A Modern Black Tie London Wedding + Clean Contemporary Galvan Lines

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As well as enjoying all of the heart-warming stories behind the weddings we share on Love My Dress, one of the very best parts of writing is discovering new photographers, venues and designers.

This morning I was so excited to open up a folder of images from Clare Randell, whose work I have quite simply fallen head over heels in love with. Her crisp, clean modern style perfectly suits the cool, contemporary vibe of the bride and groom. So, let’s get started.

The bride and groom are Rochelle and Tony, who married in a humanist ceremony at Bethnal Green’s Town Hall Hotel on 9 June 2018. The couple chose a black tie dress code and a simple colour palette of white, black and navy, choosing elements that they liked to create a day that reflected their lives together.

Photography Clare Randell Photography

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The Town Hall Hotel was a wonderful setting for their ceremony and reception, as they could move between its spacious rooms throughout the day.

“We had a black tie dress code, a semi-naked cake and corsages for our women of honour. I love neutral colours and that was reflected in the colours that we use throughout the day – white, black and navy.”

Tony and Rochelle met on Tinder and got engaged in the same pub they visited for their first date.

“We swiped right on Tinder and arranged drinks at a restaurant near where we both worked (off Fleet Street) after work the next day. We got engaged after heading to the place where we had our first drink four years earlier.”

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“We headed back to South London for a surprise engagement party that Tony had organised at one of our local pubs – I thought I was going to the cinema with friends and Tony was going to watch the football, our friends had been in on the whole thing.”

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Rochelle’s friend Laura Corner styled the bridal party, keeping the look refined, modern and sophisticated. The bride’s hair was worn down in its beautiful curls, and her make-up neutral and glowy.

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Oh, and I must mention the flowergirl who looks so pretty and fairy-like in her white M+S dress and pretty floral headpiece.

[JP-VIDEO]

“I loved my when my mum joined us for the final moments of getting ready. It was so lovely to have her there.”

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Rochelle looks breathtaking in her elegant yet super-sexy halter-neck gown. I love its simple, flattering cut which hugs her curves and that deep side-slit for a truly modern look. Senior stylist Silvia Mateos at Galvan London in Notting Hill helped her to select it.

“I originally wanted to find a bridal jumpsuit and booked an appointment at Galvan to try on the Asymmetric Jumpsuit, however amongst the other options that Silvia had pulled in my size was the Palm Beach Dress and as soon as I tried it on, I knew it was the one (as did my mum, whose face lit up when she saw it).”

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Meanwhile, Tony was preparing by dressing in a wonderful off-white Hugo Boss dinner jacket with a black lapel trim. Worn with black trousers and bowtie, he looks every inch the modern groom. His shoes were Russell & Bromley, and his groomsmen wore  Yardsmen Tailors dinner jackets.

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The clean lines of the gown are balanced by the exquisite, cathedral-length veil which flows behind her. I was delighted to read that it’s a Britten design; one of the designers who we adore supporting on these pages.

To find out more you can visit their Little Book listing here for examples of their exquisitely-crafted wedding veils, headpieces and accessories.

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Rochelle and Tony decided to have a humanist wedding, and met with three difference celebrants. They chose celebrant Lauren Stone and worked with her to personalise the vows and ceremony.

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“We knew from the start that we didn’t want a church wedding or a religious ceremony as we are not particularly religious. We found out about humanist wedding ceremonies when googling Registry Offices in London and after reading about humanists and humanist principles, we knew it was a great match for us.”

“Lauren is amazing and has the best energy. We met her a few times before the wedding and it felt like a friend was performing the ceremony.”

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Built in 1910, the Town Hall Hotel houses the Council Chambers; a magnificent light-filled space with Art Deco interiors. It is a perfect ceremony space, and where Rochelle and Tony had their humanist ceremony.

“Tony and I walked down the aisle together. For me the idea of being given away or given to somebody was not up my street so we decided to do it together, followed by our bridesmaids and groomsmen. We walked in to the London African Gospel Choir singing ‘Ave Maria’. I thought this was going to be the traditional version of the song but Tony surprised me on the day and asked the choir to sing the Beyoncé version as it is one of my favourites – which definitely made the waterworks start.”

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“One of the funniest moments happened just before we were due to enter the Council Chamber. Tony and I entered through two separate doors on either side of the Chamber. However as I was about to walk in, my bridesmaid Anna suddenly realised that she had forgotten Tony’s ring and sprinted back to the suite to get it (I’ve never seen her move so fast in heels).”

“Meanwhile, Tony, on the other side of the room, had already marched in unaware of anything happening and was standing in the middle of the floor, slightly confused as to why I was not also there, ready to walk down the aisle together.”

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“Myself, our women and men of honour and Tia (the THH events coordinator) were all outside trying to disguise the fits of laughter that we were in. It was a great moment, I was very emotional at the time and the whole thing made me laugh and forget about crying (not that I didn’t start again as soon as I started walking down the aisle).”

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Tony and Rochelle wrote their own vows, and sent them to their celebrant before the ceremony so that she could check that they had the same vibe.

Their readings were an excerpt from ‘Winnie The Pooh’ – ‘If You Live To Be A Hundred’ – read by one of Tony’s best men, Tom, and a poem called ‘And I Have You’ by Nikki Giovanni, read by Rochelle’s sister and woman of honour Rhianna.

