PEARL BESPOKE DRESSMAKERS - BRIDAL COUTURIER

Introducing Pearl Bespoke Dressmakers, a bespoke bridal couturier in central Bristol.

Pearl Bespoke specialise in designing and making wedding dresses, but can also help you with dresses for any other occasion.

Owner and Designer, Pearl Legay-Clarke, is currently working on several 1920s and 1930s inspired dresses with a modern twist.

She designs and makes each garment to suit and will work with you right the way through from initial design consultation to the final fitting.

The team also try to use sustainably sourced and natural alternatives (to synthetic fabrics) as far as possible, ensuring the design of the dress is considered at all times.

And the Pearl Bespoke portfolio consists of more than just wedding dresses. Think bridesmaid, prom and theatrical/commercial costumes too. So whether you're looking for a red carpet style or a vintage reproduction, come and meet Pearl Bespoke at the Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair and discuss the bespoke dress of your dreams.

Miss Jones

Bristol Vintage is delighted to introduce you to Miss Jones.

Miss Jones is an exquisite range of bespoke lingerie, handmade to order from pure silk with French Chantilly lace and Swarovski crystals.

Perfect for romantic brides, the honeymoon boudoir and the burlesque starlet in us all.

Designer Jacqueline Jones is behind every item of the Miss Jones range. A trained theatrical costumier who has styled period dramas and movies, her collections are inspired by vintage glamour and elegance.

“I wanted to create a collection of beautiful, delicate, highly decorated pieces that create a special blend of English Rose femininity and sensuality. Miss Jones lingerie is flirtatious; empowering each woman to create a sense of tease with her own style, to enjoy her sensuality and express herself with her lover whilst looking and feeling irresistibly beautiful and confident.”

We think Miss Jones lingerie is perfect for your wedding night and honeymoon trousseau. Find out more on the website and Facebook, but make sure you come and meet Miss Jones herself at our next Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair. She'll have the collection on hand for you to see and she's created a brand new and original negligee to be revealed on the day!

Lilygrace Originals

Bristol Vintage is delighted to present Lilygrace Originals.

Lilygrace Originals make beautiful original jewellery with a vintage twist.

Inspired by the 1930s and 40s, each piece is a collectible, one-off treasure.

The gorgeous range includes earrings, chokers, pendants, cuffs and necklaces all made from an array of corals, glass beads, vintage silks, lace, organza, freshwater pearls, embroidery and rhinestones.

Halfway between fine and costume jewellery, Lilygrace Originals can design a unique piece to go with your wedding dress or theme. These pieces also make ideal bridesmaid gifts. Designer Hazel can work with your favourite colours and stones and even incorporate family heirlooms.

You can find out more on the website but make sure you come and meet Hazel at our next Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair. She'll have plenty of treasures for you to see and will be on hand all day to talk through commissions.

Shellac Sound

Bristol Vintage are thrilled that Shellac Sound will be joining us on March 16th.

Shellac Sound are gramophone DJs.

There's no sound quite so evocative of vintage as a gramophone and now you can hire Matt Jones and Kate Wright to play at your wedding reception.

Playing music from the 1920s, 30s and 40s on original wind-up 1930s His Master's Voice 102 gramophones, they will tailor their set to suit your tastes.

"On the beach, in the woods, up the river, or wherever you may be, there is no instrument to compare with His Master's Voice portable" - HMV, 1929.

You can find out more on their website, but do come and see Matt and Kate in action and hear the glorious vintage tones of Shellac Sound at our next Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair. We'll see you there!

Lily and Louie

Bristol Vintage is excited to welcome… Lily and Louie.

Lily and Louie create bespoke wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses and headdresses. 

Inspired by many eras their styles tend to be vintage and often quirky, from tea-length silk dresses with fluffy, coloured petticoats, to elegant art deco inspired draped dresses.

They also make headdresses and veils to complement your look, with birdcage veils for the shorter 1950’s dresses, rose garlands for a country themed wedding and long silk tulle veils for those romantic, flowing lace dresses.

These bespoke dresses and accessories are made by designer Jayne Miller. 

She's currently based in London, so you can arrange an appointment by emailing studio@lilyandlouie.com. But good news for brides in the South West! Lily and Louie will be moving to Devon before the end of 2013 and the move will give them more space to display more dresses and accessories.

Come the New Year Lily and Louie will start designing a new vintage-inspired range.

This gorgeous range will see the addition of some flowing 1930’s inspired lace dresses and a couple of shorter dresses - perfect for the more informal wedding. Samples of the new designs will be ready for display around spring 2014.

But if you can't wait, then you're in luck, because Lily and Louie will be exhibiting their stunning dresses and beautiful accessories at our next Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair in March 2014. Come and meet them and get the dress of your vintage-inspired dreams!

Heavenly Vintage

Helena of Heavenly Vintage has around 60 to 70 beautiful vintage dresses, ranging from the 1930's to 1970's at her home in West London.  We’re delighted that she’s going to take us through just some of her gorgeous collection. Of course, if you want to see Heavenly Vintage’s collection up close, you’ll want to visit our Fair this Sunday, March 10^th at the Clifton Pavilion.

This first dress is from the early 1960's. It’s silk with French lace appliques, would be priced at around £1000, and showcases a beautiful headpiece by Abby at Cherished.

