Have You Heard the One about the Celebrity Bride, Don’t Tell the Bride and the Gothic Bride?

And the Bride Wore Black...

Gothic Fashion Show at the Wedding House, 3-4 Great George Place, Liverpool, L1 7AG Thursday 3rd November 2011 6pm-8.30pm  

They say everything comes in threes, and for the the Wedding House in Liverpool last week, that was spookily so.  Kerry Katona was papped entering the Wedding House with a Channel 5 film crew in tow, filming the latest TV wedding craze, Celebrity Wedding Planner. The show pays up to £12k towards a couple’s wedding day, on the basis that they put their trust in a mystery celebrity who organises the wedding on their behalf.

Following on with the TV theme, BBC3’s Don’t Tell the Bride airs tonight at 9pm with bride-to-be Amanda trying on her ‘dream dress in her dream shop’; the beautiful boutique that is Cloud 9 Bridal at the Wedding House. Let’s just hope she didn’t pay a visit when proprietor Shirley Briers, ‘trashed’ one of her exclusive Ian Stuart gowns, all in aid of the Gothic inspired bridal fashion show at the Wedding House on Thursday 3rd November. 

Shirley says of the Trash the Dress trend,

"We took inspiration from Ian Stuart’s ‘Flower Bomb’ dress and added black fabric strips of tulle, ostrich feathers, black flowers, diamante brooches and ribbon bows. The top edging was a beaded belt, the skirt was then ripped and graffiti was added. Black lace, a big tulle bow, ostrich feathers and a diamante brooch were also added to the top hat, courtesy of Rocks for Frocks. The gloves were the bride’s ‘something borrowed’. We wanted a gothic twist to the Trash the Dress trend, which involves a bride wearing her dress after the big day for a photo shoot in an inappropriate environment such as a beach, urban setting or muddy field. The rich dark interior and gothic exterior made this a perfect and unique backdrop for our own Gothic Trash the Dress catwalk.”

 For one fright only, each boutique gave an appetizer of their AW collections with a nod to the Gothic-Glam trend in their very own distinct style. Brides-to-be and their hentourages fell in love with the romance, magic and mysticism of the iconic gothic grade II listed building in all its lit up glory, whilst enjoying entertainment from in house band Kikosi and flowing pink fizz. Gothic models included a bevy of local beauty queens from Miss Liverpool Galaxy 2011 (Sarah Fairley), Miss Galaxy International 2011-2012 (Jamie Lee), Miss Merseyside Galaxy 2011 (Brooke Baday) and Miss Teen Merseyside Galaxy 2011 (Sophia Hatoum).

Organisers of the event, Kate Bentley of Eat Your Heart Out Vintage and Danielle Jenkins of Hollywood Glamour explained  

“We wanted a fashion show to represent the gothic heritage of the newly re-launched Wedding House. Our collections are influenced by the timeless style of the past as well as catwalk trends from the present; offering the finest selection of fashion forward vintage clothing. Materials of luxe lace, velvet, silk and floaty chiffon, translate the look from the runway to the big day. We’re delighted with the turnout and reaction from all our visitors.”  

Not everything on the night was so scary; guests were spellbound by the cute flower girls modelling dresses from boutique Ruby & Tom, the Gothic inspired wedding cake made by Edible Magic and the dessert table by Half Dozen Designs. With thanks to Tatty Lashes Handcrafted stationery, Beauty Box, Miss Bouquets, Rocks for Frocks, and Calidad Creations.

TOWIE Star Celebrates 30th Birthday with a Well Reem Wedding Theme

Admission number 1.  I am a TOWIE late bloomer.  There, I've said it.  Admission number 2.  My name is Mrs. Plan B  and I am avid reader of Closer/Look/Now/Reveal/Heat/G'way/YourMessin'/NoWay  (My first love, though, is Grazia, which is not an admission, but in fact, a bible).  So perusing weekly pictures of the TOWIE girls in all their Forever Unique glory, it was hard not to want to delve a little deeper and find out just what they're all about.  I briefly 'met' Chloe Sims on a night out in San Carlo Liverpool in the summer, and found her to be utterly charming and beautiful.  With such a tiny waist!  #WellJel.  So series 3 has become my guilty pleasure; my excuse to tuck myself up for an early night and relive my twentysomething party days (in a much more polished sort of way).  And my Tweeting timeline is so much more brighter for it.  Okay, maybe they don't always come out on top in the style stakes, but they certainly DO THINGS in style. 

