A Yellow Twirly Dress for an Informal London Pub Wedding With Paper Heart Bunting

Good morning lovely readers! I’ve got a good one for you today, in the form of a good old London pub knee’s up wedding, captured on camera by the extremely talented Mairead from Remain In Light Photography. So without further ado, let’s get to it shall we?

Civil servant Mary and her university love, financial analyst Josh, said their I Do’s one lovely spring day, 28th April 2018, in The Council Chamber at Islington Town Hall, before moving the celebrations on to The Peasant Pub in Camberwell, London.

“We immediately knew we wanted something that wasn’t a church or a grand countryside venue to be married in, but somewhere that still felt special. We viewed three London town halls in the end (after an initial online search) but knew immediately that we wanted Islington Town Hall as soon as we viewed it. The room felt grand but quite unique, and definitely fit for a special occasion like our wedding day.”

Images by Remain In Light Photography

Capturing the magic of London and Mary and Josh’s special day was Mairead from Remain In Light Photography who’s informal but striking photography style wowed the couple.

“The photographer was one of our top priorities for the day so we spent ages researching different options online and making a shortlist. We chose Mairead as we loved her style of being quite informal but still visually striking. She was amazing to work with – very relaxed and friendly, but always professional. She was great at making us feel comfortable in front of the camera (which neither of us naturally are), and lots of our guests commented on how great she was on the day. We’re so happy with the final photos and so pleased she was our photographer.”

Going against the grain but choosing a dress perfectly in keeping with a good old pub knee’s up, Mary chose a yellow vintage style dress made bespoke for her by Anna Fink of Dressmaker Oxford.

“I really struggled with the dress when we first got engaged. I knew more about what I didn’t want (something white and traditional) than what I did! I spent months looking through high street shops but struggled to find something that felt special enough for a wedding, but that still suited my shape. I found a maroon coloured dress in Coast which I really liked the shape of but that wasn’t quite right for a colourful spring wedding.”

“However I took this dress to Anna Fink (who had done alterations on my bridesmaids dress for my brothers wedding a couple of years before our wedding), and asked if she could recreate it in yellow and in a different material. Anna was brilliant to visit, and I was incredibly happy with the end result.”

“It was exactly what I’d wanted when I first got engaged (without being able to picture what that had been at the beginning). I loved the bright happy colour and that it was comfortable on the day. It’s really special to look back on and know that I helped decide on each element of the overall design.”

“We both also liked the idea of having something a bit different that made it recognisably ‘our’ wedding.”

“I struggled a bit when it came to deciding on my shoes as I knew I wanted heels to help it look more formal (and because I’m very short!) but I never normally wear heels and didn’t want to have sore feet for the whole day. I decided it wasn’t a very high priority for me so ended up buying some from ASOS for a bargain price of £22.”

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“I loved how they were a bit different and super sparkly. They were also amazingly comfortable and I ended up having to force myself to change into my (far more expensive) trainers I’d bought specially for the evening reception, to make sure I wore them…and then they ended up giving me blisters!”

“Josh offered to buy my wedding jewellery as my wedding present, and I chose a silver bar necklace with our wedding date engraved on it (to match my present to him of silver cufflinks). As a surprise my mother in law gave me a necklace the day before the wedding, which she’d made from a diamond from her mother’s engagement ring.”

“It was really special to wear on the day, and was the perfect match to the necklace I already had. I also wore some earrings from Accessorize that I already had and thought went well with the hair and make up.”

“The flowers weren’t a huge priority for us but we thought it was worth spending a bit of money on the bouquet and buttonhole so hired London-based florists Grace and Thorn on board.”

“We didn’t really know where to start looking so it was great to come across Grace and Thorn, who have a ‘ready to wear’ wedding flowers option, where you can pick from existing options. It was all really simple to order and suited the look we wanted on the day.”

“Josh and I met in our first year at the University of Edinburgh and had been together for about eight years by the time we got married. We had talked a lot about getting married before Josh officially proposed on our sixth anniversary of being together, but it was very much a joint decision.”

“We enjoyed having quite a long engagement so we could space out planning and not get too stressed by it. I have a job where I have to do a lot of project management so it’s safe to say a lot of spread sheets were involved in the planning process.”

