Designer Vintage Bridal Show – Oh! To be a bride…Pt 3.

I was totally enthralled with the exhibitors at the Designer vintage wedding show – the beautiful dresses, exquisite flowers, amazing jewellery and millinery, so I now took a little bit of time to do some people watching. The glamorous brides-to-be had dressed up for the occasion with acres of vintage lace, corsages, glittering beaded headbands and pearls on display. There were 50s style polka dots and prints, 1940s era chintz floral prints, nipped in waistbands, fake fur coats and platform heeled shoes, all worn with the excited glow only a prospective bride can have.

There was the dulcet tones of Frank Sinatra drifting across the main hall. This sound was coming from the Dorothy Lloyd room, which had been transformed into the ‘Speakeasy’. The music was courtesy of ‘Its a wind up’ and the room had been described as a vintage chill out zone. This was also the place to meet real wedding experts, as this was where the wedding bloggers Kat Williams and Annabel Beeforth were residing. I had a quick chat with Annabel first. Annabel is the founder of the super stylish wedding blog ‘Love My Dress’. She started this in 2009, and it is now one of the most influential wedding blogs in the UK, giving stylish vintage inspiration to brides. Annabel, who resembles 1930s Hollywood star Constance Bennett told me she was having a wonderful time at the show. She praised the organisation, and said that she was getting lots of good feedback about the venue and exhibitors. Annabel looked beautiful in a Grace Kelly style strapless vintage wedding dress which reflected the vintage elegance of Love My Dress.

Kat Williams’s Rock N’ Roll Bride is the UK’s most popular wedding blog.  The award-winning blog was launched in 2007 with a view to providing inspiration and a little bit of individuality in the wedding world. On meeting Kat I can tell you that SHE is the quintessential Rock N’ Roll bride. Resplendent from the top of her neon pink hair to the tips of her aged DM boots, Kat is every bit the gorgeous punk/rock n’ roll wedding princess. Warm. friendly and approachable, Kat told me that she was really enjoying her day, although people were far too polite to take the retro sweets she was providing on her table. This was probably due to wedding day diets, but as that doesn’t apply to Fashion-Mommy, I was more than happy to eat the pink shrimps! Kat showed me some of the articles that she produces for Photo Pro magazine and Wedding magazine, and also gave me advice about my own blog, which I was very grateful for.

My next port of call was a chat and a quick drink with Bran Cook. Bran is the women behind PR company MOTHERbrown. Bran, who had organised the event with Clare Guest of the Wedding Club and Rachel Simpson of Rachel Simpson shoes,  had been working extremely hard behind the scenes in order to get the exhibitors and events together, and was bustling around on the day in order to check the smooth running of everything…and was enjoying every minute of it. I grabbed Bran to answer a few questions about the event.

Q. How did you put all this together?

Bran: Twitter! Twitter has the ability to form communities of like – minded individuals with the same interests. In this case it was the wedding/bridal community. People like Kat @ Rock N’ Roll Bride and Annabel from Love My Dress. I met vintage photographer Emma Case through Kat. You can just find the right people and exhibitors through the Twitter Community.

Q. Are you enjoying the day?

Bran: This is definitely my thing – the setting is absolutely stunning. I just love being here surrounded by these people! I’ve just tweeted that I’m sitting in a bar next to a football table listening to 78s being played on a gramophone. Its surreal and wonderful.

Q. This is the first Designer Vintage wedding Show, will there be more?

Bran: Definitely. Birmingham needed this, it is the right time. We are looking at the possibility of having it twice yearly, with maybe a second show in December with a mysterious new theme!

After chats with the amazing photographer Emma Case and Sally Harper of Sharper Millinery(articles on both to follow so stay tuned!), It was time for a fashion show in the Drawing Room. This featured a range of dresses from Jenny Packham brides, Tobi Hannah and Lindsey Fleming amongst others, and also included pretty little flower girls wearing amazing neon pink tutus. I was happy to see the Lindsey Fleming flapper style dress I had so admired earlier being part of the show, especially as the model was clearly in sync with the dress, swinging her long pearls and dancing a mini Charleston.

And with that, it was time for Fashion-Mommy to go home to Baba, with the smell of fresh flowers, the touch of pure silk and the sounds of Glenn Miller still fresh in my mind…

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