Sunday 27 November 2011

Real Brides: Lee-Anne


Hallo everyone

I'm really delighted to introduce the second in a series of interviews featuring some of the beautiful brides for whom I have made jewellery and accessories for.

Lee-Anne commissioned an understated, but very elegant, Swarovski rhinestone and pearl headband from me.


At what stage in the whole wedding planning process did you start thinking about your accessories?

I started thinking about accessories after I had decided/chosen the style of dress I wanted. I knew from the very start I didn't want a tiara, as I'm not an overly blingy/princess type person, but I think after choosing the dress was definitely the final decider.






How did you decide what accessories to wear?

I decided what to wear after having a vision on what I wanted and shopping around from there to see what matched what I had in mind. Looking at magazines etc initially helped with inspiration.


How did you hear about Gioia Mia?

I heard about Gioia Mia through The Scottish Wedding Directory.


Lee-Anne had seen one of my headbands in the Directory, and made an appointment to come up to my studio and try it on. We spent a lovely hour chatting about her wedding and her dress while she tried on a couple of different styles.






What did you enjoy most about having your jewellery and accessories designed and made for you?

What I enjoyed most about having my headband made for me was the personalised service. It was lovely to have something special made for me on my wedding day, and having it arrive in the lovely packaging was so exciting.





Is there any advice about jewellery and accessories that you could give a bride to be?

Advice I would give to brides to be is to choose accessorise that complements you as a person, and I would definitely choose the dress first then work it from there. Also it's nice not to always go with tradition - there are so many nice hair flowers/headbands out there instead of a traditional tiara.




Credits

Photography

I am really grateful to Gordon McGowan for allowing me to use his beautiful images of Lee-Anne's wedding on my blog.
You can see his website here.


Makeup

Lee-Anne's makeup artist was the very talented Jacquie Bruin.
You can see her website here.




Tuesday 22 November 2011

Interview with Mel Tabner of 'Home Grown Bride'



Hallo everyone!

I'm really delighted to bring you a interview with Mel Tabner.

Mel runs the fabulous 'Homegrown Bride' blog, which although relatively new, is proving to be a great success with brides and suppliers alike. Mel has a great sense of style, an eye for finding interesting suppliers, and a very warm and personal writing style. Happy reading!




Mel, how did you become interested in weddings?

I think my love of weddings began when I was very young. I read up all about the royal weddings and engagements, became transfixed on “twirly” dresses, and of course, I started young as a bridesmaid at five years old. I was then a bridesmaid aged 15, 21 and again at 28...and becoming a bit freaked out about the old wives tale!


I realised that I really loved weddings when my best friend from Australia was getting married and to try and be a part of it, I bought lots of magazines and spoke to her over the phone. I have a need to want to help people and that comes from my charity background - I just want to be able to help someone find their inspiration and I love that!


Planning my own wedding was actually not too bad. I did have a lot of obstacles to overcome and heartache but it came together. Since then I have just kept going, helping my friends and starting a diploma in 'Event Design and Wedding Planning', from the UK Wedding and Event Planning Academy (UKWEP).




Mel and Dan


How would you describe your style?

It is hard to bottle my style together. I think that it has very much a 'home' feel to it, with a touch of vintage glam.




I got married in May 2011 at my family church
where my parents got married 40 years ago.
They were married on May 1st and I was married on the 20th.
It's the family church because my maiden name belongs to a long history line in the village.


I adore making things, anything that can be made for weddings and I'm game to give it a go. I think really brings the couple's personality through. 'Vintage' is hard to pinpoint, with so many different genres being represented in weddings. I love 1950s Hollywood glamour...jet me back a few years and I would be in heaven. So I guess you could label me as a 21st Century 50s wife!


What inspires you?

In life I am inspired by people who never give in. I have had a hard decade or so with family and loved ones and it has taught me that whatever I have, there is always someone, somewhere who is less fortunate than me.




Mel's mum and dad


If I could, I would live my life by just helping others. I think that's why I want to help couples with their weddings, because not everyone is an organiser or a DIY goddess.


In weddings I am inspired by old black and white films and quotations - Breakfast At Tiffany’s has to be one of my favourites. The story is great, but have you ever looked closely at the decor? The flat has many quirks, such as a tin bath for a sofa. The clothes and style are also fabulous - I wish I had some of the outfits!





My flowers were all roses with ivy foliage (my grandma was called Ivy).
I could only afford money for the bouquets and reception centre pieces,
which were very simple bowls, with three roses floating on gold wire.

My mum spent the whole night before decorating the church, making her own pew ends.
She was amazing - it was something she decided to do only one week before the wedding.


For my wedding I had a quote from the Velveteen Rabbit, about how true love makes something real and that it lasts until you are old, even if you do not look the same. That person loves you for who you are.





My 'Sinatra' band was a local band that play in the Stony Stratford Music
 
festival every year.


What would you like to bring to the wedding industry?

Oh gosh, again its hard to pin point because I am a 'new kid on the block', but I would like to think I would be able to bring my love of the small and intimate, and of 'local' appeal to weddings.


