Hansley Beard

Vintage Bridal Soiree ~          Vintage Weddings on Film!

When we were planning the vintage bridal soiree, we wanted to create something authentic that would reflect real vintage weddings from the past. The Chimney House’s in-built powerpoint projector meant we could be creative and display a showreel of images of weddings from the past.
The Chimney House’s mini cinema screen was also an opportunity not to be missed so we asked the Yorkshire Film Archive (YFA) if they could create a short film of some of their vintage Yorkshire weddings to showcase at our event.

(Image by Serenidipity Photography)
The film showed different weddings from between the 1920s and 1960s and highlighted what I’m always saying about weddings from the past – they were enjoying it and having a happy and joyous time, just like we do today! Thanks to the YFA for putting the film together for us. Here are a few stills from the film, also kindly supplied by the Yorkshire Film Archive:

Thanks also to Lucy Ledger Designs who created a old-fashioned caption board styled from old silent films for us to use in our showreel.

More Vintage Bridal Soiree news in the next few days ...

Vintage Bridal Soiree – organised by Hansley Beard, Little White Book, Coco Catering & Swallows and Damsons

Posted Sun, 17 Oct, by Jennie Beard in Vintage Wedding Films | 0 Comments

Vintage Bridal Soiree ~          The Showcase

On 30th September Sheffield’s first Vintage Bridal Soiree took place! We organised it along with Little White Book, Coco Catering and Swallows and Damsons. We all wanted to arrange a vintage wedding evening that was classy, elegant and fun! We chose the fabulous Chimney House because of its historical past and its beautiful red brick walls. We’d like to share here a selection of some of the wonderful event photos by Serendipity Photography.

More blog posts to follow in the next few days about the event, but for now, here’s what was happening upstairs.

Upstairs some of the most exclusive local Vintage wedding suppliers showed off their beautiful Vintage creations.
Bouquets and accessories made from Vintage jewellery by DC Bouquets:

Vintage style wedding cakes by Love Candy Cakes:


Vintage decor by Little White Book:


Vintage wedding photography by Serendipity Photography:

Vintage stationery designs by Lucy Ledger Designs:

The room was filled with a mixture of original vintage wedding dresses from The Vintage Pad, Little White Book and Hansley Beard, and stunning vintage style modern dresses from Sheffield’s bridal boutique, Choola:

Colourful flower arrangements by Swallows and Damsons also adorned the venue:


Guests were entertained with magic tricks by BZ Magic:

And Caricatures by Rich Smith Illustration:

All to a background of original gramophone music by It’s a Wind Up! Vintage 78 DJs:


... and Jazz with Emily West and Ryan Taylor:

Thanks to all these wonderful suppliers for being involved!
Ticket and raffle proceeds went to Sheffield Children’s Hospital so a big thank you also to all those below who donated raffle prizes:
• Millennium Galleries Cafe
• Cocoa
• Freshmans
• Swallows and Damsons
• Renaissance designer dress agency
• Azaad’s Kashmiri Restaurant
• Imogen’s Imagination
• Vanessa Boddye from Pampered
• Yee Kwan Ice Cream

More stories over the next few days about our Vintage Soiree!

Vintage Bridal Soiree – organised by Hansley Beard, Little White Book, Coco Catering & Swallows and Damsons

Posted Wed, 13 Oct, by Jennie Beard in Caricatures, Dresses, Flowers, Photography, Stationery, vintage stationery, Vintage Styling, Vintage Wedding Films, Wedding Fayres and Shows, Vintage Weddings | 0 Comments

Happy Vintage brides?

People often point out to me, as an avid collector of old wedding photographs, that the older photos from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, show what look like unhappy and slightly dour brides. Here are a couple of examples (though the grooms on these do seem to be managing a bit of a smile!):


But, we know that this was to do with the photographic techniques of the times because the newly married couple had been told to stand completely still without moving throughout the long exposure time, so holding a smile wouldn’t have been easy!

I recently went to the launch of the Yorkshire Film Archive’s new online website yfaonline, where they have uploaded lots of amazing old film footage from all over Yorkshire. It was whilst browsing on the site one day that I came across a film from the 1920s entitled ‘Popular Wedding at Roundhay’.

What I love about this film is that it shows us a 1920s wedding where, as far as I can tell, everyone including the bride is smilling and laughing, which of course would have been the case on such a joyous day and something that was maybe harder to capture with still photography.

The film, made by Debenham & Co. York, shows the wedding of Fred Groves and Alice Rothwell on the 20th October 1920. The Bride, Alice, who was 32 at the time, was given away by her father, John Rothwell Esq., a furniture dealer. The groom, Fred Groves, who was 33 at the time, was a civil servant, and his father, Hebdon Groves, was a farmer.  The minister was the Revd Sutcliffe Thomas and the witnesses were Norman Groves and Olive Gott.

To watch the film, which lasts about five and a half minutes, go to the yfaonline website, select ‘1920s’ in the ‘browse by decade’ box and then when the search results come up, scroll down to ‘Popular Wedding at Roundhay’.

Thanks to the Yorkshire Film Archive for providing me with the stills from the film for this blog.

Posted Sun, 05 Sep, by Jennie Beard in Vintage Wedding Films, Vintage Weddings | 0 Comments