harriet's makeup.

Before and after photo of my mum (mother of the bride).

Group shot :)

A huge thank you to Nicola from Hair by Nicola Jayne and Lauren from Bronze & Beautyful.

Lauren also did my nails the day before, as the salon is across the road from the venue, it was so convenient and within quick walking distance. This was the very first manicure I've ever had in a salon and I have to say I was really impressed with the look:

Wedding Dress, Shoes & Accessories

The Dress

My Phil Collins PC1925 wedding dress Pre-September 2014

So as you all know, I started looking for my wedding dress a few months after Mark proposed to me in April 2012.

I found my perfect wedding dress in July 2012 from the Bridal Lounge in Newcastle-under-lyme, England. I have to say that their service is impeccable and they really, really look after you. I don't want what I am about to write reflect badly on them in any way shape or form because they were fabulous under the circumstances.

This is going to be a long post, but I am being completely honest in what I write as my dream wedding dress became a nightmare...

Here was my dream dress that I bought in July 2012 and was planning on wearing on our big day;

See the shape of it and the beautiful scalloped edge?

I had so many photographs of me in this dress as this was definitely 'the one'!:

This was the beautiful train.

So I went for my final dress fitting about two weeks before the big day, and the seamstress that the Bridal Lounge had commissioned to use, absolutely buggered it up beyond all recognition. I should have known something was a little fishy because when I arrived at the seamstresses' studio, nobody would come in to help me get into the dress or actually fit me - considering it was my final dress fitting, I thought this was odd. We eventually had to call one of the ladies - who had a broken hand and only two working fingers - in as my sister (and maid of honour) Amy was struggling to lace up the dress at the back and asked for some guidance. As soon as I put the dress on me and saw myself in the mirror I knew something was wrong. Like really, really wrong. It was too short at the front, to the point where I could see my shoes. The satin underneath the lace was actually sitting below the lace, so the lace wasn't on show, the satin was. 

Also the brand new bridesmaid dresses I had ordered in the wine colour had beads missing and falling off Amy's dress (my maid of honours dress), they were brand new and the shop only had them in for a few weeks! what did they do?!

The reason I loved my wedding dress was that it gave a scalloped edge all around the sides and front of it. This was no more, there was no scalloped edge, well, there was, but only on one side as it had been cut wonky as well . As I pointed out to the seamstress I wanted it scalloped around the edge and not as short and why had she cut it this short she made me walk into their shop with my dress on and tried to iron the lace so that it stretched, with me still in it! I don't know much about dresses, but I know that the type of lace on my dress does not stretch. It's ridiculous to even think that would have worked. The way it was cut, now meant the entire shape of the dress had changed, it bevelled at the front and sides and made me look like a big marshmallow...and not in a good way. It swung as I walk like a boat on rough tide. I was mortified, gutted and heart broken and all we got from the ladies in the seamstresses' store was 'there is nothing wrong with it', followed by grumps and moans. They even had the cheek to say that my mum was having a 'moment'. This was on the thursday, we were told if we come to the bridal lounge on the saturday that this dress would be fixed. The other thing about this dress is that it was very creased on the front, which I was always assured would 'steam out', I was quite self conscious about this as it looks like a weird sort of six pack! See what I mean:

That night I was at my parents and couldn't stop crying, I knew in my heart of hearts that they couldn't fix it, as it was one piece of lace and as she cut it too short, there wasn't enough lace to get it back to the length needed. It was FUBAR'd. So the next day (Friday) me and my parents made a mad dash around about 7 different bridal stores to try on dresses in case we needed a back up plan. We also asked them how short the dress should be at the front, which most said just barely kissing the floor or just so you can see the tops of the shoes - not your whole shoes and ankles..and it shouldn't go up in a weird, bevelled arch shape.

So on Saturday we arrive only to find that the dress looks near enough the same, god knows what she did to it but it was only slightly better. The creases were also still there. As the ladies in the bridal lounge had seen me in my dress over the past two years they knew exactly what I meant when they saw it on me - and why I was so upset. I couldn't stop crying in the store, it was probably a good job they changed the time I was to go in the store to 15 mins before they closed as any bride walking in would probably be walking out after seeing the state I was in.