I feel that even though the wedding industry is so big, weddings are becoming increasingly hard for the everyday bride. I get upset when I hear that brides feel ashamed that their wedding isn’t unique, because it is. No one in the world is the same and hence every wedding is different. I just want to help and show couples that a wedding can be whatever they want and at a cost that won't break the bank.




Originally I was going to make my own cake, but I began to get flustered over the logistics
(pre-wedding nerves and cake making....not a good mix!).
So my mother-in-law offered, and I agreed.

I said I wanted a fruit top, and cup cakes. I got to choose the type of cup cakes...but that was it.
The whole cake was a surprise on the day, and that's how it stayed because no one saved me a piece!

I had two little doves by my cake with ivy, both representing my grandmas.
I do not have any elderly relations and I wanted to be able to have them at my wedding.
My grandma Germaine loved birds.


I have a blog where all my inspiration and wedding information goes, and a Facebook page as well.

At the moment, my blog features suppliers in the wedding industry. I also have a thoughtful Saturday post and a Sunday homemade post, which can be anything from general thoughts and wedding information for DIY brides.



My cake, cards, service booklet, invites, menu, table plan were all made by my
 
mother-in-law.
I made the favours and the confetti cups.
My mum did the church flowers.
My bridesmaid, Holly Hamer, did the bridemaid's make up.
My something old was my grandma's silver Art Deco bracelet, 
my something borrowed was my
 
mother-in-law's pearl earrings, 
and my something blue was a blue ribbon in my garter.
I
 
wore a 1951 (the date of my mother's birth) lucky sixpence in my shoe.


I am also thinking of hopefully bringing some guest posts, and a weekly post on a complete wedding plan from the beginning to end - and beyond.



Thank you Mel, for taking the time to answer my questions. It's been an absolute pleasure featuring you on my blog!




Credits

Photographs Pow Pow Pictures
Make up and hair The Makeup Girl 



Monday 14 November 2011

Gioia Mia featured on Home Grown Bride


Hallo everyone

I'm really delighted to have been featured on the fabulous blog written by Home Grown Bride!

I've written about how I work with clients, what inspires me and how I founded Gioia Mia back in 2004.

You can read the interview here.






Thursday 20 October 2011

Real Brides: Rachel


Hallo everyone


I'm really excited to introduce the first in a series of interviews featuring some of the beautiful brides who have commissioned pieces from me over the years.


The first bride to be featured on my blog is Rachel. I made a comb for Rachel's wedding, and earrings and hair accessories for her two bridesmaids.



At what stage in the whole wedding planning process did you start thinking about your jewellery and accessories?

I started looking at jewellery and accessories once I bought my wonderful wedding dress.


How did you decide what jewellery and accessories to wear?

My Jenny Packham wedding dress was beautifully designed with lots of beading and crystals which meant that the jewellery and hair accessories needed to be understated. What attracted me to Gioia Mia was that the jewellery was handmade and designed to my personal taste with one to one consultation briefings throughout the process.


Unfortunately Rachel wasn't able to come to my studio in person, as she lived too far away. So we worked entirely by email.

She sent me some really great close-up pictures of the detail of her dress. She also emailed me pictures of her hair trial and described some of the ideas that she had had for her comb.

She posted me a sample of the different beads that were embroidered onto her absolutely beautiful Jenny Packham dress. I was able to match these up with a range of Swarovski crystals and rhinestones that I had samples of, and make a feature of these in her comb.

I studied the detail in her dress very closely, and came up with an Art Deco influenced sunburst design, which complemented her delicate features and worked with the hairstyle that she had chosen.





What did you enjoy most about having your jewellery and accessories designed and made for you?

For me what I enjoyed most was being able to have my wedding hair slide made with the beads and crystals from my wedding dress. After showing Sonia the design of the wedding dress she was able to create a delicate understated hair slide which complemented my dress perfectly. Sonia knew exactly what I liked and was able to create this perfectly.





With regards to the bridesmaids, I sent a sample of the bridesmaid's dresses colour and Sonia was able to create beautiful bespoke hair slides which were both designed for their individual hairstyles (short and long-haired bridesmaids) which complemented them perfectly. I also had earrings made for both bridesmaids that went perfectly with the hair slides and dresses.


The bridesmaid's earrings were dainty clusters of the different colours of Swarovski crystals that I also used in their hair accessories.

For one of the bridesmaids I made a hairpin based on a very simplified version of the sunburst idea I had used for Rachel's comb. For the other bridesmaid I made a comb based on the clusters in the earrings.





Is there any advice about jewellery and accessories that you could give a bride to be?

My advice to a bride to be would be to take your time in deciding your jewellery and accessories. I would highly recommend Gioia Mia to design your jewellery and accessories for your wedding day. Sonia provides a efficient, professional and bespoke service.

Thank you Gioia Mia for your help in making our day so special.



Photography


I am really grateful to Jane Jordan for allowing me to use her beautiful images of Rachel's wedding on my blog.

You can see her website here