Good morning lovely Saturday readers! Whilst you may (at least I hope) be resting today, we’ve been busy behind the scenes to keep you inspired throughout the weekend with lots of wedding loveliness. Katie, a Merchandiser and Josef, a Digital Account Director certainly had no problem injecting warmth and light into their Twickenham wedding on 5th December 2015.
The couple chose the beautiful light-filled Orleans House Gallery for their ceremony and held their reception at their local, The Alma Pub in Wandsworth (complete with pie and mash). Every mention of these little London gems has me itching to head out and explore the city and experience the cool elegance of Katie and Josef’s city based nuptials for myself.
“We knew we wanted to keep the day intimate and local, and for it to be relaxed and simple. As we were getting married in December we wanted it to be warm and cosy – I really like the combination of green and white flowers with lots of candles scattered around, so this was the only real basis for the day. As the venues had so much character we didn’t need to style to rooms too much”
Photography by My Beautiful Bride
The bride’s dress oozes Hollywood glamour, she wore a 1930’s inspired long sleeved gown purchased from Rock the Frock Bridal Boutique. Paired with her divine Valentino Rock Stud shoes, the brides guilty pleasure, Katie looks every inch the glamorous starlet.
The brides friend was on hand to style her, her mum and the bridesmaids on the day…
“My good friend Emma is a make up artist and she did a wonderful job with my hair and make up and being such a calming presence on the morning of the wedding”
Katie’s only other accessories (other then her killer Carrie-worthy heels of course) were her nan’s necklace, beautiful pear shape labradorite and diamond earrings from Carrie Elizabeth and as spritz of her favourite Coco Chanel perfume.
“I really wasn’t sure what sort of dress I wanted but I liked the idea of having sleeves for a winter wedding. I tried on a few dresses but this one played on my mind all night so me and mum went back to get it the next morning. I loved the low back and the way the fabric hung when I put it on – I felt very glamorous wearing it!”
“Emma from Maua London provided the bouquets, button holes and foliage for the day. I came across Emma at the farmers market in Wandsworth and her flowers are simply stunning. She was so wonderful to work with, understanding my vision and offering suggestions when I wasn’t quite sure what I needed. The bouquets were so beautiful and the flowers lasted until we came back from our honeymoon! She arranged the eucalyptus to run through the middle of the tables and the room looked incredible when we walked in for the reception. I couldn’t recommend her highly enough.”
These images certainly capture the joy of the day and the pops of colour from the London Bus transportation (SO quintessentially British) and the bridesmaids plum ASOS dresses are so striking against the naturally elegant green and white of Katie’s gorgeous blooms.
Katie and Josef met at a party at the tender age of 18 and the proposal came in the autumn of 2014 in New York…
“Joe proposed in September 2014 at an apartment we were staying at in New York, it was a real surprise and he proposed with my nan’s engagement ring which means a lot to me. We spent 15 months engaged before getting married in December.”
“We were looking for somewhere local and had seen the venue on various wedding blogs and knew it was stunning; once we visited we fell n love with the room, it was so beautiful with the huge windows and amazing floor – we knew it was the perfect place to have our wedding.”
Katie was walked down the aisle by her mum to the sounds of Daniela Andrade’s ‘La Vie en Rose’ and exited the ceremony with her new husband to The Wannadies ‘You and Me Song’.
“One of our best friends, Vick, did a personal reading about Josef and I – how we met and our life together. It was so thoughtful and personal and such a lovely way to end the ceremony.”
“It’s hard to pick just one part of the day but walking into the ceremony and seeing Joe has to be be the best moment, I felt so excited before I walked in, which I wasn’t expecting as I thought I’d be really nervous and I couldn’t stop smiling when I saw him standing there.”
The couple got their rings from Andrew R Ullman on London’s iconic Hatton Garden.
“As my engagement ring was from an antique shop in New York we wanted something that would compliment the style. Andrew R Ullman was the first shop we came across and we found the rings straight away!”
The wedding photography was provided by My Beautiful Bride.
“Michael of My Beautiful Bride was the perfect choice for our wedding, he is so friendly and all the guests commented about how lovely he was and how comfortable he made everyone feel – especially Joe and I who are not the best at having our photo taken. Michael went and researched the venues before the day and found some amazing locations, which really made for some fantastic photos.”
“He went above and beyond what we expected of a photographer, saving the day when my dress was creased on the morning of the wedding and getting our photos to us extremely quickly so we could enjoy them over Christmas. Michael’s style of photography is the reason we wanted him there to capture the day and the photos really do reflect us as a couple and the spirit of the day.”
“We hired a double decker bus to transport guests to and from the ceremony venue – as a lot of the guests were travelling from outside London we thought this would be a simpler option and it was also in keeping with the local London wedding vibe. It was really nice to spend some time with our guests while we were on the way back to the reception.
Ensignbus were really helpful and great to deal with, they were really relaxed on the day (which kept Joe calm while they were stuck in traffic on the way to the ceremony!)”
“The Alma Pub is our local pub that we often go to with our friends, we wanted to keep the day low key and personal to us; when we realised they had an events room to hire upstairs it seemed the perfect choice. The pub provided the food – we wanted a relaxed and authentic pub meal so we opted for pie and mash The Alma allowed everyone to choose which flavour pie they wanted in advance, which was great as everyone was able to have what they wanted.”
The bride and groom planned the whole day themselves right down to the handmade table plans, place cards and invitations and the brave bride and a bridesmaid spent the day before the wedding Mary Berry style crafting the favours.
“My bridesmaid Jess and I spent the day before the wedding making chocolate chip cookies for wedding favours, I’d only part iced them once previously so there was a lot of pressure but luckily they turned out great. We packaged them and tied homemade tags around them with the wedding date on.”
Josef’s mum and brother made their delicious fruitcake, I love a good family recipe! And there were more sweet treats for dessert in the form of incredible Crosstown Doughnuts based in Soho. Lucky guests!
The couple used a DJ recommended to them by a friend who succeeded in keeping the dance floor packed all night. Success! Katie and Josef had their first dance to an acoustic version of ‘Everlong’ by the Foo Fighters…
“We’d been to see them together a few times so the song means a lot to us.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
“My advice would be to do what makes you as a couple happy; you get so much advice as a bride to be (and a lot of it is conflicting) but different parts of a wedding are more or less important to different people so you need to make sure what you are doing is right for you.”
That is some exceptionally sage advice, Katie – hugest thanks to you and Josef for allowing us to share your elegant and authentic London wedding and also thank you so much to My Beautiful Bride for these gorgeous images. You can find more enchanting winter weddings here.
I’m off to lust over Katie’s gorgeous dress again, with a cup of Yorkshire tea (I’m true to my roots) and the last (sob) of my Easter chocolate.
Much love, Em x
Photographer – My Beautiful Bride
Venue – Orleans House Gallery (ceremony) + The Alma Pub (reception)
Wedding dress – Rock the Frock Bridal Boutique
Shoes – Valentino Rock Stud
Accessories – Earrings Carrie Elizabeth and her nan’s necklace
Perfume – Coco Chanel
Groom – ASOS
Bridesmaids – ASOS dresses + Tiffany earrings
Florist – Maua London
Cake – handmade by the groom’s family
Transport – Ensignbus
Entertainment – not specified
Rings – Andrew R Ullman
Catering – The Alma Pub
Stationery – handmade by the bride and groom
Hair & Makeup Artist – a friend of the bride
