Camilla and Jamie’s wedding on 8th August 2024 was a bold and beautiful celebration, inspired by the vibrant artistry of Howard Luke Hall. Held at The Asylum Chapel in Peckham, the day was filled with creativity, colour and personal touches that reflected the couple’s unique style.
Camilla wore an exquisite Eva Lendel gown from Ellie Sanderson Bridal, which perfectly captured the blend of classic romance and contemporary flair that defined their celebration. From artsy stationery to vibrant florals, every detail reflected their love and individuality, creating a wedding full of personality and charm.
Photography by the talented Osman of Wolf & Co. Photography. Enjoy darlings!
The Vibe
I wanted our wedding aesthetic to feel authentic to how we are the rest of the time, and it was actually our home décor that inspired us to be freer with colour combinations and choices. I love the colourful, eclectic and romantic style of Luke Edward Hall and used this as inspiration when designing our wedding invitations – peach with handwritten-style elements.
We carried this style over into our on the day stationery, and hand painted names onto our menus as place settings. The mixed bridesmaids dresses inspired our mixed candles on the tables, and these colours were considered when it came to briefing flowers.
Bridal Beauty & Accessories
Katya Vladimirova was tasked with make-up and really took the time to get to know me and the colours I gravitate towards. Bridal make-up tends to very pink and romantic but I prefer bronze and orange tones – Kat went out of her way to incorporate this into her kit. I loved the look on the day.
My hair was in the very capable hands of Roxy Farrier who did such an incredible job giving me the long, thick tresses of my dreams. It held long into the night and looked unreal.
“When thinking about the direction I’d like to go, I asked a close friend how she’d describe my style. She said ‘Classic, with a twist of camp‘, which I loved. I used this as the guiding force when looking for designs which felt elegant but with a flamboyant, fun element.”
My wedding dress was the Rozalli by Eva Lendel, a Ukrainian bridal designer. I bought my bridal gown from Ellie Sanderson Bridal, specifically their Kiddington store which tends to stock its more unusual designs. The team were lovely and so welcoming, and the studio was beautiful – I definitely recommend.
Then I came across the dress online, I knew I had to try it – I actually travelled all the way to Newcastle to try on a sample, only to get there and be told they’d hastily sold it since absolutely no-one wanted to try it on and that it wasn’t quite the dress they thought it would be. This only spurred me on further and as soon as I tried it on, there was no doubt.
My dress came with the option of a dramatic cape attachment which acts like a train, so a veil wasn’t needed. After trying on multiple designer styles, I eventually ended up with a bargain £30 pair of shoes from Quiz Clothing which were perfect and extremely comfortable. You don’t always have to spend big!
I carried Cult Gaia Puffer bag and my scent was ‘Gentle Fluidity Gold’, by Maison Francis Kurkdjian. I opted for Grace & Kin Irregular Pearl Earrings – I loved the thicker hoop, which is in line with the chunky styles I wear day to day. This was accompanied with a danity Monica Vinader pearl bracelet and a selection of gold Mejuri & Hey Harper rings – a staple part of my everyday jewellery.
The Ceremony
Our wedding ceremony was at The Asylum Chapel in Peckham, London. Guest numbers were a priority for us so we wanted to find venues where we knew we could deliver a quality experience for a lot of people. We live in South London and loved the idea of keeping it local and personal, and having been to many beautiful estate weddings in the countryside for the weddings of friends and family, something in the city felt a little different and much more us.
The Asylum Chapel is a gem and we loved the distinctive aesthetic. When you say ‘pub reception’, The Nelson Room at the Trafalgar Tavern isn’t what springs to mind – it was brilliant to surprise guests with the unexpected grandeur. Stefania Lo Castro, a harpist, played guests into the ceremony. She mixed in guilty pleasure songs including Cascada, Everytime We Touch, with beautiful classical choices such as Ludovico Einaud.
I walked to Dice by Finlay Quay. We had the most wonderful celebrant in the form of Aggie The Celebrant. Aggie is such a vibrant personality, she made us feel instantly at ease, giving us a fun questionnaire to dig deep into our story and meeting up with us for a drink in order to find those extra details. She walked us through everything so we felt totally prepared and helped us with pointers to write our personal vows.
We knew two thirds of the script in advance and she saved some as a surprise for us on the day. It was personal, funny, moving – we had tears, laughter, the lot. For our vows, we made promises to each other, some serious, some silly. I tried to be a little vulnerable in mine before lightening things up.
“Like most people who meet in their 30s, I came with baggage. Not the kind that fits neatly into a Ryanair bag checker either. But you helped me carry it as if it were your own, making it feel lighter and lighter until eventually it felt like I didn’t have anything to carry at all.
I promise to do the same for you. I will help carry the load of anything that dares to weigh you down so that you can feel as unburdened as you make me feel. Be that through the tough moments that await us all in life, or just unloading the dishwasher (since you seem to really hate that)”
My engagement ring was by Nolan and Vada; a peach sapphire. I showed Jamie a ring of theirs as inspiration and he took it very literally. The brand is known for its colourful stones, so Jamie was having Zoom meetings with them early in the morning or late at night in the office to make it happen and send it over to the UK.
My brother-in-law Darren read a letter from musician Nick Cave’s The Red Hand Files, where a young fan wrote to Nick asking ‘What Can You Tell Me About Love?’ Nick’s response meditates on love’s dual nature— both its profound beauty and its capacity for heartbreak. It’s a risk and a reward and the world is better for it.
Jamie loves the hymns sung in church weddings so was insistent that we had a singalong at ours – we had everyone up and singing Lighthouse Family – High which put everyone in the best mood. We also taped our wedding rings to the underneath of a chair for a ‘secret ringbearer’ When it was time, Aggie asked guests to reach under and whoever had the rings walked up as our ring bearer. It was so fun and interactive.
