A Touch of 20’s Vintage for a Fuss Free and Elegant Lesbian Wedding

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Good morning all, did you catch the wedding we posted late afternoon yesterday? I’ve the most elegant of Civil Partnership’s to share with you this morning.  Josephine and Lowri’s elegant, fuss-free day took place on 22nd February this year at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London.

“We definitely wanted the day to be personal to us. We were conscious that a civil partnership ceremony doesn’t come with many established traditions and so we saw this as an opportunity to create a day that reflected our relationship and how we would enjoy the day. We knew what was important to us (the food, drink, music and atmosphere), and so we concentrated on making these personal to us. We wanted to strike the right balance between a formal day that was full of fun and love.

The whole day was just perfect, and there was so much love and happiness in the room. Remembering the day is our new favourite past time.”

Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

“We both met three and half years ago in Berlin". Josephine was speaking at a conference and Lowri was living there".  "We met through a mutual friend and continued to have a long distance relationship for almost a year before Lowri relocated to London."

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

"We chose our venue, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, because of its classic simplicity on the inside and being on such an iconic road in London. We also loved the mix of traditional architecture with modern art.”

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

“Our florist on the day was Eram Khan who immediately captured the style we wanted to achieve: modern, textured, and elegant. We wanted a very fresh feel and opted for only green and white flowers. In the months leading up to the wedding we were collecting a mixture of old and new vases which were dotted throughout the venue.”

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

“We walked into the ceremony together to the sound of ‘Love Natural’ by The Crystal Fighters. We hand picked the vows for our ceremony and added some personal touches too. We also had two readings, ‘For Now’ by Tracy Emin and ‘Ain’t Nobody’ by Chaka Khan.  The Tracy Emin reading is about love and protecting the differences you have within a relationship. We chose the Chaka Khan reading as it is Josephine’s favourite song. Our friend Rosie did a great job reading it, and it did make everyone laugh!”

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Josephine wore a full-length 1920s vintage dress from Annie’s Vintage in Islington which she teamed with a pair of Rachel Simpson shoes "I found my dress in the first shop I went in. It is simple, delicate and not too fussy.  The dress came with a small flower detail on the shoulder. Although I liked the detail, the dress was much more elegant without it. I therefore decided to wear the flower in my hair on the day. The bronze shrug I wore was by Charlotte Denn."

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Lowri wore a short white Alexander McQueen gown.  "My dress was very modern and definitely not a traditional choice. I loved the style and how unusual it was. We were concerned that the two dresses would not go together on the day and so we tried them on together in the shop before I bought my dress."

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

“Our photographer was Hannah May.  Hannah was the perfect photographer. We barely noticed her all day yet she recorded every element of the day with such artistic flare. The colours she captured and the stolen glances she framed are just beautiful.”

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May


Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

 Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Josephine told me "Lowri’s father made the cake for us. We were very lucky to sample many practice bakes before deciding on a mix of carrot cake (bottom layer), lemon cake (second tier) and ginger cake (top tier) covered in white frosting. Lowri also made macaroons as favours on the day. They were vanilla flavoured with a white chocolate filling and gold leaf decoration. Two macaroons in each small box and tied with gold raffia ribbon.”

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

“For the evening, we choreographed a very simple dance to Treasure by Bruno Mars. After one minute the other guests joined us on the dance floor.”

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Our day was just perfect! One piece of advice I would share however would be to walk through the day ahead of time to make sure you have all the details in place. We spent a whole morning, going through the day minute by minute, and noting down things we would need to remember, instructions for others and things we still needed to organise. We found this exercise very useful!”

Vintage Civil Partnership // Photography by Hannah May

Paired down and fuss free but bursting with love and celebration – thank you so much Josephine and Lowri for sharing your day with us. Huge thanks to photographer Hannah May for asking us to feature her beautiful photography.

You can enjoy more Civil Partnerships here on Love My Dress®

Have the most lovely day everyone.

Love Annabel

Heart

Photographer – Hannah May
Venue – Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London
Lowri – Alexander McQueen
Josephine's  - Annie’s Vintage + Rachel Simpson shoes + shrug by Charlotte Denn
Florist – Eram Khan (no website provided)
Cake – Family
Catering Company – Peyton & Byrne
Entertainment – The Pop-Up Choir (capella)
Rings – Rose gold bands from Liberty & Co.
Hair and make-up Artist – Sarah from Deco Dolls
Photo Booth Hire – The Mighty Booth

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Annabel

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.

5 thoughts on “A Touch of 20’s Vintage for a Fuss Free and Elegant Lesbian Wedding

  1. What a gorgeous wedding – hard not to be with two such beautiful starring ladies! Such wonderful inspiration for those of us trying to figure out a way of doing our own thing on our wedding day.

  2. I am desperate to have my wedding at ICA, and trying to convince my chap! He thinks it might be a bit too swanky for his family, but I just love the chic ness of it, as evidenced by this lovely wedding! I shall keep trying 🙂

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