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Autumnal, Rustic Wedding Shoot
How time has flown – it has been 12 months since we did this shoot and somehow I never wrote a blog post about it.
If you are planning a wedding for next autumn, than this one is for you. Get pinning girls!!
The shoot took place at the stunning Georgian manor house which is home to Hannah from Unforgettable Vintage Bridal Gowns. The top floor houses their studio where you can lose an afternoon in this treasure trove, trying on their vintage and antique gowns, dresses and jewelery. Its not just for brides, they have a huge selection of frocks for parties and “just because you can’t live without them dresses…”
Lucy Stendall was our photographer, she is awesome, gorgeous, funny and just generally brilliant. She specialises in “taking photographs of good old fashioned sweet love.”
We were a bit excited that Sanni Sorma came from Paris to work her magic with hair and makeup. She also does the best make up tutorials on YouTube and is a fountain of knowledge for girly glamour.
The cakes were made by Daisy Cupcakes and were divine.
We wanted a seasonal, rustic and shoot and the warm colour palette worked so well against the orchard and the garden. Rich Edwardian china, paired with vintage crystal and silver added glamour to the tables and sat perfectly with the simple flower arragements where we used berries, greenery and crabapples picked from the garden that morning – roses added to the relaxed, easy styling.
I stole some oak chairs from the dining room, added some old mirrors and masses of romantic lace.
The dresses were to die for, just beautiful.
What can I say about our model, Ayo – a star is born.
Watch this space for another shoot with the same girls – we had such a great weekend and I hope you find some inspiration from our photographs. Who knows, maybe one day there will be a couple who hires all of us to work on their wedding together!
It’s Always Tea-Time
We styled an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party at The Wonky Table in August and had to share some of the photographs with you.
The guest of honor was called Alice, her guests went to town with their outfits and their evening was finished off with a cocktail lesson.
“Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.”
Sew lovely…
Apologies for the pun on the title of this post – I am cringing myself, but it is better than the others I thought of…
Darby & Joan were invited to cater for an afternoon tea party at Kedleston Hall at the beginning of this month. The guest list was made up of 125 textile artists from the Second Turning Textile Group. The group had just opened their new exhibition at the Hall which is open until 22nd September.
Very broadly, the work & exhibition was inspired by the architecture, collections and landscape at Kedleston Hall and showed how rich, lively and versatile textiles can be.
Our menu was what we do best – finger sandwiches, teetering high layer cakes, fresh out of the oven scones, rich chocolate brownies and lots of tea. A simple menu, but one that we knew would be enjoyed and appreciated.
We had two areas to serve. We set up camp in the Orangery and had a handful of guests seated with us in there and the rest of the group were served in a marquee.
The weather was kind, the guests were very lovely, the atmosphere gentle and it was another great success.
Thank you to Kedleston for inviting us to work with you – it doesn’t get much better than working with The National Trust.
Not forgetting a huge thank you to Emma Cleveley Photography for capturing the day so beautifully.
A lot of tea & cake…
Saturday 7th July was a good day.
It was the annual Fabulous Places Summer Market at The Roundhouse & Darby & Joan were opening the doors to our first Vintage Tea Rooms.
These events are always amazingly well organised, are filled to bursting point with the best suppliers in the area & are always good fun & the venue really is very special. Over the past couple of years I have got to know several of the exhibitors & it is always nice to catch up with them, especially those who make their own products & who have a real passion & talent for what they are doing.
Rachel from Tattered Rose was there with her beautiful handmade jewelery, art & keepsakes.
Becky from Butterworth Photography was exhibiting & took some great photographs of the day for us.
For those who really love to be crafty, Chloe from Adore by Chloe was there to offer advice to brides to be, party planners or aspiring domestic goddesses.
As always, the girls from Polly’s List were there with their kids corner, providing some entertainment for the younger customers.
Finally, there was one lady there whose products helped me through the day & provided much needed support when help was needed – a special thank you to Clare from Clarette Wines who was superbly positioned next door to the kitchens…!
