The White and Gold Bride : Laura-may

Meet our beautiful bride Laura-May who celebrated her wedding at The Aran Islands hotel on Inis Mor. I’m pretty sure Laura-May’s wedding fell on the hottest day of the summer! Laura-May had never really considered the type of dress she would like to wear before she started dress shopping but she couldn’t get Azelea out of her head once she tried it on. Laura-May and her gorgeous family hold a very special place in my heart. From Laura’s first appointment with me, when she had jetted in from L.A. I met Liv – my literal angel from heaven who, very serendipitously, became our childminder, like a sister to me and like Mary Poppins to the babies! Gorgeous cousin Ruby has now stepped into that role and we adore her! Laura’s brothers then did some amazing carpentry work in my new accessories store Gold and Laura’s lovely mom Vera and I are always bumping into each other for chats around town!  How amazing is it that one dress brought all these gorgeous people into my life! The love in this gorgeous family is evident when you hang out with them and I was so touched seeing these beautiful pictures.

We asked  Laura-May some questions about her wedding style, how she knew her dress was the one for her and if she has any advice for other brides-to-be.

Laura-may, our Azelea dress from Alexandra Grecco was just perfect on you! Was it the style you had in mind for yourself? How did you know it was the dress for you?

Prior to starting my dress search, I had never seen a wedding dress and thought ‘that’s my dress’, and really had no idea what I wanted. Luckily, Sorcha and the girls at The White & Gold have a fantastic eye for what will and what won’t work for you, and were very helpful in selecting only a handful of dresses so we weren’t too overwhelmed. Because I didn’t have a set look or style going into my dress search, I wasn’t surprised by my choice. However, it was SUPER strange (and also exciting) to see myself in a wedding dress for the first time – I had a ‘wait, I’m getting MARRIED!!’ moment when I saw myself in a wedding dress in the full length mirror. When I first tried it on, I absolutely loved it, but thought it was a little too low cut so didn’t say ‘yes to the dress’ right away. After shopping around I realized that nothing was quite as beautiful and special as the dress I had tried on in The White and Gold – it was also so different to anything I had even seen, and I loved that about it. So a few weeks later we circled back with the lovely White and Gold team and put the order in. I am so thrilled that we did – I adored my dress (still do!). I would also urge brides to remember that you can alter these dresses (within reason) –  I had the neckline of the dress raised slightly and it worked out perfectly.

Who did you bring to your bridal appointment? Did they help you decide on your dress?  

My Mom and my sister – I trust both of their opinions so it was great to have them there.

What would you say was your overall wedding style?

I got asked this by many vendors throughout our wedding planning process. I didn’t have a clear answer, but it was somewhere between forest fairy and beachy… I just knew that I didn’t want anything to be something that guests had seen before, or that was comparable to other weddings. I wanted our wedding to reflect us through and through, which I think it did in the end! I went for super vibrant flowers which worked out great, and Harry (my husband) got matching ties and pocket squares from Art of the Gent for himself and the guys in both of our families which was a nice touch.

How did you accessorise your dress? Tell us all the jewellery and shoe details!
 

I live in California so my earrings were from a local Californian brand called Gorjana. My necklace was also from Gorjana and was a gift from my husband on the morning of our wedding. I also got my wedding rings at a local jeweller based out of Newport called Marrow Fine – they do a wonderful job with custom rings and stacking rings so I went down with my engagement ring and they built identical ballerina rings for either side of it. I love it.

As for the crown, I picked that out at The White and Gold – the accessories there are just next level gorgeous. The shoes were super comfortable, and were the gold pleated shoes from Loffler Randall. I wore them all day and all night, and even did an Irish dance in them. I would recommend Compeed patches for all brides, just to ensure you don’t get blisters anywhere on the day.

Any underwear tips for our brides to be?

Try on the underwear in advance and make sure it is comfortable enough to wear for the entire day – the last thing you want is to be adjusting your undies or pulling up your strapless bra when all eyes are on you. 

Any special moments you treasure from the day?

It was absolutely magical to walk up the aisle and look around and every face beaming back at you is someone that you know and love.

If you could give brides-to-be one piece of solid advice? 

If it is a sunny day, do not forget to wear sunscreen. We had an hour-long photoshoot at the cliffs on the Aran Islands. While it was absolutely majestic, we all got very sunburnt in the process!

Who did your hair, make up and photography? 
I did my own hair and make up. Because I am based in California, I didn’t have the time to do a trial with either so I figured it was a safer bet to do it myself. I went to Sephora and got a full makeup tutorial and bought the products they recommended, and then did not practice my hair at all, but just hoped for the best on the day. I wouldn’t recommend that approach – if you have a veil and plan to do your own hair, definitely practice with that and any headpieces. Also, remember to bring hair clips etc, which I didn’t do. Thankfully friends and family had hair spray etc. that I could use. 
 
If you had bridesmaids where did you choose their dresses from?

Folkster 

How did you find your experience at The White and Gold? 

I loved it all – everything in the shop is so beautifully curated, and the vibe is fabulous. It all feels very special and exactly how a bride should feel when trying on dresses and accessories for the big day. 

Thank you for your extremely kind words Laura-may. It was such an honour having you wear one of our dresses. I am so thrilled to have you in our White & Gold gang and we all wish you both a lifetime of happiness together

 

♥ Sorcha

 

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