Our wedding rings came from Etsy, a budget saving choice, with the intention that we may upgrade them for an anniversary in the future.
Photography
We knew we wanted documentary style and found Osman of Wolf & Co. Photography through a wedding he had captured at the Asylum Chapel previously.
We loved the pure joy in every picture, and the colours he picked up in the venue and guests. He was one of the few photographers who didn’t try to wash out the blue of venue – everything felt fun, vibrant, natural and not like they were trying to be too try hard. We wanted our photography to capture that it wasn’t just the best day for us but for everyone involved.
We want to feel the happiness radiate, and to be transported back to those real moments rather than just a staged romantic photo shoot that took up all of the day.
Guests filmed their own footage using 90s camcorders, and Wedlock Films used this to create a film. Going through the raw footage was incredible and filled in so many blanks of who was where, doing what – something you as a couple aren’t part of on the day.
How They Met
We’re a lockdown couple, and met at a mutual friend’s BBQ – the first time post-lockdown that 30 people were allowed to gather. Jamie had been suggested to me as ‘a bit of you’ prior to this, but I had zero interest.
However when I clocked him across the garden, I instantly asked who he was. Fast forward a few hours, he was doing his best shoulder-heavy dance moves to a song from Step Up 2: The Streets – which, after a few drinks, I thought was extremely impressive.
Jamie proposed at home on our third nniversary in July 2023 and whisked us away for a beautiful weekend in Valetta in Malta where we enjoyed being in our bubble before sharing the news with friends. We gave ourselves a year to plan the wedding, set for August 2024.
To elevate things, Jamie opted for a Black Tie Dinner Suit from Reiss, with custom shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt (one for the ceremony and one to change into later to stay fresh). Loakes shoes completed the look, along with a Marks & Spencer bow tie. The groomsmen were also in black tie.
The Reception
We used the incredible Kitchen Party and the compliments didn’t stop coming. Clem is a friend of mine and is so talented, it was a no brainer.
Our reception was held at the Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich.
At the reception, we kept tables clean and white, accenting with lilac linen napkins rented via The Knotted Napkin Co. Tapered candles – green, lilac, orange and blush – decorated the table in vintage brass candlestick holders.
Ribbons were tied to these on the tables, as well as those on the fireplace. We also created a photo opportunity and seating area using the sofa on which we shared our first kiss –kindly donated by our matchmaker friend, Steph.
There was no question that our florist would be Gloria Studio. I had been following them on Instagram for years ever since my days working brand side in fashion – they’re a go to for events and I regularly see them used by several of my favourite brands and publications. I love their wild, natural style and unusual combinations and didn’t hesitate to reach out to them.
Amaia couldn’t have been more helpful if she tried and worked closely with me to bring my mood board to life, including getting in touch with her suppliers to ensure we could get hold of the green Amaranthus. Along with Kasia, they also doubled up as an extra pair of eyes on the ceremony venue, checking the groomsmen had decorated in line with the brief. We got so many compliments on the flowers, I couldn’t have been happier.
Trafalgar Tavern’s in-house catering team did an amazing job and were so accommodating. We loved the sound of items from their everyday pub menu, such as tuna carpaccio and the burrata, and they were happy to add these choices in with the other picks from the event menu. We swapped dessert for margaritas and espresso martinis.
The multi-tiered cake extravaganza was created by Bakes by Olivia. Olivia is our go-to cake maker and we’ve had several of her vintage-style cakes for birthdays over the years. There was no question we’d get her on the case for our wedding too! They were perfectly on brand with our décor style.
Cake so often gets forgotten about at weddings ( a travesty!) so we deliberately had it for pudding to make sure no bite went to waste. We had two flavours – coconut sponge with raspberry coulee, and lemon and elderflower with lemon curd.
We created and printed the stationery ourselves, hacking templates downloaded from Etsy and printing using printed.com.
Ibiza is a special place for us and for my family – my sister and her family now live there. Hierbas Ibicencas is the drink of the island which Jamie and I brewed and bottled at home to use as wedding favours, having attended a workshop on the island last year and borrowing the recipe.
Our favourite part of the day was sitting down at dinner at our sweetheart table for two, just looking out at the sea of friends and family before us all chatting, laughing, drinking and interacting – even those on tables with strangers were animated and getting on like they’d known each other for years. It was incredibly special.
For cocktail hour, I slipped in an ASOS Design sequin gown that I had customized with a split.
Evening & Dancing
For party time, it was another Ukrainian designer, Balykina, and their Lolita mini dress. I also wore a freshwater pearl chokder and pearl chain necklace, both from Etsy with the letters ‘J’ and ‘C’ layered together.
For the evening party, Entrée stole the show. We played our first dance as a track and got the band to learn an extra floor filler, and an end of the night song that nodded to our university days (Baywatch theme, IYKYK). We opted for the 7 piece line-up with brass and the dancefloor didn’t miss a beat.
Our first dance was to Darius Rucker’s Wagon Wheel. It had become a special song for us after several run drunken singalongs over the years. We loved that it allowed us to have a bit of fun rather than be too serious as we’re not ones for remembering a perfect choreographed dance – I donned custom cowboy boots for the occasion from Wandering Coyote.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Think about who you really are and stay true to that. I think too many people try to adopt a different personality or do something a certain way because it’s the done thing at a wedding, or because you think that’s what being a bride entails. People are there to celebrate you and like to see that reflected in your choices, even in small ways.
I’d also say, take what you see on social media with a pinch of salt. The urge to compare yourself to the picturesque weddings you’re served is very tempting, but you have no idea of their budgets and planning set up.
There’s nothing I would change.
