A Fun and Quirky, Bright and Colourful London Pub Wedding

Good morning Monday! Did you get a chance to see these out of this world wedding cakes on Saturday, or this little bit of magic in The Castle on Sunday? As usual, we’re opening up the week with a beautiful real wedding and today it’s the nuptials of Sabrina and James.

Sabrina, an HR Assistant for the charity BPAS tied the knot with James, a Housing and Support Advisor, on Friday 27th September last year with a ceremony at Stoke Newington Town Hall, followed by a reception at The Londesborough Pub and Dining Rooms.  This wedding is a little bit special to me as I had a tiny role to play in it (all is revealed below) but what I adore most about this day is how fun, colourful and down to earth everything is…

“I have to say that I did not have a particular idea in my head of what I wanted our wedding to be like – I've never been the kind of girl to dream of her wedding, that just wasn’t me. I knew what I didn’t want it to be like, no big pouffy dress, no formal wedding suits, and we had a budget to adhere to so costs also affected our choices. We knew it had to be in London and that it needed to be child friendly to make sure our five year old son, Noah, felt involved and a big part of the day.  I like vintage, simple and quirky styles and I immediately looked online for inspiration – which led me to Love My Dress!”

Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Noel Deasington

“James and I met through friends at a party a few years ago, having unknowingly crossed paths on several occasions (attended the same college at the same time aged 16, and going to mutual friends parties over a period of years – some say the timing was fate!).  After a year and a half, James proposed on our non valentines day (9th February 2013) at a surprise lunch for me at Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner.

We wanted to get hitched as soon as possible and didn’t want to wait so chose a date in September. However, more time would definitely not have gone amiss – especially with busy jobs and a five year old to look after! In the end, we planned the wedding ourselves in approximately six months."

“Our ceremony took place at Stoke Newington Town Hall, London which is a beautiful Art Deco building with lots of fantastic features. We chose it as soon as we saw it. The same goes for The Londesborough Pub & Dining Rooms, we knew straight away that it was the perfect space with quirky features such as the beer can wall displays and vintage décor.

After meeting with the manager, Amber, who knows weddings inside out, we felt completely at ease. The added bonus was that they were seven minutes walking distance from each other.”

“Andy of RSVP Candy did our wedding invites which were fantastic. I wrote out our table plan on a framed blackboard and wrote out all the place cards, which I attached to the favours.”

“For our flowers we had The Flower Appreciation Society because our venue recommended them and their website is great and they are so brilliant at doing flowers. I knew I didn’t want anything traditional like roses, I wanted bright blues and oranges and yellows and purples. Bright bright bright flowers!

The colours and variety were spot on. They even included fresh herbs into the buttonholes, which smelt fantastic."

“With the help of the amazing Annabel (who put an SOS call out on the Love My Dress Facebook page for me), Charlotte of Wilden Bride came to the rescue after things didn’t work out with the first designer I approached.  With only six weeks left until my wedding – and no dress -  I had to decide whether to continue making it work with the first designer or find another. I literally cried out for help and emailed Annabel for advice. She was so supportive and made me feel at ease at once and I knew that when it felt so wrong I had to stop right there.

I chose to lose my deposit and find a new wedding dress designer (oh the dramas over one dress!).  The response on the Love My Dress Facebook page was overwhelming – and it was through the replies that I discovered and subsequently met with Charlotte Wilden.  She was the perfect choice and saved the day."

"I had an idea of what I wanted, the basic shape and style which was 1950ish tea length and a scoop neck but I definitely did not want anything too poufy like the popular big skirts with layers of under-netting. Charlotte was great in offering advice on materials and how a certain cut of material would sit on my body.

We opted for a softer chiffon for the skirt and it was gorgeous and great for dancing in. Also she put in pockets for me – I love a skirt with a pocket! I trusted her and I’m so glad I did, as I love my dress.”

“I initially had my heart set on a vintage orange blossom crown, but they were out of my price bracket, so I had a beautiful silk flower garland made to order by Heidi Kench on Folksy, I really loved it.”

“When it came to finding my bridesmaids dresses, I thought this was going to be a nightmare. My bridesmaids were my sister and my three best friends – they are all completely different. I initially wasn’t sure about putting them in the same dress but on a chance weekend where they were all available (my bridesmaid Elsa lives in France), after a full day shopping we found their stunning dresses in the high street shop Warehouse.

The lace backs and colour were perfect and they all looked absolutely beautiful on the day.The bridesmaids all chose their own shoes which were all different."

“My best friends daughter, Maisy, was Flower Girl and I chose her dress from online shop Boden. It was simple peachy cotton summer dress with a gorgeous pink netted underskirt.

My five year old son, Noah, was our page boy. His deep blue suit was from John Lewis and I ordered his colourful superhero bowtie from Etsy seller Auroras Wardrobe.  I wanted an element of fun at our wedding and Noah loves superheroes. Noah also carried our rings on a superhero comic style pillow with the words ‘BOOM’ emblazoned on it. I love that pillow. Bought from Etsy seller Plusheez.”

