Pale Green London City Relaxed Glamour

When I lived in London, I was completely blown away by the historical treasures you could find literally on every corner. My morning walk to work took my breath away as I strolled past the majestic St Paul’s Cathedral and The Old Bailey court (and where a family relative was tried for stealing a pot and sent to Australia!).

After three years of living away in New York, the gorgeous couple you’re about to see wanted to return to where they met and first lived as a couple together – and so a London wedding it was.

Gemma and Jim, both civil servants who met at work, married at St Etheldreda’s Church on the 18th of March 2017, then celebrated at the majestic The Old Finsbury Town Hall with family and friends – two London city locations steeped in history and grandeur. Take a look at this sweet snippet by Tea4Two Films (who was also a Little Book for Brides discovery by the bride).

Film by Tea4Two Films

The beautiful bridesmaid’s wore a mix of mint green dresses by ASOS, Chi Chi London and Little Mistress and Gemma’s five sweet flower girls donned the ‘Estella’ dress from Monsoon. Hair and make-up for the bridal party was expertly done by Little Book for Brides member Lipstick and Curls.

“We knew we wanted a London wedding so picking the setting was mostly governed by location, but the history and archaic beauty of both of the venues won us over immediately. We have both always favoured the vintage over the modern and with London being such a historic city it seemed a waste not to go for an historic venue.”

Images by GB Multimedia

“The rest of the styling seemed to fall in line with the old ornate interior of the Town Hall, but also how we envisaged the big day running. We wanted to keep the theme relaxed and just brimming with fun rather than formality. The green theme was an obvious choice as it is our favourite colour and the shade we chose was governed by the time of year, as we were approaching the beginning of spring.”Gemma’s simply divine ‘Celeste’ dress by Canadian designer Anais Anette was bought via Schone Bride in Brooklyn when living in New York.

“I tried on a number of dresses in lots of different styles before I came across Anais Anette at a trunk show. The delicate all-over lace was exactly what I had been picturing and just hadn’t been able to find anywhere else.”

“I wanted a simple fitted dress, but with a few statement features and the low back and long train of this dress were what I loved about it. I made up my mind almost instantly after trying it on in the shop.”

The groom won the Love My Dress competition held last year to have their wedding invitations made by Lamplighter London – how lovely! – and the bride designed and printed the place cards, table plan, menus and order of service. For favours, the couple arranged awesome adult Ladybird Books such as ‘The Hipster’ and ‘The Hangover’ picked out to suit each person, which were ordered online via Amazon.

“We had hand-painted welcome signs in ivory and gold made by ‘Painted By Katie’ on Etsy. The table plan was wedding-related cockney rhyming slang for the table names and made by ourselves out of old crates, as was the cocktail station, and old-school milk bottles. All of the flower jars were hand-decorated ourselves with lace and twine and we had vintage china for dinner, rented from our caterer.”

Both bride and groom arranged the flowers (bouquets, buttonholes and venue flowers) themselves, sourcing all of the flowers fresh from the New Covent Garden flower market in London two days before the wedding.

“It was actually the first time we had ever arranged flowers, but we thought if we kept it simple we could do it. Having the flower market where all of London’s florists source their flowers right on our doorstep felt too convenient not to make use of. We went for predominantly white flowers rather than experimenting with different colour palates and just used lots of greenery for contrast. This tied in well with our green theme for the bridesmaids and groomsmen.”

“We met in 2009 when I started working in the same team as Jim at work (he actually trained me!). We were friends at first, but a year in and we knew there was more there. We got together in 2010 and lived three years in London together before work took us to New York where we lived for three years together and where we got engaged.”

“The proposal was a surprise and happened on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts for the 4th of July. Unbeknown to me Jim was cycling around for days with the ring and a bottle of champagne in his bag before he saw the chance on Chappaquiddick Beach (famous from the movie Jaws – his favourite film of course) underneath the fireworks. We were engaged for 18 months before the big day and actually planned most of the wedding from New York before the final stretch when we moved back to London in late 2016.”

The initial-stamped tie clips for the groom’s party were sourced from ‘Handstamped WotNots’ on Etsy. Jim sported a smart French Connection for Moss Bros suit, with a green bow tie and pocket square from Mrs Bow Tie.

I’m a little bit in love with Gemma’s handmade ivory tulle lace-edged cathedral veil by AmiB Couture and found on Etsy, as well as her gold sparkly peep-toes by Chelsea Crew, sourced from Modcloth.

She added a hair slide bought from a local vintage market, a spray of Chanel Coco Mademoiselle and a necklace by Cyclical Industry to finish off her glamorous look.

Gemma’s dad drove his daughter to the church in a groovy old green Nissan Figaro from a local supplier in London. He then accompanied Gemma for the aisle walk to the traditional wedding march. The vows were governed by the Catholic church ceremony and they included two special readings, ‘The Gift of Love’ from Corinthians read by Gemma’s sister and maid of honour Louise and ‘Us Two’ by A.A.Milne (from Winnie the Pooh) read by the bride’s oldest friend and bridesmaid Rachael. I just adore the reason behind how heartfelt this reading is for the couple.

