Vintage Ballroom Wedding

If the words British and wedding together weren’t enough to make my little heart skip a beat, imagine then when Chloe of Caught the Light sent over this wedding from across the pond. It was a special request by the bride who happens to be a long time Ruffled reader. Right then I knew her wedding dress was going to be an one of kind gem. And it sure was. Her vintage-inspired lace gown is just beyond words gorgeous, and so were her bridesmaids fifties-inspired frocks. Alex, the bride, hand drew her wedding invitations and recently opened up shop, called Dear So and So.

Says the bride, Alex: We wanted to go for something quite vintage, but with a traditional glamorous edge… and a lot of DIY input. The colours we wanted running through everything were mustards, oranges, cream, pinks, reds and light blue… we wanted the colours to be quite clashing and autumnal.. Both of us being designers it was evident that we would do a lot of DIY projects. We bought loads of vintage crockery for the main meal and for a cake buffet, along with vintage tablecloths. We framed lots of family wedding photos in old frames we found in charity shops. I came up with the idea of our table plan being our wedding favors, so Chris’ mum made lots of jars of homemade jam, I bought the jars off the internet, and then wrote the names of all the guests on the lids, a ribbon tied around the lid had a tag which then stated what table number they were on.

We bought a chalk board to write ‘Table Plan’ – I then wrote out all the place names on tags which were tied around the napkins which then had the cutlery tucked into and placed on a vintage plate, all miss-matched. I had little birds in the flower arrangement on the head table. I bought wooden table numbers and spray painted them yellow. I bought loads of crocheted doilies to put around the centre of the table where the number and the flower arrangement sat. We did all the flower arranging ourselves and I was there the night before doing all the flowers for the centre of the tables. I bought massive round balloons for the library room, all within the colour theme and made bunting to go across from one book shelf to the other. We had a little bucket with sparklers in by the back door so that people could go outside and use them, as it was near bonfire night. I also had lots of vintage bottles which I put little flowers in and had around the hall. We designed all our stationery, and I even designed the icing for our wedding cake!

Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? I think it’s mind blowing how much wedding inspiration there is out there, magazines and blogs like these make it so easy to pick up ideas…I would say though to try and keep it relatively simple and personal to you…It is sometimes easy to run away with yourself and before you know it you have a wedding full of loads of ideas that other people have done, and nothing really personal to yourself…

View all images from this wedding

Wedding Songs:
Processional: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Handel
Recessional: Te Deum, Charpentier
First dance: Maps, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Wedding Vendors (Cambridge, England):

Reception venue: Anstey Hall / Wedding Photographer: Chloe of Caught the Light / Tea Length Wedding Dress: Fur Coat No Knickers / Wedding shoes: Rachel Simpson / Headpiece: Accessorize / Makeup: Natalie Castro / Bridesmaid Dresses: bespoke / Groom’s suit: bespoke / Groomsmen’s suits: Topman / Flowers: done by bridal party / DJ: Bee’s Knees / Wedding invitations: Designed by bride / Transportation: Citroen DS