  

  

This second dress is from Helena’s new Heavenly Collection; a vintage reproduction range of dresses available in modern sizes from the website. Helena had the pattern specially made - it was copied from a 1930's lace dress and the intricate cutting has been preserved in the new dress to get the soft sexy feel of the best 1930's dresses. The lace is an old-fashioned style of lace called 'English Net', made for Helena by a family who’ve been lace makers for three generations! The slightly deeper slip underneath shows off the pattern of embroidery on the fabric and the slip can be made in ivory, champagne, the pale dusky pink as seen here, or any other colour that works with the style. This dress would cost around £1250, and is made to order. All the headpieces are by Abby at Cherished.  

  

Below is another vintage dress from Heavenly Vintage, with a very fitted 'Mad Men' feel to it, in a shade of soft pale gold. It’s original vintage, and would be priced at around £1000. The wonderful headband is again by Abby at Cherished – she and Heavenly Vintage did a joint shoot as their styles suit each other brilliantly (Abby is also one of Helena’s favourite people in the Vintage Bridal business!)

  

This lovely silk satin dress below is another example of the range of styles Heavenly Vintage has to offer in their own Heavenly Collection. It’s copied from a 1930's wedding dress and has a slinky fitted look typical of the bias cut dresses of that era. Helena loves the complex bias cutting of the dresses of the Art Deco period, and has tried to keep it as faithful to the original as possible, so that it hugs the body but in a gentle figure-flattering way. The headpiece uses an original 1930's dress embellishment and vintage beads - the perfect foil for the subtle glamour of the dress. Again, the headpiece is designed by Abby at Cherished.

  

This last dress is a sweet wispy lace 1970's dress, an original vintage rather than a copy. Helena always looks for these romantic soft dresses on her travels. The 70's offer a soft Boho feel, which is very pretty and floaty; the fashion influences at play in that decade ranged from Edwardian to 1930's. An original vintage dress like this one would be around £800. Helena is also working on a copy of this lovely little dress for her own Collection and will be adding styles as she continues to develop the range - this one is planned for the Summer. The pretty beaded headpiece is made by Abby at Cherished again, and is called 'Cow Parsley', from her new range, launching soon.

  

Helena loves vintage wedding dresses so much, but there is of course only one of each, and only in one size, so copying the most beautiful ones seems a great solution to being able to offer the most lovely styles to more brides. Come and see them in person at our next Fair!

(Many thanks to Helena’s lovely models Georgia and Lucy for bringing Heavenly Vintage’s dresses to life so well, and to Robert Lawler for the fantastic photographs.)

Til There Was Uke

Til There Was Uke are a fantastic Ukulele/Vocal Duo who perform an eclectic range of covers from 1920s to the present day.

Providing the perfect musical backdrop to your wedding day with their relaxed, enjoyable sound during the all-important ceremony and with entertainment during your drinks reception, they can add atmosphere to your wedding breakfast or simply keep your guests entertained whilst the photos are taken.

  

Til There Was Uke will bring a touch of originality and vintage style to your day, making it as special and individual as yourselves.

With a variety of packages to suit every theme and budget and everything tailored to your requirements, choose from the Classic Reception (includes 2 x 45 minute sets (with a 15 minute break) and your pick of a mixture of 35 songs from our extensive set list), Classic Plus (same as Classic Reception but with a personalised twist, the set list of 35 songs can include up to 10 songs requested by you. They’ll source the songs, learn them and perform them with a sprinkle of Til There Was Uke treatment or Decade Defined… This package is perfect if you have chosen to have a specific vintage theme to your wedding defined by an era, we can play an entire set to suit. Choose from: Totally 20s, Thrilling 30s, Fabulous 40s, Fun-Filled 50s or Swinging 60s.

After something for the ceremony itself? Til There was Uke will learn and perform up to 4 personal song choices throughout your wedding ceremony. They can provide music as your guests arrive, play for the entrance of the bride, during signing of the register, and as your guests leave.

You can find all the details you need for Til There Was Uke on their blog, Twitter and Facebook. You can also sample their style on YouTube.

Intrigued? Why not come and listen to them at our next Fair!  See you there…

(With thanks to Caroline Blake for photographs 2 & 4)

Lilac Hour

Bristol Vintage is delighted that Lilac Hour will be performing at our next Fair.

Bristol based singer Joanna Swann and guitarist Nick Pullin are established top class musicians who have been working together professionally for the past 25 years. As well as their live performances – playing on radio and in prestigious venues such as Ronnie Scotts and The Lyceum – they work as songwriters and composers and have had music released worldwide in film and advertising.

Lilac Hour perform an extensive range of songs from the 1930's through to the 1970s. With such timeless classics and a beautiful, sophisticated sound, they are perfect for every occasion.

Tempering their set to suit your needs, they can be booked as a background duo of guitar and vocal and/or augmenting their sound with some pre-recorded rhythm tracks to give a fuller instrumentation if desired. Just take a look at this YouTube clip for a delicious taster.

For bookings you can email Joanna at lilachourduo@gmail.com and follow Nick on Twitter, but don’t miss out… Lilac Hour will be playing their sophisticated lounge music at the Fair on March 10^th, so come along and hear them live.