It was certainly a low moment in the wedding process for me, as I had imagined wearing this dress for the past two years. I had been looking at other dresses online and not one of them compared to what I had. I couldn't wait to wear it and I was heartbroken, I really was. I had so much emotion for that dress and to see it look in the state she made it just completely set me off on tears. 

She was trying to fix it (the seamstress that is), by saying things to me like - "pull the dress down at the front so there is more length" (so basically my boobies would be showing) - she measured me with the dress at the level it was at so it should have fit like a glove, she even said "when the photographer takes photos just lean forward a bit so it looks like its touching the ground (!!!)", I know, where does she get this from??! She had every excuse going as well; "the hoop isn't the right one", so we tried another hoop that was smaller and it made the dress look limp and like nothing, I was also measured for a number 2 hoop, not the one she had me try on, "you couldn't walk in the length you were in because you were dizzy so we took it shorter" - erm no. And honestly, the bullshit kept coming. I was losing my rag and it takes a lot for me to get worked up, but I started arguing with her when she said "I've been a seamstress for 40 odd years" as the other shops said she had messed it up by the sounds and it sounded too short to them, which I pointed out to her and then she said "I'm going to go off on air in a minute", aimed at me, which is when I nearly lost it with her "You're going to go off on air? I get married in two weeks and you'ved buggered up my dress when I've been dreaming about wearing this dress for the past two years!!!" Don't piss off a scouser! Seriously, especially a very stressed bride-to-be scouser!

After this, we were getting more and more enraged. My Dad who didn't want to see my in my wedding dress at all until on the day, which ruined it for him, came up and said to me "You don't want this dress do you Lyndsay? You don't have to wear it, we will figure something out" (Super Dad!). I wanted to say I felt relief, but I didn't. Although I had come to terms with it (somewhat) in the few days before, I was heartbroken I wouldn't be wearing it. 

The ladies at the Bridal Lounge shuffled her out (the seamstress), I didn't see her leave the store. But once she was out of ear shot they came to me and all said that they would find me another dress and that I could choose any one in there, no matter what the price, but with two weeks to go it would have to be one on the rack and in my size. I asked them if they had any dresses like the one I had picked two years previous, any with a scalloped edge? Nope. So my heart had sank again. I tried possibly around 10 or 12 of the dresses but none were floating my boat, they were all 'it will do' dresses and didn't make me feel like a bride. I think if Vicky had been more apologetic - hey everyone makes mistakes! - this horrible experience could have been somewhat avoided. I felt bad for the ladies in the store because this was in no way their fault and would reflect badly on them, which is why I brought them cake and a card :). They really looked after me and went out of their way to try and help me find something but it just wasn't happening. I was tired too, with being dizzy (I have BPPV) it was wearing me out and I already felt like I could vomit, so after trying out all of the options, we decided to leave and the ladies gave us a full refund of £525 so I could find another one elsewhere. 

On the Friday  before that we went around the 7 different shops in the area, I found just one dress that I thought could be 'the one' or the 'next one' lol, which was in a store called the Aisle of Brides in Stoke, UK. When we went to visit I explained our situation with the dress and the lady, Colette, assured me that they could sort me out with something and could get it all altered in time for me. She gave me the managers number and told me to give them a call on the Saturday after the dress fitting to see if they had changed it for the better and if not, to give the manager Cynthia a call. Which after we finished trying on dresses at the bridal lounge and had no luck, we did. 

So altogether now I have probably tried on about 50 dresses, some I have photographs for and others weren't photo worthy. Here are some of my wedding dress try ons (then I will show you the dress I chose), I do not know the name of the designers - unless you do - let me know in the comments section:

This looked amazing on the hanger, not so good on!

I really liked this one by Sophia Tolli.

It made me feel very feminine, floaty and bridal for the first time.

This was a nice dress, but it didn't feel right.

