A Cotton Candy Sweet, Truly Scrumptious Brighton Wedding

August 5, 2010

Oh. My. Gaaaawd! You are going to go utterly c-c-craaaazy for Ant & Clare’s way-beyond-anything-I-have-ever-seen-awesome wedding. The pair went down to Brighton to have a personal ceremony with just the two of them. They didn’t have a reception, instead opting for a fabulous photo shoot around the town with their photographer Jacqui McSweeney. This is yet another wedding to back my theory that ‘blog-worthy’ details are not ‘all that’. Just grab yourself an wicked dress, customise yourself some shoes and get hitched in perfect Rock n Roll style! Prepare to be inspired…

Clare took it upon herself to find and customise her perfect outfit when she couldn’t find what she was after anywhere in the mainstream wedding market.

“My dress was a £35 vintage buy from Beyond Retro in London” she told me. “It was a beautiful colour and fit on top but quite an unflattering length so I customised it by layering it over a fab multi-layered white underskirt (also from  Beyond Retro)  and using my handy little microstitch gun ( a brilliant gadget if your rubbish at sewing but like to tinker with clothes) I pinned it up quite high keeping lots of fab underskirt on show. I wanted it to have a bit of a young victorian girl at the seaside feel, toffee apple in one hand, balloon in the other, hitching up her skirts to paddle in the waves. Thought this seemed fitting to a wedding in Brighton.”

She also told me all about those gorgeous shoes, which I know you’ll all be dying to know how she made them!

“I originally wanted pale blue shoes but after discovering that they don’t exist….ANY….WHERE. Instead I customised some plain white courts with a platform toe, £25 from Barratts by gluing a wide strip of pale blue satin ribbon bought for a few pounds from a haberdashers around the middle and securing in a bow. I did the same thing with a cheap pair of white ballet flats from Primark so I had something to change into when my feet had had enough! As I didn’t want a bouquet I carried a large single stem sunflower instead. Bright and colourful but not too bridal or manicured.”

Clare concluded…

“I also wanted a bit of a 1960’s feel to things so tried to do my hair in that way using a hairpiece to give it height in the crown and another which was a thick plait which sat a bit like an alice band and used a false eyelashes on the top and bottom of my eyes. Our fantastic photographer Jacqui had some inspired ideas that captured both these looks perfectly. We had a big bunch of balloons gathered in ribbon which gave everything that seaside victoriana/ Alice in Wonderland feel and bubbles and lots of colour which gave the pictures a slight 60’s psychedelic vibe. She’s one talented lady!”

I LOVE.

Huge thanks to Jacqui for sending over Clare & Ant’s wedding and to Clare & Ant themselves for telling us all the gorgeous details.

Credit: Jacqui McSweeney Photography
Ceremony Venue: Brighton Registry Office
Bride’s Dress: Original vintage from Beyond Retro and customised
Bride’s Shoes: Barratts & Primark and customised