Monday, November 26, 2012

Rangoli bride Ciara

Monday, November 26, 2012

Ciara, I'll always remember the afternoon you visited my studio with your Mum and sister. I think we laughed for an hour and a half. It was clear that you were not going to stress over your wedding planning. And your sister was so helpful with her advice "You can't look fat in a headpiece"! You really had to be there to fully appreciate Niamh's nugget of wisdom :-)



Do you know what one of the best parts of my job is? It's opening an email or envelope and getting to see how everything turned out on the day. Your kind words are the best reward ever. Here's Ciara to tell us about her wedding to Kevin. Doesn't she look gorgeous?

"Aisling, I just wanted to thank you so much for your beautiful creations that made me feel like a princess the day of the wedding.  I feel like there may have been divine intervention that I Googled Rangoli two years ago. So many of my friends and family were blown away by the hair wire and the earrings and an ex-boyfriend of mine that was at the wedding remarked on the hair wire several times saying how beautiful it was, so even men appreciate your talent! Thanks again for making my day so special and for a fantastic time in your studio in January."

"I think we had the only sunny day in Kerry after weeks of torrential rain so we were so lucky that we could go to the beach after the windmill and then up to the Connor Pass on the way to Dingle.  The photographer Riona is a genius and loves to take different types of pictures, so she convinced me to climb a very high rock across a little stream and sit right in front of a waterfall.  Riona always insists on brides and bridesmaids wearing flip flops for photographs so it made the climbing a bit easier!!

It really was one of the best days of my life and its all the simple little things such as being able to have my my own little touches and our own personality put into the wedding.  I think maybe some couples alienate themselves from their own wedding by getting too stressed out, but Kevin and I really enjoyed all the planning and I can honestly say we made sure we had a sense of humour about the whole thing."

Thank you Ciara - I hope we'll meet again some day for another dose of giggles!


Ciara wore my Rangoli Brooch hairwire and matching pearl and rhinestone drop earrings. Her beautiful flowers were by Best of Buds and photos from Riona MacMonagle.


Photo credits: 
Photographer:Riona MacMonagle
Flowers by Best of Buds

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Remembering Grandparents

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Recently, lots of you have been showing me photos of your Grandparents weddings. I thought it was time to put our favourite relatives on the stage and hear some stories about their wonderful wedding days! This series is all about the romance, the style and the personalities.


Jo is a friend of my husband and he heard me tweeting about this series! I'm so glad that he got in touch to show me this beautiful photo of his Grandmother, Ellen. I'm not sure if you can see that this photo has been hand-tinted by her husband Noel. It's so delicate. Here is Jo's Mum, Noeleen to tell us a bit more about her parent's wedding and their runaway photographer.

Ellen Smith on her wedding day in 1960

"Ellen Smyth and Noel Green were married on the 18th of June 1960, it was a typical wedding with about forty guests attending. Ellen wore a beautiful lace dress that was made for her by her sister in law Mrs Rosaleen Kenny and her wedding bouquet was made up of red silk roses and was borrowed from a neighbour. The bouquet was passed on to many brides in the area but still remained as beautiful as the day it was made.

Ellen was a shy quiet girl as is evident from her shy smile in the photo. Herself and Noel were married by a Fr Con Sayers in the Church of the Nativity in Whitehall and it was a beautiful summers day. Unfortunately the photographer who was to take the photos never turned up and so all the wedding photos were collected from guests who had cameras that day. The wedding breakfast was held in the Melvin hotel in Drumcondra and the entertainment was by a blind accordian player. Noel and Ellen still have the invoice for the wedding breakfast tucked into the back of their wedding album."

Noleen - thanks for telling us these stories. It's great to hear all those memorable details. Obviously there were wedding dramas even in the 60's; I'd say that photographer's reputation was finished after his no-show?! But whoever took this photo had a great eye. Please thank Noel and Ellen for allowing me to share this beautiful photo.


This post is
part of a series - do you have an image of your Grandparent's that you'd like to see up on the blog? Please send me an email [aisling at rangoli dot ie] or leave a comment below.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Style my wedding dress

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Today I'm launching a brand new series on the blog. Here, I'll be sharing some the styling advice that I offer my customers when they visit my studio. So if you can't meet me in person, I can help you here! Most of you tell me that you need help and advice in choosing your accessories. And that's a really important part of my designing process. I start by getting to know you and then we look at your beautiful dress.


"Here's my top tip; stay true to your own personal style. Of course, you'll be a much more glamorous version of your everyday you but you should still be very much you! Does that make sense?"
I'm really excited about the first dress in this series. I've chosen the Bettina dress by Rembo Styling. It's from the 2013 collection. The series will cover a variety of different style dresses. Please get in touch if you'd like me to feature yours!

Bettina dress by Rembo Styling, 2013 collection

 So, first of all I'm going to start by describing this gorgeous dress in a bit more detail!

The style

This soft, romantic dress is contemporary in style. It is unstructured and slightly asymmetric. The silhouette is slim but not figure-hugging and there is no embellishment. The layered tulle folds create an organic and very natural feel.

Lines

The lines of this dress are so soft - it almost looks like a sketch. So much so, I grabbed my pencil and sketchbook! The delicate irregular folds along the neckline look like waves. If you have a look at the video below, you'll see that it was shot on a beach and the collection inspired by the sea.

My sketch of Bettina dress by Rembo Styling showing the delicate lines

Words

I often use words with clients to describe dress styles. Sometimes a client may have chosen a dress and has an idea for accessories that I feel may be at odds with it. By using words to describe both things, it can highlight why things may not be a good match.

Here are my words to describe this gorgeous dress: floaty, whisper, transparent, layers, waves, soft, quiet, romantic, playful.



 

A quirky 'behind the scenes' video of the Rembo Styling 2013 collection

 

Advice on jewellery and accessories to match this dress

Everything about this dress is soft and romantic. I would suggest delicate and unstructured accessories. I would (and often!) say no to a necklace. The halter-neck straps create a neckline that jewellery would interfere with. I think a beaded hairwire or wrap would be perfect with this dress - something to mimic the soft waves in the dress. Alternatively a pair of long delicate earrings might be just enough with some small hairpins dotted through the hair. A fine or multi-stranded bracelet could also be an option. Remember, you don't have to go for every possible accessory option. Often (another favourite mantra) less is more. An example of something that I feel wouldn't work with this look would be a vintage rhinestone comb or chandelier earrings.

Hairstyles

Although this is not my area of expertise, I have been looking at dresses and hairstyles for fifteen years now! I visualise the hair as another important element in the look. As crazy as it might sound, I think of hairstyles as sculptures. My skill is to design headpieces to suit the form of the hair. If someone hasn't had a hair trial, I'll often offer advice too.

I like the asymmetric braid that the model is wearing. There are lots of amazing variations on a soft or woven style which is up or down. The words that come to mind are soft and unstructured rather than defined or classic.

For hairstyle inspiration you might like to check out my Pinterest board called 'Yummy Hairstyles' as well as my photo albums on Facebook.

This ongoing blog feature is for you. I want to help you choose gorgeous accessories that you will love wearing! Please get in touch if you'd like to arrange a visit to my studio; I'd love to meet you and chat about your ideas! And if you can't meet me in person, I'd be delighted to offer you advice through this blog. Just email me a picture of your dress[aisling at rangoli dot ie] and I will come up with lots of suggestions and a string of words to describe your yummy dress :-)