A Decade of Style.... The Story!

With only days to go until the launch of my new 2014 collection 'A Decade Of Style' at the White Gallery London this weekend, things have got a little hectic to say the least around here at Balbier HQ!!

So we took the time out to re read the hand written love stories that go with each of my campaign images and all was rosy again!

So if your in need of a little love injection on this gloomy Wednesday then grab a morning cup of coffee and a biscuit and enjoy;

 

View my online 'A Decade of Style' magazine here

Libby.... The Runaway Bride!

You've seen her in one light..... but there's always 2 sides to every story!! Introducing 'Libby' #ADecadeOfStyle #CharlotteBalbier2014

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun”

 

Caught in a whirlwind, a breeze of lust, but love? ...Is this love? Day dreams of escape, a circus of thoughts, Libby’s mind wanders through the life she needs to pick up and run from. A run-away bride caught up in the fairy tale show of seemingly precious time, she craves an existence of soul capturing love that oozes the pleasures of intelligence and wit. Elusive she may be, Fugitive she is, monotonous she is not.

 

 

Molly Brown Exclusive!

I have been a great admirer and fan of Molly Brown London for some time, ever since I first saw their cute pendants in Harrods. For those of you who haven't heard of the brand, they offer luxury designer jewellery similar to Tiffany but for younger girls. With collections in Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason as well as Harrods, the pieces are just dreamy and something I as a little girl would have absolutely loved. Having invested in some super special keepsakes from the brand for my 2 little flower girls, I couldn't help but notice their adult range has something delicate and unusual for brides to be!!

So.... As a special treat Molly B Couture and the Charlotte Balbier team have rallied up to bring you this exclusive accessories giveaway!

The ultimate accessories prize includes a beautiful Cultured Pearl Necklace and matching Bracelet from the sophisticated and timeless PR77 collection from Molly Brown, a sumptuous fur wrap “Flossie” and a luxe feather headpiece from Charlotte Balbier’s A Decade of Style collection.

So go on? Why not capture the femininity and delicate details of the bygone era; simply add your details on the link HERE for the chance to win this elegant and super exclusive prize.

Finger and toes crossed.....Good luck!

Introducing Beaullea

Just because everyone has been so nice about my new 'A Decade of Style' collection, I just havent been able to contain my excitement and this week have given my brides to be another sneak peek of the 2014 collection!!

 

Proving so popular already over on my facebook page, please say hello to .....

 

 'Beaullea'

"Adornment, what a science. Beauty, what a weapon. Modesty, what elegance!"

 

 

 Embellished with a wealth of achingly deep affection, she is encased in an air of admiration from her love, radiating through her she shines a silver brighter than a star of clear night. Confident in her sweetheart, Beaullea is poised and self assured as she dreamt of a love like this, a profound love, and now in the midst of a fantasy like daze she is creating her own story, with a an ending more than perfect and with feelings no words can describe.

 

 

The wedding of a true hero!

For any groom his wedding day is a momentous occasion but war hero Johnson Beharry VC had so many reasons to feel proud when he married his gorgeous bride Mallissa Noel (wearing Charlotte Balbier!! Eeek!) last week!

Not only had the hero got the girl of his dreams, he recently was promoted from the rank of corporal to sergeant and was wearing his real Victoria Cross on the couples big day!!

I was delighted to welcome Mallissa and her bridesmaid to our showroom and assist her in finding her 'one' and what a lovely day we had! Filled with lots of smiles and oohs and ahhs (and a cake or two of course) Mallissa chose 2 of my gowns to wear on her special day;

'Ellie' was the gown chosen for their vows, an intimate ceremony of family only held at Londons Marylebone hall. A soft lace strapless gown with fishtail skirt 'Ellie' has a small train and is detailed with beautiful pearl buttons. The lace is vintage inspired with a silver pewter thread and I must admit is a popular choice for brides to be.

View 'Ellie' and the rest of my 'Candy Kisses' collection on my website here.



 

'Ellie' as seen in Hello! Magazine

 

'Lula' was the 2nd of my gowns chosen for the couples big day and the one Mallissa wore for her evening reception to dance the night away!! Lula is a beautiful french lace Aline gown with a delicate flower pattern and looked super stunning on Mallissa.

