What happens when the founder of Sahar Millinery and UglyLovely gets married to a Scot?

12 Jan 2017
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What happens when the founder of Sahar Millinery and UglyLovely gets married to a Scot?

An engagement ring made from pigeon feet, Two incredible dresses, Hats made from butterflies, beetles and roses, a 24 Karat gold wedding cake, a Ceilidh, a swing band, a bagpiper, lots of roses and lots of tartan…

A bit more in detail:

The Engagement Ring:

Made by my favourite jeweller Tessa Metcalfe who uses roadkill pigeons and casts the feet in gold and silver and has them clutch a huge piece of Tourmaline, hilariously titled ‘Claws Of Engagement’. Engagement rings don’t get any better than this:

On the Day.

Look One: The Legal Bit

For the civil ceremony I decided to surprise my hubby-to-be by wearing a full outfit in the ‘McArthur Tartan’ – his family tartan. (also referred to as his ‘Clan’ tartan – nice.). I found a beautiful silk / wool mix on Goldhawk Road with perfect ‘ruche’ factor!
Back in the studio I played the Mannequin Challenge – whilst Bobbi (of BoDesign London) draped and cut and pinned the fabric on me. I wanted edgy, stylish, tight fitting and smart and an obvious nod to Vivienne Westwood and the result was perfect:

The Hat:

Going with the same theme of the dress, a ruched with volume 50’s style percher with volume and pleats. Here’s the sentimental bit: The gold rose was once a real rose which my husband gave me – although with some treatment it now looks like a gold metal rose.

Look Two: The Real Bit

As a Baha’i, for me the most important part of the day was the spiritual part so the main outfit was saved for this. I decided to surprise everyone by wearing Ivory – a full length asymmetrical ruched Imperial silk Taffeta. Made by the same talented seamstress and designed by myself, the dress looked regal and quite Victorian, with a corseted top, slash and cowl neck with asymmetrical pleating, and dramatic gathers on one side of the skirt. Simple, Classic, Beauty.

The Hat:

To contrast the classical Ivory dress, the hat was far from traditional and probably the biggest and most dramatic I have ever made. Black base percher, with an abundance of net veil, gold and black Swarovski crystals, real butterflies backed in gold leaf, real beetles and roses (fake and real including another cheeky one previously given to me by the hubby).
PHOTO FIVE

Hair and Make Up:

Whenever anyone asks a recommendation for a hair stylist or makeup artist I give them these names: Elvire Roux and Michelle Court. The best in the business and I was going to have nothing less for my wedding day!

The Flowers:

The bouquet was designed with the dress – roses and trailing Ivy – an ‘enchanted’ feel and more wispy than tidy. This and the flowers in the hall were designed by Aysen Hakki, a friend who’s been coming to UglyLovely shows for years and whom I’ve collaborated with in the past. She took inspiration from UglyLovely’s ‘Enchanted Forest’ headpiece and used branches, willow, ivy, entwined with vintage-purple roses suspended in glass bubbles. The display was dreamy, ethereal and exquisite.

The Shoes:

His were traditional to go with his Kilt and mine were pale pink with killer gold stilettos to tie in with the hat.

Flavours and Favours:

A Persian buffet for mains followed by treats from Mai Gornall of www.flowerlolly.com – Artisan edible flower treats. She handmakes edible flower lollies (having grown the flowers herself)…

… as well as personalised handmade chocolate treats such as these (S&K for Sahar and Kevin):

And a hilarious Gift from a friend; Brownies with my face on. Who doesn’t want to eat the bride on her wedding day??

And when we said we wanted a Scottish theme for the favours, incorporating her edible flowers, she came up with these Shortbread biscuits decorated with a flower, wrapped up in a tartan bow. Perfect!

And a hilarious Gift from a friend; Brownies with my face on. Who doesn’t want to eat the bride on her wedding day??

The Cake:

At first I wasn’t bothered about having a wedding cake but then the idea struck – that we can get edible gold leaf (which is simply 24K gold leaf) – I simply HAD to have it. My friend Anisa made it and all three of us decorated: Three tiered, gold and ivory and with roses. It was a carrot cake hence being referred to as ‘24 Karot Cake’.

The Venue

The lovely Round Chapel in Clapton, Hackney which is a 5 minute walk from my house (and yes, I did walk in my dress from my house – being hollered several times on the way)

The Photographers:

Well, we had three, spanning the specialties of Documentary style, wedding photography, fashion photography and behind the scenes….

Main Photographer was Sean Afnan Morrissey

afnanstudios.com
Who rigged up lights and a proper fashion set.

Giovanna Del Sarto

giovannadelsarto.photoshelter.com
Brought her documentary style skills, no one else could have captured this shot:

Ronnie and Rose Photography

Focused on behind the scenes, and portraits of the guests:
www.ronnieandrosephotography.co.uk

The Honeymoon:

A surprise for me – a trip to Vienna and pilgrimage to the great Egon Schiele, our favourite artist…. but that’s a whole other blog post….

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