.grey

.My wedding dress is grey. Yes, grey.

.It is a very beautiful pale grey dress by Temperley London, and looks a lot like the Jenny Packham dress above. I, of course, love it, but it has meant that I have had to look harder for inspiration as very few people get married in this colour.

.Once I started looking around for inspiration I realised that it isn't as rare as I had thought. The photo above is from a real wedding I found on NYMag.com. How amazing are those ruffles?!

.And this dress is by Vera Wang, which shows that even the wedding dress goddess herself appreciates the beauty of a grey gown.

.trench

source . anna kuperberg via snippet & ink
.This is probably my favourite wedding image.
I love the way the bride teamed her 1950s-esque dress with a classic trench. Her shoes are yummy too. It is great inspiration for my third wedding party dress, which I will wear on the second day of our two day wedding extravaganza. It is an original 1950s ivory and gold dress, which I bought for just €2 in a hipster secondhand store in Vienna's 6th district. I will be wearing this with my gold Miu Miu heels and dancing into the night with my new husband!(.My Miu Miu heels)

.jennifer behr

.American designer Jennifer Behr makes the coolest vintage inspired hairbands and hair crystals. Popular with the cast of Gossip Girl and celebrities, she also does a great bridal collection. I have decided to buy the 'Crystal Wing' hair clip to wear either after I take off my veil on the first day of our wedding or with the original 1950s ivory and gold dress I will be wearing on the second day of our wedding.

.Recently, Natalie Portman was photographed wearing the pin. Isn't it stunning? I love the versatility of it, and it comes in several colours. I am still trying to decide between Antique and Crystal Gunnmetal.

.The Jennifer Behr birdcage veils are wonderful too but very expensive at $675!

.birdcage

source . justine ungaro

.I have decided that I definitely want to wear a birdcage veil with my wedding dress for the ceremony. I have been in two minds about it for a long time but finally I have decided to go for it - after all, when else in a girl's life does she get to wear something so wonderfully dramatic?

source . justine ungaro

source . justine ungaro

.The veil I love the most is this one by EMBridal. They have an amazing selection of art deco inspired hair accessories and jewellery. I came across Emily & Andrew's wedding the other day and was excited to see that she is wearing the veil I want. It is always great to see these pieces on a real bride when you are considering buying online. Emily looks so lovely that it has convinced me to go for it.

source . embridal

source . embridal

source . embridal

.EMBridal also do the veil with a detachable feather headpiece. I love this look, especially as it reminds me of Melanie's Sara Gabriel headpiece, which I adore.

.acacia II

.I am developing a major obsession with Jenny Packham's Acacia II crystal headband. Unsurprisingly for a Jenny Packham piece (although it is designed by Polly Edwards) it has the perfect modern vintage art deco style. Brides who have worn it also say that it is very light and comfortable. It is set on an elastic headband which comes in 5 different colours so it can be made to camouflage with one's hair perfectly.

source . lovehair
.This is the same headband which is worn in the Samantha Capitano wedding I featured a while ago. Unfortunately Acacia II costs £350.00 so I am still in two minds about whether or not to go for it. It is way over my initial £100.00 'veil' budget. I did make an amazing saving on my gorgeous Temperley London wedding dress though (which by the way looks even better in person - but more about that later!).

Louis Mariette has this far cheaper alternative at £55.00 which is also pretty, but perhaps it just isn't the same?

.A few weeks ago Cheryl Cole wore the Acacia II on X Factor (you can see it in glistening action here) and since then everyone I know has been talking about it, even friends who are not getting married have wanted to know who it is by. This is good and bad. On the one hand it confirms that I do indeed have excellent taste (even if I do say so myself!) as other people love it too. On the other hand, will it mean that by the time my summer 2011 wedding comes around it will have been done to death?

.temperley london

.Oh no! Rather than concentrating on my dissertation during this long blogging hiatus I have instead become a two dresses/two shoes bride. Help me people! First I bought a fabulous pair of gold Mui Mui heels from Outnet.com (fashion sale heaven), even though I already have a pair of Westwoods AND I was supposed to be looking for flats. Then today I bought this art deco inspired Temperley London dress. Yes it is light grey but it was 76% off and it is divine!!! In case you are not convinced, here it is in ivory and in black. See, it is lovely.

It should arrive in the post in a few days. Once it arrives I will try it on, compare it to my current dress and then some serious DECISIONS need to be made (decisions are not my strong point, in case you hadn't noticed). I could get away with grey on my wedding day right? This bride did and looked super.

.heterochromia iridis

.I have not been blogging much lately and will continue to be rather absent as I am in the final stages of my masters degree. Time is in very short supply at the moment I am afraid so blogging has been relegated to second or third place in my life! While taking a break from dissertation writing I couldn't resist posting this photo of Kate Bosworth at some gala or other. Her hair and make-up sits perfectly between being vintage inspired while not looking too costumy - loooooove!

.drew

.I know I have posted about Drew Barrymore's veil at the Grey Gardens premiere before but I loved her overall look at that event soooooo much that I want to post a bunch of photos again. She is wearing Alberta Ferretti. Swooon!

.harlem

source . michael roberts for vanity fair

source . michael roberts for vanity fair

source . michael roberts for vanity fair

source . michael roberts for vanity fair

source . michael roberts for vanity fair

.As a black modern vintage bride-to-be it can sometimes be a little difficult finding truly accurate inspiration. For example, a birdcage veil might look lovely on Drew Barrymore but would the same veil really work on my complexion? White wedding dresses are lovely but shouldn't I go for something darker like ivory or champagne as it would be more flattering?

Therefore I was really excited when I came across this Vanity Fair shoot with the gorgeous Zoë Saldaña. The historical era the shoot is set in, the 1930s Harlem Renaissance, is perfect for the look I am going for and although she doesn't wear any weddingy coloured dresses the Donna Karan and Lanvin gowns in this shoot are a delight. Furthermore the hair and make-up styling is a wonderful inspiration to me. I will definitely be showing it to my hair and make-up artists.

The boys in the shoot don't look bad either!

.the bride wore flip flops

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography

source . david mcneil photography
.More ruffle inspiration. I have no idea where the bride's dress and shrug are from but I love the slightly unusual colour. Furthermore she is wearing flat sandals from Accessorize (who I blogged about recently) which encourages me greatly as I am now planning to wear something similar with my wedding dress. Yes, there has been a change in my bridal shoe plans. This is due to the fact that my dress, though perfect, is not quite long enough for high heels.

This couple had a humanist wedding in Oxonhoath, Kent. I love the natural surroundings of their venue which suits the bride's outfit wonderfully. More of this wedding can be seen on photographer David McNeil's blog.

.lace & ruffles

source . parker j pfister via east side bride
source . parker j pfister via east side bride

source . parker j pfister via east side bride

source . parker j pfister via east side bride

source . parker j pfister via east side bride

source . parker j pfister via east side bride

source . parker j pfister via east side bride

source . parker j pfister via east side bride
.I have bought my dress! It looks very similar to this bride's lace Monique Lhuillier gown but, it only cost a fraction of the price! I will not be posting a picture yet as Dr.D reads this blog occasionally.

I have admired the wedding above for some time now. It is the wedding of pretty.pretty.paper blogger Christine. You can read more details about it from the bride herself here. How stunning does she look? Now that I have a very convincing high street version of her mega-bucks Monique Lhuillier I am also on the look out for a version of her beautiful matching Monique Lhuillier shrug. Look at this beauty by toccata I have found on etsy: