Hello lovely ones! Didn't think we'd leave you without an afternoon treat did you? This afternoon's wedding comes to you courtesy of photographer Andy Squires, whose work has featured several times already on Love My Dress. Andy was asked by couple, Gilles and Emma, to photograph their wedding on 4th May 2013 with a ceremony at St Mary
on Paddington Green, followed by a reception at The Amadeus in Little
Venice, London.
"Gilles and I have very similar tastes in décor and style in
general, so it was easy to come up with a shared theme. When it came to
planning the wedding, we were 50/50 on input. Gilles had the creative
eye and designed all our branding, signage, stationary etc – he was a
legend!
We like the Art Deco, roaring 20’s vibe but didn’t want to go
over board Hollywood style, so we took the slightly French route
instead. White bistro chairs, French cafe style little glasses, lots of
soft lighting."
Photography Copyright © 2013, Andy Squires
"We met over five and a half years ago at work, at an advertising
company. I was an Executive Advertiser, Gilles, a Motion Graphics
Designer. We were only friends at first then started socialising in the
same circles, went out to a leaving party one night and realised that we
would be amazing together and told each other so on that said night. I
think we were the last to know. Everyone else was already hedging
bets on us months before!
We got engaged on 23rd October, 2011 and married nineteen months later. The
reason it was a long engagement was because we really wanted to save
up a great deal so we could pay for a lot of the wedding. Our parents
were so supportive and we all ended paying a third into the wedding. The
most perfectly fair way in our view!
The proposal was amazing – it was my birthday weekend and
Gilles said we were going to the theatre to see ‘39 Steps’ at 6pm in
Piccadilly Circus, which I thought was a bit early for a theatre
performance but didn’t question it."
"I thought we
were waiting for the theatre box office to open and then Gilles suddenly
said “Em, we’re not here for the theatre, we’re for this” and he
pointed to one of the huge motion billboards on Piccadilly Circus. It
was a live moving message timed to come on at 6pm, 6.10pm and 6.20pm. It
said 'Happy Birthday Emma, I love you very much, just one more thing –
will you Marry Me?' then it said 'she said yes everyone – applause!'
Thank the goddesses I said Yes!"
Film production Copyright © 2013, Egg Cosy Pictures
"Gilles had
designed and created the message himself. It took 3 months of planning
along with my boss, who’s CEO of Clear Channel, the Outdoor Advertising
Company to make it work. They needed certain permissions, code the
design of the proposal a certain way…etc. All I remember was thinking,
this must be a joke, a surreal joke.
We had never discussed marriage so I
just never saw it coming then reality hit when he got on one knee and
produced this antique Art Deco Emerald Platinum ring, I was speechless.
If I were to design the perfect ring in my head, this would be it. He’s
so brilliant!"
"I only had a Maid of Honour, my sister, Amy. I have a
great handful of lovely girlfriends, but wouldn’t have been able to
handle seven women in one room getting ready on the day, plus I would
rather my friends wore what they wanted and got to enjoy the wedding
with their partners rather than stand around worrying about me!
Amy
was five months pregnant when we got married so we bought all the fabric
from Joel & Sons, London and waited until the last minute for
Veronica, Amy’s ma-in-law to create a dress for her. Amy designed the
dress and I was involved all the way through but was happy for Amy to
take the lead. Amy chose the colour too. It was the most stunning
blue/lilac/grey hue and the look she went for was a mix between Jane
Austen vs 60’s lace.
She looked incredible and danced until 2am. I
couldn’t have done it without her."
"I only tried on four dresses leading up to the wedding because I
don’t like strapless princess dresses, they don’t suit me. Dresses with
sleeves are often harder to find. I wanted something timeless with cap
sleeves, Chantilly lace and very fitted to show off my curves. My Mum
and I were in Tunbridge Wells one day and were minding our own business
when we passed The Pantiles Bride. We didn’t even have an appointment but they were still welcoming and let us browse.
I had always liked the Aspen dress by Jenny Packham
but the length of the dress could not be made any longer according to
the made to measure specs. So frustrating when you are so tall. I put on
Maiden by Suzanne Neville
and I instantly knew that this was the dress for me and the specs
allowed for a longer length and my amazing Bridal shop absorbed the cost
so I didn’t have to pay any more. It was an easy, wonderful stress-free
experience.
