Saturday 14 May 2022

Guest Post - Wedding Inspiration – Indoor Festival wedding shoot

 

Festival weddings have been popular for a few years now – and they are gorgeous. Generally outdoors, with tipis or barn venues, they are relaxed and fun. But what if the outdoor part doesn’t work for you? How do you get the same relaxed, grounded atmosphere, still stay within a budget, and keep an eye on sustainability?

These were the questions that we asked ourselves when we decided to do a styled shoot at The Subscription Rooms in Stroud. A popular events venue slap bang in the heart of the town, it’s a great location for a celebrant led wedding. The room we used for this shoot is the George Room. It is on the ground floor and fully wheelchair accessible. All the suppliers involved are local independent businesses who have sustainability as part of their approach to their work.

All photos are from Camilla Reynolds, our fantastic photographer. Rizpah’s playful makeup on a flawless base was from our hair and make up artist, Florence Wear. Isn’t this adorable? With the dress in the bold and beautiful fushia colour our Rebecca - Dress was the Center of attention as wedding dresses should be! With an asymmetric hem, which is on trend for this summer It makes a fantastic alternative to a white wedding and has a more playful vibe for a fun summer festival wedding!

The shoot was in early March, so we couldn’t rely on fresh British-grown flowers. We wanted to use a sustainable alternative to imported flowers. So we decided to go with colourful pompoms as a base for the bouquet, headdress and buttonhole. Gemma Sangwine got busy putting pompoms, fabric flowers and pinecones together and came up with the most joyous, colourful creations. Dried local flowers from Cotswold Country Flowers, along with Anthie & Hons, added impact. A striking wall hung wreath and brightly coloured meadow arrangements, show that British grown flowers are an option all year round.

Image shows a couple with colourful handfsating ribbons draped over their joined wrists. Jacqui, the cleebrant, smiles at David, as she ties the ribbons together. Rizpah, smiles at the camera over her shoulder

In lieu of a traditional wedding dress, we chose a simple, colourful dress from us a local sustainable fashion designer Madia & Matilda. This made for a comfortable relaxed bride and maid of honour. And the dress can be worn over and over again, our Made of Honour Langa wore Tanya - Mutton Sleeve Dress. The groom wore British made clothing from James Lear of Arundel. The longer style blue tweed jacket, floral shirt and chinos can all be worn for years after the big day.

Rebecca - Dress

As confetti is very much an outdoors thing, we decided to try out alternatives. Pompom confetti was a lot of fun to throw! And I made ribbon wands from the fabric strips I also use to make handfasting cords.

The Sub Rooms have two bars onsite and their catering is delicious! Their interpretation of a street food feast didn’t go to waste, as it was happily hoovered up by the models and suppliers. Delicious! And all served on vintage tableware – check out the gorgeous styling that Delight Vintage Teaset Hire put together (with the assistance of Vintage Mary Stroud – it’s always worth checking their stall on a monday morning for vintage treasures. My favourite teapot came from there <3)

We decided that a formal wedding cake didn’t fit our theme, and Shani from Hampton Cakes came up with the idea of making colourful decorated dougnuts, arranged on pretty vintage glassware.

While we were considering sustainability, we thought about transport too – and what’s more eco friendly than a bicycle made for two?

We loved creating this fun, informal wedding inspiration shoot – and I’ll share more of the ceremony inspiration in another post. Hope it’s given you some ideas for how you can make your wedding a perfect fit. Thanks to RizpahLanga and David for being such amazing models.


If you have invites rolling in for summer weddings we have more styles available to shop

Tuesday 3 May 2022

Thanks it's Rented! Clothing Rentals Explained

 



Rent It! Why Clothing Rental is the new black

You could can always argue that fashion rental is more of a guilt-free way of consumerism. But we say its a way of stopping clothing from going to landfill and staying in circulation for generations if not years. With the premise of 'hand me downs' being the idea the aim to keep circulating for years to come. Thus being the 'new black'






Fast fashion is so last season, why not be on-trend while being sustainable by renting clothes? To us it seems like a no brainer and will slow down the process of clothing going to landfil or becoming dead-stock. Plus if you are renting a madia & Matilda dress it has been a previous garment or end of line fabric, so you can feel fantastic knowing you are putting out; only good vibes to the world instead of waste!



                 

                



Having the privilege of being able to wear contemporary outfits for any special occasion without

suffocating your wardrobe and the environment is the dream.


                 



Did you know that the continual drive of Fast Fashion contributes to about a staggering 10,000 items

of clothing being sent to landfills every five minutes? And about 35% of ocean microplastic pollution

is from Fast Fashion. According to the Institute of Sustainable Communication, the fashion industry

is the second-largest clean water polluter in the world. Would you want to contribute to this crime?





Discover our exciting subscription of rental clothes to expand your style horizon and put a stop to

Fast Fashion for only £65 per month.



                



How it works; you can stock up to 10 items within your virtual dreamy closet. Then we will send you

3 pieces from your closet that you will be able to wear for a whole month. After you make memories

with your items, they must be returned together before the next shipment. You will then receive 3

new items in your virtual closet.



                    


Sincerely Madia & Matilda

Sunday 17 April 2022

Summer Essentials - What To Cary On

 


 

1. A beach bag

A beach bag is one holiday top picks you shouldn’t forget. Pick our shopper bag that folds up neatly in your luggage without taking up space. Perfect to hold your basics sunnies and towel, t-shirt or spare sandals;  as you head to sandy shores.

