“The dress was timeless, a heritage piece, and I felt beautiful. It was so perfect I forgot I was wearing it.  Only when guest said that it was a heritage piece, elegant, and vintage, did I think about the actual style of the dress.” 

Last year the SS team were lucky enough to meet a lovely and inspirational bride called Carol. Carol found us when planning her wedding from Canada and decided that a Sanyukta Shrestha dress was a must for her big day. Carol, is an artist herself and planned a day of creativity and individuality  to celebrate her wedding with new her husband Brian. We were thrilled to have Carol wear our Esther wedding gown with Alice Overlay and love the images that she sent over.

Carol and her husband on her wedding day

Today we would like to share Carol and her husband Brian’s story.

“Sanyukta, Thank you for the most beautiful dress. Your design transcends time and age, I felt so beautiful. Everyone asked if I was emulating the Wallis Simpson era and of course I said it was your Simpson collection.” 

Q. Full married name and husband’s name?

Carol Beer Harrison, Brian Harrison

Q. When did you get married?

July 14th 2012

Q. Venue you chose to get married?

Forest and Stream Club in Montreal, Canada.  A lovely lakeside venue.

Forest & Stream club in Canada

Q. Which culture was the ceremony?

A mix of French and English traditions. For the French tradition we had the brides mother (in our case it was the eldest daughter) fetch the groom from his home and then  walk him down the aisle.

Q. How would you describe your experience finding the dress?

I imagine all brides are a little nervous about buying the wedding dress of their dreams and actually finding it. I found mine  but still from the first fitting to the day of the delivery  of the wedding dress there were changes and moments where anxiety about having chosen the right dress out of Sanyukta’s beautiful collection arose but when  the dress arrived and I tried it on all arrived all fears and worries disappeared.  The dress, as promised, arrived and was perfect.  Barbara from The Brides of Odiham worked very closely with Sanyukta and I felt they went beyond the normal relationship with a client to support me.

Q. How long did it take you to find the dress?

I saw it in magazine and just hunted down the designer, so choosing the dress didn’t take long at all, love at first sight. I went to the owner of the dress shop I had chosen and asked her if she could find the dress for me.  It arrived and was just as lovely as I had imagined.  I did try many other dresses just to be sure but always came back to the first dress.

Q. Any advice for brides to be from your experience? 

There is a dress out there for everyone.  Find a bridal shop that puts the customer first and helps you find that dress.

Q. Did the wedding have a theme?

Well the theme was based on ‘The Wallis’ collection, so art deco art nouveau.  I chose peacocks since they are used in art deco design and then used the peacock feathers and colours for the wedding theme.  Since I am artist I then used Chagall’s wedding paintings as part of the wedding decor.

At one with nature, the wedding had a Peacock theme

Q. Which boutique the gown was found in ?

Brides Of Odiham

Q. Were you aware of eco fashion before finding your SS wedding dress? What are your thoughts on eco-friendly clothing now you have worn an eco bridal gown?

I searched the internet and magazines for ethically and environmentally sound designers.  I chose Sanyukta for her ethical and ecological philosophy.  It is very much part of my own ideology and so it was important to me.  The designs are also very beautiful and have something special that attracted me.

Carol & Brian’s wedding ceremony

Q. What will you remember most from your wedding day?

So many things. My son kissing me after walking me down the aisle, My oldest son reading the vows I had written and pronouncing Brian and I man and wife.  My beautiful daughter standing by my side to support me.  It was a wonderful day of friends and family with so much laughter and joy.  One very important thing is my friend coming to the wedding for one hour.  She looked radiant and happy. She died of cancer soon after, she had left her hospital bed to be with me and I was so proud and honoured that she came to the wedding.

First walk as man & wife

Q. Where did you and your husband meet?  

Long story but we actually met on the Telegraph dating site.  We were only looking for companionship to go to art galleries, shows and dinner.  I lived in Canada and wanted a friend to share time in galleries when I came to the UK in the summer months.   We saw each other for the summer and then at Christmas we exchanged cards but  didn’t see each other again until the spring and we just knew that something was different.  At that point  we started to visit each other every few weeks, I clocked a lot of air miles in that period of time.

Carol & her husband share a private moment

Q. How did he propose?

He was afraid I would say no so he actually didn’t propose, he just said could we take it for granted that he had proposed.  I said yes and that was it.

Q. How long have you been planning the wedding?

One year

Q.. What theme inspired the wedding?

Our love of art nouveau and style of the dress.

Q. How did you accessorize your gown? 

I had a head piece that had a vintage look to it  and had my hair done in finger waves of that period.  My shoes were lovely blue high heels and fitted with the colour theme.

Q. What advice do you have for other brides?  

I suppose everyone says don’t stress but don’t, the day is so wonderful that no matter what happens it will be perfect.  If you can, have help for the actual day or ask a good friend to take over so you don’t have to worry about details, I had a wedding planner (An English Rose) to keep track of the vendors and venue for the actual day of the wedding.

Q. What was your favourite moment of the day? 

The whole day was magic, but the first dance as man and wife was special. I have a book  of Leonard Cohen’s poetry and Chagall’s images and these were used to identify the tables. The book is called’ Dance me to the sound of love’ and that is the song we chose, it is a special song for us.

Carol’s favourite paintings & poems were used to identify the tables

Q. Did you end up with a gown in a style you had always imagined or did you choose a completely different style?

My gown was different to the gown I thought I would have but both gowns were from Sanyukta’s collection, in fact I would have worn anything from Sanyukta’s collection, they are all beautiful, but the one I wore was me and looked as it was made for me.

Q. Did you have something old, something new, something borrowed something blue?

Yes, I love tradition, I had a new dress of course, I had blue shoes, Barbara from Odiham brides loaned me a crystal piece to put in my flowers and I wore a pearl bracelet that my daughter had given me a long time ago.

Carol with her beautiful daughter in Blue dress

It was our pleasure to be a part of the wedding of Carol and Brian and to share their story with you. With big thanks to them both for sharing their story with us.