View 'Lula' and the 'Romantic Decadence' collection on my website here.



 

 'Lula' as seen in Hello! Magazine

 

 

I couldn't be more thrilled to see the pictures of how happy the couple looked whilst flicking through the latest issue of Hello! over my morning coffee. Mallissa looked divine and myself and the team wish them every happiness for the future!

 

Love Charlotte

xx

 



 



Charlotte Balbier's wedding diary: now for the entertainment

Gorgeous Charlotte Balbier bride Naiomi in 'Natasha' at her 'sparkler send off'

What makes good wedding entertainment? It's the question that haunts my dreams at the moment, as we still haven't booked it! Teddy and I have spent countless hours trawling the Internet for clips of bands, DJs, you name it, for our special day but we still haven't confirmed anything. I'm starting to think it's because there's too much choice out there.
Over the past few years, attending weddings as a guest and a bridal designer, I've noticed a huge change in wedding entertainment – the traditional local DJ is out it would seem, and the other possibilities seem endless. The opportunities to provide entertainment throughout the course of the wedding day are growing too.
For me, there are two parts of the wedding day excluding the actual evening reception where I think it's great to give guests that extra something; the drinks reception, while the bride, groom and wedding party are off having their official photos taken, and between the end of the wedding breakfast and the beginning of the evening reception, when everyone is letting their food digest and the speeches sink in. For the former (while Teddy and I try to look our best for the cameras), my plan is to keep my guests busy drinking lots of lovely champagne and enjoying yummy canapes, but I want to make sure there's something to grab their attention too - I don't want anyone to be bored on my big day! I love the idea of a magician so I called Dynamo but surprisingly he is out of our budget (shocker!). However, there are so many amazing magic acts out there that I'm sure we can find the next up-and-coming Dynamo. But then I have another worry. If the focus for this part of the wedding is the magician, do we need some background music? And if so, what are my options? Do we go traditional with a beautiful classical singer and acoustic band? Or more modern and have contemporary music played?

Moving on to the time following the wedding breakfast, I want to take this hour to make a few changes to our venue so we're ready for the arrival of our evening guests. It's obviously important that this isn't dead time for the day guests though, so back to my list we go… For those who want to take it easy (don’t forget, there are always older family members to think about) there is the option to retire to the drawing room for tea or coffee and a sit on the sofa. For those hardcore party animals, I'm thinking more along the lines of a mini casino/burlesque show/cocktail bar where they can have a masterclass and make their own cocktails…or do I just leave them to prop the bar up and socialise amongst themselves?

Now to the biggie - the evening reception. I have no doubt I'll find a band and a DJ I love, but it wouldn't be my wedding if I didn't add something extra to make the party all the more memorable. Everyone loves a photo booth and it seems this is a trend that just keeps running; I have to admit I do love them at a wedding or any event for that matter. Add your own personalised props to make it extra fun, like cute and quirky signs or fancy dress items. Another idea I like is fireworks (naturally romantic) but sadly our venue doesn't permit fireworks so an alternative might have to be a ‘sparkler send-off’ (where all the guests gather outside after the dancing ends, making an arch of sparklers as the bride and groom run through and off into the night).
Before I go, one piece of advice – always run your entertainment ideas past your venue. Teddy and I have found a band we love which would fit perfectly with the evening reception, but there's the small (or big?!) problem that the whole shebang, including singers, trombone player, drums, saxophone, guitarist etc. takes up a lot of space, and after consulting our venue we think there's a high possibility they simply won't fit in. With an optimistic attitude we are off to the wedding venue armed with our tape measure to see if we can make it work, but it just shows it's always worth touching base with your venue before you book!
Until next time,
Love Charlotte xx

Charlotte Balbier’s wedding diary: getting the guest list right

Photography by 3objectives. Styled by Claire Smith.