 

Sandy - Beach Bag 

2. A summer dress – Najiah  - Smock dress

Our Najiah  smock dress is so effortless, there’s no better excuse for  wearing this summer dress ; where it be a staycation or holiday. Be sure to pack Dina – Shift dress great for going from day to night for an evening meal and dress it up with heeled shoes and rattan  jewellery. To save space in your luggage, pick a style that looks equally as chic with some trainers and ear it in the day too.

 

Prism - Clutch Bag

3. A travel makeup bag

The only item you need from Madia & Matilda a keepsake to store all your  foundation, lipstick and mascara securely in one place in your bag or  luggage with a zip up our Prism - makeupbag is a good investment. Different sizes available and these make a great gift

4 . Water bottle

A must have essential for summer beach weather,  our curated brands water bottle by Neon Kactus will fit into any tote bag; new in to our curated brands selection

 

 




Thursday 31 March 2022

Spring Summer - Collection 22

 


Inspired by earthy palette with serene prints, this year we went for a spring, full of comfort and ease; fantastic for walks into the sunshine 


Heather - Tab shift dress



             



Lexi - Smock Dress 


Amber - Frill Lbd


To a summer of bold and striking asymmetric hems with hemlines getting longer, as we tighten our purse strings and Bridgeton being the main influence, we’re having fun with a range that we know you’ll love as much as we do

  

Primrose - Aline Skirt


Tanya - Mutton Sleeve Dress 
Jemma - Cowl Neck Slip Dress, Emily - Dress



Wedding appropriate dresses for effortless dressing for a day-to-night at lengths you can really dance in our Rebecca - asymmetric hem dress, Emily - SlipDress, Amber - frill little black dress or Katie - puff sleeve or Tanya - mutton sleeve perfect for rubbing shoulders  with your nearest and dearest.



  


If you are a casual dresser, then our Lexi - smock dress is the one for summer day outfits. If you prefer trousers our Jade - Linen trouser; paired with our Lisa - May tank top or Aime -Vest top. Ideal for working from home is the Darcy - sweater dress great for cooler evenings.  


 

                   



Ready for holiday, festivals and home working as get back into being surrounded with loved ones. It a range for living boldly no matter how you do it





Katie - Puff Sleeve Dress, Ellen - Trouser, Lisa - May - Tank Top, Kasey - Linen Paper Bag Skirt 



Sincerely Madia & Matilda









Sunday 20 March 2022

Guest Post - Wedding Inspiration – Modern Bridgerton

 


Films and TV are often the inspiration behind wedding themes. So when we decided to do a styled shoot at The Subscription Rooms in Stroud, the hit Netflix series, Bridgerton, was an easy theme choice. Not quite Regencycore, but Regency with a modern twist!

A popular events venue slap bang in the heart of the town, The Sub Rooms, built in 1833, are a great location for a celebrant led wedding. The rooms we used for this shoot were the Ballroom and the upstair bar. Both can be booked together or seperately, and they are both fully wheelchair accessible. All the suppliers involved are local independent businesses who have sustainability as part of their approach to their work. You can see the Festival Inspiration shoot that we did using the George Room here.




Penelope - Dress

Penelope - Dress



Our range Included the Penelope - Dress with heels as worn by Langa and the Outfit worn by Rispa was the Zoya - Jumpsuit The White Rooms in Minchinhampton were our first stop. They lent us this stunning Jenny Packham dress, which fit our model Mia like a dream! Our menswear was supplied by James Lear of Arundel – the velvet jackets will be back in stock in the autumn. Since we were taking Bridgerton as inspiration, rather than recreating the period clothing, we loved how well Josh’s own trainers went with the waistcoat, so that was what he wore! 

Zoya - Jumpsuit 

                                 



Our photographer, Camilla Reynolds, always brings her own special brand of magic to a shoot! Hair and makeup was again done by Florence Wear, showing that even fairly short hair can work in an updo – and she managed to put my hair up in less than ten minutes! The tiara and little jewelled hair accessories were made by Gemma Sangwine to match the jewelled detailing on the dress. The gorgeous cake is by Hampton Cakes, and as always had loads of decorative details

The shoot was in early March, so we couldn’t rely on fresh British-grown flowers. We wanted to use a sustainable alternative to imported flowers. Dried local flowers from Cotswold Country Flowers, along with Anthie & Hons, show that British grown flowers are an option all year round. They created this stunning arrangement to sit on top of the fireplace. They also made the bridal bouquet and a fabulous buttonhole that looked great against the blue velvet jacket.

Jilly of Delight Vintage Teaset Hire, with support from Vintage Mary, provided this gorgeous table styling, rich with cut crystal, silver candelabras and amazing white peacock feathers. The feathers were sourced from birds kept as pets and were naturally shed – so there were no ethical concerns.

The balcony makes for a great backdrop too

And once the ceremony is done – more of that in a later post – you can carry on the party in the upstairs bar. The dark green walls, copper bar, and striking lights are a stylish contrast to the classical lines of the Ballroom.

The stairs aren’t too shabby for photos either

The models from our Festival Shoot stayed for the Bridgerton fun. Rizpah and Langa wore clothes by ourselves Madia and Matilda, and David wore clothes from James Lear of Arundel.


To shop the dress and jumpsuit by ourselves shop here

Sincerely Madia & Matilda