The dress was so stunning and I didn’t want to detract much from it,
so opted for simple green stone earrings to match my ring. I found some
replica art deco style earrings at the fabulous Hirst Antiques in
Notting Hill."
"Gilles suit – now this was the Pièce de résistance! My dress
was only three visits for fittings. Twenty minutes every time. Done
and dusted. Gilles’ outfit? hour upon hour. The effort
and thought that went into his outfit was incredible! Gilles wanted my
opinion in his choices so although he never knew about my dress we
worked together on his suit. It was so much fun! Gilles debated whether
to buy a bespoke suit because the colour he had in mind wasn’t anywhere
to be seen off-the-peg.
He wanted a plum/damson coloured suit. Strong
colours suit him. It got to 5 months before the wedding and suddenly
Paul Smith released a Damson ‘Abbey Suit’. Paul Smith fits Gilles’ frame
perfectly and it was the best choice. Karl’s help at Paul Smith, Covent
Garden was unflappable and so accommodating."
Ladies, this is the second time this super dapper suit has appeared on Love My Dress this week – take a look here too!
"Gilles wanted a contrasting waistcoat and again had a specific
colour in mind. I had seen a fab stall on Portobello market called SIRPLUS
by a guy called Henry Hales who made boxer shorts and waistcoats from
surplus fabric from tailors on Saville Row. Henry invited us to his home
and we talked through some of the pre-existing fabrics he already had
in stock.
They weren’t quite right, so Henry suggested we source the
fabric and he would get his factory in east London to make it once we had
chosen what we wanted. We think his prices are amazingly
reasonable and Gilles is now the proud owner of a bespoke English
mustard waistcoat that is handmade made in England!
For the tie, we went to Peckham Rye
on Carnaby Street. Martin the owner comes from a family of military
tailors – a service Martin provides to this day. His very English
exciting patterns were perfect for Gilles who wanted to bring out the
burgundy and mustard from his waistcoat and suit. They had a paisley
tie, which fit the bill spot on. Go to this place. Such a lovely little
shop offering old-school high quality service from beginning to end.Gilles shoes were Stanley by Grenson."
"Mum and I went to Fayes wholesalers in Brighton two days before
the wedding and did all the flowers ourselves. My friend Sam let us have
her kids ground floor playroom to arrange them. My best mate
practically flew in from her home in New York to come and arrange the flowers
and my other girlfriend, Simone, took a precious day off work just to
help us the day before. I have the best family and friends.
I
went for lots of greens, whites and lilac hues; freesias, stocks,
anemones, ferns, peonies, veronicas, delphiniums, etc.
My bouquet mainly
consisted of Sweet Peas which reminded me of my Nan who grew them in her
amazing garden when she was alive. The smell of them constantly got me
emotional just thinking about the summer memories in Nan’s garden. The
bouquets and buttonholes were all down to my superwoman Mum who can put
her hand to literally anything."
"My lovely tall and handsome Dad gave me away – we had to be a
little traditional, so we chose the Wagner Bridal March but our
Dixieland Jazz band played it live for us in the church!
It
was a high Anglican church, so the 1928 Prayer book was used for our
vows. Very traditional but what was special about our ceremony was our
Vicar – he had the congregation in stitches. He used to be an actor and
he basically owned the stage/alter that day! We’ve had countless dinners
with Gary so we’ve all got to know one another really really well. We
consider him a dear friend now and it showed throughout the ceremony.
We had three readings; my bestfriend, Anna from New York read Corinthians 1:13 but it was Joni Mitchell’s version
– Anna always finds the coolest things for me! Ben read St John’s
Gospel 2, 1-11 and the last one was read by our Brother-in-law, Jim. The
reading is a story about Albert Einstein and his theory on Love and
Relativity. Very cute!"
"I bought
dye-able satin shoes from Elegant Steps online and then went on a hunt
for find a deep emerald satin fabric which matched my ring to send off
to them. They dyed the shoes perfectly. I couldn’t be happier."
"We hired a Green Routemaster bus from London Bus Company to take
me to the church and take our guests to the reception venue from the
church, although it was such a lovely day in May, a lot of people walked
alongside the Canal to reach the venue."
"My sister (also featured in love my dress), Amy Hardwick, let me
borrow her veil. Her mother-in-law, the lovely Veronica, handmade it for
her. It was my perfect ‘something borrowed’."