“James wore a bright blue three piece suit from Reiss where we had it tailored to fit in store. I thought it brought out his blue eyes and he looked really dapper.  James’ cufflinks were a present from me on the day and had a little vintage map of North London (where we live) on one and Hammersmith, where James grew up, on the other. I bought these from Not On The High Street seller Posh Totty Designs.  James’ tie was from Liberty because we both love the prints they do and we wanted him to have a different tie to the best man and ushers.

We asked the groomsmen if they wouldn’t mind all wearing blue suits and then provided them with skinny ties, which were burgundy with tiny white polka dots.”

"We chose Bee’s Bakery because we loved her bright cookies and had seen she also made cakes. I knew I wanted a simple cake decorated with bright colourful edible flower petals."

“I gave all the children colourful boxes full of sweets, bubbles, chattering teeth, crayons and colouring books. And on their place settings I gave them all books relevant to their ages, the babies also got giraffe rattles. We wanted them to be entertained not bored! James friend Nick who works for Lego in Denmark bought lots of Lego for the kids to play with too!"

“Noel Deasington was our photographer. We met with him for the first time at Alexandra Palace for our engagement/family shoot. He is one of the nicest people you will meet, we got on with him so well and felt very comfortable in his presence. I love his style of shooting and his edited photographs. He is based in Bristol and travelled to London the night before our wedding to spend the whole day with us, I don’t think he left until 10pm. Noels prices were also very affordable and that suited our budget perfectly."

“Our first dance was to Nina Simone’s ‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’ because we both like it, it’s fun and we knew it would get everyone on the dance floor.”

“The lovely, sweet Tina Newman did mine and my sisters hair and make up perfectly. I would thoroughly recommend her to any bride to be."

"My Dad insisted we have a car to pick me up from the hotel I stayed in the night before the wedding to bring me to the ceremony. It was lovely having that time with just me, Noah and my Dad in the car.”

"My Dad gave me away. It was perfect.  I walked down the aisle to ‘Here Comes The Sun’ by the Beatles.

James wanted to say something extra to show his commitment not only to me but to Noah as his step father so he put a few words together with the help of the registrar. It was very emotional and I think all our friends and family felt it."

"My bridesmaid, Claire, read ‘Something Changed’ by Jarvis Cocker and James’s brother Antony read an Apache blessing.  I really wanted ‘Something Changed’ as our first dance but James disagreed! So we compromised and had it as one of our readings.  Two of our friends also sang before the wedding breakfast. Usher James wrote and performed a song especially written for us ‘Be Without Need’.

My bridesmaid, Elsa, sang 'Do You Remember The First Time' by Pulp.  I'm a big Pulp fan ! It meant a lot to us that they sang".

 

“We had gold and mink tissue pom poms over the dining area and tissue garlands along the bar. Fairy lights and my favourite thing, which I insisted on but others were sceptical about, were the gold LOVE balloons. We also had a sort of photobooth area with wooden photo props and an instant camera where guest stuck their photos in our guestbook and wrote us messages.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

“Try not to get stressed about the small things, it’s so easy to become overwhelmed by the whole thing but you mustn’t forget that your guests just want see you happy and in love on your day. It’s not what favours you’ve provided or what’s on the menu. I made lots of lists and ticked as I went along. Also planning a wedding in just over six months is possible you just need to be organised.

I don’t think I can pinpoint a certain part of the day as my favourite. The whole day was amazing and perfect, but if I could change anything I would have given Noel our photographer more time for photos with just me and James, and with me and my bridesmaids."

What a wonderful way to start the week on Love My Dress – I so love bright, colourful weddings like this! Huge congratulations to you Sabrina and Noel - and Sabrina, I'm so happy that you reached out to me in the end and that this all turned out to be the most wonderful experience for you 🙂

Huge thanks to photographer Noel Deasington for sharing these wonderful images.

Brides, are you planning a wedding similar to Sabrina and Noel's?

Love Annabel

 

Photographer – Noel Deasington
Venue – Stoke Newington Town Hall + The Londesborough Pub and Dining Rooms
Brides Dress – Wilden Bride
Veil/Headpiece – silk flower garland via Heidi Kench on Folksy
Brides' shoes – Jeffrey Campbell
Bride's accessories – vintage tear drop amber pendant + amber earrings via John Lewis
Groom's Attire – Reiss + cufflinks via Posh Totty Designs + Liberty tie
James’ tie was from Liberty because we both love the prints they do and we wanted him to have a different tie to the best man and ushers.
Bridesmaids – Warehouse
Flowergirls – Boden
Page Boys – John Lewis + bowtie via Etsy seller Auroras Wardrobe
Florist – The Flower Appreciation Society
Cake – Bee’s Bakery
Entertainment – Corabar Entertainment
Favours – Love Spoons via Folksy seller Rescue and Revive
Rings – local jewellers in Muswell Hill
Ring Cushion – Etsy seller Plusheez
Stationery – RSVP Candy
Hair + Make-up Stylist – Tina Newman

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