This lovely little wedding was a bit of a practice run – Frances, a Senior Lecturer in Education and computer whizz and entrepreneur Alvin are actually planning a humanist ceremony at Asylum Chapel later this year, but for the legal part of their marriage, they chose to wed on 16th May this year with a ceremony at Hammersmith Town Hall, followed by a reception in the Roque Room at the Five Fields Restaurant in London.
This is such sweet and intimate London wedding and I love how it proves that the ‘legal bit’ that so many couples opt to do before having a more celebratory blessing on a separate day, can be a wonderful and meaningful experience. I also couldn’t think of a better dress choice for Frances – she went for an original 50’s vintage gown by designer Emma Domb – a discovery made via Elizabeth Avey.
“I knew that I wanted a 50s dress, as I wear a lot of 40s and 50s vintage fashion in my ordinary life. I sell vintage clothes on the internet so knew I wanted it to be vintage. I love the colour pale pink and blousy flowers in the lace and the beautiful soft tulle of the dress and how feminine it was. It was also a really good fit and didn’t need altering at all. I actually saw the dress appear in this feature on Love My Dress after I’d bought it!”
Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Ellie Gillard
For Frances, meeting Alvin really was love at first sight…
“I like to think it was auspicious that it was the same night as the lunar eclipse in 2007 that we first met! Across the sticky dance floor of a grubby little indie club in London was my dream man: dark, long hair tattooed. He was perfect. And so, spurred on by some fizzy wine, and the encouragement/coercion of my (rather more ballsy than me) Geordie best mates, I went and said ‘Hello!’.
I didn’t have anything more than ‘hello’ so I’m glad Alvin wanted to speak to me too. It was so loud so I told him that I could speak sign language and he asked me how you say ‘Can I kiss you?'”
“We had been engaged for four years before we got married – we just didn’t feel in a rush. We found Asylum Chapel earlier this year and are planning a Humanist ceremony there for later this year – so this particular wedding-day was the legal bit.
I expected the day to be quite formal and short and had been putting all my energy into the Humanist ceremony but it was actually completely magical spending the time with our families and I would recommend doing this to anyone!”
“Years ago, I bought a pair of Next flats that I loved but ruined on too many dancefloors! I trawled Ebay to find them again, putting in so many different search criteria e.g. ‘pink pumps’, ‘pale pink flats’ and finally found the perfect pair! I’m really tall, so I like wearing flats.”
“My hair and makeup was styled by Amanda from Lipstick and Curls – she’s brilliant!”
“We walked together in to the wedding ceremony together – it was really important to us, as legal equal, to enter into the partnership together. When we have the humanist ceremony later this year, I will walk with my dad, as he is so special to me and I couldn’t let him miss out on the rite of passage.
We were accompanied by the sound of Bon Iver’s ‘Re:Stacks’ – on reflection, perhaps less of a tear-jerker would have been better! We were all in bits before the ceremony even started.”
“During our ceremony, my sister read E.E. Cummings. When we first got together, Alvin bought me a first edition poetry book – it was absolutely lovely and it contained an E.E Cummings poem.
My sister is also so special to me, she’s my best friend and once told me that your sibling is the person you know for the longest in your lifetime. What a wonderful thing!”
“My wedding ring from Andrew R. Ullmann is a Victorian pearl ring, I wanted to go for something different. Alvin’s wasn’t ready in time so he borrowed his Dad’s on the day!”
“We exited our ceremony to the sound of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ ‘Home’ – which is a very significant song for us both, as we moved into our new house that week. It was the maddest, busiest week of my life!”
“Waking up and getting ready together was probably my favourite part of the day. Alvin is a constant source of fun and support for me – it felt right that we’d start the day together like we normally do, and go to the ceremony together too – just us, holding hands in the back of a cab and chatting, like usual.
I also really loved talking and laughing with our family over dinner. Alvin’s sister lives in Malawi and Alvin’s parents live in Glasgow so it was so nice to have them at our wedding My family are only in South London but it was so special to spend this day with all of us together.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
“Think about the things that are important to YOU – like waking up together, I’m so glad we did this. Drink in every last minute – the memories will uplift you during rush hour when you’re stuck in traffic – they will also make you giggle at really inappropriate times and want to give your husband an unexplained impromptu big squeeze.
One thing we might have done differently was have a less emotional processional song – and definitely ore accessories. It’s good that this was a dry run ahead of our humanist ceremony later this year, and that I can learn from these things!”
What a wonderful little occasion – Francis and Alvin, I cannot wait to see your humanist wedding celebration photographs!
Love and thanks to photographer Ellie Gillard for sharing her beautiful work with us today.
Are any of you planning on having a legal registry office ceremony before having a blessing or celebration on a separate day? Would love to hear your plans if so.
Love Annabel xx
Photographer – Ellie Gillard
Venue + Catering – Five Fields Restaurant in London
Wedding Dress – Emma Domb 1950s vintage via Elizabeth Avey
Veil/Headpiece – Anthropologie
Brides’ shoes – Next
Bride’s accessories –
Perfume – Orla Kiely
Grooms Suit – Tiger of Sweden
Florist – Bouvardia (no website address)
Hair + Makeup Artist – Amanda from Lipstick and Curls
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.
Thumbs up for the bride on a great choice. Emma Domb is good, there’s a reason why she’s the popular choice for vintage dresses. Her assymetrical dress designs are off the charts, you guys should see it. It’s a very versatile dress.