Hansley Beard

Window Dressing

No sooner had we packed away our vintage boudoir after last weekend’s Wedding Show at Magna, than we were getting it all out again to dress one of the empty shop windows in the city centre Sheffield Showcase project. All the windows have to be ‘themed’ and provide a showcase for local businesses and designers to display their creative talents. Organised by The Source at Meadowhall in association with Sheffield City Council, the project includes working alongside Visual Merchandising students and the two girls from the group who helped me to put the window together were an inspiration to work with.

We decided to make the window look like a lady’s bedroom, featuring a central dressing table, a clothes and dressing area and a living room area. We then created a story around the main female character. “She has just come home from a late night party, wearing her party dress; she throws down her feather boa and handbag on the settee and goes over to her dressing table, which shows evidence of her ‘getting-ready’ routine earlier that evening”.

Richard Smith from Rich Smith Illustration introduced me to the project and his vintage style caricatures feature prominently in this vintage boudoir window (see below).

Styling and display is a huge part of what I love doing. I like starting with a theme or colour scheme, gathering inspirational ideas and researching and sourcing the props and items to build the ‘set’; so creating a window display is not much different to me from decorating a wedding venue or designing a dessert bar. For this project, I already had lots of the right coloured vintage items in my hire collection. Then I found the wonderful chandelier wallpaper from Wallpaper Direct.

As I would when theming a wedding or event, I pulled together the right suppliers and businesses to produce the final look. For this theme, I sourced items and products from ten different local businesses and suppliers, some of whom had also been involved in the Ultimate Brides Wedding Show the weekend before (full list of suppliers below).

The key is knowing how to put together a collection of beautiful things, recognising when it’s working - and when it’s not working! - to create not only the right visual effect but the right experiential effect too. When we were working in the window, a lady saw what we were doing and commented, ‘That takes me back!’ The display seemed to connect with her own past, making her feel warm and nostalgic. ‘You’ve brought some happiness into my day!’ she said, as she walked away to continue her shopping.

If you’re able to go and see it, let me know what you think. It’s on Pinstone St, Sheffield (walk down from the Peace Gardens towards the top of the Moor and the shop is on the right). It’s very pink, and it’s there for 3 more weeks only!

Suppliers:

Window Theming and Design: Hansley Beard
Candy Jar Design: Hansley Beard
Hire of Decorative and Vintage Items: Hansley Beard
Vintage Boudoir Sign: The Happily Ever After Project
Caricatures: Rich Smith Illustration
Vintage Hats: Tricia Cox Millinery
Bridal Lingerie: All She Needs
Jewellery, Cameo Brooches, Soaps & Umbrella: Valentine & Whicker
Vintage Dress, Cape, Jewellery and Handbag: Tasty Vintage, Sheffield Antiques Centre
Central Dressing Table Mirror: Mirror Mad
Perfumes & Beauty Club: Debenhams, Sheffield
Dress on main model: Alice Takes a Trip
Rose Petals: Nature’s Larder

All Photos by CandM-Photography

Posted Thu, 17 Sep, by Jennie Beard in Lingerie, Pink, Shops, Stationery, Themes, Vintage Accessories, Vintage Clothing , Vintage Crockery Hire, Vintage Styling, Window Display

Ultimate Brides Wedding Show

Last Sunday, we had the pleasure of showcasing our stunning pink and black ‘Vintage Boudoir’ at the brilliantly organised Ultimate Brides Wedding Show at Magna in Rotherham. We coordinated and collaborated with fifteen other top quality local wedding suppliers to create our themed stall. The show was attended by hundreds of brides and their guests, from all over the region and beyond. Here’s a selection of the best photos from the day:

All Photos by CandM-Photography

The Vintage Boudoir Dessert Bar:

Vintage Crockery Hire:

Make-up Demonstrations:

Caricatures:

Suppliers:

Styling and Theming: Hansley Beard
Dessert Bar Design: Hansley Beard
Vintage Crockery Hire: Hansley Beard
Wedding Stationery and Display Signs: The Happily Ever After Project
Caricatures: Rich Smith Illustration
Cupcakes: Blush Cupcakes
Desserts: Coco Catering
Chocolates: Cocoa
Flowers: La Boutique Paeony
Make-up Artist: Simone Kania
Model: Sophie Mei
Vintage Hats: Tricia Cox Millinery
Bridal Lingerie: All She Needs
Circus Performer: Greentop Circus
Umbrellas: Valentine & Whicker
Vintage Dresses: Tasty Vintage, Sheffield Antiques Centre
Mirror: Mirror Mad

Ultimate Brides Wedding Show organised by Ultimate Brides

Posted Sun, 13 Sep, by Jennie Beard in Caricatures, Catering, Circus, Dessert and Candy Bars, Flowers, Lingerie, Photography, Shops, Stationery, Suppliers, Themes, Vintage Accessories, Vintage Clothing , Wedding Fayres and Shows, Vintage Weddings

The Vintage Boudoir

Come and see our specially designed ‘Vintage Boudoir’ at the Ultimate Brides Wedding Show on Sunday 6th September, 10.00 a.m.-5.00 p.m. at Magna. It promises to be one of the best and biggest in the region!

Hansley Beard has joined forces with exclusive local wedding suppliers to create a pink and black themed display showcasing all things vintage! So if you want to add some authentic vintage details and finishing touches to your wedding that will be unique to you, come and see what’s on offer. We may just have the icing on the cake you’ve been looking for!

Posted Sat, 05 Sep, by Jennie Beard in General, Vintage Weddings

Inspired by Vintage

Welcome to our Inspired by Vintage blog where we will share our little secrets to help you create your very own vintage wedding or event. We’ll rave about top vintage suppliers and showcase the vintage weddings and events we’ve been working on.

Check out our other more general blog at Hansley Beard for other recent news and suppliers.

So why two blogs? Well, at Hansley Beard we love beautiful things in general but we particularly love vintage, and we know there are those of you out there who have similar passions. We want to provide a dedicated space where we can tell wedding stories from the past and share our knowledge and experience of those authentic historical details that make all the difference.

Posted Sat, 05 Sep, by Jennie Beard in General