"The wedding favours took the longest time to source. I decided
to collect original vintage cigarette cards from 1890 – 1939 and give
each guest a personalised card dependant on their hobbies, star-sign,
family background, school, etc. I lived on eBay
and have now become a vintage cigarette card expert! We wrote personal
messages with each card and our guests were very touched by this detail.
It showed them that we valued their presence and that every single
person who came to our wedding – WE WANTED AT OUR WEDDING! The best card
I found was one which featured doorknockers from all over the UK.
One
card showed the door knocker from a specific college within Oxford
University where our friend Ben studied at. That was a real treasure."
"The Georgian church didn’t need much adorning. It’s a beautiful
cream coloured church inside which is both elegant and inviting. We just added
huge white and lilac delphiniums at the back of the pews to welcome
everyone in. That’s it. Never over-egg the custard.
The
reception venue is a 19th century converted welsh chapel and a complete
blank canvas with unusual features and layout with a lower and upper
hall. The lighting was extremely effective and
mastered by the wonderful Richard from REDCAT Lighting. We had a
beautiful canopy of tiny lights covering the wedding breakfast room,
uplighters in a deco mint green shape, fairy lights and Hollywood-style
curtains in the downstairs bar room.
We love soft-lit lighting too – it makes it
very cosy and welcoming. We had tea light candles everywhere!"
"I don’t really eat cake, nor does Gilles, so why have it? We
were feeding our guests so much already; it would have been a waste.
I’ve been experimenting with different jelly recipes and so we decided
to source some sandcastle buckets and create majestic jellies in
jewel-like colours – just for fun.
Yet again – Mum trialled the jellies
several times before creating them yet again days before the wedding"
"Instead of cutting the cake, we sliced some jelly – might have thrown a
few bits at people too.
Harmless fun!!"
"The
French bistro chairs were white. Linens were white. Vintage-style
cutlery and Duralex-style glasses for drinks. I even injected a few jade
coloured milk glass jelly stands to show more of our love for mint-green
decor – very French like an informal bistro / café. Our inspiration was
from Kettner’s in Soho. We even bought huge Kentia Palms from IKEA,
which added to the 1920’s café vibe.
Gilles’ Dad, Mike, made us a huge white ‘dressing room’ lights
board which even had a dimmer switch for effect and featured the table
plan and then later – the drinks menu. Everyone loved it!"
"Gilles designed everything stationery wise. The font had a very
old-fashioned style and he used it for the invites, order of service,
drinks menu, table plans, toilet signs, pin badges, table names and table plan."
"Our photographer, Andy Squires,
is officially the nicest man on this planet. He photographed my
sister’s wedding and at that time was still working in full time
employment AND doing wedding photography at weekends. He’s a superman.
Now he’s a fully-fledged photographer because other people have realised
that he’s wonderful at what he does. He captured the speakeasy, laid
back look that we took so long trying to achieve. We couldn’t have been
happier with the results. I would recommend Andy to anyone!
We are so pleased that we opted for Egg
Cosy Pictures to film our wedding. We
can both be forgetful at times and having a video reminder is so special
to us and we can bore our future children with it one day! Egg
Cosy Pictures
provides two camera people. Simon runs the business with his wife. We had
Simon and his colleague, Gerard on our day. You forget they’re there –
in the nicest way. They were never in the way, always so subtle in where
they set up and managed to capture the most incredible moments that we
will now never forget."
"My hair was done by the fabulous Bong, from Cello Hair in Marylebone. Aimed for the Ava Gardner vibe! I
did my own makeup with help from my sister who did my base with all her
Laura Mercier treats.
I invested in a few MAC eyeshadow palettes, used
my trusted shu uemura eyelash curlers and bought a lovely tomato red YSL
lippie from the Pur Couture range. Also wore Essie red nail varnish
for fingers and toes! I wanted to inject a bit of confident glamour to
the outfit. I couldn’t be a totally demure, pure bride."
"My engagement ring was from Wimpole Antiques at Grays Antique
Market. Lynn and Susan were so lovely, we went back to them to buy our
wedding bands. I wanted a simple platinum ring to match my engagement
ring. The first ring to fall out of Lynn’s ring bag was an Edwardian
platinum ring in my size. Nan left me a little bit of money and I wanted
to buy the ring with it and then get it engraved inside to say that
the ring was from my Nan.
