An Ersa Atelier Gown, Humara Waiza Hijab + First Look For Modern Multicultural Wedding in London

Today’s beautiful wedding, with its city backdrop and dreamy, muted colour palette of pastel tones is perfectly summed up by the couple as an ‘urban fairytale.’ Everything from the choice of venue to the bride’s gown and groom’s suit reflects them perfectly, blending cultures and personal style for a wonderful London wedding.

Meet Aliyah and Zayd, who were married on the 20 July 2018 in a civil ceremony at the elegant Islington Town Hall in north London followed by a reception at Islington Metal Works, a former stables turned 1920’s metal works, and now a vibrant event space.

Images by Rachel Takes Pictures

“We knew we wanted to have our ceremony at Islington Town Hall as we’d seen so many happy couples having their confetti moment on the steps and we just loved the location, though we hadn’t actually been inside until our big day!”In keeping with the look and feel of the day, the couple chose a sweet and quirky stationery suite from Norma and Dorothy in pastel shades with foliage illustrations.

“I wore Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent. I actually chose it because it is quite different to my usual smell, and I wanted to have a distinct smell that reminds me of the wedding. I probably won’t wear it again until our anniversary!”

There was the perfect amount of subtle sparkle in Aliyah’s make-up, with a beautiful copper eyeshadow, courtesy of make-up artist Malkia Roberts.

 

Aliyah wore an incredible long-sleeved embellished gown with tulle over skirt from designer Ersa Atelier, which she chose at Morgan Davies Bridal in London.

“I didn’t have an exact image in my head of what I wanted, so I wasn’t so sure where to start. It’s also quite hard to find modest dresses that aren’t too mature for my taste or just plain frumpy, so I went into it thinking that I might have to design my own.”

“Then I saw the Ersa ‘Eirene’ dress online, and I immediately fell in love. I never thought I would go for something so far from white, or with so much bling, but that all changed very quickly! It was the first dress I tried on and, though I did try on a few more, nothing could compete.”

“The detail was just stunning, and I felt like it had a classy and timeless look to it. It was the only dress that made me feel like a bride, rather than feeling like I was playing dress-up as a bride.”

Aliyah also wore a hijab from Humaira Waza, which she paired with a full length tulle veil from Morgan Davies Bridal. On her feet she wore a pair of patent gold block heels from ASOS, and for jewellery she wore a pair of earrings given to her by her grandmother.

London florists Grace and Thorn have hit upon a great, no-fuss floristry solution, with a ready-to-wear collection of bouquets and buttonholes available to order online. This is exactly what Aliyah and Zayd did, choosing the stylish simplicity of the ‘White Noise’ collection.

“I loved the no fuss of being able to choose and order it online, and their style was exactly what we wanted – classic white but with lots of greenery and generally quite natural yet jaunty. Anything too symmetrical would not have matched our overall aesthetic.”

Aliyah and Zayd first met at a party at the age of 18, with Zayd meeting Aliyah’s mum on the very same day. They were together for three years before becoming engaged, and the story of Zayd’s proposal to Aliyah is a brilliant one!

“I started planning the proposal around six months before when I asked a friend of mine who was president of the Jesus College May Ball whether I would be able to have access to a stage for a few moments during the event to make my proposal speech.”

“There wasn’t too much to prepare from that point onwards: I bought a nice tux, I made sure that all my friends knew so that they would be there to share the moment, and I found a ring. It was only the day before that I finalised my proposal speech with a friend. It was also on that day that I found out that I would be on stage right after Katherine Ryan’s set which I couldn’t believe.”

“When it came to the day, I was a bundle of nerves (and couldn’t stomach any of the delicious May Ball food). Aliyah was suggesting we go home because she thought I was ill! When it came to the moment, I thought that I was just going to go up on stage and say the speech, but to my surprise, Katherine introduced me onto the stage and started ad-libbing some jokes with me! After this, I gave the proposal speech – Aliyah said yes! – and it was a magical moment to have all my friends around congratulating us in such a fantastic setting.”

“When we got engaged, we still had a year of university left, so we didn’t feel ready to take on wedding planning. We graduated, immediately went and signed our Islamic marriage contract in our local mosque with just our parents and siblings present, and only then seriously thought about planning. So, a two-year engagement, including an Islamic wedding, and around ten months of planning for the civil wedding and reception, but we finally got there!”

The couple chose to have a first look before their ceremony – a personal and emotional moment for them both, and the resulting images are completely lovely. Both Aliyah and Zayd agree that this is their favourite part of the day.

“My favourite part of the day was definitely the first look. It was amazing to see each other before all the madness kicked in and completely calmed any nerves we had.”

“This experience was my favourite part of the day, for sure. I genuinely believed that I wasn’t going to cry, but when I saw Aliyah for the first time that day, looking stunning in her gorgeous dress, I couldn’t help but let out a couple of happy emotional tears.”

