David McNeil

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I teased a photo of Emma in her amazing short short wedding dress on twitter as soon as photographer David McNeil sent over this wedding to me. Whoaaa, I literally had to share it with someone (well 12,000 someone’s) right away! I. Die.

“We got married in Bardsea (on the bay of Morecambe)” Emma told me. “It’s my parent’s village which is just such a gorgeous place near the moors and the beach. Even though we live in Camden and love it – we’re both down to earth and love being outdoors and away from the city, so it was a natural choice. We got married at Eden Lodge, on the outskirts of the village, which has recently been converted from a Edwardian home to a small, minimalist hotel in some AMAZING grounds. We got married in the hotel itself and then the reception was in a marquee in the grounds. It was the hotel’s first wedding and they were AMAZING. We can’t sing their praises enough. The staff were EXCEPTIONAL and really went above and beyond to make our day perfect.”

Emma’s amazing dress was a custom-made Suzanne Neville number. She explains, “I never thought Matt and I would get married. I knew we’d be together forever but we weren’t really the ‘marrying kind’. As soon as he proposed, I knew my dress would be something that reflected my character. I’m not a girly girl and I usually dress in biker boots and short skirts – so short was what I wanted. I wanted to feel like ME on the day not a BRIDE. I scooted through some websites looking for a short wedding dress and found one designed by Suzanne Neville. I fell in love but hunted for something cheaper that I loved as much. Anyway I didn’t. The dress was custom made for me at a crazy price. But it was the only one for me!  I’ve been taking some millinery courses so I wanted to make something for me to wear. Obviously our wedding was near the royal wedding, so as a joke I designed and made a crown out of silk and fresh water pearls to wear. In the end I chickened out of wearing it as I was already so tall in my platforms but you can see me holding it in this photo.”

The inspiration for the wedding came from the proposal and the things Emma & Matt love in ‘real life’. ”When Matt proposed we were camping in Dartmoor and driving back to London took about 7 hours. In these hours we talked through everything we wanted from our wedding. How we wanted it to reflect us and not be a cookie cutter wedding. We focused on the things that we love and most of all wanted the wedding to be fun. We decided that we would use things that meant a lot to us and reflected our life together. Basically, we tried to reflect the things we loved and tried to steer clear of doing things conventionally wedding like.”

“Matt proposed in a river by a rocky outcrop and as a keepsake I took one of the grey pebbles from where we’d been standing. I used this as inspiration for the wedding, i.e. grey and round. Once we had decided on the theme I started buying wedding props straight away – collecting them up for the big day. The sooner you do this the better as it saves money and really adds the little touches to the wedding. For example, I bought lots of Christmas decorations (white china bells and hearts) in the sales after Christmas and used these in the trees at the wedding. I like little details, so I also bought lots of wedding words and signs. Again, I got a lot of these in the sales (www.sheerluxe.com has a wedding section and does lots of money off offers. Also I found wedding magazines usually have a special offer on each issue, so I used these.)”

“I collected pebbles from the local beach and used these for the centrepieces and the name places. My dad also used grey slate to make the stands for the tables numbers which were bought from an online hobbycraft website really cheaply and spray painted by my dad. I also used the dress as inspiration and tried to reflect the poofyness of the dress in the choice of round chinese lanterns in the gardens, 3ft round balloons in the gardens, my round bouquet and the round “afro” like vases of gypsophilia.”

Beautiful, classy, stylish and personal. I love it! Although, Emma damn you for introducing me to Tina Lilienthal jewellery. I now need to own the whole ‘Skulls & Strawberries’ range.

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I sneak peeked this shoot back in February but I had to wait until now to share the full thing…sorry to keep you all waiting, it was hard for me too!

I was asked by Lisa & Tania, the vintage jewellery aficionados behind Magpie Vintage if I’d like to model for their latest campaign – the launch of their brand new clothing line. Needless to say I didn’t need much convincing, even when they told me I had to get on a horse!

The Rose Collection will be officially launched in September 2011. Each each item will be a one off – a genuine piece of vintage clothing from the 1930′s-1960′s, reworked and quirked with the famous Magpie Vintage twist.

Just like the jewellery that they’ve become so well known for, rhinestones, vintage buttons, original gems and vintage ribbons and trims will sit alongside original vintage pieces, perfectly complementing the original source.

Each collection with be limited edition, and due to the amount of work that goes into each hand-crafted item, only 20 pieces will be created per season. Magpie Vintage‘s aim is to get these pieces on the red carpet, but I’ve been reliably informed that I’ll be able to wear some of these items at the various events I get invited too this year. BONUS!