Although time is flying by, Teddy and I are thankfully beginning to tick things off our wedding to-do list. But one rather BIG thing we still have to do is the guest list. And it’s one very important task all brides have to face. I must admit it's somewhat daunting to say the least. Where do we start? And of course more importantly, where do we finish? We simply can’t put it off any longer.
In an ideal world it would be so lovely to have all your close friends, family and work colleagues at your wedding but with budget in place and venue’s capacity to bear in mind, it’s not always realistic. So the inevitable happens and you have no choice but to be practical and pick and choose who you invite and who you don’t.
Teddy and I debated how we were going to make these tough choices. Do you go with tradition and split the guest list equally between the bride and groom or do you take the modern approach and split it in a way that suits you as a couple, even if that means one of you ends up with more guests than the other? And what about your parents' friends? I know a lot of my brides find this the most tricky guest list conundrum to navigate. There is also the question of do you split the list in to day and night guests? Do you include children and what about plus ones?
So Teddy and I decided there would be no sitting on the fence. We’d be honest with ourselves and each other and won’t invite people because we feel we have to. I made a few rules when making my list (and when ‘supervising’ Teddy’s list - he has so many friends, I feel like Billy No Mates!) and we started to draft our list.
First off was a compromise when it came to day and evening guests. I have always said strictly no night guests - I wanted people to be there to enjoy the whole day of celebrations. But we realised we simply can’t fit everyone in all day. That made the plus-one do or don’t debate simple. Don’t I say! Who wants a complete stranger at your wedding? Not me thank you! The same applies to extended family and long lost relatives. Only invite the ones who either you or your parents want there. There’s nothing worse than a family feud or an atmosphere at a wedding between rellies who are long lost for a reason.
The next big choice was to say strictly no children. As much as I love babies and little ones, I want our day to be an adult only affair. We have made an exception for our gorgeous little flower girls, Georgia and Liv, but their grandparents will whisk them away before the wedding breakfast. This was actually their parents' idea and not ours as they want the day and night to themselves!
The last factor in deciding our guest list was how many invites to hand over to our parents. The more we plan the wedding the more I realise I am a traditional kind of bride and for me it was never an option not to invite all my parents' and grandparents' friends as well as my own. Having people at the wedding who have known Teddy and I all of our lives is not only important to us, but also to our parents and I really do believe your wedding is as much your parents' day as it is yours. I see it as their last chance to ‘show you off’ so to speak and it’s such a proud and emotional day for them. So of course they want all of their family and friends there to share it.
So now the tricky business of deciding who makes the list is done and dusted, I can get started with the exciting job of choosing stationery. I can’t wait to share my plans with you next time.
Much love, Charlotte xx

Belle... A Decade Of Style

 

EXCLUSIVE - 2014 COLLECTION 'A Decade of Style'

Introducing.... 'Belle'

"A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life, to be thankful for a good one."

 

 

 

 

 With the elegance and bountiful beauty to that of a princess, with a presence so powerful she could sink a thousand ships; Belle has elegance and a style that captures the romance of the Renaissance era and an old fashioned love to compliment her grace. She fell for him like no-one had ever fallen before, captured by his essence and drawn to him right from her core. This was a soul found love that bound with a never ending story.

The Bridal Boutique Halesmere Grand Opening

 

Saturday 23rd is a very special day for The Bridal Boutique Halesmere as they open their fabulous boutique doors for what is set to be the new 'must visit' boutique in Surrey.
Brides to be grab your diary and email today sarah@bridalb.com to book your appointment. The boutique will have a large and varied collection of Charlotte Balbier gowns for you to try on and Sarah is on hand to guide you into finding your 'one'.


Wishing Sarah and all the lovely ladies at the boutique a fabulous grand opening,
Love Charlotte & all team Balbier
xxx

http://www.bridalb.com/surrey/

Libby - A Decade of Style

NEW PREVIEW 'A Decade of Style' 2014 Gown 

 

Introducing...... Libby!

“Love is above all, the gift of oneself”

 

In-between a halo of blush pink blossom they fell, deep into a summer of love like no other. An indulgent romance of an unconditional kind, just like the fairy-tale dreamt of many before her, Libby’s smile was voluminous and vibrant an obvious show of a woman in love. This tender love she holds is the kind to be wrapped up in an abundance of layers, layers of soft cloud like tulle to protect it from the forces of the world surrounding it.