Who would have thought hard work could be such fun?

I was trying to arrange a photo shoot for my Spring collection during the hideous few weeks of snow in January. Needless to say it kept getting in the way literally! In the end we managed it and yet again thanks to the peeps who helped. Emily Bell for her wealth of photography skills ( a true professional!) www.emilybellphotography.com/. Claire Beever again for her 20 years of experience in the hair and make up industry www.bespokebridalhairandmakeup.co.uk/. I also must thank Claire for being on my wavelength. We both have a love of all things nice surrounding weddings and a hatred of all things tacky, so often the case.

Finally Helen- my beautiful model and friend. A natural and I know you loved it!

We had great fun shooting at Emily's house getting dressed up, eating cream cakes, laughing at the bad shots and cooing over the good ones.

I love this hairstyle Claire it is so forties! Fitted really well with lots of the pieces too

Another good trick from Claire- toilet roll down the back of a dress to make it fit! Genius!

A final thanks to Helen for holding me up while I modelled the garters- a 4 months pregnant standing up on a table in heels I needed a hand!

It's all a bit graphic

My ex colleague and friend ( not ex in this case!) Sandra Keating www.sandrakeating.com is a fab graphic designer/illustrator and she kindly offered up her talents to me when I decided to go it alone. Always good when startig a business if nice people help you out! We had loads of fun deciding which bits and bobs of vintage jewellery and ornaments to use for her images. When I turned up at her flat to see the finished images I was overjoyed with how pretty they were and how much she understood my vision for Silver Sixpence.....

Watch this space- transactional website showing off the shoot images and Sandra's lovely work coming soon! Hasta Luego!

Finishing touches......

It's the final touches to your wedding day that are often so important and again I like to work on these drawing on classic and vintage influences without compromising on quality and fabrics

Ring pillows are cute but can often be so tacky so I like to tie these in with my brides overall look. It would be a shame not to have one!

Also co-ordinated pretty packages are so cute- I love matching sets of anything!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shoe clips are massively on trend again and add a unique touch to your wedding shoes whatever style you choose- especially great with a ballerina length dress. I always think it is such a shame that shoes are hidden away so much on the big day. I kept hitching my dress up and showing mine off all day!

Wrist corsages are often worn by wedding guests rather than a traditional button hole, especially in the U.S. But why not go for a gorgeous fabric corsage that won't wilt as the day goes on, then you can have a lovely keepsake too. I love this as an idea for bridesmaids rather than carrying a posey too- a wrist corsage teamed with a cute little handbag. Alternatively, pin your corsage to your bridal bag, brolly, pashmina or whatever else you decide to wear!

Spring Summer 2010 collection- Girly Garters

Every bride needs a garter for her big day- but it needn't be tacky like bad fancy dress! I use silks and laces rather than scratchy synthetics, so the garters feel lovely and comfortable all day long. Pretty blue grosgrain ribbons and pearls add a lovely finishing touch. If you want to go the whole hog and have your garter removed and throw it into the wedding party (in true tradition) then I can always make 2 so you still have a keepsake.

Again all designs and colours can be altered- maybe you want it matched to your lingerie?

Just a few close ups too so you can see all the details

The Spring Summer 2010 collection- head-dresses and fascinators

The collection has been inspired by my own wedding head-dress and use of soft fabrics that can create gorgeous flowers. Lots of lace and pearls for that on trend look and something that is classically bridal and timeless. I always like to use millinery netting for birdcage veils. there are pretty embroidered ribbons and cutsey blue stripe ribbons to tie in with your something blue! A few of the pieces are quirky for the more edgy bride and of course there are vintage influences.

Choose from headband, comb or elastic attachments or simply grip in with hairpins.

Don't forget these can be for bridesmaids too- I think the small flower haircomb ( bottom right hand side) is perfect for that! Colours and designs can all be adapted.



My beautiful model Helen does such a good job showing off the pieces but in case you want a close up here are some below

Above is The Nicola Head dress- 100% silk chiffon with hand sewn pearls and lace

Hope you like!

Exciting times ahead!! How I got started

I started planning our wedding in Feb 2009 and we got married that October. It doesn't need to take forever to plan a good wedding- it depends what you want and we wanted a relaxed day with lots of subtle special touches with all our family and friends there.

One of the first things us ladies think about of course is what we are going to wear for the big day. It was something that had always worried me. I am not a traditional dress kinda girl and always thought I would have something vintage- but knew that could be a nightmare to find. I accidentally stumbled across my dress one day when out shopping with my mum- in fact she found it. It wasn't a wedding dress but a lovely ivory silk evening gown. I didn't even try another dress on I just knew that was it. This is kind of where it all started for me with Silver Sixpence. I have always enjoyed making things myself and have a fashion design degree so can sew and pattern cut. The dress I had chosen wasn't made to suit traditional bridal accessories so I had to try thinking outside the box a bit and decided after hours of looking round the high street and the designer end that there was a gap somewhere in the middle to be filled. Armed with the 5 inch off cut from the bottom of my dress, I started making silk flowers one Saturday afternoon and that developed into my own wedding headpiece. I hadn't been able to find anything with a soft feel to it that matched the dress perfectly so I didn't really have much choice. Luckily it all fell into place and suddenly there I was hand sewing pearls and millinery netting to a sinamay base.

Then I got carried away and started making my garter too...this was heading somewhere.

My headpiece- now part of the SS10 collection and called "The Nicola" of course!

My vintage Ginas- what a find! I got them in Lollipop in Camden passage in Islington- mum was to blame for these yet again! I need to find an excuse to wear them again

My flowers- just because I love flowers- cream roses, thistles, eucalyptus and african sunset hand tied bouquet. My florist- Flowers N16 on Stoke Newington Church Street is a great one if you are looking as I remember it being a bit like a needle in a haystack!

My accessories- garter made by me, my Gran's vintage gloves ( I had as my borrowed) and a cute brolly ( It was October after all!)

A while later and after making a few pieces for friends successfully, I made a big decision to quit the world of fashion for the world of weddings instead and to go it alone. Scary stuff but worth it. I have worked for River Island, Coast and Asos.com as a buyer over the past 10 years and am well used to dealing with fabrics, costing and manufacture. But I must say, dealing with handmade and bespoke items is so much more exciting...and after all weddings are such happy occasions it is lovely to be involved!