Amy & Will’s Art Deco Travel Inspired Wedding

Amy and Will met each other in Thailand. They went for a travel themed wedding to celebrate meeting all those years ago.

Over to the groom to tell you more…

“We got married at the Sun Pavilion in Harrogate which is where Amy is from. It was the first venue we saw and thought it was perfect – why say no when we loved it.

We’re not particularly religious and we wanted a relaxed wedding, with a vintage, bohemian, art deco style (the Sun Pavilion is a classic art deco building). Amy’s dress was the first thing bought for the wedding (once she had seen it there was no going back!) and then it was styled around that. We also wanted to incorporate a travel theme as we met whilst both travelling independently in Thailand.

All the dresses in the boutique were stunning. Amy ended up not going with the original designer she wanted to try on, as they didn’t quite hit the mark. Her friend picked the winner off the rail, and once on, it was perfect! It was a beautiful dress by an Australian designer, Gwendolynne. Amy found it in Luella’s Boudoir in Wimbledon Village (the only stockist of Gwendolynne gowns in Europe!)

It’s soft tulle with a matte satin crepe body in a champagne vintage colour rather than the stark traditional white, and the soft ethereal silhouette flattered Amy’s figure. The hand beaded bodice, and keyhole back gave a fun side, and the ornate deco clasp at the back of the neck was vintage inspired.  The gown also had a train that was bustled up for the first dance, and the row of pearl buttons down the back drew the eye down the dress to the end of the train. All in all 100% perfect! The comments Amy had received then and since are that it was such a unique look, and no one has seen anything similar.

We used Regal Florist of Harrogate for our wedding flowers. Amy’s family has used them for previous family occasions. They made the bouquet and top table flowers. We wanted something unusual, incorporating cymbidium (as seen on lapels, corsage and bridesmaid bouquets.- which were actually silk flowers from Pink Lilac) after seeing a picture on Pinterest of bouquets with succulents and muted colours.

The cake was made by family friend Jacky Tobin. It was made of coconut sponge with a mango purée and lime butter cream filling and covered in white icing with a scattering of delicate sugar paste cymbidium. People thought they were real, and the cake tasted amazing!

We got our rings from Crown Jewellers of Harrogate. Family friends Sue and Steve own the business and helped us pick the engagement ring, and when choosing, Amy tried on a wedding ring to get an idea. When we went back to purchase the wedding rings over a year later, Steve had saved the ring for us! We also bought necklaces for bridesmaids and the mother of bride.

We chose Kings Catering Company for our wedding breakfast. We had fabulous canapés on the veranda, followed by a BBQ buffet of grilled chicken, lamb kofte, fish, pulled pork and a medley of salads.

Stationary was all home made! The name tags were made by Amy’s sister Rachael in luggage tag style to keep travel theme going. The table plan was a map of the world. Each table was a location Amy and I have been to and the plan had a luggage tag with all names of people on each table pinned in. The post box and guest book were both blank brown manilla from Paper Chase decorated with lace trim and map of the world wrapping paper also from Paper Chase.

For favours we let guests pick their own sweets from a pick and mix sweet table with old-fashioned favourites and new (Haribo, pear drops, M&Ms, Swizzle mix), The guests all had pink and white paper bags to fill with sweets.

For the décor we had vases of silk cymbidium, with drift wood bark at bottom and small fairy lights inside. We also had 2 Thai wooden carved lanterns on the top table. The cream chair covers with cream voile bows were by Sally Barber. {List of suppliers continues at the bottom}

Advice for future brides would be, do not stress too much, or overspend! Rationalise what your 3 main priorities are within your budget and everything else will fall into place. The day goes too quickly to be fussing over what colour your napkins are! Also, it’s your day, so make sure you’re happy with final decisions!”

{Suppliers continued}

Bride’s shoes: New Look, £17 – bargain!

Bride’s Hair Accessories: Accessorize -£22- another bargain, and perfect to set off the deco/bohemian style (tied in with the vintage style deco clasp on dress at back of neck.)

Perfume: Penhaligons Gardenia – light, floral and subtle. Such a pretty vintage style bottle and soft fragrance.

Bride’s jewellery: Earrings – diamond studs from Amy’s mum (diamonds originally from her mum’s grandmother’s engagement ring, that Amy’s mum had set as earrings). A hand chain from ASOS complimented the headpiece.

Bridesmaid dresses: Zara

Flower girl dresses: Accessorize

Page boy outfits: Marks & Spencers

Photographer Liz Wan Photography

Make up artist: Megan Gleeson

Hair: Rachel from Yorkshire bridal Hair Jeff Banks

Groom’s suit: Simon Carter

Groom’s accessories: Tie from Stefano Ricci and shoes from Gucinari

Groomsmen outfits: Suits from Marks & Spencer, ties from Jeff Banks.

Photography by Liz Wan Photography