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“Tony chose the excerpt from Winnie the Pooh because it is simple, lighthearted and romantic. Nikki Giovanni is one of my favourite poets and the poem seemed fitting.”

The pair exchanged rings from Wempe.

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“We bought my engagement ring from Wempe and their customer service and level of expertise and knowledge are second to none. They make you feel so at home and suggest great options.”

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The women of honour look so sophisticated in their long, navy Whistles gowns, which fits in with the black tie theme so well. Instead of carrying posies, they wore corsages on their wrists of pure white flowers. The bride carried a hand-tied bouquet of the same flowers, which were arranged by florist Hazel Gardiner and finished off with deep green foliage for a classic, elegant feel.

“We knew we wanted white flowers but we really had no idea about which flowers we wanted. After sending Hazel a few photos of what we liked, we put our trust in her to design an arrangement and then made adjustments from there.”

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Clare Randall Photography was on hand from the bride’s preparations right through until the evening dance. I love her modern, fresh work and use of light. She also has such an eye for capturing pure emotion; the photos of Rochelle and Tony are breathtaking.

“Such a lovely and friendly photographer who was recommended to us by another photographer who was already booked on our wedding day. Clare made us feel very much at ease on our couple shoot a month before the wedding and again on the day of our wedding.”

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The London African Gospel Choir stayed on after the ceremony, and I just love the choice of songs which the Choir performed. They must have sounded so joyful in that amazing space, and the photos of the choir performing are amongst my favourite.

“We had our first dance during our drinks reception. Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’ is one of my favourite songs from my childhood.”

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The Art Deco architecture of the Town Hall Hotel is absolutely beautiful and Rochelle and Tony wisely let it sing by decorating with just flowers. The overall vibe is classically beautiful yet modern. I love the simple, clean lines of the dinner setting.

“When we were looking at venues we specifically wanted to find a venue that did not require any more decoration than flowers. The décor at Town Hall Hotel is beautiful; marble paired with the old wooden features of the former Town Hall. All we had to do was add some flowers.”

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“We wanted a venue where we could have everything under one roof, the Town Hall Hotel was perfect as there were multiple room options that we could move between throughout the day… and we fell in love with the De Montfort Suite. We didn’t have a set theme; we wanted to create a contemporary wedding that represented us. Our general rule of thumb was just to choose the things that we liked. Tony is more traditional in nature; I like to be more modern.”

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The elegant stationery was home-made just a week before the wedding.

“We didn’t have order of the day booklets and made/printed the menus, table plans, and place cards ourselves with the help of my sister Rhianna Malcolm and friend Katherine Murray on the Wednesday before the wedding. After dinner the evening before the wedding my bridesmaids and I guillotined place cards and menus and filled little jars with Limoncello for the shots, in our suite at THH.”

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The dinner was provided by the Town Hall Hotel team, whilst the elegant semi-naked cake was by Megan at Blossom & Crumb. It sounds delicious, and I have to source some ‘London Fog’ cake – it sounds scrumptious.

“I came across her and initially tasted her cakes at A Most Curious Wedding Fayre in Shoreditch the day after we got engaged. I had been scrolling on Instagram that morning when I saw posts about the Fayre and went along with Dilara, one of my women of honour, that afternoon. Megan’s cakes are amazing, I absolutely fell in love with the London Fog sponge – an Earl Grey flavour, and nothing else could compare! Megan has created some really great flavours.”

“She also offers a really useful service if you are short of time and ordering a naked or semi-naked cake, and sends the cakes to your home for you to taste, which was great for us as our evenings were quite busy during those three months. For our wedding cake, we had a layer of London Fog (my favourite) and a layer of lemon (Tony’s favourite).”

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During the reception the newly-weds delivered a joint speech, which Tony names as one of his favourite moments.

“The ceremony: seeing the people closest to us cry, clap and cheer as we said our vows. The reception: seeing the choir sing Stormzy’s ‘Blinded by Your Grace’. The wedding breakfast: delivering our joint speech together. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

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Later in the evening, a family friend DJ got the party started and the newly-weds and guests danced the night away.

“One of my favourite moments right at the end of the night was Tony drunkenly trying to order 32 toasties for room service at the reception desk whilst saying goodbye to our guests and my sister trying to stop him.”

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A few weeks after the wedding, Rochelle and Tony had a second, legal ceremony.

“As we had a humanist wedding we also had to have a legally binding ceremony, which we did a few weeks after the ceremony and took our bridesmaids and groomsmen out for dinner at The Modern Pantry to say thank you.”

 

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Traditions are beautiful but don’t feel as though you are bound to them if you don’t want to be. We made sure our wedding day was about us. There were times when some people mentioned that we should be doing things differently but we stuck to our guns and planned a day that was true to us. We wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

“Our initial rough wedding budget was £15,000 (once we had looked at avenue – we only looked at two – and did some preliminary sums). Our final budget was £20,000 (including a few added extras with the caterers, settling the extra bar tab, wedding rings and our legal ceremony/ dinner at the end of the month.)”

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Rochelle and Tony, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful day with us here. It is absolutely beautiful, particularly the choir and your modern black tie look. Thank you so much Clare Randell Photography too for your work – I can’t wait to see more.

Ele xx

Credits & Thanks

Eleanor Crossland

Eleanor Crossland View all Eleanor's articles

Ele lives in the Lincolnshire countryside, close to the beautiful coast. A qualified Pilates teacher, she loves fitness, yoga, Pilates and has a healthy addiction to baking, writing and travel.

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