She would have loved the wedding if she had
still been alive today. Gilles’s Mum’s white gold wedding band was too
small for her, so he’s been wearing it for years on his little finger.
He went to Wimpole Antiques and they arranged for it to be expanded.
Every part of their service was outstanding and so very helpful."
"Music and atmosphere was a huge priority for us. Because our Vicar,
Gary Bradley, was the most fun and wonderful man on this whole
continent, he allowed us to bring in a Dixieland Jazz band (Silk Street Jazz)
into the church and they played throughout the guest arrivals, played
me into the church and played Bear Necessities during the signing of the
register – one of Gilles’ fave songs.
One of our dear
friends, Alex, is part of a wonderful chamber choir who are based at St
Pauls Church, Covent Garden. The Choirmaster, Nick, arranged for over 12
members of his choir to pop over to Paddington and sing at our church.
They boosted the hymns to the max and sang upstairs in the grand circle
of the church, hiding away very subtly. When we signed the registers,
they dramatically came to the front of the church and sang Lux Aurumque,
which we fell in love with when we heard them perform at Evensong, at
Christmas time. Not one of our guests talked or went on their mobiles.
They sat there and took in the beauty of their voices. A very emotional
moment!
The organist, Jonathan, played Pomp and Circumstance for our exit. How very British!"
"Our caterers were Tasting Plates
and they were so flexible to our demands and we couldn’t have thought
straight without their advice. We had already sourced our food and they
were happy to arrange deliveries and garnish each dish.
We had pies from Ginger Pig: Beef bourguignon & Chicken and Ham.
Tasting Plates kindly made the veggie option too.
We
ordered the Lemon Tarts from Blackbird Bakery in South London, Tasting Plates created the canapés, which were delicious and our sweets table
was my favourite. We picked things personal to us; Sea Salt Fudge from
Burnt Sugar Company – Borough Market, the famous Audrey’s chocolates in
Brighton: Rose and Violet creams, I made 250 lime and basil macarons
and we had good old fashioned shop-bought Anzac biscuits to celebrate
Gilles’ Kiwi heritage on his Mum’s side. The Cheese Cellar provided all
our amazing cheese and at 11pm, we decided to bring back some East
London memories by handing out salt beef and mustard bagels. There was
sooo much food!
Drinks were important too; we had a
free bar and handpicked the drink ourselves. My Mum made her own
Raspberry gin, our friend’s Mum in Somerset made all our Elderflower
cordial, we bought ales and bitters from Partridge Green Brewery in
Sussex and instead of Sambuca and Tequila, which we hate, we opted for a
more sociable and smooth rose vodka liquor – lush.
To
top it off, Gilles bought lots of his favourite Bushmill’s whiskey and
my dad bought a box of Romeo and Juliet cigars. There was one point
around 11.30pm where we couldn’t find many men – they we’re all outside
in the courtyard sipping their whiskey and stoking on these cigars. It
was like being transported back into the Edwardian period! Still heaven
seeing everyone so comfortable at our wedding."
"At the reception venue, Silk Street Jazz
provided an amazing pianist who played ragtime, 20’s lounge bar- style
music throughout the fizz and canapés reception. Then our Dixieland band
played again upstairs for the wedding breakfast and then the pianist
played again on the venue’s grand piano.
For the
dance music we hired Oomph, a 7-piece funk band from Brighton. They are
all session musicians and included the saxophone and trumpet. The
playlist mostly consisted of 50’s & 60’s soul and funk but their
covers of Grandmaster Flash, Cee Lo Green & Annie Lennox songs were
incredibly creative. The dance floor was never empty.
We paid for extended
opening hours, so from 12am – 2am – we created our own playlist on our
laptop. By 1.20am, the music was quite getting heavy: lots of drum and
bass, garage, R&B, Hip Hop…etc
"It’s tough to pick out one key moment which was our favourite.
There were a couple. The ceremony was unique. It’s not often your
Reverend lets you bring in a chamber choir from another church and a
Dixieland Jazz band. And he was so much fun and heart-warming – he made
our guests laugh and cry a lot. Seeing everyone we loved there attending
this ceremony for us, to support us, is quite an overwhelming
experience.
