Retro Red and Polka Dots For A 1950s Style Village Hall Christmas Wedding

Retro Red and Polka Dots For A 1950s Style Village Hall Christmas Wedding

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Well here it is folks, a suitably fitting final wedding for 2013 - a Christmas inspired 50's retro affair where wedding photographer Nicki Feltham tied the knot with her husband Steve at Bignor Park in West Essex.  The wedding, which took place earlier this month, is full of so much fun and really embraces the spirit of Christmas - a truly perfect way to see us out 'real wedding' wise this year.  Huge thanks to Lola Rose Photography for sending in these lovely photographs.

“As we are such big fans of Christmas and, myself of the 50s era, we decided on a vintage festive wedding with lots of red polka dots and a flash of tartan; the Lyall family tartan from the Sinclair clan to be exact!  And thank goodness we had Gemma and Katy from Distinctly Yours there to help style everything, set it all up beautifully and run the day for us.  They are the most amazing team to have behind you on your day.  They bring your visions to life and keep the day ticking along nicely and seamlessly.  They are so passionate about what they do too.  Absolute dream team! "

Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Lola Rose Photography

“Steve was a good friend of my sister’s and her husband and I had liked him for quite a while so we were already friends for a little bit before we got together.  I was the first girl he’d taken home to meet his parents and I knew straight away what an amazing guy he was – a real family man.  Twelve years and three gorgeous children later, Steve proposed last Christmas and after the tears, and me saying yes, we decided we would have a Christmas wedding the very next year and plans got under way pretty quickly!”

"Our wedding took place at Bignor Park near Petworth in West Sussex.  We fell in love with Bignor Park but weren’t able to stretch our budget to have our wedding reception there so we booked the beautiful little village hall across the road from the church in Duncton instead, and were all set and excited to have our party there after the ceremony.  Sadly just one week before the wedding date we discovered that the hall was having an extension built as well as scaffolding up around the walls and roof.  Also there was a portaloo in the car park, a big skip, and mud and breeze blocks everywhere! 

It looked like a building site and we were devastated.  Luckily the amazing Louise and owners of Bignor Park came to our rescue.  We had got to know Louise at church over the year and she really was our saving grace.  Within a week we managed to turn it all around and we had the most spectacular reception at Bignor.  It was more than we could have ever dreamt of and we are forever grateful for the help and kindness we were shown by everyone at Bignor Park."

"My neice, Emma Burt, who was also one of my bridesmaids, made my dress.   After visiting a couple of unhelpful bridal shops and not really finding what I was looking for I plucked up the courage to ask Emma (who’d only just finished her A level in textiles) if she’d make my dress.  I had seen first-hand just how clever Emma was with a sewing machine, she has such a creative eye and attention to detail so I knew she could do it. I was just worried it would be too much stress for her, but she agreed and we set to work straight away. "

I bought Emma a new machine and some old curtain material and we made a mock up and looked at various designs, then Emma came up with the rest.  The dress evolved as we went along – it was quite an organic process for me and I loved it but it caused a few sleepless nights for poor Emma!  The end product was simply perfect though.  My very own custom made to measure beautiful 50s dress with lots of netting, bows, a sash and a layer of polka dots too – I was delighted and will forever be indebted to Ems.  She also made both hers and Lucy’s dresses and Mia the flower girl’s too!"

"My good friend and florist Lou from Daisies Florist in Middleton-on-Sea supplied our flowers.  I wanted something polka-dotty for my bouquet so went for white roses with cherries and berries in!  The bridesmaids had little red felt balls mixed in with their white roses.  Steve had a thistle in his button hole with a large white rose and the centre pieces were Christmas wreaths so people could take them home as presents and have them on their front door. 

They looked fab with cinnamon sticks, apples and oranges all mixed in with the polka dot and tartan ribbons.  We were over the moon with the results.  Lou also did the bouquets for the mums and special people for us and they were stunning too.  I would (and do!) always recommend Lou."

"Our wedding cake was a work of art and tasted absolutely delicious too!  We had a layer of chocolate ganash, carrot cake with orange butter icing and a white chocolate and cherries layer and also a separate ginger cake with ginger bread house on top.  Our wedding motto was eat cake and be married and our great friend and baker extraordinaire, Tess of Chatter Cakes did us proud.  We love our cake topper family too - the 5 of us, just perfect!"

"To style our wedding reception we used all our own Christmas decorations from home, plus extra baubles!  We also used lots of Chinese lanterns, jam jar tea lights and honeycomb hanging paper decorations – all from ebay, etsy and not on the highstreet.  Also got some fab festoon lights from a local garden centre and anything shabby chic from around our home like our bureau and painted step ladder.  Distinctly Yours added lots of candelabras, bird cages, crates and supplied the dresser top for the sweetie shop.  Their input was amazing, we could not have been happier.

