Wedding Dresses Derbyshire | Alexandra Anne Bridal Boutique

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#30 Sherwood Forest Chic

Our Brides – Florentyna

Florentyna fell head over heels for her Eliza Jane Howell Stardust dress when she first set foot in the shop. But she’d always had her heart set on a Grace Kelly classic ballgown for the ceremony…

After trying other dresses in other boutiques (in the UK and in Germany, where she’s from), Florentyna decided to come back to Alexandra Anne for another look. And her dream ceremony dress was waiting for her on our Jesus Peiro rails.

We had a lot of fun in fittings trying on various headpieces to complement her double-dress style, and Florentyna was amazing at sourcing the accessories as she started pulling her looks together.

Congrats Florentyna! Can’t wait to see you back in Stardust for your 10-year anniversary!

Jess x

THE LOW-DOWN

How would you sum up the style of your wedding?

Robin Hood contemporary.

Where and when did you tie the knot?

The Pumping House near Ollerton in Nottinghamshire, on 25th October 2019.

And what was your wedding dress?

Jesus Peiro 7023 for day and Eliza Jane Howell Stardust for night.

THE LEAD-UP

How did you two first meet?

On Tinder in Nottingham. We both swiped right!

What about the proposal? When, where, how?

On 4th March 2018, at our apartment that we have made a home together, and during the snowy storm period known as The Beast from the East.

THE DRESS

Did you have an idea of what you wanted when you first started looking for your wedding dress? And did you stick to it?

Yes, I knew i wanted something classical and traditional for the ceremony, taking inspiration from Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly.

And then I wanted something that showed my personality in the evening.

How did you find the whole experience of searching for the right dress?

Challenging. Alexandra Anne was the first place I looked and set the standard pretty high for other shops to follow, which all in all were very disappointing… old stock, dirty stock, and mostly didn’t have nice staff or atmosphere. So I found myself going back to where I felt the most comfortable and well looked-after.

What was it about your dress that made it ‘the one’?

My Eliza Jane Howell evening dress I just knew and fell in love with it immediately. It was the perfect fit and had feathers that looked like ferns, which fit in with the wedding theme perfectly.

My Jesus Peiro dress had that Grace Kelly, old Hollywood look I was looking for. Timeless and classical. It also suited my in-between size 14 and size 16 wide shoulders and ribcage perfectly, which many of the wedding dresses I had tried did not. The dress was also made to measure, which was an added bonus as I knew it would fit just right on the day.

How did you feel once you’d made the big decision?

Relieved and confident that I’d made the right choice, and that I was in the best of hands with Jess at Alexandra Anne.

Do you have any top tips for other brides out there shopping for their bridal gown?

Walk out of the shop if you get the wrong vibe, regardless of what dresses they have.

Don’t pay for bridal dress appointments (there are plenty of places that don’t charge), and from experience I found that the smaller independent shops had a nicer environment and better service.

THE BIG DAY

Tell us more about your outfit on the day. How did you complete your look?

For the day I had a cathedral two-tiered veil from Rainbow Club.

For the ceremony, forest green shoes from Emmy London, and my headpiece was the Agatha crown from the Howling Moon shop on Etsy.

For the evening I wore Dolce and Gabbana flats and a 1920s headpiece by Richard Designs that that could quite easily double up as a belt to wear in the future.

And your bridesmaids?

My man of honour wore a custom-made forest green velvet blazer, and my two maids of honour wore bridesmaid dresses from David’s Bridal, also in forest green.

What do you remember about the morning?

How it flew by… before I knew it I was at the altar.

I wish I could have relaxed more, but we had a 1:30pm ceremony start so that wasn’t really an option, even though we all started getting ready at 8am.

Also how thankful the photographer, makeup artist, etc. were that I had provided food for us all, as apparently they very rarely get thought of.

Who did your hair and makeup?

.Amy L Wilkinson for makeup and James White for hair.

Who took your wedding photos?

.Matt Horan. He also did our engagement shoot and he did a fantastic job despite the rain.

Did you follow any traditions? Or was there anything unusual about the ceremony?

Well we only had people of honour and best men as they all meant the same amount to us and we didn’t want to choose between them.

Also my mum walked me down the aisle simply because I’m closer to her than my dad (he had already had the honour of walking my two older sisters down the aisle, so I thought it was my mum’s turn).

Lastly we had a civil wedding ceremony, but had a blessing and a reading done by a monk friend of ours once the registrars had left.

How did your dress feel when you were walking down the aisle? 

I wanted to rush, even though I was supposed to take my time.

To be honest, there was nothing else on my mind apart from that I finally wanted to call my now-husband mine.

THE MEMORIES

What are your favourite memories of your wedding day?

There are so many, but one of the most surprising ones was the Thank You card that I had written and had given my husband to give to the registrar thanking them for playing such a monumental role in our union. There ended up being two of them (a man and a woman), but the man had tears in his eyes saying how nice it was for him to have received that as in all the 12 years of him doing his job he had never received a thank you.

What gave you the biggest laugh?

Our photoshoot in the rain. And yes it rained pretty much all day, but we were prepared with wellies and clear umbrellas in hand. The whole bridal party went out into the elements, which allowed us to have some really unique wedding photos.

What got the tears flowing?

Saying my vows. We had written our own and I had a very hard time saying mine, but I wasn’t the only one… half of the room was in tears too!

If there was one piece of advice you could give to a new bride-to-be, what would it be?

Relax. It goes by so quickly and you want to make sure you enjoy it.

Embrace the elements and be prepared for anything. In our case, it meant we got to spend more time with those we love.

Write your registrar a thank you card.

Sorry that’s 3!

And last but not least, where is your wedding dress now?

They have been dry-cleaned and are hanging in a wardrobe, but I bought them knowing that I could wear them again.

I’m planning on shortening my main dress and turning the excess fabric into a christening gown.

With my evening dress I had the train sewn inside, so I plan to let this out so that hopefully at a vow renewal in 10 years’ time (somewhere tropical) I can wear it again.

THE RECAP

Dress

7023 by Jesus Peiro (day)
Stardust by Eliza Jane Howell (night)

Accessories

Cathedral-length two-tiered veil by Rainbow Club
Forest green shoes by Emmy London
Headpiece by Richard Designs
Shoes by Dolce and Gabbana

Venue

The Pumping House, Ollerton, Nottinghamshire

Photography/Videography

Matt Horan Photography (Nottingham)
Patrick Taylor from Taylor Made Videography (Nottingham)

Hair + Makeup

Hair by James White (Nottingham)
Makeup by Amy L Wilkinson (Nottingham)

Decor

DIY + Save the Date Event Stylist

Flowers

Avant Garden

Stationery

Emmy Designs

Table plan theme

Places that were important to us and our relationship.

Caterers

The Pumping House

Entertainment

George Simpson (all day) and his Band (evening) – they were fantastic.
Duncan William (magician)

First dance song

Kiss Me – Sixpence None the Richer
We had dance lessons with Maxine from The Dance Studios in Nottingham and she choreographed the whole dance for us to the music.

Wowed by Florentyna’s double-dress style?