Good afternoon darlings. I have such a absolutely gorgeous wedding to share with you this afternoon. You need to go grab a cuppa and afternoon snack and truly immerse yourself in this one. Eagle-eyed readers may recognise this bride without any introduction, from this wedding film we featured last week, produced by Reellove Films.
Bride Bridge married her love Matt on 10 November 2012 at Burgh House in Hampstead, followed by a reception at 06 St Chads Place in Kings Cross, London. Now before I share this couple's images, I thought it would be a nice idea to get to know them a little first. This fabulous little 'save the date' film was produced by the couple themselves to share with the close friends and family they wished to attend their special London wedding.
"I was an American living in London and he was a Brit living in New York City, and we were working for the same company on opposite shores. When I moved back to NYC, we started working together and became best friends. We were inseparable, blissfully ignoring all the raised eyebrows and insisting that we were just friends. After dancing around our feelings for ages, we finally got together in 2009. In 2011, Matt proposed to me in DUMBO, in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge. After looking at options in Italy, Brooklyn, and Colorado, we decided to get married in London. We were engaged for just over a year.
We made our own video save the date. It still makes me laugh!"
Film produced by Bridge & Matt (the bride & groom!)
Wasn't that fun, and *puts hand to heart* how much do I adore that image below? The look of love or what? Bridge and Matt were rather smart in their choice of wedding photographer, selecting the delightful McKinley Rodgers to record their special day in images...
"Here’s where I say what every couple who has ever hired Penny and Cam of McKinley Rodgers say: I want
them to be our forever friends. They are, very simply, the most fun and
genuine people. Who also happen to take pictures that will stop you dead
in your tracks. We loved the moody, honest and natural feeling of
their photos.
We were a bit iffy about taking engagement
photos because it just seemed a bit over the top, but Pen made the
excellent point to us that it’s not always about the pictures, it’s
about feeling comfortable in front of the camera and with your
photographer, and probably the worst day ever to feel awkward is on your
wedding day. Pen and Cam are madly in love and it radiates through
their work. Our guests were equally smitten with them."
"Matt loves design – graphics, fonts, Japanese toys, etc. I love words and music. We both have a keen appreciation for street style and urban culture. We were most inspired by the city we call home – Brooklyn – and were very focused on finding a venue in London that felt like the places we love so much in our neighbourhood. We booked 06 St Chads Place sight unseen. We saw photos of it online and just knew it was perfect and felt like us.
The bunting we used to decorate our reception venue was a real labor of love, our families cut out letters for months and Matt strung them all together in the days leading up to the wedding. They spelled (and in some places, misspelled - oops) out lyrics from all our favourite songs, and I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out. I think I actually gasped when I walked into 06 St Chads Place."
"I purchased a very simple single-layer elbow-length ivory veil from The White Gown in New York. I never really envisioned myself in a veil (and after trying on one with a blusher that made me feel like a frantic bug caught in a net, I still wasn’t sure) but it’s true what they say – it’s one of the small things that truly makes one feel like a ‘bride’.
They’re not for everyone, but I’m so glad I wore one."
"We had a fabulous on-the-day wedding coordinator who oversaw the decorating at the restaurant. Lizzie King is a designer who came to us via our florists, and she was a lifesaver in getting the venue looking fab for our arrival.
Our dear friend Kate and her husband (with a toddler and newborn in tow!) helped to decorate Burgh House. We never could have managed without these ladies. Everyone really pitched in to help though – our attendants and families worked miracles that day!"
"My dress is by Alyne and I actually won it in a contest! The amazing bridal boutique The White Gown is based in Brooklyn, New York, and every Valentine’s Day, they hold a contest for brides-to-be to win the gown of their choice from their shop. A friend recommended that I enter the contest so I wrote a little essay and I couldn’t believe it when I won! (here’s my essay on their blog). Then, just a few days before my appointment, they blogged about the Alyne dress as a new arrival. I had a hunch it was the one, but that didn’t stop me from trying on a few more when I got there, because hello, why not?
I cannot say enough about the staff at The White Gown. They were so warm and welcoming."
"Before winning the contest, I had visited three other bridal salons with the intent to purchase a dress. I tried on lots of different types of dresses, from very simple to extreme creampuffery. So by the time I was heading into The White Gown, I knew what did and didn’t look good on me. I never ever thought I’d wear a strapless wedding gown, especially one with any kind of bling, but I knew the shape of the Alyne dress would suit my figure, and the silk material made it so lightweight and beautiful.
