Friday 31 October 2014

Wedding reflections...

Many thanks to all of you for your kind wishes for my daughter's wedding. I just can't tell you how wonderful a day it was. Everything from start to finish went just as we had hoped - it was such a memorable day full of love, joy and beauty.



Vintage inspiration.


For my 'Mother of the Bride' outfit I wanted to celebrate my mother's wedding in November, 1944 as it is almost 70 years from that day. She wore a navy dress and bolero jacket with tilt hat, three carnation cream corsage and cream gloves:



I took inspiration from Pinterest and put together a board- vintage corsages. Eventually I decided to crochet three basic roses in the gorgeous  Bergere de France 'Froment' which was the same as the butterflies I made for the table centrepieces, described in my last post here

Roses crocheted in 'Froment' using a 3.00mm hook.

I made up the roses and placed a mix of vintage buttons in creams and ivory, some little sparkly seed beads and some of my favourite Japanese toho beads in the centre.  

The 'leaves' were made from Laura Ashley 'Lucille' a deep rich cream silk. They are a simple square folded over and gathered at the long edge. I applied the whole piece to a backing strip and attached to my jacket with stitches which kept it in place much better.

I was delighted to find, incredibly, a jacket almost the same as the one Mum wore.  I remember her navy crepe dress and jacket so well as, decades ago, I found her outfit it in the bottom of her wardrobe. I was too tall for the dress but she let me wear the jacket to go out. I found an almost identical one by Havren. I am amazed by how styles seem to come back around!

Glove challenge!

I was on a roll with 'Froment' and challenged myself to make my own gloves in vintage 'fishnet' filet crochet. The actual crochet is basically simple trebles, but first the thumb shaping then the fingers sent me into a bit of a twist! Seeing the effect take shape though I was determined to see it through. At one point, about a week before the wedding I had just one glove completed-thought I'd end up looking like Michael Jackson. 

 I kept going with my favourite Aristotle quote : 


Practice then, I thought. Sort those fingers!

Success!



Loved finally doing the edging-so pretty!

Now all they needed was a vintage button at the wrist...

Through the generations.

With a navy dress to match, the search for 'the hat' had been on for some time. Have you ever seen something you really like but then searched around trying everything else, before coming back to that original piece you saw first? It seemed nothing was as fitting as this cute pillbox in navy silk with an oversized bow-uncannily like Mum's. 

  
Hat's off Mum! You always said you loved me in navy and cream, in a hat, and with my hair 'done up'. I  so wished you could have been there, but I could feel your love running through the generations as I saw my lovely daughter married. Hope I made you proud!


What a wonderful day-thank you for sharing it with me.


Best wishes
Alison xx









24 comments:

  1. Dear Alison
    You look lovely and I am sure your Mum would have been thrilled and proud. I am so pleased everything went well for you all. Many congratulations!
    Best wishes
    Ellie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Ellie! That is so kind of you to say. I did so wish she could have been there, but I was able to feel her presence still throughout the wonderful day xx

      Delete
  2. Hello Alison! You looked absolutely stunning, so I am sure your mum would be very proud!! So glad that the day went well!! I was thinking of you!! Looking forward to seeing what you fill your time with now that the wedding crafting has finished!! Have a lovely weekend! :) xx Christine

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Christine thank you so very much for such kind words. How lovely that you thought of me as well. It really was everything I had imagined, and more. Everyone was so happy, there was such fun and friendship throughout all the age groups. Now I shall be catching up on your lovely blogs and am getting excited about Christmas crafting! xx

      Delete
  3. It must have been a wonderful day! Love the hat you are wearing - so would your mum! :-) It's great to keep everyone involved somehowish.

    Take care
    Anne
    http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.de

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Anne-delighted you liked it. Yes, I do so much want to keep the past going, into the future...full circle! xx

      Delete
  4. Hi Alison you look stunning in your Mother of the bride outfit I'm sure your Mum would have been really proud of you and your daughter too. I'm glad you all had a wonderful day and that everything went according to plan

    Jackie x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Jackie. My mum would love to have been there -I have missed her so much and throughout my making and preparations for the wedding, and on the day itself, felt she was there, encouraging, it was lovely. xx

      Delete
  5. Oh Alison, you look beautiful! Just beautiful! I love your recreated image of your mother, and your crochet works are just gorgeous. The hat looks perfect. Can't get enough adjectives in here - stunning!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so very much Rita-what kind and thoughtful comments! I am delighted that you liked my crochet and tribute to my mother. It was truly a wonderful day xx

      Delete
  6. Hi Alison! Oh my, your outfit looks gorgeous, what a lovely photo of you! And hand crocheted gloves, fantastic!

    I'm sure it must have been a wonderful day and congratulations to the happy couple, wishing them all future happiness!

    Ingrid xx
    http://myfunkycrochet.blogspot.be

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Ingrid- I am delighted you like my crocheted gloves, you would have done them easily! It truly was a wonderful day and I will pass on your very kind wishes to the bride and groom-we are seeing them tomorrow for 'Kaffee und Kuchen' -wedding cake! along with the groom's parents xx

      Delete
  7. Hello Alison
    Your outfit looks lovely. I love the photo of your mother she looked beautiful and so did you.
    So glad it went well x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much-I always loved the photo and her memories of that day 70 years ago now and I like to think how much she would have liked my outfit xx

      Delete
  8. Alison, you look beautiful! Loved the vintage styling and how you recreated your mother's look. The corsage is gorgeous, and those gloves . . . oh my, just wonderful! Such amazing work. I'm glad the wedding went so well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Deborah-I am delighted you liked it! xx

      Delete
  9. Hello Alison what a lovely outfit, and such a nice idea to take inspiration from your stylish mother like that. You look wonderful, I love all the special touches!
    So happy to hear the wedding went so perfectly too.
    Helen xox

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was such a lovely day Helen, unforgettable-thank you! xx

      Delete
  10. I am sure your Mum would have been very proud. You looked amazing!
    Loved the corsage and the gloves. What a special day!
    Jacqui xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Jacqui-I am delighted you like them xx

      Delete
  11. What a fabulous post Alison! My goodness, you look amazing in that beautiful hat - I love the idea of being inspired by your mum's outfit. So pleased everything went well for the special day. Vicky x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your kind comment Vicky-I am so glad you liked my outfit. I adored wearing the hat-I wish we could wear hats every day! xx

      Delete
  12. I am so glad it was a wonderful day for everyone. I think that you really were inspired by your Mum's wedding outfit and definitely carried the spirit of it off beautifully! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Amy-that is just what I had hoped to do, it was so uplifting wearing it all and thinking of her on the day xx

      Delete

Thank you so much for visiting- I love reading your comments so please do send me one! xx