The other moment was hiding up in the balcony of our venue
together, with a glass of fizz in our hands, giggling and watching
everyone arrive up to the Upper Hall for the dinner. It was such a
private moment for us and seeing everyone touched by their table favours
was total joy.
We wouldn’t do anything differently.
We had a good 19 months to plan this baby and we were so heavily
involved, every single bit of detailing was about us, personal to us,
from the food, the Jo Malone candles, the sweets table, the jellies, the
flowers. It was really hard work but having preparation help from some
amazing key people: both our Mums and Dad’s, my sister Amy, our
brother-in law Jim, Anna, Simone and Sam, keeps you sane and makes all
the difference.
There was an ultimate freak out moment
the day before the wedding where our car broke down on one of the main
(and busiest) roundabouts in the capital, Marble Arch. It was the
hottest day of the year so far and we had all the flowers for the
wedding in the car, church rehearsal due in 40 minutes and hadn’t
dropped anything off at the venue. But having your friends and family
around you – you just laugh about it. I still don’t regret being so
involved in the décor, flowers…etc it was worth every saved penny along
with the blood, sweat and minimal tears."
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
"You read
that most brides say ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’. It’s true, of course
but let’s be honest – you can’t help it! It’s a day full of
anticipation, excitement, not knowing how things can turn out with
weather, food etc It’s going to happen. It’s natural and it only means
that this day means the world to you and your partner. It’s not a crime.
What
I would suggest is find a moment when you can grab a drink with your
partner, have some of the canapés/snacks everyone else is eating but
away from it all, no photographers, no videographers, no family…etc Just
have a giggle and gossip somewhere for 10/15 minutes in private. We did
this by sitting up in the venue’s balcony."
"Gilles isn’t a ‘slow-dancer’ so rather than make us both look
like school disco idiots, Dad and I danced the Foxtrot to Frank
Sinatra’s The Way you Look Tonight. But the live band didn’t let Gilles
live this down, so with the magic of music and peer pressure – they
played Ben E King’s – Stand by Me and we did eventually dance together!"
"I’ve always loved
Love My Dress and thanked the goddesses when I realised it was UK based - so most items mentioned were accessible and easy to buy in this
country. Annabel and Franky always pick great photographers work to
feature, and there’s always creative inspiration on every page.
We
loved the layout and content of Love My Dress articles too – every single
one helped shape and give us ideas for our wedding. I loved the
diversity and unique beauty of the weddings featured. It stands out from
the rest."
What a super lovely happy smiley day – congratulations to you both, Gilles and Emma, and thank you especially Emma for taking the time to share so much of your lovely day. Our thanks also to photographer Andy Squires for yet again choosing Love My Dress to share his inspiring work. You can connect with Andy via his website, Facebook or Twitter.
Do we have any other London brides optiong to wear Suzanne Neville? You can see more Suzanne Neville brides here by the way, as well as more beautifully stylish London and Spring weddings.
With much love,
Annabel
Photographer – Andy Squires
Film – Egg Cosy Pictures
Venue – The Amadeus in Little
Venice, London
Wedding Dress – Maiden by Suzanne Neville via The Pantiles Bride
Veil/Headpiece – something borrowed
Brides' shoes – Elegant Steps online
Bride's accessories –
replica art deco earrings via Hirst Antiques in
Notting Hill
Groom's Attire – Paul Smith + Charles Tyrwhitt + Stanley by Grenson
Bridesmaids – bespoke using fabric from Joel & Sons
Lighting – REDCAT Lighting
Flowers – The brides mum
Jelly – made by the bride & groom
Transport – London Bus Company
Entertainment – Silk Street Jazz + Oomph
Favours – vintage cigarette cards
Additional Styling –
Rings – Wimpole Antiques at Grays Antique
Market
Caterers – Tasting Plates
Stationery – The groom
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Love the look of this wedding and the amazing photography. Fab!
Congratulations Gilles and Emma. Great blog and photos. The green bus and dyed Green shoes and i believe I saw a green door also.I hope you dont mind but I just had to share on Pinterest your green shoes.
I’m absolutely in love with this dress…stunning bride x
What a beautiful wedding! The bride looked radiant! I love the romantic charm of all those great lighting details. Best wishes to the couple pictured. Thank you for sharing your day with us.