ELLE Weddings

ELLE Weddings
Pictures and tips to inspire...

If you’re planning a wedding, or even if you’re not, poring over beautifully styled wedding pictures can prove quite addictive.

But how do fashion girls do weddings? From the prized designer wedding dress to the dream venue, Team ELLE – along a few industry friends – were only too happy to share their stunning pictures and stories.

Whether you dream of a big budget destination wedding, or a modest affair styled with DIY touches, click through the ELLE Weddings gallery for insider tips and inspiration...

Catch up with ELLE's Wedding Blog

Pronovias wedding gown, Jenny Packham headdress.

Alannah Sparks, ELLE Contributing Fashion Editor
Pronovias for a glamorous party wedding in an Irish castle...

The Dress
My dress was the first and last wedding gown I tried on – I was in Madrid with my mum and sister when we happened upon a Pronovias sample sale. I always wanted a mermaid shape and as soon as I zipped into this one I knew it was right. I had the neckline altered – I love the timelessly demure off-shoulder look – and Jenny Packham's 'Stellina' headdress offerred the perfect finishing touch: sparkling beautifully in the Christmas candlelight. I wore pearl platform Nicholas Kirkwood shoes and walked down the aisle to the theme from True Romance ('You're So Cool'), played by my uncle Benny. It was so special. 
 

Midnight blue bridesmaid gowns by Badgley Mishka, Halston Heritage and Project D.

The Bridesmaids

I really had a lot of fun shopping for my bridesmaids. They are all so different and I wanted each of them to feel amazing in what they were wearing, so my only brief was floor length and midnight blue. I did a lot of cruising the Outnet, where I managed to pick up a Badgley Mishka for my little sister (the brazen blonde doing her best Angelina impression front right), Halston Heritage for my elder sister (third from right) and Project D for my best friend front left. I think they all looked stunning.

Wedding flowers by The French Touch

The Flowers

Stephanie from The French Touch did an amazing job of our flowers on the day. I know nothing about flowers so just said I wanted wintry creams, antique faded hues and some berries pine cones for a seasonal touch. I loved what she did, and it all worked so well with the gorgeous pine mantle decorations that my mum spent months making to decorate the castle.

Wedding invitations created using repurposed 1960’s 7” vinyl records.

The Invitations

The music was a key focus for our wedding, and we set the tone with our invitations, which were original 1960’s 7” vinyls that we found on Ebay. The picture on the cover of the invitation was a photo taken by my mum at the Rolling Stones concert at Slane Castle – our venue - back in 1982. We continued the theme by naming all the tables after festivals we’d been to together, and for the placenames we had an Instagram-style photo of each guest sharing fun times with us (where possible – there were 196 guests so it was a mammoth task!).

Guinness and oysters at the champagne reception.

The Champagne Reception

For the drinks reception we served pints of Guinness and freshly shucked oysters which is a classic Irish combination, and we had champagne cocktails for the girls: French 75’s and the cheesily named AK29 (our initials and wedding date) which we invented specially for the day. Campari, vodka, blood orange and champagne – they were delicious! We had a bluegrass band called Prison Love play for the reception which took the formal edge off.