The bling-y accents were done very subtly and in such a modern way that I really embraced them. Also, when we got married, our daughter was 15 months old and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hold her or pick her up in a gown with restrictive straps. Mommy logic wins every time!"
"My bridesmaids are all so beautiful and unique. I wanted them each to pick a black dress they loved. Their dresses were from BCBG, Guess, BHLDN, and Ted Baker."
"My earrings were from Emma Stine and my bracelet was a Miriam Haskell cuff hired from Rent The Runway. Rent The Runway’s operations were seriously disrupted by Hurricane Sandy, and they were absolutely phenomenal in getting the bracelet to my awesome maid of honor in time for her to bring it to London."
"The gals at The Flower Appreciation Society did not laugh when I told them we didn’t know what we wanted, oh but also, here’s a list of 1001 flowers I don’t like. I mean, honestly. They were sweet and patient and the flowers were perfection. I don’t know much an awful lot about flowers so I was very happy to have Anna and Ellie take the reins and just show up on the day with their gorgeous creations. They are bloomin’ (yes, I went there) wizards at what they do."
"Matt and I are really into music, and we both very much link special moments in our lives to particular songs. We struggled to narrow them down, so in the end we played three different songs for the processional. First was The Strokes 'I’ll Try Anything Once/You Only Live Once', and the flower girls and bridesmaids walked down to The Lumineers 'Hey Ho' (before it was cool! I swear!).
My dad gave me away - we walked with my dad to one of our all time favourite songs 'Slow Show' by The National. The piano solo makes my knees go weak. It was such a big deal for him to come from Colorado to London, as he’s elderly and suffers from early stages of Alzheimer’s. The moment was just beyond anything I could imagine. I feel so blessed that he was able to make the trip and walk me down the aisle.
Actually, the aisle was teeny-tiny, full house don’t you know, so I kind of had to walk ahead of him! I really get the giggles when I remember when my mom asked, 'Who gives this woman' and my dad, with his deep southern-American accent said, 'I do. Bob.'”
"My nieces’ dresses were from Monsoon, and our daughter’s dress was Tutu du Monde and came from Thumbeline. It was really important that our daughter felt comfortable in her dress, because a baby will certainly let you know if they’re unhappy. Her hi-tops and little shrug came from Next.
Seeing Matt for the first time at the end of the aisle was just so special. I mean, he is just the handsomest. And he was holding our gorgeous ginger baby. All I could think was, 'That’s my family. I love them. I must get to them. Without tripping.'"
"Oh. I could write a novel about the quest for the perfect shoes. I was more focused on my shoes than anything else about my ensemble. After many, many, MANY hours online devoted to finding the perfect shoe, I strapped my daughter in the stroller on a very rainy day and took the subway to Soho to Kathryn Amberleigh’s shop. Holy bananas, the woman knows how to make a drop-dead shoe. I saw the greenish-gold velvet heels with ankle straps and I was done for."
"Matt’s suit is the Ludlow Suit from J.Crew. Matt knew from day one that he wanted a simple gray suit from J.Crew, but heavens alive, I didn’t know he was going to be so particular when it came to the rest of the ensemble. I dare say we spent more time on his look than mine!
We asked the Groomsmen to all wear dark suits and gave them each a tie,
pocket square, and patterned socks to match Matt. I just adore these
boys – they’ve been loyal friends to Matt since they were all kids, and
they were amazing on the wedding day."
"Matt chose a blue and white check shirt (also J.Crew) with a skinny black tie from the The Tie Bar. I love The Tie Bar. If you can’t find what you want there, it doesn’t exist. His shoes were gray oxfords that we jazzed up with some pink laces. Changing out the laces is a great way to inject a little personality into a groom’s look. Of course, his friends took the piss all day about his fancy footwear, but I’ve never seen Matt look boring, so they were just right for him."
"My nephew and godson wore matching cardigans from Gap. As ring-bearers, they also carried a custom made flag..."
"We had family wedding pictures all around the venue for people to enjoy. It was so important to us that every aspect of the day felt unique to us, so we came up with the idea to create hand-drawn table runners with imagery from our life together. I created the drawings and then we had them printed on fabric. We provided fabric markers for our guests to colour them in during dinner and the speeches. I have plans now to make a big quilt out of the fabric, something we can keep forever."
"We didn’t really provide favors, but we did have a bunch of fake tattoos from Tattly, another small Brooklyn company. They were the hit of the night. Our guests went mad for them. Also, everyone’s escort card had a different little pinback button to wear, share, and take home."
"The big light-up letters came from Vowed and Amazed, who were awesome and easy to work with."
I can vouch for that! They also supplied the incredible light up letters for my book launch!
