Good morning lovers! Well well, the discussion post of yesterday lunch time went down a storm and had comments flooding in all afternoon – did you leave yours? There's some great advice for you from other brides – go take a read.
This morning I'd like to share the lovely relaxed London wedding of Helena and Patrick with you – they tied the knot on 5th May at Islington Town Hall in London and their day was full of summer lovin' colour. I LOVE the blasts of yellow, peach, orange in this wedding, those florals by Pollen Nation are beautiful.
Helena told me…
"We wanted a wedding that felt like a relaxed party, rather than a formal, tradlitional wedding.
We chose Islington Town Hall in London as the place to be married, because I used to live in the area and watch brides coming in and out of the building every Saturday never dreaming I would be one of them one day! Plus I love the way everyone sits round you, so you say your vows in a cirle of your family and friends…."
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Ellie Gillard
I really love Helena's dress, it suits her shape and beautiful silhouette just perfectly…
Helena wore the 'Viola' dress by Sottero and Midgley, bought from All That Glitters in Croydon…
"The in-house seamstress made the sleeves for me as I felt more comfortable covering my arms. I loved that once I put this dress on, I was reunited with the waist I haven’t seen in five years! I also loved the simple, contemporary feel of the dress…."
"When it came to the bouquets and button holes, we hired Annie from Pollen Nation. She was great; she more than fulfilled my brief and even managed to get hold of every bloom I asked for!"
"Our reception flowers were a DIY job thanks to my Mum and Sister! I arranged these using flowers from Flowers4florists.com on the day before the wedding.
I had been collecting the tins for a few months before the wedding (we had to eat a lot of chickpeas and tinned tomatoes when I panicked that I wouldn’t have enough!) and then painted them white using radiator paint…"
"Another DIY job (hence the rather lumpy icing) was our cake! It involved two tiers of carrot and two of lemon, made on the Thursday before the wedding. Cake stands were from Ebay and the cake topper (bride and groom figure) was from ReadyGo on Etsy…"
"As we were providing an open bar, from which we wanted people to feel they could just help themselves, I wanted an interesting way to both keep cool and display the beer and soft drinks. I decided on an old rowing boat, in keeping with the riverside setting…"
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"We hired a Routemaster bus from London Bus Hire to transport all our guests. I’m rather sad that we didn’t go on the bus as I’ve heard it was a blast! We took taxis from Addison Lee!"
Following the ceremony, a reception was held at Trinity Buoy Wharf, a venue chosen as the bride wanted something very contemporary and different…
"I loved that it was a total blank canvas offering us the freedom to do whatever we wanted. Plus it is HUGE so no limits on numbers…."
"As the venue was such a blank canvas I knew we would need a lot of decoration. The main things we did to style the venue was to hang paper lampshades from the ceiling (purchased from The Hanging Lantern Company): I wanted something for the ceiling over the dining area to make it feel a bit more cosy and had initially discounted these as I’ve seen them on so many wedding blogs. However it’s important to remember that most of your family and friends probably haven’t just spent the last six months pouring over wedding blogs so they won’t have seen everything you have!
We hired a scaffolding tower which my Dad took great pleasure in scrambling about on in order to hang the lanterns from the ceiling. We aimed the pinspots that were already in the venue at the lanterns in order to illuminate them – much easier than trying to wire them all up individually!
We also had a crepe paper curtain behind the cake (or 'bookie’s curtain', as Patrick referred to it!). With the white walls, and white/clear furniture I knew I needed a pop of colour somewhere so designed the curtain to make the most of really inexpensive crepe paper streamers. We assembled it in the venue the day before…"
"We hired Ghost chairs and the sofas/coffee tables from Great Hire. I loved the modern look they gave the space. I hired deck chairs from Uncle Micks for the terrace area – unfortunately the cold, rainy weather meant we didn’t really get to use them!"
Pretty dancing lights…
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
"The old cliche: Just relax and enjoy it! I didn’t fully relinquish let go and chill out until the dancing started but I really should have done!"
What a lovely day! Huge congratulations Helena and Patrick and thank you so much to Love My Dress sponsor and East London Photographer Ellie Gillard for sharing these lovely images – readers in the East London area, do contact Ellie if you are looking for a quote on wedding photography.
"Our photographer was Ellie Gillard – I found her via a wedding blog and am very glad I did! We are delighted with the photos and Ellie was great on the day – relaxed, friendly and not bossy but also great at getting the crowd to move when needed – for example getting everyone out of the ceremony and ready to throw confetti. Plus she got our photos back to us in under a week; that’s pretty amazing service!"
How many of my readers are planning a bright and pretty yellow wedding? You can see much more in terms of yellow, peach, orange and London right here.
Check back shortly before mid-day folks for more Tuesday wedding blog goodness 🙂
Much love all,
Annabel
♥
Photographer – Ellie Gillard
Venue – Islington Town Hall in London + Trinity Buoy Wharf
Brides dress – 'Viola' dress by Sottero and Midgley, bought from All That Glitters in Croydon
Brides Shoes – Next
Brides Hair Accessories – Accessorize
Brides Accessories – Earrings, Les Nereides de Paris (gift from my mum)
Bridesmaids Dresses – Label Lab in House of Fraser + Mango shoes + John Lewis ribbon for hair
Flowers - Pollen Nation + DIY using Flowers4florists.com produce
Cake – DIY
Transport – Routemaster Bus + Addison Lee
Hair Stylist + Makeup Artist – Inga at Beauty Call
Catering Company – Tasting Plates
Decor – Paper Lanters from The Hanging Lantern Company + Crepe Paper Curtains + Ghost Chairs/Tables from Great Hire
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