This was the back of the dress above.

I thought I'd really like this, until I tried it on.

This was my favourite up to now, but it felt too flat, I wanted more volume to the dress.

The one above is the one I liked the most up to this point, but it didn't feel quite 'poofy' enough, so Colette at Aisle of Brides listened to what I asked for and put me in this dress which was so similar but poofy, I fell in love, and this was what I wore on our wedding day:

Side View

The ladies at Aisle of brides in stoke-on-trent absolutely saved my bacon, they fitted the dress within a few weeks due to the disaster of my first dress. They were amazing and made me feel great throughout the process. I cannot thank them enough. 

For more photo's of my dress, check out the link 'The Day in Photo's', these were the only ones I was able to take as everything with the dress was quite rushed.

The head piece

I'm just not a tiara person, I never have been. I never really envisaged what I'd wear on my head other than a veil, so I really struggled with this one. 

Whenever I saw flower garlands I thought they looked very elegant, romantic and charming but I wasn't sure if one would suit me. 

I kept coming back to the pictures I saw online which inspired me:

The one thing I couldn't fathom is that most of the pictures with the garlands on didn't have veils and this was a must for me, I definitely wanted a veil. 

And then by chance one day I came across this on google images:

Head garland and veil :)

I looked up the website address that the picture came from and it was a seller on etsy that was actually selling both the garland and the veil in her shop. It was from the states but I figured that this was the only one I had seen up until that point (and I had been looking for months) that fit the bill, and the veil matched the head garland as well, see the beautiful roses on the comb?:

I ordered this and it was absolutely stunningly perfect. I can't thank monika from etsy enough who made it, she did such a lovely job. The veil is the exact length I wanted, and the romantic cut of the edge was perfect. 

This is what it looked like on me:

At the dress fitting.

The head piece and the veil

The veil was fingertip length with a romantic cut edge, the rose comb was lovely and complimented the head piece.

As I thought the head piece may hurt after a few hours, I asked my mum to make a hairband - similar to the girls' ones that she made to wear in the evening and here is what the clever bean made:

It was even lovelier than I could have dreamed, my mum is one talented lady!

Jewellery

See above photographs for my jewellery. My hair covered my ear rings in most of the pictures, so these were rather mute but I really liked them. I bought my jewellery from Debenhams, the Jon Richard range. I had a tear drop necklace, bracelet and ear ring set that was on sale at the time (bargain hunter lol). I wanted pearls and sparkle, with a bit of a vintage feel, the above is what I opted for. It was quite similar to this set by Jon Richards, Debenhams. I couldn't find the set I bought on the website.

The Shoes

My shoes were custom made. I found this great lady online who designed and decorated shoes with pearls and sparkle. As I was dizzy and only a few inches shorter than my fiancé, I wanted to wear flats. All the flats I saw I hated. I came across this pair of shoes online one day on Etsy and fell in love with the rose design on the toe:

I messaged the lady on etsy (Ajunebride) and asked if she could make me just the rose ribbon design as shoe clips, so I could attach them to a pair of flats and she agreed. Her designs are stunning, they really are. They were from the United States but they were worth the wait and customs charges when they arrived. 

I contacted another lady on eBay called Fiona who designs wedding shoes, she was local to me so I was able to see the shoes in person and try them on. I chose ivory lace flats, with a round toe. Around the edge I asked for pearls with scatters of sparkle on the sides. I gave her the shoe clips I had ordered from the States and she glued them on, here was the end result, I was so made up:

Pearl trim on ivory lace shoe with sparkly diamantes scattered on the sides.

Fiona also put the shoes in a lovely, personalised box with my name on and pink tissue paper.

I really liked that my shoes complemented my head piece, flowers and jewellery. I loved the final result of them and they are completely unique! 

The End Result:

These were the beautiful bridesmaids in their dresses, the material is burgundy chiffon and they were from The Bridal Lounge in Staffordshire England. They are from the D'zage range and were £175 each. 

The dress bustled up at the back for the evening.

Check out the hair and beauty next!