1920’s Glamour

Claire and Bruce were married on 26^th August 2016 at Poets House in Ely, Cambridgeshire

How did you meet?

Initially in Slovenia in 2009, I went to visit a friend for a long weekend, who was living and working over there in the Slovenian Alps doing paragliding guiding and Bruce was working with him. We call it sLOVEnia now ! Bruce moved back to the UK a few months later and we started seeing each other.

How did the proposal happen?

At our home, 6 years later on Christmas day in front of all of Bruce’s family, I had no idea, it was a complete surprise, it was a very happy and lively Christmas Day after that!

Where did the wedding take place?

Ely in Cambridgeshire, the ceremony was at the register office followed by a reception at the beautiful Poets House Hotel. We knew it was the right venue as soon as we walked in, as our wedding was relatively small most of the venues we liked were large and felt too formal and cold for the amount of guests we wanted for the daytime (35), this was the perfect size and we loved the interior design and intimacy yet It also allowed us to invite another 35 people in the evening to help us celebrate.

What did the bride wear?

A 1920’s inspired dress from Phase Eight, I looked at hundreds of designer and high street dresses but nothing I found compared to this and when I tried it on it was like it had been made for me, a perfect fit, it didn’t even need any alterations. I also wore some ivory vintage style shoes by Rachel Simpson.

What did the rest of the Bridal party wear?

The Groom wore a stunning bright blue three piece suit with an emerald green tie and brown shoes. We had one flower girl who was our 5 year old niece, Eloise and she wore a pink blush dress from Monsoon and some matching pink blush shoes.

What was your theme?

We didn’t initially have a theme but as the hotel was so glamorous and my dress was 1920’s inspired we decided to follow the vintage glam theme, that’s why we chose feathers for the tables instead of flowers.

Describe your cake

The cake was very special to us as it was made with love by one of my oldest, dearest friends and decorated by her and another friend, they were still doing the very delicate handmade roses the night before the wedding, it was so hot they were worried they would melt. It was the first wedding cake she had ever made and it was beautiful.

Something Blue?

I had a powder blue feather bolero and also had my finger and toenails painted the same colour to match.

What were the highlights?

The whole day was one big highlight but one particular special moment was when our 16 year old niece Francesca sang ‘How Long Will I Love You’ for our first dance.

Your best buy?

Definitely my dress, I couldn’t believe I had found such a beautiful dress on the high street.

How did it end?

We were there until the end as we stayed in a master suite at the Hotel; we didn’t want to miss a moment of the day or night.

Is there anything you wish you’d done differently?

No, nothing at all.