The Day I Felt Most Beautiful

It’s not often that I get overly sharey about my relationship, but this week Mr Ship-Shape and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary, and I realised I blogged very little during the hectic time that was our wedding. Lots of blogs I read feature long term partners, fiancées and wedding planning posts – I still love reading these, not to mention Rock n Roll Bride – and it seems crazy to me that my own wedding day was that long ago.

My hair and beauty tastes have changed quite a bit since the wedding so for any new readers, here’s what I looked like in 2011…

The Hair

Back in 2011 I was still experimenting with highlights. My biggest bridal hair issue was how to keep my flyaway fringe in place, the answer to which is a miricale hairstylist, a little luck and lashings of hairspray. I dyed my hair red not long afterwards, and have stuck with auburn variations ever since. I kind of wish it had been red for the wedding but who knows, in another three years time my hair colour may have completely changed again!

The Make-Up

Originally a trained MUA friend was going to be with me on the day, but the wedding clashed with her filming schedule, so I decided to do it myself. It was the best decision because I was able to take a moment to myself and, crucially, be myself. When you think about it, it’s kind of strange to ask a total stranger to do something that you’ve been doing every day for years. I don’t remember exactly what products I used but I don’t wear very much make-up, so I remember that it was pretty minimal. Benefit’s You Rebel tinted moisturiser (do they still make that?) definitely featured as a base, and I wore their Bad Gal mascara on my lashes – other than that I kept it pretty basic, with a smidgen of lip colour and a touch of blusher.

The Dress

I still joke that we need at least 10 weddings for me to wear all the different types of dresses I had my eye on, and up until the moment I put it on, I was convinced that the dress I’d chosen wasn’t ‘The One’. Aside from the vintage looking lace and sweetheart neckline, one of the reasons I chose this dress was the fact it was nameless. Lots of modern bridal gowns are given female names by the designer, but I didn’t much fancy the idea of walking down the aisle in a ‘Paula’, ‘Elise’ or ‘Rebecca’. I wore a two tier lace-trimmed veil too, and if I could get away with wearing this every day then I probably would.

The Shoes

I’m not the kind of girl who ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ over expensive, towering heels, so when I saw a pair of pristine white Converse while visiting family in Florida a few months before the wedding, I knew they would make the perfect Big Day shoes. Mama Ship-Shape was less keen on this idea, so as a compromise I wore a pair of my grandmother’s vintage cream peep toe heels  for the ceremony, before swiftly changing into the previously unworn Converse afterwards. I still wear these today, though they are looking a little worse for wear now…

The Finishing Touch

The thing that made me feel the most beautiful? Probably the fact that I was marrying my best friend and the love of my life. When I look back at photos of that day, I can’t find fault with a single one (even the ones of us jumping up and down like lunatics during our first dance) because I had a permanent grin on my face. Never has the quote ‘you’re never fully dressed without a smile’ been so accurate…

All images by the talented Shell de Mar

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