Festival Brides

A bit of a Thursday treat for you all today!

The lovely organisers of the National Wedding Show have given Festival Brides 5 pairs of free tickets to give away for both the London and the Birmingham spring shows, and by the sounds of it this year is going to be the best one yet!

For Spring 2012 the National Wedding Show has been given a makeover and re-vamped to reflect more alternative wedding trends. There will also be the launch of a brand new area that will solely focus on authentic vintage and vintage inspired suppliers from fashion and accessories to stationery and venue styling.

I love a vintage find and this area sounds perfect if you are looking for that one vintage accessory to go with your dress or inspiration for your wedding decor……………..whatever you’re looking for, I have a feeling this show is going to be full of wedding pretty.

There will also be plenty of wedding dress eye candy on offer in what is promised to be a stunning catwalk fashion show featuring some of the UK’s leading bridal retailers – who knows, your ‘one’ might be waiting to be found!

Here’s a teaser of some of the beautiful dresses that will be featured at the show.

Cymbeline at Fross Wedding Collections

Vintage Wedding Dress at White Mischief

Butterfly Vintage Brides ii

To enter the draw simply comment on this post,  like our facebook page or tweet us! Make sure you include which show you would like to attend (London or Birmingham) and your email address so we can send you details on how to collect your tickets (you can email us if you would prefer to keep your email address private: festivalbrides@gmail.com)

The draw for the London show will be done in exactly 1 weeks time!!

The winners for the Birmingham show will be drawn on the 1st March.

Good Luck!

Festival Brides x

Just under a month ago the lovely organisers of The Luxury Wedding Show London held at the Saatchi Gallery on 22nd October, gave Feastival Brides 5 pairs of free tickets to give away to our readers!

1 of those lucky winners, photographer Kerry Ann Duffy, very kindly wrote us an excellent review of what we thought was a fantastic show, focusing on the many stunning bespoke bridal designer dress collections that were featured on the catwalk.

Over to you Kerry!

Kerry at the Saatchi Gallery

“I was so happy to win tickets to The Luxury Wedding Show London and instantly knew it was my mum that had to come with me.  We are both massively obsessed with fashion and I knew that we would both love the catwalk show if nothing else!

We walked to the Saatchi Gallery, (although very distracted by the fabulous shops on the way………..they were to be explored later!) collected our gift bag and headed straight for the Fashion Show….collecting our Champagne on the way!

There were some beautiful dresses, some really cool dresses and some jaw dropping dresses!! As a photographer it was really nice to get an idea of what is to come in the next few seasons as well. I think that many of them were heavily inspired by the two Kate’s, (Middleton & Moss!) and in my eyes that is an excellent thing. This was particularly apparent in the Temperley & State of Grace collections.

Photography by Christopher Dadey

I’m really excited about photographing Brides in these kinds of dresses in the future with the vintage inspired lace and the covered arms. I saw the Grecian Temperley Dress (below) with the gold neck and really wished I had worn something like that when I got married abroad – absolutely stunning.

Photography by Christopher Dadey

I also loved the 1950′s retro feel of the Candy Anthony collection, especially the pill box hats with veils.  I’d say it’s either Candy Anthony or Angelina Colarusso that were my favourites of the day.

Candy Anthony - Photography by Christopher Dadey

Angelina Colarusso - Photography by Christopher Dadey

It was the Hollywood Glamour feel that I loved so much about the Angelina Colarusso collection and the fact that they are made for women with curves.  Very Jessica Rabbit!

Having said that, the show saved the best till last – the queen of fashion: Vivienne Westwood!! WOW – what a collection that was.  The peach dress was my favourite! I loved the colour and the pretty flowery headband and the way the material gathered at the front of the dress to create a beautiful shape. The whole dress was gorgeously feminine but edgy at the same time.

Vivienne Westwood Princess Dress - Photography by Christopher Dadey

Anyway, onto the rest of the show…

We walked around meeting all of the other exhibitors and looking at the stunning accessories, cakes, stationery and of course photographers.  I found Julia Boggio particularly good.  I spoke with her husband at length and it was lovely to hear about the way they work with couples.  I also really liked ‘not on the high street‘ for quirky items which I often invest in to take along to Weddings with me to make some cool shots.

All in all it was a brilliant day and well worth the trip for the goodie bag alone! It consisted of OPI Nail Polish, Elemis spa treatments and DHC Skincare & Makeup goodies to name but a few!

Mum and I went shopping on the Kings Road afterwards which was an added bonus! I now want to get married all over again and wear a super glamorous Angelina Colarusso dress…or maybe Temperley………….

Thank you Festival Brides for an amazing day.”

So glad you had a fab time Kerry and thank you so much for your review! It rocks!

We will be featuring a trash your dress shoot by Kerry very soon so watch this space!

To read our review on the show please click here.

Happy Wednesday Guys – half way through the week – bring on the weekend!

Big Love

Festival Brides x

When we met Sinclair from Maids To Measure at the Designer Wedding Show last weekend and heard about her and India’s unique and innovative company, Maids To Measure, we jumped at the chance of running a feature on Festival Brides! Why? Because it’s very rare to stumble across a business within the wedding industry that: a) does something you’ve not come across before and b) gets you all excited about your own wedding! Both Kelly and I are sold and we hope you are too!

Maids to Measure, the brain child of  London based sisters India and Sinclair Sellars, invites future brides and their maids to a consultation, where over a glass of bubbly (oh don’t mind if I do!) and a cupcake or two (just lovely!), they can collectively design their own dresses! How cool is that!?

With the guidance of Sinclair and India, ideas are discussed on shape, style, colours, material and design until everyone is happy. Measurements are then taken and their very own bespoke Maids to Measure bridesmaids dresses are designed!

Gone are the days of worrying what style will suit everyone best as these dresses are made to fit like a glove!

The best part is that all of this won’t break the bank! Each dress will cost you £195 and this includes the consultation, design and the final dress.

I think this is such a lovely way of choosing your bridesmaids dresses with your closest friends. It’s fun and is the perfect way of bringing your bridal party closer together.

So how did it all start!?

Before Maids To Measure, India used to work for Vera Wang where she noticed that while brides are very well catered for, there was a huge gap in the market for those seeking fashionable, unique and affordable bridesmaid dresses. At the same time, her sister Sinclair had been asked to be a bridesmaid several times and had trouble finding dresses that were affordable and between high street and designer prices.

Being lovers of fashion and all things fun, they decided to combine their eye for beautiful, feminine dress-design with their flair for business and Maids to Measure was born – a boutique service, where choosing bridesmaid dresses is an  enjoyable experience rather than a stressful chore!

Want to find out more!?

Maids To Measure are launching at The Luxury Wedding Show on the 22-23rd October and Festival Brides have 5 pairs of Tickets to give away worth £50! To enter, please ‘like’ our facebook page, follow us on twitter or comment on The Luxury Wedding Show post by clicking here.

To book an appointment or for more information please contact Sinclair and India:  info@maidstomeasure.com

Website: www.maidstomeasure.com (offical launch on the 1st November)

Find them on Facebook!

Follow them on Twitter!

Here’s some pictures of some gorgeous dresses the girls have already designed and made:

We have just stumbled upon this fab competition with Dorset Cereals. You can win your very own campervan…perfect to be styled up for your wedding day. Ours is called Milli Mu and we play as often as possible because we would love our very own Festival Brides branded campervan!!

Simply log onto http://simplepleasurehunt.dorsetcereals.co.uk/ to play and/or collect the tokens on dorset cereal packs. See http://www.dorsetcereals.co.uk/ for more details.

Good luck!!!