The Joy of Wedding Fairs

Yesterday was one of those days when you find yourself desperately thinking "I hope the weather isn't like this on my wedding day"; grey dismal skies gave way to pouring rain (the wet kind!) and gales. After a walk around Hyde Park we gave up and went home to discover - much to my excitement - that I'd won two VIP tickets to the Zoe Lem Vintage Wedding Fair courtesy of Alexandra Merri from The Bijou Bride. I'd been planning to go anyway so this was brilliant news. I've not won anything since I was in Year 4 at school so I was especially happy. And so buoyed was I by this success that I even bought a lottery ticket!

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It was a beautifully sunny day as we entered the Bloomsbury Ballroom, a fabulous Art Deco styled venue, for Zoe Lem's fifth Vintage Wedding Fair. Goodbye hectic modern world; hello bygone glamour. Amongst a haze of beads, feathers and sparkles lay a vintage wedding emporium.

My highlight was the catwalk. It reminded me of the "Beautiful Girl" piece from 'Singin in the Rain'. Models swished down the runway in elegant dresses encapsulating all the glamour and allure from the twenties through to the fifties.

Basking in our inspiration we then explored the exhibition upstairs. I fell in love with a gold headdress from Lila. It was also great to see some of the dresses I'm interested to try on in the flesh prior to the actual appointments. It was lovely to meet Charlotte Casadejus at her stand and, although the dress I love (Maimuna) was not there, there was a similar sleeveless design. It simply served to make me love the dress all the more. I can't wait to try it at Luella's Boudoir. I also saw the 'Alice' dress by Sanyukta Shrestha. There's a great piece on this new designer here.

 

Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Charlotte Casadejus

 

Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Sanyukta Shrestha 

Did I buy?

Guilty. I went a bit off-piste and bought a wonderful jade coloured vintage velvet frock coat (pics to follow) from Vintage London for £140. As we're having an Autumn wedding in Northumberland, I need something to wear over my dress. I know what you're thinking: she hasn't bought her dress, but she's bought something to wear over it. Well, I love this and my dress will just have to work around it...

If you're a bride-to-be I completely recommend attending a wedding fair. Attend several! They're a wonderful source of inspiration and you get to meet so many talented people, plus they're good fun. 

We attended the Miss Vintage Wedding Fair in Battersea where I discovered Lucy Says I Do. The designer, Lucy Clark, creates beautiful stationary and I defy anyone to look at her designs and not love them. The next Miss Vintage event is in October.
If you're chomping at the bit (I confess I am) then next weekend get yourself along to A Most Curious Wedding Fair.

Sadly I did not win millions on the lottery, but I did get a pair of SPANX in the goody bag so I'm happy. Thanks again to Alexandra @BijouBride and @ZoeLem1 for an inspirational Sunday.

~x~