Red and Gold Dress for a First Look, Lovely and Relaxed London Pub Wedding

Let’s kick off those almost-the-weekend vibes with the simply gorgeous wedding of Alice and Michael, who were blessed with a sunshine and blue-sky day for their celebrations in London on the 25th of March 2017.

The couple’s most heartfelt ceremony was held at Islington Town Hall, followed by the reception at The Drapers Arms, with relaxation and simplicity the aim for their big day.

A treasured member of our trusty resource Little Book for Brides, the wonderful Caro Weiss captured Michael and Alice’s day.

“We are both very awkward in front of the camera normally, and Caro completely put us at ease, whilst taking some many beautiful shots. We were blown away!”

Photography by Caro Weiss Photography

“For us, the most important thing was a relaxed, fuss-free day. The pub was really ideal for creating a laid back atmosphere and it felt just like a big dinner party with all our favourite people. We chose The Drapers Arms because it’s a lovely space with a super relaxed atmosphere and amazing food and wine. Eating and drinking are very important to us as a couple, so they were always going to be key elements of our wedding. We stuck with a colour theme of white and green with lots of fresh flowers.”

The bride’s stunning, colourful dress was made by Eponine London. Are you thinking of having something truly unique for your big day? Like Alice, I was keen for something different for my wedding day and totally recommend going bespoke.

“I didn’t want a traditional white dress but at the same time I wanted something that felt really special. I was introduced to Jet Shenkman at Eponine London through my friend Rosemary. I loved the 50s style skirts on her dresses and she works with amazing colourful African cotton.”

“My shoes were SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker and I wore a crown of fresh flowers from Palais Flowers in my hair. Kontakt in Stoke Newington did my hair and my school friends did my makeup! I added a spray of Jo Malone perfume – ‘Pomegranate Noir’ – because it’s my usual scent and I love it, and finished off with a pearl and sapphire necklace kindly leant by Michael’s mother for my ‘something blue’ that belonged to Michael’s grandmother.”

Alice’s  exquisite bouquet was by the hugely talented Palais Flowers. The wild arrangement and mix of colours and flowers is incredible, don’t you agree?

“Palais Flowers created amazing arrangements. I follow them on Instagram and have been a fan for a long time!”

Michael was kitted out in a smart New & Lingwood grey three-piecesuit, complete with spotty tie.

Alice works in communications for a university and Michael works in public policy and I just love their meeting story and engagement tale.

“We were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend, Rob. It was my first ever blind date – what are the chances? We had our second date at Billingsgate Fish Market at 5am. We got engaged last year in Dorset, when Michael gave me a drawing and I gave him a papier-mâché fish. It was only appropriate.”

The tune of ‘Eightball Rag’ by The Kansas Smitty’s was played live as the beautiful bride was accompanied for the walk down the aisle by her dad, as well as her maids of honour (sister Libby and new sister-in-law Sarah). The couple exchanged simple wedding bands by Tessa Packard and included very special readings during the ceremony.

“We both love Dave Eggers, and the reading ‘What the Water Feels Like to the Fishes’ is about finding common ground and coming to see the perspectives of others, so we thought it was appropriate. Plus – the fish theme resonated! The other reading was ‘Rings’ by Carol Ann Duffy. Michael is a newfound fan of hers, so it seemed appropriate.”

The Kansas Smitty’s performed at the Town Hall and then led a Mardi Gras-style parade around to the pub reception. And the couple enlisted the help of a wedding planner to sort out some of the finer details on the day.

Alice designed all the stationery for the day with some hand-drawn illustrations – how sweet are the fish! – and they had help from Michael’s mum with arranging the sweet favours.

“We sourced some amazing honey from Brightwell Bees in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire, near to Michael’s parent’s house, and we decorated some mini jars with fabric and lino printed labels I made.”

“For the decor, we had homemade bunting made from vintage horticulture books and some colourful Mexican playing cards.”

The Drapers Arms prepared delicious sharing plates for all the guests. Violet in Hackney supplied a tempting chocolate and vanilla tiered sponge cake and a very clever friend of the couple painstakingly crafted this utterly divine creation.

“Our wonderful friend Emmert spent many many hours, and 60 eggs, making hundreds of profiteroles and assembling them into the shape of a bicycle. It was truly the most amazing wedding gift and totally delicious!”

“I have a bit of a phobia of dancing in front of everyone, so we didn’t do a first dance! If we did, it would have been R Kelly’s ‘Bump n Grind’.”

“The stand out moment for us was seeing everyone we know and love sharing a meal together – it was pretty amazing.”

“The whole day was a rollercoaster, but everything turned out really well in the end!”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Make sure you stay true to yourself and your idea of a good time. You won’t regret it!”

“We didn’t have a planner for the whole event but received a light touch service and some vital logistical guidance from wedding planner extraordinaire, the wonderful Rachel Harrison of Capston Second on the final details. It was ideal because we didn’t want to splash out on a full wedding planner, but she was able to help us with checking we hadn’t missed anything and running through timings for the day. We highly recommend her.”

Thank you, as always, to the uber-talented Caro Weiss for capturing these simply delightful shots of the couple’s springtime celebration so beautifully. Alice and Michael – I’m certain your lovely wedding has inspired our readers and you’ve taken me right back to relaxed afternoons on a sunshine-filled day in my local pub 🙂

Have a brill rest of weekend lovelies.

Love Jo -xo-