West London-based Wedding & Portrait Photographer Anna McCarthy

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The romance of the Ghost dress & old-fashioned white Roses - Oxfordshire Wedding

A moment of romantic sharing! When I look at this dress and the exquisite posy of roses, it just makes me feel calm and inspired, that despite all the world’s craziness, beauty in nature is a constant in our lives and in natural materials and the amazing things that people craft from them, and what a very wonderful thing that is to behold.

I think this is my all-time favourite adult bridesmaid dress - by Ghost in that old-time classic eau de nil colour.  For my own wedding, I actually wore two dresses - one in the day and one in the evening and that evening one was from Ghost. I still have it - dresses you can keep and wear way beyond your wedding day.

Ghost dresses are so often chosen by bridesmaids. They pretty much never crease, they are utterly flattering, they won’t break the bank, they won’t upstage the bride, they can be dressed up or down and they have that understated, old-time simplicity, elegance and utter romance.

As for these beautifully imperfect old fashioned white roses, accompanied by the gem that is Stachys Lanata - I know the Latin name not because I am clever but because I seem to remember all the Latin names of plants I really love. I have planted this all over my own garden and it is such a hardy perennial and so generous in its spread and stamina, that it really doesn’t mind being picked and put in a posy like this. And a posy like this doesn’t really get any better…

So in celebration of all those beautiful bridesmaids dresses, and in white old-fashioned roses and Lamb’s Ear (this plant’s common name), here is Harriet’s maid of honour, who like many people, was camera shy but was persuaded to have just a few very swift pictures on her own.