Thanks so much to everyone who checked in on my previous post earlier in the week. If you missed it, it was the first in this series of posts dedicated to our wedding day and indulged all of the glorious details about my wedding dress. In today’s blog I am following on from this very appropriately, moving onto the finer details of my bridal attire: Bags, Shoes, Jewels and THAT bouquet. Enjoy!

I touched on my veil during my previous post as the veil was in fact attached to my dress, but despite it becoming one with the dress in my case, a veil does technically fall into the accessories category and so I thought I would give it another mention.

I always wanted to wear a veil, having swooned over many a brides veil over my numerous years working in the wedding industry I never doubted that I would wear one. A rare accessory only ever worn as a bride, the finishing touch that in many a Disney film is carried by birds or magic and floated onto a brides head moments before heading down the aisle and quite often, despite it’s simplicity, is what makes us feel like a bride. I tried a handful of veils on during my search for a dress and surprisingly never felt fully comfortable in them. I knew I wanted to wear my hair fully down from day dot and worried without anything to anchor a veil into it would lack structure or simply feel a little lost. I had noticed an influx of cape veils on the catwalk and while I wasn’t ballsy enough to rock a full wrapped cape veil despite loving them so, I loved the idea of getting the drama and fall of a veil down my back without disrupting my flowing locks. I talked through the idea with Sian, owner of Tilly Trotters Brides where I purchased my beautiful GALA by Galia Lahav Wedding Dress and was thrilled she was as excited as I was to create this. Sian recommended I order a classic cathedral length veil from The Couture Veil Company which fell a little longer than the train on my dress and simply remove the comb and have their fabulous seamstress Kay fix the veil to the dress using tiny, delicate and undetectable poppers on my shoulders to create the look I desired and a gorgeous cowl, cape effect at the back. Kay executed this to perfection and my bespoke veil was everything I had imagined and more!

On the day I kept my veil on until our evening celebrations. The coverage the veil provided on my back meant that when whipped off, the lower back detail of my dress became visible giving it a new and exciting look to take me into the evening, ready to dance the night away.

On the day I wore a gold, block heeled sandal by GUCCI. The soft leather meant they were as comfortable as slippers while the block heel meant I was stable enough even with nervous, jelly like legs walking down the aisle and across varying terrains at the venue. They worked perfectly with the sparkly accents of my dress and in certain photos you can catch them peaking out from underneath my dress. The best part of all, is unlike many bridal shoes I have already managed to wear them multiple times: dressed down with summer dresses on our honeymoon and dressed up for girls nights out. I know I will wear these again and again, especially over the upcoming festive season and each time will have a little thought of how special I felt wearing these on our best day ever.

With a dress as embellished as mine I knew I didn’t need much in the way of jewellery. I simply added a pair of hammered gold drop earrings from Oliver Bonas with a beautiful grey/green stone that looked super expensive but were in fact really affordable! (Oliver Bonas: Sidra Long Stone & Tab Gold Plated Drop Earrings)

I wore nothing in the way of necklaces or bracelets, simply on my hands keeping all of the focus as it should be on my beautiful engagement ring and post ceremony of course my added wedding band, both designed and made with love by epic US jewellery designer Heidi Gibson.

Having been inspired by one of my summer brides, I decided fairly close to the big day itself that I wanted to wear fresh flowers in my hair. Our wondrous florist Lucy Walker created the most beautiful halo of fresh flowers to match both my bouquet and all of the florals throughout the venue. This was fixed at the crown of my head, needing both Lucy and my hairstylist Fay (plus a mountain of grips!) to securely anchor it into place. It created a really romantic, feminine detail that made my relaxed hair do feel even more put together, plus it meant that even when my bouquet was no longer being held I still had florals as a part of my bridal look.

There was no shortage of flowers at our wedding so much so I will dedicate an entire post later on in this series to flowers and the wonder that is Lucy Walker who was behind creating all of our floral dreams, but I felt my bouquet ought to feature in this post as it was after all such a huge part of my bridal look and thee ultimate accessory. I wanted a large, wild bouquet that screamed country glam and boy oh boy did she deliver. My bouquet was packed with varying roses in rich shades of burgandy, sand pinks and the most incredible collection of ‘Rachel Louise Moran’ roses that were a delectable pink and white stripe, all of which was combined with an eclectic selection of flowers, berries, pheasant feathers and foliage and the end result was nothing short of a work of art. The Bouquet was hand tied with long trailing burgundy velvet and silk ribbons from Little Acorn Silks and attached was a small gold frame with an old photo of my grandparents and parents on their wedding days, tied with a velvet blue ribbon as my something old and something blue.

I did opt to have a clutch bag on the day to keep safe a few essentials that I felt I may need throughout the day. Mine was a Katie Loxton ‘Bride’ Pouch in a shimmering champagne. Just the right size to house my lipstick, a small perfume, powder and some brightening eyedrops. I kept this hidden in the ladies toilets and while I didn’t hold it at any point during the day, there was no mistaking who it belonged to!

Finally, once dressed I finished with a spriz of perfume before heading down the aisle. Having worn the same perfume forever, I wanted to wear a totally different fragrance on my wedding day. Something I would smell in future years and instantly be reminded of our perfect day. My Mum treated me to a Jo Malone Bridal Scent Experience at their Boutique in Birmingham Grand Central as one of our last girlie days out together before the wedding itself. We sipped fizz while the assistant wafted various glorious scents under our noses before I settled on the Velvet Rose and Oud, a heady floral fragrance that was both romantic, sexy and totally different to my usual scent. I picked up the matching Shower Oil which I used first thing in the morning to get the day off to the most luxurious start and layered with the Wood Sage and Sea Salt Body Creme for a fresh underlying twist.

My Mum had gifted me the most beautiful Balmain Hair Perfume in a vintage glass bottle with a puff vaporiser to spritz into my hair as a finishing touch. Enriched with silk proteins and argan oil it gave my hair a gorgeous shine while leaving my hair smelling fresh with notes of orange blossom, vanilla and sandalwood.

I chose not to wear a garter on the day as my dress had a subtle sheerness to the skirt that may have made it visible but my cousin thoughtfully gifted me a handmade garter she had so kindly made for me using my late grandmothers embroidery threads, needles and trinkets. She embroidered it with ‘Mrs O’Sullivan’ and finished it with a jewel from one of my grandmas earrings. So precious I will treasure it forever.