“Both my parents walked me down the aisle on the day. It felt important to have both of them there as they’re both equally as important to me! We walked in to You Are The Best Thing by Ray Lamontagne.”

“We both really liked the song and it struck the right balance between emotional and upbeat. We made quite an effort to choose lots of songs that were really upbeat as we wanted to set the tone of the day from the start!”

“Josh wears quite a standard suit every day to work so knew he wanted something that was going to be a little bit different and special, but he didn’t want a formal morning suit as it wouldn’t fit with the more informal wedding style. He initially thought tweed might work but was worried it would be too hot. Thankfully he found a really great grey suit in House of Fraser which had a texture between a normal suit and tweed. It was nice and light to wear but had a bit more of a special look about it.”

“For his tie and pocket square I was able to give him a small sample of fabric from my dress. He spent a while looking strange as he searched through a number of fancy suit shops comparing the fabric against all the ties and pocket squares! The closest match he was able to find was in Roderick Charles on Jermyn Street. As a wedding gift, I also bought him some really special silver cufflinks from Deakin & Francis, engraved with the wedding date. The staff there were lovely and even gave us the engraving for free as a wedding gift!”

“We had one reading during the ceremony. We spent ages trying to find something that got across what we felt marriage was, without it being too cheesy. In the end we chose The Art Of Marriage but edited it down to the bits that really resonated with us. It was beautifully read by my close friend Zoe, who assured us she would cry throughout but actually managed to hold it together on the day.”

“For our wedding rings we took a trip to Hatton Garden in London and chose them quite quickly there and then. I got mine from a second-hand antique shop – all the rings were tiny but a perfect fit! Josh chose a simple white gold band.”

“I’ve always wanted to have a vintage makeover and my wedding felt like a good excuse so I got Kate from Lipstick and Curls on board to transform my hair and make up. I wanted something quite bold, with bright lips and dark eyes. Katie was great on the day and the result was exactly what I’d wanted.”

“We always like the idea of hiring a red London bus to transport guests between the venues and loved how it fitted with the rest of the day. Following the ceremony, our guests hopped into a big red London bus we hired from Traditional Travel who were really easy to deal with. We loved the personalised banner on the front of the bus too (which we were given to keep afterwards.).”

Guests were greeted at The Peasant with a pub adorned with fun and colourful decor including flagged bunting and paper heart garlands.

“We didn’t want to do too much to the venue as it already had lots of character, but we wanted one standout thing that would make the dining room feel special. We decided on paper bunting, which my very talented sister-in-law Toria made after we described what we wanted.”

“We spent an incredible amount of time – and papercuts – cutting out literally thousands of hearts from books Toria had found in a charity shop. She then designed a way of sewing them together and attaching them to bunting ribbon. I’d encourage you to check out her Instagram and Facebook page for her other amazing creations! It made the venue feel so special.”

“The reception venue was a really important one for us, as a lot of the day was based around the idea of a fun pub wedding! We liked the idea that lots of things would be taken care of with a pub (who are used to serving food and drinks to a large number of people at one time), and we wanted something that wasn’t a traditional, formal wedding venue.”

“We designed all the stationery ourselves. For our invitation I drew a London skyline which we then scanned into the computer, edited with Canva.com and printed using Printed.com. We liked the idea of something personalised and a bit informal which was in keeping with the overall feel of the day, and it also probably saved us a lot of money! We also did this for the thank you cards afterwards.”

“We designed the table plan together and bought a canvas tube map. Josh then designed the names list to look like tube maps using Word. We printed them at home and then attached them with pins and string. We bought some cheap copper frames online and printed personalised tube signs for the table names. Place names were paper luggage tags stamped with people’s names in bright colours, which we tied to thank you cards.”

“We also put together some framed collages of cards and tickets and other things we’d saved throughout our relationship. A friend also very kindly loaned us the bunting she’d made for her wedding.”

“We viewed three reception venues but were pretty set on The Peasant from the moment we first visited. Similar to the town hall, it wasn’t overly formal but still felt special. The decor was all quite quirky and unique, but it had beautiful tall ceilings and had the old grandeur of a gin-palace.”