Please contact this amazingly knowledgeable girl if you are interested in wine, like drinking wine, want to learn more about wine or have equally strong feelings about Port or Champagnes. She has spent a decade working with the best of the best in London & has just set up her own wine consultancy.
Miss Sammi Designs took some of these photographs & I have artfully shared some more from The Roundhouse blog – thanks guys!
I had the busiest couple of weeks I have ever had (ever) in the run up to the day…baking, packing, planning, ordering, baking, storing, wrapping, baking…I had three or four mornings where I crashed into bed at 4am & I will admit that I lived on coffee, the occasional wine, adrenaline & very little sleep for the week leading up to the market.
Deb had invited me to play a big part in her market way back at the beginning of the year & despite thinking “aaaaaaah, this is the biggest thing I have done & can I do it??” – my philosophy since starting Darby & Joan has always been to say yes to any opportunity that looks exciting, fun & will push the business forward – so it was an immediate yes & over the subsequent months I plotted & planned how to put it all together.
On the face of it, our tea room provided tea & cake – how hard can that be? But the Fabulous Places are always incredibly well attended & we were offering refreshments to a lot of hungry & thirsty shoppers – a lot!!
There was a huge area to fill – the library at The Roundhouse is an impressive space – but luckily there was a large work area “pod” that we used as our serving station which worked perfectly. I took lots of our old furniture, props & accessories as well as our serving & eating china.
I had a good idea of how to set it all up and the next thing on my list was to find the right staff. And I definitely did. Their attention to detail, customer service, sheer hard work & always having a smile truly made the day run smoothly and made it the success that it was.
The cakes…I wanted to offer good old fashioned layer cakes, cupcakes, brownies, flapjacks & rocky road. I hoped there would be something for everyone on the menu yet keep the menu list brief.
Natalie from Yummy Little Cakes made our cupcakes & Lisa from Food Fairies made our Coffee & Walnut & Carrot cakes (which flew off the cake stands!) We made the rest of the menu & hope that we got it right.
The doors opened at 10am and the event went on until 5pm.
We had a full house with queues of up to 30 people from 10am until 5pm.
Thank you everyone who came to the event, the other fantastic exhibitors, to Deb for inviting us to be such a big part of the market, to our customers & our staff.
A two day affair…
Forgive me blog for I have sinned – it has been far too long since my last post.
At the end of May we worked on a two day wedding at Kedleston Hall, for the most gorgeous couple who wanted something a little different for their celebration.
Our vintage china & accessories were used for their 100 guest wedding and we dressed the tables.
These photographs speak for themselves, all I will add is that I had an incredibly busy, fun, brilliant, exciting & memorable couple of days. I am not exaggerating when I say I caught my breath when I saw Aelia, you are a lucky man Stu!
Oh and a behind the scenes collection of images would have been very entertaining too…me washing up for three hours at the end of the first day until midnight in a small, manically busy kitchen filled with waiters, me being locked out of the Hall at 10pm and desperately trying to find a way in, a tractor being needed to haul out the gate keeper’s stuck car from the mud after he let me in, unpredictable weather, an ambulance & not forgetting the escaping sheep.
Congratulations again Aelia and Stuart – you make such a wonderful couple and thank you for asking us to be part of your celebration.
Photography – James Melia
Table flowers – The Blossom Tree
Venue – Kedleston Hall
Vintage china & accessory hire, styling – Darby & Joan
Wedding cake – Choccywoccydoodah
Fabulous Fabulous Places Event
The clock is ticking – it is 1.52am on Friday morning and I am still baking in preparation for the Fabulous Places Summer Market.
Have a read of the blog on the Save the Date website here about the event http://www.savethedatemagazine.co.uk/2012/07/summer-food-gift-market-by-fabulous-places/
Hope to see you there.
x
Kenyan Adventure…
Second blog post in two days…I am supposed to be doing very boring jobs this week to keep on top of everything, but I am easily distracted!
