Featured, Real Brides

Moments of Simplicity

There are things that you sometimes do, actions that you sometimes take by sudden impulses without planning, but by choosing these decisions you sometimes spend the rest of your life thanking yourself for it. They are rare, unique but perfect moments.

Liz’s Wedding couldn’t be further away from the “traditional” Wedding in fact it was a day that solely focused on one of the most important decisions in life, the person you’re going to marry! Liz’s Wedding takes us to Edinburgh, where she took ‘wild leaps’ with planning her special day, such as never visiting the restaurant where her Wedding was taking place and never meeting up with their florist. Sometimes simplicity is key and the superfluous things in life just aren’t necessary.

Liz in Delphine Manivet's Alexis

Liz initially fell in love with the handmade 1960s dresses that she found online and decided to go ahead and order one and tweak it to the look she wanted. But once the chosen dress arrived Liz realised that too much work would have to be done to create the look she was after. The look Liz was trying to recreate was the Alexis dress by Delphine Manviet which she had pinned right at the start of her planning. Liz’s mum came to the rescue as Mum’s do and rang up The Mews without Liz knowing and booked a last minute appointment. Luckily the Alexis dress was in stock and the sample was in Liz’s size. Liz looked beautiful in the Alexis dress by Delphine Manviet, the dress combined vintage and modern feel that worked perfectly with Liz’s intimate Wedding.

Delphine Manivet  is flawlessly able to create structured and flattering dresses that can compliment anyone’s figure. Delphine’s brides look effortlessly cool and romantic which Liz carries off with her contemporary short chic dress. In the end Liz had her perfect dress that was completely right for her and it’ll be something she can treasure forever.

Liz’s Wedding just shows us that it’s not all about what you have at your wedding but it’s about who you have to share it with as it’s a day full of love and precious memories.

Tell us a little about yourself?

I’m 28 and work in historic building conservation. I love to organise, do lots of yoga and have two crazy fluffy birman cats.

How did you meet your Groom?

Our paths crossed at the National Trust property I volunteer at. It was a completely chance meeting and we immediately hit it off.

The bride and groom

How did you come across The Mews?

For me the wedding dress was the worst bit of wedding planning. I was so excited to get married to the perfect man, and knew that I could easily pull the rest of the wedding together without too much stress but the dress was a nightmare. I am very particular and knew that I didn’t want a typical dress. Nothing about a big, strapless gown would suited me or our wedding. I was terrified by all the different styles and hated the idea of approaching a wedding dress shop, usually so intimidating, in my jeans and t shirt. The thought of trying on gowns which I knew would look ridiculous on me filled me with dread and hung over our wedding planning like a dark cloud!

Nothing about our wedding was traditional, we decided what was important to us and focused on those bits and completely ignored anything else.

We took wild leaps of faith, including booking a restaurant we had never been to before the wedding day (we live on the South coast and got married in Edinburgh) we also never met our florist before the day and gave them free reign over a wintery mood board of colours and textures – and I contacted our incredible photographer Caro on a total whim after seeing her amazing images on a wedding blog.

None of these decisions seemed anything other than perfect and right but no amount of Pinterest searching, Etsy scowering or high street shopping could lead me to the perfect dress which was vintage but contemporary, not covered in lace, short so that it didn’t drag through the Edinburgh rain, showed off my figure and made me feel great, or in my price bracket. I avoided wedding dress shops because I didn’t want to pay a month’s rent for a dress that I would only wear for a day, personally I thought girls that did must be mugs.

Being showered with confetti

But one frustrated evening after work I visited my mum who had been casting her expert seamstress eye over some original homemade 1960’s dresses I had bought online with the hope that it might be possible to alter one to become my dream dress. Sadly it wasn’t going to work, the dresses would need far too much work and would be unrecognisable. In trying to explain to my mum what I was after I gave up trying to find the right words and instead showed her the Alexis dress on Delphine Manivet’s website and explained that this was what I was after – my perfect dress that I had ‘pinned’ right at the start of wedding planning (by now we had only 6 months to go) but had immediately dismissed because of the price tag. On that disappointing note I left mum’s to head home and tried to be optimistic that something would turn up.

Little did I know that my mum had instantly rung The Mews, the only UK stockist of the Alexis outside of London, and confirmed that they had a sample dress in my size. My mum called as I walked in the door to let me know that they had a clear appointment that Saturday for me to try it on. I’m not sure that there’s ever been a faster appointment in The Mews. I walked in the shop, tried on one dress and was out the door 20 minutes later! I was so torn between having found the perfect dress and going against everything that I had said I wouldn’t do! But my parents were so incredibly generous that they told me to have the dress – no other one would compare – and they kindly bought it for me. I cannot understate how grateful I am to them for the most amazing wedding present, my dress!

Because I was comfortable and confident in it I was able to enjoy the important bits of the day, and not worry about how I looked!

My immediate thought was that I would sell the dress after the wedding, but I just can’t. Some ridiculous emotional tie is telling me to hold on to it, and I am very happy to do so!

Flowers

Was there any themes or inspiration behind your day?

We never set a theme – we just wanted a simple, minimalist day that focused on us becoming Husband and Wife and sharing that with our friends and family in the way that we would enjoy – an amazing lunch and a trip to fireworks and the pub in the evening!

What did he wear?

A lovely berry toned Ted Baker suit – we bought the entire outfit in two hours and celebrated with a well earned burger afterwards.

The bride and groom

What was your favourite detail of the day?

Although the wedding looked lovely none of that detail was as important as the amazing little acts of our friends to make the day less stressful for us. My incredible bridesmaid Harriet wrote out my speech for me on the morning of the wedding as I was running out of time to get ready. She even filled in adjectives I hadn’t chosen yet and finished sentences where I wasn’t sure how to say what I meant. I couldn’t have done it better myself and it meant the world to me.

The Bride and Father

What advise would you give out to a bride to be about finding the perfect dress?

Don’t settle. Even if you’re running out of time – choose what is right for you, not what other people expect or approve of.

Words of wedded wisdom?

Have the wedding you and your partner want – not the wedding other people want you to have. Don’t be scared not to invite people, if they mind they don’t matter and if they matter they won’t mind. Focus on that moment that you actually get married – not the cars, the flowers, the place settings – the moment you become legally married is the most amazing, and fleeting of the whole day. You (hopefully!) wont be doing that moment again so make sure you take it all in.