Soraya and Josh’s chic London wedding was a modern and contemporary celebration of love, style, and urban elegance.
The couple exchanged vows on 9th September 2023, in the beautiful Atrium at Hackney Town Hall, followed by a reception at the stylish Allegra Restaurant and Bar in Stratford. The day was filled with sophisticated details, highlighted by Soraya’s breathtaking off-the-shoulder bridal gown in hammered silk, designed by London based Nikeen Asar. Everything was captured flawlessly as always, by the wonderful Taylor-Hughes Photography,
Both venues reflected the the couple’s tastes and backgrounds and were selected intentionally for their minimalist style; the reception venue’s stylish terrace provide some pretty breathtaking views of the city skyline. This wedding is a whole chic, city vibe and we adore it.
Enjoy!
The Dress
Nikeen Asar
I bought my dress directly from Nikeen Asar, the designer. I was lucky enough to visit a pop-up he was holding in Soho.
I’m so pleased I got to have that personal experience buying directly from Nikeen, he is so kind and very talented.
It was the first dress I tried and fell in love with, the hand-hammered silk is just divine, and I found the bardot neckline and sleeves very elegant.
Everything from trying, ordering and altering was done via Nikeen and his small team, and I couldn’t recommend them more if you’re looking for a contemporary wedding designer in London.
Bridal Beauty & Accessories
May hair and makeup artist was a lovely and talented friend, Nikki Chayka.
My shoes were Loeffler Randall’s ‘Natalia’, in champagne. My perfume was ‘Dear Polly’, from Vilhelm Parfumerie – simply because it’s my favourite scent. I wore vintage gold earrings of my Mum, alongside the fan she used on her wedding day.
I gave my bridesmaids the colour burgundy as the theme but let them choose their own outfits. I wanted them all to feel beautiful and like themselves, and they looked incredible. Two wore dresses from Rixo, another wore a mini dress from ASOS, and the fourth wore a velvet blazer with a light blue shirt and cream trousers. The girls all wore gold shoes and jewellery.
The Ceremony
The Atrium, Hackney Town Hall
Our ceremony was held in The Atrium at Hackney Town Hall, London. We wanted a simple ceremony without much fuss. The Atrium is a beautiful room with great natural lighting that did all the talking for us.
My Dad accompanied me to the wedding ceremony – and having not been keen on a traditional wedding I’m blown away by how special it felt to have those precious moments with him. It was emotional. We had ‘Sunshine’ by Gabrielle playing as we walked down the aisle.
We didn’t do any bespoke vows as we were so nervous and really wanted to keep the ceremony short and sweet. But we did ask our joint MCs Lauren and Lucy to do a reading, and it was a really lovely moment to finally breath and take in the Atrium and the reality of actually getting married.
I gave my friends free reign to do whatever reading they felt fit. It was a contemporary wedding and I think the reading fit perfectly with the friendship and partnership Josh and I hold for one another. The reading was ‘Everything I Know About Love’, by Dolly Alderton.
My sister is a jeweller and so we bought our rings through her work, Gerald’s Of Knutsford – they have decades of knowledge and exceptional quality and attention to detail. A big thank you to Helen M. Ford Jewellery for my bespoke engagement ring and wedding band.
Jade put us completely at ease and we immediately knew we wanted to have them at our wedding. They were really helpful leading up to the wedding, giving recommendations, timings and always quick to respond to our emails. On the day they were brilliant, super organised, very chilled and so friendly they felt like guests.
All of our guests complimented how lovely and professional they were and I’m stunned at the photos they got of us.
Absolutely recommend them!
How They Met
We met through friends at university and have been together for almost 10 years. Josh well and truly caught me off guard by proposing on his own birthday as we were heading out to celebrate. He proposed in the kitchen of our first home. Neither of us wanted a public engagement and I love that it was simple and somewhere personal to us.
We weren’t in a huge rush to get married and were engaged for three years.
Josh wore a navy suit from Suit Supply and suede brown loafers from Hawes & Curtis. As a joint wedding and 30th birthday present I bought Josh a watch which I gave him the day before the wedding.
The Reception
We specifically chose our venues because of their stylish, minimal interiors. Our reception was held at Allegra Restaurant and Bar in Stratford, London – it provides exceptional food and drink, and the most lovely hospitality.
We both have career backgrounds in hospitality, so great food and drink was always a priority for us at our wedding. We love hosting and we wanted to host our guests in a personal way.
Allegra is a stylish, beautiful dining room, and their service and quality of food and drink is exceptional. Everything was flawless and it was a highlight for everyone, we’re still getting messages about how incredible the wedding breakfast was.
London is our home and we always wanted to celebrate it with a city wedding. Allegra has a very special terrace with views of the city skyline – truly memorable.
We chose not to have a cake and instead served pastel de natas, one of our favourite sweet treats. They were a huge hit and I didn’t even get to have one myself!
Our wonderful friend Lauren designed our invites, table plan and other signage. For our invites we used the talented Phoebe Rutherford to draw our wedding venue, we also have the original drawings in A4 framed at home.
We created a build-your-own hangover kit station for the end of the night, and it was a huge hit. Bags were pre-filled with hydration sachets, mints and paracetamol, and then guests chose between mine and Josh’s hangover crisps ( Soraya – Monster Much pickled onion, Josh – Salt & Vinegar Discos) and fizzy drink (Soraya – Coca Cola, Josh – Fanta). We also had takeaway boxes for people to save their pastel de nata for breakfast.
Evening & Dancing
Kudos Functions were an amazing band who brought so much energy to our dance floor. We also hired magician Fergus Flanaghan – we wanted to provide some entertainment for guests during our drinks reception and to also act as an ice breaker between guests that didn’t know each other. Fergus was so so brillant, mind blowing card tricks and such a great energy – highly recommend!
We asked the band to do an acoustic version of the garage song Flowers by Sweet Female Attitude. We have danced to this song so many times in our kitchen, and again as we dreaded being in front of people for too long, we wanted a song with energy that would get everyone onto the dancefloor with us. It was a success!
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Anticipate costs to increase during the time from getting engaged to getting married. I think we had a very strict idea in our heads of what we wanted to spend and we then found it more stressful when making decisions, so give yourself some wriggle room.
Gifts (or hangover kits for us) at the end rather than on the table are a much better idea, people lose wedding favours as the day goes on.
We found ourselves at a crossroads with our perfect reception venue and the number of guests we could fit in. Ultimately, it meant we couldn’t have our full extended families and although they came to the evening where we saved speeches and entertainment to make it a significant part of the day, I do wish they could have joined for the full day.
We have owned our home for some time and so if guests wanted to give a gift we asked for a donation to our honeymoon.