Last Saturday we were involved with a charity tea party (vintage styled of course!) which took place at a lovely little village hall round the corner from me in Derby.
The event was held to raise money & awareness for a project that two very dear friends are involved with. Along with eleven other volunteers from Derby, Stacey Meyer & Anna Haynes are flying out to Kenya in May for their Rams Kenyan Adventure.
The project they are supporting is to help to build two new classrooms at St Trizah School in Nakuru. They will be there for two weeks.
One in five children in Kenya die before their fifth birthday & 20% of school age children are orphans due to HIV. Over 40% of the children in Kenya don’t have access to a school & these children who are not in education are three times more likely to contract HIV in later life.
The tea party raised an amazing £960 & this money will go towards resources & manpower to build two much needed new classrooms, which in real terms means that an additional 100 children can access education.
We had a fantastic afternoon, lots of laughs, friends, gorgeous food, fizz & entertainment.
We are so very proud of you girls – there are many people who say they would love to do something like this, but very few people do it for real.
Thank you to everyone who came along & supported this event. Here are a few pics from the day..
If you wanted to make a contribution to this charity or learn more about the project, please click on this link to their Just Giving page..http://www.justgiving.com/stacey-anna
Darby & Joan - styling, props & vintage glamour.
Shu & Me, A Little Something & Ms Honey - sold their gorgeous wares.
Food Fairies - delicious yumminess on the tables.
Emma Cleveley Photography - photographing the event.
All you lovely ladies who helped out on the day – thank you! xx
The Vintage Chic Wedding Fair…
I love working with Cathy & Susie from Vintage Chic Wedding Fair, their relaxed & feminine style is perfect for what Darby & Joan offer. Their 6th wedding fair was held last Sunday at The Centennial Centre in Birmingham. I have to say that I was exhausted when my alarm went off at six that morning as the previous day had been manically busy & the last thing I felt like doing was packing the car up again & driving for an hour. My aching feet, sore knees from wearing heels all day (I must be getting old!) & slightly fuzzy head all disappeared when I arrived at the venue. Wedding fairs are such light hearted, happy events & I had a fantastic day sharing stories with exhibitors & talking with brides & their families.
It was great to see many familiar faces as a few of the exhibitors have shown with the company before, Meeni, Whimsical Wishes, Passion for Flowers, Cotton & Crumbs & Vintage Twee were amongst the gorgeous companies showcasing their inspirational services & products.
For the first time, I am Staggered were exhibiting. I can’t imagine that many (or any!) men will be reading this blog, but for you brides who are, tell your man about this website & service. Invaluable, funny & relevant advice for grooms-to-be.
The overall feel of all of Vintage Chic wedding fairs has always been to offer brides ”vintage with a modern twist” inspiration & ideas. This is just our cup of tea.
The Centennial Centre was the largest venue the company had used & it was a big hit with everyone. It was light, bright & airy & it was transformed once the exhibitors got to work with their gorgeous styling ideas. Everyone had worked hard to promote the fair & as the doors opened at 11am, there was a steady stream of brides, grooms & their families. Yey!!
There were demonstrations throughout the day, Le Keux Events & Sarah Russell were busy with hair & make up, Fishee Designs brought along a brilliant photo-booth with props, My Craftea Day got crafty, My Dance Birmingham showed us all how to do the balloon dance (well worth seeing!). As always, Simon Partridge was there during the day singing, ensuring a mellow, relaxed & happy atmosphere.
If you missed attending the fair then you really did miss out as it was just fab.
Looking forward to the next one! xx
1920′s 1930′s Vintage Chic Wedding Shoot
When Susie from Vintage Chic asked if Darby & Joan would like to be involved with a vintage styled photo shoot, it took me all of three seconds to say yes please. The idea behind the shoot was to help promote the fast approaching Vintage Chic Wedding Fair at The Centenial Centre in Birmingham on 22nd April.
Susie was keen to work with suppliers who would be exhibiting at this fair, so a few weeks ago we met up with Luxe Bridal, The Red Cake Company, Liezl Croft Photography, Cheryl Williams and Emily Hall.
