Kate and James tied the knot at The Asylum Chapel, a hugely popular venue with Love My Dress couples, on 11th August 2023, followed by a reception at The Hackney in London’s East End – a super chic, converted coffee house with high ceilings, white brick & hanging greenery.
Having previously owned their own pop-up bar, the couple wanted a very relaxed vibe on their day with cocktails flowing throughout. They found the flexibility and options provided by both their venues exemplary in this respect and especially fell in love with The Asylum.
The bride wore a modern gown with a subtle bohemian vibe for the daytime, which she discovered at & She Loves bridal boutique, before slipping into a cheeky number from Reformation for the evening.
This fabulously fun wedding was captured by Laura of This Modern Revelry. Enjoy!
The Ceremony
My bridesmaids dresses were from ASOS and we bought our daughters handmade dress in a small boutique in France. Our friends’ little girls were flower girls too and they flew in from Singapore so the girls had bought them themselves.
We loved the look of both our venues – they took care of everything for us and the aesthetic and style of the spaces suited our style down to the ground.
My dad walked me down the Aisle, and we drove from the hotel to the ceremony in an old school pink car. I walked down to an acoustic version of ‘simply the best’ by Tina turner.
We went through Southwark council to officiate our ceremony. We wrote our own vows which I loved – we kept them short but sweet and it’s so nice to have them to look back on now.
We had a reading from my oldest friend Edward – it was lovely and such a nice way to kick off the ceremony.
I got my wedding ring from Fenton as it went with my engagement ring – which is aquamarine!
The Dress
My dress from the day was from & She Loves bridal and I have nothing but great things to say about them.
I had been to quite a few dress shops and had felt a lot of pressure to find the one. From the moment I arrived at & She Loves, there was no pressure, just a lovely, exciting experience of trying dresses on in their beautiful boho changing room.
I felt like my dress really suited our venue to get married, I wanted something comfortable that I felt great in.
My mum treated me to some gold Gucci Marmont sandals, which I love, because I can wear these again and remember that special day. They were so comfortable I wore them all day and all night. My mum also bought me some pearl earrings which matched my hair and necklace was from Monica Vinader.
My sister did my hair and added in small pearl beads to my low relaxed bun. I wore Byredo Gyspy Water on the day – I loved the smell of it and have saved this to wear on anniversaries or special occasions.
On the morning of the wedding, James sent a box to my room which included some of his late mums jewellery. This was very special and I wore one of the rings on the day.
How They Met
We met in a bar in Marlow after a fair few drinks, I approached James, which is really something for me haha!
We got engaged in Paris- James booked a beautiful air bnb that overlooked the Eiffel Tower and proposed in the evening when it lit up!
We were engaged for just over a year before the wedding.
James wore a black tux from Reiss.
Photography
Our photographers were This Modern Revelry. We LOVED the style of the photography – having followed them on Instagram for a while and new this was exactly what we wanted for the day.
Both of us are extremely camera shy/ and the guys made us feel so at ease.
The Reception
The reason we picked both of our venues, was because they were so nice and didn’t need anything extra by way of styling.
Hugo from The hackney organised everything for us for our reception – we were SO happy with the service and had no stresses on the day or in the build up.
One of our close friends owns Phantom Brewery- and they very kindly did us a personalised beer for the day to give out as favours! We loved this so much.
We had Lam Lam Cakes do a vintage cake with ‘Ball and chain’ on it, and then our neighbour is the best brownie baker in the land – we had a huge selection and they went down a treat!
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Try not to get too stressed out by the finer details of the day- it all comes together and on the day all of this is forgotten!
We wanted a small wedding and originally had planned around 15k, we went over this (as everyone does!) but not by a huge amount so we were both happy!
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Additional Credits
The below suppliers and venues are featured in this article, but are not part of the Love My Dress Wedding Directory.
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
