Good Morning, I hope this week has been sunny and warm wherever you are. East London was the chosen location for the very lovely wedding of Hilary and Stephen in February this year. They tied the knot in the Council Chamber of Islington Town Hall and celebrated across the road with a drink at the Hoxley and Porter before continuing the festivities at Hoxton Arches.
Photography by Marc Hayden
The couple run ATE, a street food business (they also cater weddings and can be found on Instagram and Twitter) so good food was high on the agenda but what I adore most about this wedding is that the couple look totally in love, every image by Marc Hayden is glowing with newlywed bliss.
Hilary found her perfect dress at Fur Coat No Knickers, an amazing little boutique in Central London. Her custom hair band was also made to match the beautiful lace on the dress.
“I immediately fell in love with the Martini dress at Fur Coat No Knickers. Emma and Laura who own the shop are fantastic and it was great fun trying on all the beautiful dresses, but this one stood out for me.”
“We found our photographer Marc Hayden online, we loved the style of his work as it was more documentary style rather than the traditional wedding photographer which we didn’t want. He was fantastic on the day – it might sound strange but apart from a few traditional shots we didn’t notice he was there which we think is the mark of a great wedding photographer. He’s given us some amazing candid shots of our guests and really captured the mood of the wedding. We can’t recommend him highly enough!”
The handsome groom wore a blue Victor Valentine suit contrasted with a yellow bow tie and socks.
Hilary found her florist Lucy Lister locally in Crystal Palace. Tying in splashes of yellow, Lucy and her colleague used seasonal flowers to create sumptuous bouquets.
“There was no particular colour scheme, but they made beautiful tulip button holes for Stephen and his best men, matching the splashes of yellow. My bouquet was stunning – they did such a great job with it. I just wanted a really simply put together bouquet with seasonal flowers and a mix of colours. The ladies also collected some different flowers for the decoration on the long trestle tables we had. They were stunning and carefully placed together by our friends Faye and Becky, in different sized jars and glass bottles, some long and some short stems. The flowers really made the room and looked gorgeous against the candlelight.”
Hilary’s father Ian walked her down the aisle to ‘Fever’ by Little Willie John.
“Our friend Michael Bentley did a personal reading about myself and Steve which was really touching. Mike lived with us for 9 months last year so he is definitely well qualified for this! It was really lovely and humorous in places too, adding to the relaxed atmosphere of the day. My childhood friend, Amy Dey read I Promise – a beautiful reading by Dorothy R Colgan.”
“We met whilst working in media at Metro in 2010 (I was Steve’s boss!). Steve proposed on Tentsmuir beach near St Andrews in Scotland. We’d stayed in Scotland with my parents for a couple of months the previous year whilst I recovered from a serious illness (pancreatitis) and we went to the beach when I was nearly fully recovered so it’s a special place for us. We were engaged for six months before we got married.”
“I love the shape of my Fur Coat No Knickers dress and the beautiful lace detail, it’s just a shame I can’t wear it every day! As well as fitting so well, it was so easy to wear and perfect for our city wedding in London. The shorter length was definitely the right decision. When I walked up the aisle and reached Steve his first words to be were ‘wow, you look beautiful. THAT dress…’ The perfect reaction from the man I was about to marry.”
“Steve bought my engagement ring at Lila’s. They do amazing refurbished / pre-loved Jewellery so we bought our wedding rings there too. The ladies there are wonderful.”
Hoxton Arches is an art gallery set in an old railway arch with white walls and exposed brickwork. The couple had complete freedom to decorate as they wished so they set about collecting candelabras, jars and bottles for the tables and decorated the room with London themed prints and hessian bunting for a shabby/chic look.
“When we set the date, we scoured markets, eBay, Gumtree and vintage shops for key pieces we needed for the bar and decorating in general. We picked up some great bargains and we really enjoyed putting it all together. It felt like a really satisfying project when we saw it all come together on the day.”
“We are lucky enough to work with some amazing traders in street food and as this is our profession. There was no doubt that we wanted a relaxed meal with delicious sharing dishes. It was definitely one of the main talking points of the day. Cheeky Italian provided antipasti boards, meatballs, polenta and Italian lamb stew. We wanted to inject some Scottish flavour so we chose the fantastic Deeney’s. They do ridiculously good Haggis toasties which went down a treat!”
“For me I think the ceremony was so lovely, but nothing beats the first time you sit down with your new husband and look out to the room and see the smiling faces of all your friends and family. It made it extra special that we had put in the effort to decorate the venue so it felt really personal.”
“I danced all night and loved twirling around the dance floor with my full skirt spinning. We chose ‘Harvest Moon’ by Neil Young for our first dance because we both love it and it reminds us of when we first met.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“It’s such a cliché, but it goes so quick so take it all in and enjoy every moment! I felt like I said hello to everyone, but spoke to no one – it was a bit of a whirlwind at times, although I did spend a lot of the day with my husband which was perfect.”
Thank you so much to the lovely Hilary and Stephen for sharing your beautiful wedding day with us. Huge thanks also to photographer Marc Hayden who captured the day in such wonderful style, the images radiate happiness and love and the guests look like they are all having the best time.
Love Caoimhe xx
Photographer – Marc Hayden
Venue – Islington Town Hall + Hoxley and Porter, Islington + Hoxton Arches
Wedding Dress + Headpiece – Fur Coat No Knickers
Shoes – Dune
Bride’s Scent/perfume – Hermes Elixir Des Merveilles
Groom – Victor Valentine Suit + Mrs Bow Tie + Topman Selected Shoes
Florist – Lucy Lister Flowers
Cake – The Cheese Truck
Transport – Timebus
Entertainment – Duplicity
Rings – Lila’s, East Dulwich
Catering – Cheeky Italian + Deeney’s
Stationery – Gareth David
Hair Stylist – Lucy McCabe
Makeup Artist – Gail Robertson
Caoimhe Anderson View all Caoimhe's articles
Caoimhe will never tire of beautiful wedding dress and a blooming flower crown. When she's not lusting after a gorgeous wedding she will be trying new vegetarian recipes, knitting very slowly or capturing a pink sunset from behind a camera lens.
Beautiful wedding. Love that umbrella… Great idea.
Great Couple, lovely ceremony!
Very beautiful wedding. I love everything. Wish the couple all the good in the world
Wow! What a beautiful wedding – the theme is original and different but also classy, and the photos seem to capture it perfectly. And what a beautiful couple! Wishing them all the best.