“The staff there were also great. We visited a few times for Sunday lunch whilst we were wedding planning and the staff were always friendly and attentive. We felt in very safe hands with the manager Nick, who was totally organised and helpful throughout the whole of our planning. It really helped that they host weddings regularly so know how to make everything run smoothly.”

“In terms of our centrepieces, we wanted some foliage but didn’t want to spend much money so we ended up buying cheap pots and herbs online a couple of days before the wedding. Cheap and reusable, we thought they looked great on the day.”

“One of the main appeals of The Peasant was its food. We both love to eat so this was something we wanted to get right. One unique thing about them is that guests can choose from a short menu on the day so all you need to do is narrow it down to a shortlist without people needing to decide in advance.”

“Whilst unfortunately we lost our appetites a bit on the day, we’ve had lots of people telling us how good the food was. Apparently the scotch eggs in the evening were a particular highlight!”

“We never really entertained the idea of a traditional sweet wedding cake, as neither of us are big fans of cake, but we both LOVE cheese, so the decision was made before we’d even thought about it. We liked the idea of using a supplier who was local to us in Walthamstow and had walked past Froth & Rind a few times. We looked up their cheese cakes online and were really impressed.”

“We went in to try various different types of cheese and the staff there were really helpful in advising what would work best (there are more structural considerations than you might think!), which was definitely one of the highlights of wedding planning. They dealt with everything from the serving boards to decorations to delivery and the end result was amazing. Our only regret is that we didn’t eat any on the day in all the excitement.”

“For the evening’s entertainment we had originally wanted a big live band but it didn’t really work with the venue. So instead we got in touch with Lee, who’s the recommended DJ for The Peasant. He was so laid back in the run up to the day and was really helpful in meeting up with us a few weeks before the day to run over the details. He was amazing on the night and seemed as sad as our guests when it was pub closing time! Loads of our guests have said how great he was and we would definitely recommend him to others.”

“We decided not to go for wedding favours but we did do the thank you cards for the tables to show our appreciation. For our littlest guests we put together goodie bags of toys and sweets. We put the money we would have spent on favours towards a photobooth from King Of The Booth, which was great.”

“Somehow Josh only managed to get one photo in it but our guests definitely enjoyed it…a little too much towards the end of the night perhaps (you know who you are!).”

“Looking back on the day we both found the ceremony surprisingly emotional; I think we’d both expected it to feel more like a formality before the big party afterwards, but we both got fairly tearful. We loved the amazing speeches which we each did, followed by one from Josh’s brother and one from my friend from school. People were laughing all the way through and it’s the best audience you’ll ever have for a speech. We’d really encourage everyone (especially brides) to go for it, even if you’re nervous beforehand.”

Words Of Wedded Wisdom

“Planning was key for us in ensuring we weren’t as stressed towards the day itself. We didn’t have much to do in the few days before the wedding, which meant we could spend time with family and get excited about the day itself. We’d recommend focusing on one thing at a time, and steadily tick things off your planning list. At the same time, don’t feel tied down to your list. Of course some things will get delayed or don’t go the way you’d planned, and that’s fine too.”

“We didn’t want a proper first dance (we’re very different heights from each other so aren’t the most graceful dancing couple) but we asked the DJ to play Paradise by George Ezra around the time of when a first dance would normally be, to try to get people up on the dance floor. I think most people were fairly bemused so it was only really us dancing in the end.”

“Definitely don’t feel pressured to do things purely because they’re traditional. Lots of things that made our wedding feel like ours was a little different and we’re pleased about how many people have commented that it reflected our personalities. We’d love to see more brides in colourful dresses!”

“I don’t think we’d have done much about the day differently. Most things felt quite natural decisions in the run up to the wedding, and we agreed on pretty much everything during planning. Josh regrets not making more appearances in the photobooth and I regret not eating more of the wedding breakfast.”

 What a lovely day! I love how British it was and how much fun everyone seemed to be having. Congratulations Mary and Josh for pulling off such a fabulous day! And also to Mairead at Remain In Light Photography for capturing the magic on camera so beautifully.

Until next time…

Much love,

Holly x