Prices range from £200-£800 and consultations are available by appointment only.

If you’re interested in purchasing any of these stunning pieces then be sure to get in touch with them right away.

More beautiful images from  David McNeil PhotographyAnnamarie Stepney Photography after the ‘jump’…

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Photography Credit: David McNeil

I am mightily excited to share a few sneak peeks from this week’s photo shoot. I was asked by the lovely Lisa & Tania of Magpie Vintage if I’d like to come and be their ‘celebrity’ (ha!) model for their latest (and in my opinion greatest!) promotional photo shoot. The pair are expanding their business from vintage jewellery to fashion!

The Rose Collection launches in September 2011 and each piece is a lovingly created one off – reworked from genuine vintage articles – just like their jewellery that they’ve become so well known for. If you’re interested in purchasing any of these stunning pieces then be sure to get in touch with them!

Photography Credit: David McNeil

I’ll be blogging the full shoot later next month, however there was such a buzz around the day (and the fact that I was asked to get on a horse!) that I simply HAD to share a few sneak peeks with you all asap. There are more outfits and locations to come too. I even got to channel my inner goth!

Photography Credit: David McNeil

Charlotte was crazily beautiful and her candy floss hair was EPIC!

Photography Credit: Annamarie Stepney

At the end of the shoot, David McNeil and I (we love each other) decided we should get Annamarie Stepney to take a few impromptu shots of us in classic ‘engagement shoot’ poses. I think we make quite a lovely couple don’t you? I’m pretty sure these shots won’t be making it into the final lookbook though. What a shame.

Photography Credit: Annamarie Stepney

Check me out on the horse! How brave am I?!

Photography Credit: Annamarie Stepney

Thanks again to everyone involved! I seriously can’t wait to see the rest, can you?

Photography Credit: David McNeil & Annamarie Stepney
Jewellery: Magpie Vintage
Clothes: Magpie Vintage – The Rose Collection. To enquire for details or to pre-order please contact lisa@magpievintage.co.uk
Hair: Sev at The Hepburn Collection
Make Up: Kaz Fernando
Models: Kat, Elle, Charlotte and Malak the horse!

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Mark & Fiona’s Steampunk inspired wedding took place at the Signet Library in Edinburgh in November. “We chose a Steampunk theme after Mark told Fiona her general day to day style was slightly Steampunk when he bought her a watch for Christmas in New York,” the couple explained. ”Fiona had not heard of it, but looked it up and realised it was exactly what she was in her choice of films, clothes and even her writing (she’s an aspiring novelist).”

Fiona didn’t want to be a traditional bride, so chose a mini top hat instead by House of Nines Design instead of a veil. She explained, “Before I even chose my dress I’d decided I wanted a hat and it had to be a  House of Nines Design Hat.  I had it made specifically to my colours and my specification.  Trisha was a real pleasure to work with and a great help, sending me various samples to chose from.  Trisha is based in San Francisco and has previously made hats for Dita Von Teese, amongst others.” The bride’s dress was by Ian Stuart. She also wore handmade shoes from Beretrun Design and gloves byMetamorphDK on Etsy.

The couple also didn’t use any traditional wedding music and instead chose some of their favourite songs for the  ceremony. Music from Spirited Away and Stardust accompanied the couple’s recessional and processional and Led Zepplin’s Stairway To Heaven played on harp during the signing of the register. 

Finally, Fiona made all the women’s favours which were flavoured lip balms.  She had lots of fun the months before experimenting making different flavours, colours and styles and she said they were actually very easy to make.  Mark chose Lego key rings for the men’s favours.

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For this week’s guest post I enlisted the help of the lovely David McNeil. As someone I’ve known for years (like before either of us ventured into this wedding world!) I know from first hand experience that his advice is killer…and damn it, he’s always right! This week, he talks to us about how you can get the very best from your wedding photographer.

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So, you’ve booked a kick-ass photographer for your wedding and you’re confident they are going to produce a set of images that you’re going to be looking at for years to come.  Can you just sit back, relax, and let them get on with the job?  Sure, of course you can – but when you come to planning your day there are a few things you might want to consider to help your photographer really capture the images you have booked them for.

1) Insist on a pre-wedding shoot

A pre-wedding shoot takes place a couple of months before the wedding and is a great opportunity to start building a relationship with your photographer.  On my pre-wedding shoots I experiment with different ways of directing you, positioning you, and what kind of things I need to say to capture the most natural shots I can.  At the end of it you’ll know that having your photograph taken really isn’t that scary, so when it comes to the actual day you can be fully relaxed for the photographs.

2) Consider a “first-look” and pre-ceremony photographs

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