Take for example, the aforementioned Miss Sims.  Today she celebrated her 30th birthday with a REEM Wedding Theme.  A gal after my own heart!  More Flirty 30 than blushing bride, she was still dazzling in white, with the two Laurens helping her up the aisle in matching 'bridesmaid' dresses.    Read all about it here in my other daily fix,  the Daily Mail.

So like any good wedding, TOWIE has it all: glamour, romance, tears of love and laughter, and hopefully for all, a happy ever after! 

Stay reem gang, I love ya xxx

Keeping Up With the Paper Doll - An Inspiring Invite Insight...

Hot on the (Giuseppe Zannoti wedding) heels of Kim Kardashian is Sarah Cluney of the Paper Doll, local lovely and wedding stationer extraodinaire.

Always  keeping up with the ever changing trends to whet her bride's amorous appetites, Sarah's most recent design is the Oh-So-Cool-Old-Hollywood-Glamour-Old-School, a replica of Kim Kardashian's beau-ti-ful wedding invitation, and of course, at a kimth of the price!

Bespoken Dreams caught up with Sarah and her sparkly world of crafty creations to find out more...

"I accidentally ‘fell’ into the wedding business!  I have always be crafty and loved to create various bits and bobs which led me to having part time jobs in both Craft Central and The Paper Mill.  I was at these shops while completing my degree in Psychology.  I took on the role of wedding co-ordinator at The Paper Mill and it all started from there.  I began to develop my passion for wedding stationery running appointments and teaching brides how to create their own wedding stationery, giving tips and advice on materials and tools required.  It was at this point that I decided to put one of my table plans on Ebay - the classic bow design that has now become my biggest seller. I remember selling one three days after the item had been listed and I was so excited to create the item, then the next day I sold another, and another and it all took off from there!  In June 2010 I completed my degree and when I started to develop an order book for wedding stationery I realised there was no looking back. 

I've not long celebrated The Paper Doll’s official birthday and I would never in a million years have thought that something like this would have been possible.  One of the most exciting things to happen was when one of my brides went on Four Weddings.  I didn’t actually know when her episode would be shown; it was just lucky that one night while I was watching the camera suddenly zoomed into the stationery and I screamed the house down when I realised it was mine, then to top it off... she won!


Every day I get excited about designing and creating items. I don’t really think of this as a job, its more like a life style as I really do eat, breath, sleep weddings and wedding stationery.

SO!  Firstly I just want to say that I am a huge Kardashian fan. While I’m designing and creating I am usually watching (with my ears) E! and the Kardshians tend to dominate this channel.

So when I found out that Kim Kardashian was getting married I had to know every little detail including the most important of all - the stationery!

I managed to find out the company designing K&K's stationery was Invitationers to the Stars  Lehr and Black. Their celebrity client list is endless, including invitations for Gweneth Paltrow & Chris Martin, Seal & Heidi Klum and now Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphries. Sadly many of these celebrity couples are no longer married but I guess thats Hollywood for you! My favourite design in fact is Britney Spears and Kevin Fedderline’s, I love that its vintage, girly and romantic all in one, so I would definitely like to create something inspired by this in the future.

Although we haven’t really seen most of the wedding footage, from short clips that I have seen the logo/embelum is followed right the way through the theme, its even on the carpet as Kim swished down the aisle! It's a really classic, elegant and effective way of tying all items of stationery together. And it doesn’t just have to be done with identical initials, any two letters can fit together to create a unique personalised image.
I also LOVE how this style of invitation comes in its own box. This is such a simple way to really make an impression for your wedding - its like a little present for each guest to open.

I’m certainly looking forward to seeing all the extras to match this theme! x

Us too Sarah!  Thank you for the inspiring invite insight,

Much love and Happy Planning x

Kate Moss Wedding Inspired By the Glamour of the Great Gatsby

"I wanted it to be kind of dreamy and Twenties, when everything is soft-focus," said Kate. "The Great Gatsby. The code name was GG for a while. That light and that kind of fun decadence. It's rock 'n' roll Great Gatsby!"

A gal after my own heart!  Read all about Kate and Jamie's beautiful wedding day in the full interview of the September issue of Vogue.  Simply Stunning...

Be a Fashionista Fly on the Wall here...