Steve’s friend supplied the bar as we couldn’t get a license in time for the new venue.  This was great though as it ended up being a bring a bottle wedding – one of the best last minute decisions ever!  The mojito station was great and the shots kept coming at a snip of the price we would have paid at a bar!"

“Our photographer was Kelly Green of Lola Rose, and we were really nervous about being in front of the camera.  But Kelly and I have been friends for a few years now and I’ve always loved her work.  Her photos are incredible and she completely put us both at ease. She worked so hard all day and there was a lot to photograph but we didn’t have many group shots, we just wanted the fun of the day captured.

Having said that we had the most amazing 30 mins or so just with Kelly for some portraits which was wonderful as it allowed us to chill out for a bit and enjoy being newlyweds and have some great photos taken too.  I’m not even sure how we’ll go about thanking Kelly for all the fantastic memories she’s given us!”

“My hair was styled by my hairdresser and dear friend, Mel from The Worx in Bognor.  As a mum to 3 young boys going to the hairdressers was such a treat!  Make up was by artist and another dear friend, Sarah from Enhance Make-up.“

"My brother walked me down the aisle, and it was a very special moment.  Having a church service was so magical – we only had eyes for each other and can honestly say it was one of the most special parts of the day.  Giving yourself, promising yourself to just one person for the rest of your life is the ultimate compliment you can pay someone and it really has brought us closer together and made our feelings for each other stronger."

"My sister read a chapter from the book of Ruth – short and sweet, but very meaningful..."

'Wherever you go, I will go.

Wherever you live, I will live.

Your people will be my people.

Your God will be my God too.

Wherever you die I will die.

And there I shall be buried beside you.

We shall be together for ever.

And our love will be the gift of our life.'

"For favours we bought lots of bits in the sales last Christmas – little felt Christmassy smelling hanging hearts for the girls and Christmas spice tea lights for the boys.  Children had colouring books, stickers and the best sweetie shop ever!  Plus Father Christmas came with presents for them all after the meal."

"Our first dance was “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” the Christina Perry version.  We chose that because there is a verse about faithful friends gathering near to us and we thought they could all join in and dance with us but they were unfaithful on the day and left us shuffling awkwardly round the dance floor together!"

Words of Wedded Wisdom…



“With all the stresses and strains we had leading up to the day we were exhausted but we ran on adrenalin on the actual day.  I already knew how fast weddings whiz by so try to sit back and enjoy it when you can – take moments to be just with your husband/wife (and maybe the photographer too!).  Just enjoy.  

I wouldn’t have done anything differently because the whole day was everything I could have dreamed of, and more.  Perhaps we should have just booked Bignor from the start, but we weren’t to know about the village hall!

We had nothing formal about our day, no speeches, no pomp and ceremony – it was just one big happy party.  We thought as an older bride and groom perhaps we should have got married before having a family but it was great having the boys there too and all our friends with their families made it that bit more special.  We honestly do feel so blessed and lucky.  All of it – the service, the photos with Kelly, the meal, father Christmas coming, the party, the dancing – really and truly all of it was perfect."

Absolutely wonderful stuff - huge huge congrats to you both Nicki and Steve - it's such a pleasure to share your wedding with our readers, and I'm so happy for you both - may you have an amazing first christmas together as newlyweds!

Huge thanks also to Kelly Green of Lola Rose Photography for asking us to share these nuptials - it has been our pleasure Kelly!

Readers, we have one final special post for you coming tomorrow morning - set your alarms to check in early as we have a few treats for you!

With much love,

Annabel







Photographer - Lola Rose Photography

Wedding Planner/Stylist - Distinctly Yours

Venue - Bignor Park in West Essex

Wedding Dress - Made by the bride's niece Emma + feather stole by Wonderful Wraps

Veil/Headpiece - bird cage with vintage brooch head band – Glitters

Shoes - Irregular choice (highs) + Rocket Dog (flats) /+ Evercreatues (wellies).

Bride's accessories - vintage brooch head band – Glitters

Grooms Suit - Skopes (via House of Fraser) + Tie via LochCarran of Scotland + Ben Sherman brogues

Bridesmaids - By Emma (the bride's neice) + bow necklaces from Dorothy Perkins + stoles from eBay.

Page boy/young male assistants outfits - Monsoon, H&M, Etsy

Flowers - Daisies Florist

Cake - Chatter Cakes

Entertainment - Anthem Band

Rings - Ernest Jones (brides) + Wedding Rings Direct

Catering Company - The Hog Squad

Stationery - Carolyne Burton

Hair Stylist - The Worx in Bognor

Makeup Artist - Enhance Make-up

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