Zayd chose a smart pale grey suit and braces from ASOS, which he wore with a blush pink tie from Gianni Feraud, and a Tissot watch. For the day, he was also groomed to perfection by barbers Jack The Clipper.

The bridesmaids wore sequin and tulle max dresses in a gorgeous taupe blush shade from Maya at ASOS, which paired beautifully with the embellishment on Aliyah’s own gown.

“I walked down the aisle to the Twenty One Pilots’ version of I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You. It’s a song that means a lot to us, and I was on the verge of tears as soon as I stepped into the room.”

The couple exchanged vows and rings – Aliyah chose a ring from H. Samuel and Zayd’s ring came from his family jeweller based in Lebanon (sadly no details provided). There were heartfelt readings, too, with bridesmaid Immy reading an extract from Louis de Bernieres’ book, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, entitled Love Is A Temporary Madness.

“My groomsman, Suhaib, read an excerpt from Les Misérables as it is my absolute favourite movie and there are passages that hold some profound truths about love. My favourite part of it was that ‘Love participates of the soul itself. It is of the same nature.”

“Like it, it is the divine spark; like it, it is incorruptible, indivisible, imperishable. It is a point of fire that exists within us, which is immortal and infinite, which nothing can confine, and which nothing can extinguish. We feel it burning even to the very marrow of our bones, and we see it beaming in the very depths of heaven.'”

Aliyah and Zayd chose photographer Rachel, of Rachel Takes Pictures to capture their day, and these images are sensitively done with a creative elegance and flair.

“We love our photos, and we love Rachel! She managed to capture the emotion of our day so well and caught all these little moments that we probably would have forgotten about otherwise. Her eye is fantastic, and the photos are stunning without anything have to be overly staged, which is exactly what we wanted. Rachel truly is a dream!”

Following the ceremony there was a bus ride on two bright red Routemaster buses from Traditional Travel Ltd over to Islington Metal Works.

The Metal Works was the perfect setting for Aliyah and Zayd’s reception, with its gorgeous and weathered textures of brick and cobbles in its historic spaces.

“I loved the glass ceiling, the hanging plants,and the fact that the team there were so relaxed. They also did the catering themselves, had a massive prop cupboard so almost all of our decorations were already there, and they styled the venue with plants and flowers to match the ones we’d chosen for ourselves, so it ticked off a lot of our to do list!”

“As a couple, we bring together quite a blend of different cultures and backgrounds, so a traditional setting – or a more mainstream setting wouldn’t quite have been us. We instantly fell in love with the venue because it was super quirky and it genuinely reflected us as a couple: young, fresh, vibrant, (and a little rough around the edges!).”

There were delicious food and drinks from the team at Islington Metal Works, followed by more treats – cake from Little House of Baking and ice cream from Scrumptious Events.

“Our buttercream cake was four tiers, and each tier was a different flavour – lemon and poppy seed, rose and coconut, vanilla, and raspberry ripple – all decorated with fresh flowers. I honestly cannot recommend the Little House of Baking enough. First of all, they were super nice and easy-going, and so reasonably priced. And the cake was unbelievably delicious! Taste is obviously the most important part and I’ve had so many people compliment the cake and ask who made it.”

There was also the most amazing flower wall, which came courtesy of Bespoke Light Up Letters, and the couple also provided fizzy sweet favours – bags of personalised Love Hearts from Swizzels.

There was evening fun and live music from band Freddie & The Freeloaders, who also performed Aliyah and Zayd’s first dance song, too.

“Our first dance was to our band’s rendition of Perfect by Ed Sheeran…We really were just kids when we fell in love. All our guests had sparklers during our first dance. It was a pretty last-minute decision, and I’m so glad we did it as it definitely added an air of magic to the moment.”

“The surprise flash mob after the first dance was incredible and hilarious at the same time. Some of my friends, who you would never ever catch dancing, took part and I felt really honoured, but also it was quite funny.”

“As far as doing things differently, I would do it 100 times over but I wouldn’t change a thing. We are so fortunate to have had the day that we did. It was so full of love and so many people had travelled across the world to be there, and I really can’t think of anything to top that.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“It sounds obvious, but just relax and enjoy everything. It is so easy to get caught up in the minutiae but it is only one day, and your marriage is forever. Your guests are there to celebrate your love, and they’ll remember that more than the place settings or the invitation font that kept you up at night.”

“That said, be true to yourselves as a couple and what you both want. Make decisions together, and know that it is alright to politely decline other people’s suggestions.”

“For example, no one understood our venue choice pretty much until they got there on the day, then everyone loved it and they were all amazed that the whole thing felt just like us.”

“Also, I recommend doing a bride’s speech! I’m so glad I did one even though I usually hate any kind of public speaking.”

Aliyah and Zayd, thank you so very much for this glimpse into your urban fairytale of a day – it’s been brilliant! Many thanks also to Rachel of Rachel Takes Pictures for these magical images. You can view more lovely weddings at Islington Town Hall on our very own blog pages, right here.

With love,

Laura