We had a lot of fun producing these images and hope that is reflected here.
We were hoping to capture the femininity, elegance and glamour of the 1920s and 1930s. Our our brief from Susie that we were to smile, smile, smile…which was pretty easy for Ulle & I as we had such a giggle during the day.
Becky & Shelley from Luxe Bridal arrived laden down with a selection of the most beautiful original vintage wedding gowns, and the trickiest part of the day was deciding who was to wear which dress as we both fell in love with all of them.Cherished Vintage Bridal Accessories supplied the stunningly gorgeous headpieces.
Susie had chosen The Botanical Gardens in Birmingham as the venue because it offered us a gorgeous art-deco backdrop and it’s architecture, colours and gardens perfectly suited the theme of the shoot.
The light fittings, the wooden panelling, the stage area, the light streaming into the room all made for a series of stunning shots. 
While we were being made up and having our hair curled Liezl, from Liezl Croft Photography had plenty of time to decide on which parts of the building to use.
She time to take some lovely shots of our props which I am thrilled with.
Emily Hall was the make up artist on the day and did a fantastic job in transforming us into glamourous, authentic looking vintage brides. Our hair was styled byCheryl Williams and she really was superb.
Both ladies were on hand throughout the shoot to do touch-ups, swap head pieces and change looks.
And the cakes! These were supplied by The Red Cake Company and they really were stunning.
I had decided to take lots of silverware, crystal, faux fur and lace as styling props for the day. I wanted to try and capture the glamour and opulence of the roaring Twenties.
One of the highlights for me of the day was discovering a piano tucked away in a corner, finding a nice chap and asking if we could use it as a prop. Of course he said, where would you like me to move it too… one of my mottos is “always ask, because you never know…” so when I said I would like it lifting onto the stage area I was pleasantly surprised that he agreed! Watching four burly men trying to lift the piano onto a stage that was three foot high was like a sketch from Only Fools and Horses! But bless them, they managed it, so thanks guys! I suspect the piano is still there…
I hope you enjoy this post as much as we all enjoyed putting it all together.
Spreading the vintage love…
Morning peeps! Like most girls, I hoard jewellery, never having enough and always on the look out for pieces that I love so much I don’t want to take off. I do have a budget mind you, and its rare that I will spend more than £50, so to find Shu & Me has made my search easier. Happy days!!
Lucy Bannister is the creative force behind this gorgeous little company and she is also a fashion advisor at Canopy in Derby, which is bursting with labels like Acne, American Vintage, Twenty 8 Twelve…
We caught up with Lucy and this is what she had to say about the new love in her life.
“I’m a total Magpie, lover of all things Vintage and 100% fashion junkie and this is me trying to make a success of my Vintage/Trend inspired little costume jewellery brand! Shu & Me Vintage inspired jewellery is made up of vintage/ trend inspired pieces. I like to go with the tag line that “One girl’s trash is another girl’s treasure” – because I handmake unique necklaces and bracelets that have been put together using recycled pieces of unwanted, broken or inherited costume/ antique jewellery that have gone on to be revived to make something beautiful and wearable that isn’t mass produced.
Every item is different and exclusive to the person wearing it. I like to think that each necklace and bracelet tells a different story. I try to make every singe item totally different to the next as a result there are some pieces that are real statement makers, some more subtle and discreet but all 100% unique.
Currently the jewellery can be found to buy on my etsy shop- www.etsy.com/shop/shuandme or there is also a selection on sale in Canopy on Sadlergate in Derby.
If however there is something specific a customer would like I am more than happy to discuss this with them and attempt to make the perfect piece for them.
I am planning a launch party which will take place on 2nd May, anyone interested is welcome to come along to Bar 5 from 7pm, I will be selling jewellery on the night and there will also be some live music from sister act ‘Daughters of Davis’, lots of cake and a few cheeky cocktails- what more could you want?!”
You can all thank me later…
Twitter: @shuandme Facebook page: www.facebook.com/shuandme
