Charlie's original 1950s lace wedding dress, and a vintage-inspired wedding that's a real family affair!

Dear Reader,

Today I’d like to share some pictures from Charlie, one of my lovely real vintage brides.

For her Summer wedding to Liam, Charlie wore a gorgeous 1950s lace vintage wedding dress, with fitted bodice, elegant full-length lace sleeves and scooped neckline. As you can see, she looked fabulous – the dress could have been made for her!

The whole day was a real family affair, with all the family members contributing in unique ways. From the Charlie’s grandfather giving Liam his own suit to wear, Liam’s grandmother making the ring cushion and Charlie’s mum making the cake. Every detail was filled with family love – even the cake topper was from Charlie’s parents’ own wedding.

To complement the knee-length dress, Charlie wore a shoulder-length veil and a beautiful pearl necklace borrowed from her Mum – a 21st birthday present worn on her Mum’s own wedding day. Vivienne Westwood ‘Lady Dragon’ shoes completed the outfit. Oh, and she also coordinated the dress with wellies for the after-dinner photographs in the nearby field!

When Charlie first came to see me, she had quite clear ideas of what she was looking for. In Charlie’s own words:

I’ve always known I wanted a lace 1950s style wedding dress, and I really wanted long lace sleeves. So I first contacted a costume designer from work to see if they could recommend a maker for me. However, a friend and colleague was planning her wedding around the same time as me and had been to see Helena at Heavenly Vintage Brides for her own wedding dress. I decided to visit Helena to sample some 1950s dresses for some ideas. I tried on lots of long and ballerina-length dresses, as this is what I thought I wanted. And then Helena suggested I try on a shorter dress. I was quite reluctant but as soon as I put it on I knew I had to get it!

As you can see, the dress was perfect! And – though Charlie had bought a white umbrella just in case – so was the whole day! There’s lots of lovely pictures below, and more on vintage wedding blog, Whimsical Wonderful Weddings.