“Jim and I live and work in the same team together every day and people are always shocked at how we manage to balance this whilst staying sane with one other. It has always come easy to us and I think few couples are able to spend such a huge amount of time together and still have such a healthy and fun relationship. He’s been my best friend since we met and I think this line from the reading couldn’t have summed it up better. ‘Us Two’ seemed like it was a reading made for us, especially the following line:

Wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.
Whatever I do, he wants to do,
Where are you going today?” says Pooh:
Well, that’s very odd ‘cos I was too.

“My ring was from Catbird Brooklyn and was actually made up of three separate rings bound together (our initials and a little heart). I wanted something a little different and Catbird was always my favourite little jewellery shop when living in New York. I already had their ‘G’ ring and so before we moved back to London I bought the ‘J’ and the heart ring as additions to make the band complete. Jim’s ring was a simple white gold band and was sourced from a local jeweller in Angel.”

  

The photographer – Gary of GB Multimedia – is a friend of the bride and groom and they were so happy with his brilliant work.

“We were fortunate to have such a talented photographer as a dear friend and he was the obvious choice to cover our wedding. He really pays attention to detail and thinks of creative ways of capturing the moment, without intruding on the natural flow of the day. We couldn’t recommend him more.”

 

After the ceremony, The New York Brass Brand paraded the newlyweds to the reception venue and then joined them again halfway through the first dance and into the evening.

“We managed to stop traffic as they played us in to ‘Celebration’ by Kool and the Gang and all the guests were waiting outside the venue with confetti. The band are a seven-piece brass band who play modern and old school classics on brass.”

“We searched high and low for a band that didn’t make us wince and could do something a little different. These guys were the perfect choice, having got crowds at Glastonbury moving before, but also experienced at doing weddings. They were a splurge, but so many people commented on how fantastic they were and they really brought something special to the day.”

The bride found this very blog a huge inspiration and helpful resource in the lead up to the big day and discovered her venue and caterer Easy Gourmet Catering referenced on previous Love My Dress submissions. Thank you Gemma for these lovely comments – we’re chuffed!

“I love reading about the real weddings and all of the variety they have to offer. I like that Love My Dress cover so many different kinds of weddings and don’t conform to just one formula. There is so much on the blog to draw inspiration from as you are going through the planning process. The directory was invaluable as well and I found the supplier recommendations so helpful.”

“Easy Gourmet Catering were fantastic and the team were more like event planners than simply caterers and made sure every detail of the afternoon/evening was taken care of.”

 

The couple’s tempting semi-naked wedding cake, with three tiers of different flavoured Victoria sponge and decorated with flowers and fruit, was made by a family friend and professional cake maker Mandy Roberts of Buttercream & Blooms. And the groom got crafty with a delectable wall of donuts as a surprise treat for their lucky guests.

“As Mandy had made cakes for our family many times, we knew to trust her with the design. Some simple guidance on fruit and flowers and she created a masterpiece that also tasted incredible. In addition to the cake, Jim room built a giant donut wall as a surprise for guests (we love donuts!!) and they were supplied by London’s Crosstown Doughnuts. We had coffee to go with them from our favourite coffee shop Toby’s Estate.”

“We chose ‘Baby I Love You’ by The Ramones for the first dance. It’s a classic in our house and Jim was adamant not to have to dance to any cheese in front of an audience, so we picked this as a compromise. Fun, but still sentimental. The brass band also joined us as a surprise half way through the song and got all the crowd to join in.”

“We had The Moon Booth as a photo booth for guests in the evening. Their 1920s-style paper moon fit perfectly with the style of our venue and this small couple-run company were brilliant to work with.”

“We went over budget by about £4,000. This was mostly owed to catering costs and going with the band that we really wanted – we ended up weighing this up quite a lot and decided that they were worth the stretch.”

“The ceremony and reading the vows to one another was by far the best part of the day, but one bit we really enjoyed was just sitting as a couple alone on the top table rather than having the traditional bridal party with us. This allowed us to actually talk, eat and take in the room together and really drink in the experience as a couple.”

“This part of the day was the only time we were really alone and it was fantastic to be able to stop and take it all in just the two of us. The parade to the venue through the streets of London accompanied by a seven piece brass band was pretty memorable as well!”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“I would say be true to the couple that you are and don’t let anyone sidetrack you from the day that you both envisage. There are so many interested parties when it comes to weddings and so many suggestions thrown your way, but only run with those that speak to who you are as a couple. Abandon the traditions that stress you out and create new ones. Make the day as fun as it can be and definitely find the time throughout the day to stop and live the moment.”

“I think in hindsight we would have allowed a little more time between ‘events’ throughout the day. Everybody says it, but the time just flies and more time between ceremony and dinner to stop and smell the roses would have been great. The tight schedule of the day can often dictate things, but a bit more abandon of the schedule would’ve been better. Just free time to spend with your new husband and all of your guests before it’s on to the next thing.”

These are such helpful pearls of wisdom – take note! Thank you to Gemma and Jim for allowing us a sneak peek into your utterly delightful day – and a very big thank you to Gary for sharing their gorgeous moments.

Love Jo -xo-