The Rockabilly Vintage Bride: James & Emma

Today I get to introduce to you Emma & James whose wedding was filled with vintage rockabilly coolness, red and black, amazing stationery from Elle Is For Love and one fabulous cake from Crumb!! Photography from the wonderful N.Cadman Photography.

Emma & James were wed at Glemham Hall where the grounds were stunning for the couple’s photographs.

“James and I met through a mutual friend, Jan. James plays guitar in a rock band called Brigade. I was going to see a band called Adien and Brigade we’re supporting them. It was Jan’s birthday and he wanted to see Brigade so we went together.

James caught my eye rocking out on the side of the stage at the Concorde 2 in Brighton!

I asked Jan who the “nutty good looking ginger” was! Jan explained that it was James he was friends with and they both went to the same school back in Suffolk. Jan introduced me to James after the gig. We had some drinks together (and quite a few Jager’s!). We added each other on FB and chatted pretty much every day. I went to see them at a few more gigs and the flirting began! A few months after first meeting, Brigade were playing at Download 2008 festival. Me & my friend had already got day tickets for the same day Brigade were playing. We meet up with them after their set and the rest is history as they say!

James proposed on Christmas day 2010. We set the date for May 12th 2012 not long after that so around 18 months we were engaged.”

“Originally I wanted a halter-neck 50’s tea length swing dress but when I tried them on they just didn’t feel right. Me and one of my bridesmaids spent a day looking in all the vintage shops in Camden. I tried on some original dresses but nothing really took my fancy. I finally found my dress in the last shop we looked in that day. When I picked it off the rail, my bridesmaid wasn’t so sure but when I walked out of the changing room with it on, we both knew it was THE dress. Plus it was only £40! I had to have it. The lace sleeves covered my tattoo’s but you could still see them through it.

I have a rose on my back which I got done a few years after my Nana passed as her name was Rose. I have my daughters name and DOB, I have a star with Roman numerals worked into my sleeve which is the date that me and James meet and I have a diamond which I got just after we got engaged to celebrate. All my others are just because I like them and they make me smile when I look at them. My sleeve still isn’t finished, its a work in progress!”

Emma’s advice on planning your wedding is to “Make sure the first thing you do is pick your venue! And if your not getting married in church make sure you check that the registar is available on that day! We live in a very small village. Our wedding venue was free for the day that we wanted but even 18 months in advance our registar only had 2 times left for that day! They have 5 registrars but only two books!

Don’t rush into the little details straight away if your having a long engagement. Save pictures and ideas as you go. Your tastes may change as you see new ideas. And keep some sort of wedding planner! It’s nice to look back on it and be able to show people what ideas you have in your head!”

The fabulous bridesmaids’ dresses were from Dolly Dagger and all bouquets, button holes and centrepieces were crested by Cute As A Button and hair & make up was given the vintage look was created by Bluebird Vintage.

“We had guest book guitars as James plays guitar, button bouquets as I make them, tattoo inspired stationary, table plan & place settings, each guest had a shot of Jager at their place in a little corked bottle as James band a sponsored by them and everyone knows how much we like Jager. It had a vintage/ rock/ 50’s theme which suits me. The men’s outfits were very “rock n Roll” which is very James. James & I wore converse as we live in them normally. We had a bouncy castle which represented our fun side, a photo booth which we made, a 2 hour set of D&B at the end of the night, the tables were all names after our favourite albums, our friend and best man Tom Hodgkinson made our invites for us in a style that represented us there was all sorts of things that represented us individually and as a couple.”

Thank you to Emma & James for sharing their vintage rockabilly wedding with Marry Me Ink today and thank you to N.Cadman Photography for the beautiful pictures! Be sure to leave them some love!

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