Dorton House: Charity Rocks

If you are looking to give something back to charity as part of your wedding then how about a wedding venue ran by one? Dorton House is part of the school campus for the Royal London Society for the Blind which teaches blind and partially sighted children. The campus has many different uses but Dorton House itself, a Grade II listed Georgian Mansion House, has been completely refurbished and is licensed for corporate events, weddings and receptions.

The house has three main rooms including the Library which is the biggest and most impressive room in the Mansion House. With its gilded original marble fireplace, sweeping oak staircase and polished floor it has a lovely warm atmosphere perfect for cosy receptions on a grand scale. Wedding ceremonies can be held in an elegant side room with french doors that lead out to the terrace and gardens which make a wonderful backdrop for wedding photos. The pictures featured in this post were part of a rock the dress shoot by Nataliya at Akira Photography and show just some of the gorgeous settings at the house.

Photography Credits:

Thanks to Nataliya for sharing this shoot with us. To find out more about her photography visit Akira Photography.

 Model Hair and Makeup: Rachel, Flowers: Gaynor at Enfleur, Bride: Claire from Finest Detail Weddings, Birdcage Veil: “Anita” By Love Divine

Theme of the Week: Big Biker Wedding

A biker wedding is not necessarily all American Choppers and big beards but can be a very glamorous affair indeed. We are really quite liking the theme. I’ve a small obsession with leather jackets which goes right back to when I was a Bros fan so this is right up my street. Just need a motorbike….

Head over to Pinterest for the rest but here’s a taster of our inspiration board for your leather loving delight.

Images all via Pinterest:

1.alltheprettybirds.blogspot.com

2.sweetlittlephotographs.com

3.bridalbubbly.blogspot.co.uk

4.wmine.com

5.aaronsnowphotography.com

6.moonkissd.com

7.ghostacademy.blogspot.co.uk

8.ghostacademy.blogspot.co.uk

9.i-weddingdresses.com

10.bravowedding.com

11.julieharrisphotography.com

12.bluelightphotographer.blogspot.co.uk

13.tworingstudios.com

14.ghostacademy.blogspot.co.uk

The Wedding Dolls “Cherish the Dress”

At the end of last year to make the most of the gorgeous weather and the Kent countryside, we had a Wedding Dolls photo shoot. The day was mostly spent organising our models in their cheap and chic wedding wear (more of that to come in later posts), but in honour of our new blog we couldn’t resist getting involved ourselves. It seemed the perfect excuse to revisit our own weddings and think about what made our day’s so special. Seven years on and four kids later our wedding dresses had faired rather better than us, but then you can’t stay young forever (that’s our excuse and we’re sticking to it) and anyway there’s always plastic surgery on expenses…..

Now you might think that once your wedding is out the way that’s the decision-making done, but oh no.  Now you have to decide what you are going to do with your dream dress. There’s the all out “trash the dress” where you basically ruin a perfectly good dress by jumping in an algae pond or diving in a barn full of cow poo. This option will save you room in your loft as you can basically just chuck your dress out straight after.  If you are hyperventilating now don’t worry – there’s the next step which is ‘Rock the Dress’. This basically means you find a new way to wear the dress whether it’s adding your hunter wellies and trudging through a field or donning your leather jacket with Prada sunglasses and leaning moodily against a graffiti wall.  But if, like us, you are too OCD to get your perfectly dry-cleaned wedding dress dirty again, you can go for a “cherish the dress”.

We had a ball cherishing them again and made the most of it by adding gorgeous accessories. Back in our day reportage and relaxed wedding shots were only for slebby types so we wanted to give those a go. Maybe next time we’ll be brave enough to get our dresses on and chuck ourselves in the sea or go paintballing…… but in the meantime how let us know what you are going to do!

Our photographer for the day was Wedding Dolls friend and all round creative lady, Kay Young, and the super stylish Caroline from Powder and Glow was on hand for all our make up needs. A massive thanks also goes to Cherish and Pantiles Bride for the loan of the headwear and accessories.

Here’s just a small selection of our favourite shots. Take a peak whilst we hide under our desks……..

The Wedding Dolls HQ

Last week was a busy time at The Wedding Dolls HQ.

Not only did we get to see the initial concept of our new brand but we had massive fun with our very own photo shoot (with the gorgeous and super talented photographer Kay Young). It was a fantastic day with lots of fun, laughter and very creative ladies indeed.

We started off reviewing a whole host of bridesmaid dresses from the high street, sampled the latest ranges of Bridal headwear (thanks to Pantiles Bride and Cherish Jewellery) and then went all DIY putting together cheap and chic wedding outfits as well as low-cost ideas for decorating your venue.

Finally and purely for our own enjoyment, we were styled to perfection (by the lovely Caroline of Powder & Glow) and did a rock the dress shoot. Even the rain didn’t dampen the excitement and we had an absolute blast.

Watch out for our blog posts over the next few weeks to find out more about the shoot and our reviews. In the meantime here’s just a little sample to keep you going.