Bethany and Lewis chose the historic Bodleian Library in London for their autumn wedding on 6th October 2024. It was a setting that matched their love of classic architecture, minimal styling and meaningful details. Captured beautifully by Darina Stoda, their day was full of effortless elegance and modern romance.
Bethany wore a bespoke Stephanie Allin gown from Morgan Davies Bridal, paired with a dramatic Eva Lendel veil that made a striking statement in the library’s grand Convocation House. The couple thoughtfully honoured Lewis’s Jamaican-Guyanese heritage with an evening West Indian buffet – a joyful highlight of the celebration.
With refined fashion, a love of literature, and deeply personal touches woven throughout, this wedding is a beautiful blend of tradition and contemporary style. Enjoy!
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Venue & Location
Initially, we had planned a low-key wedding at an old church-turned-cocktail bar – classic, classy, but with a bit of an edge. Not long after booking, we realised that the ceremony was the part we cared about most and wanted it to be as special and memorable as possible. After visiting the breathtaking Convocation House at the Bodleian Library, we knew there was no other venue that could offer us such a beautiful setting to host the ceremony. We booked it immediately, and we’re so glad we did.
Four months before the wedding, the cocktail bar cancelled our reception event due to restoration work. Thanks to the incredible Oxford Fine Dining team and the Bodleian Library staff, we were able to quickly rework the entire wedding at the Bodleian Library. What could have been a disaster turned out to be the most beautiful celebration we could have ever dreamed of – and so much more!
The Dress
Stephanie Allin
My dress, by Stephanie Allen, was from Morgan Davies in Islington, London. The team there, ‘Laura’ especially, are second to none, their passion for the dresses shows in their service effortlessly. I was choosing between Stephanie Allen ‘Peyton’ and ‘Cassis’ which had a longer train, having worked with the designer directly Laura suggested I mix both designs together into my own custom dress – I was thrilled.
I had a bit of a wobble after putting the deposit down on ‘the one’. Morgan Davies kindly allowed me to have multiple extra visits, they’re support and understanding throughout the process was impeccable.
Another shop I would recommend is Ellie Sanderson, Oxford, again fantastic service, with a experienced team who really know how to help you find your perfect dress.
Like every bride, I just wanted a dress that I felt on top of the world in. I went for a design that I felt complimented me most, I loved the neck line and train!
The veil! The veil was by Eva Lendal – also from Morgan Davies Bridal. I knew with the ceremony room I wanted a statement veil. Funnily enough it was the first veil I ever tried on!
Confession: the immaculate Jimmy Choo’s I found for an absolute bargain on depop, practised walking in for weeks in were never worn! I ended up opting for the comfier option from Rainbow Club and was so glad I did!
I wanted to keep my jewellery light and simple like the dress, my parents gifted me the necklace and earrings for my 30th.
Rachael is not only the most incredibly talented hair stylist but also the loveliest soul to share your wedding morning with. She is an absolute joy. I had two trials because I was quite undecided with the look I wanted to go for, she was patient, helpful and the trial were so enjoyful at her lovely studio. On the day my hair was immaculate and lasted the entire night, my bridesmaids were also so pleased her there styles, I couldn’t recommend more! Highly highly recommend.
I found my makeup artist, Phoebe, through Rachael’s instagram, I could see they not only worked together a lot but were genuine friends which added another lovely dynamic to the morning getting ready! I was a little nervous about my make up and trial, not only because I had never had my make up done before but because I unfortunately have very acne-prone skin.
Like every brides nightmare, I had the biggest two spots on the morning of the wedding, and you’d never know because Phoebe did such a fantastic job. Like Rachael she brings such a gorgeous relaxed atmosphere and really cares about her work, she will not let you walk down that aisle without perfecting your face, like her own masterpiece! My bridesmaids didn’t have trials, and were thrilled with there flawless looks. Highly highly recommend.
The Ceremony
My dad walked me down the aisle, like for all brides, whoever walks you down the aisle (even if you walk independently!) this was a really special moment for us.
We had Lewis’s grandmas gold jewellery remade into his wedding ring, and four signet rings for his father and brothers. This was a really nice touch to their morning, and makes the signets extra special! My engagement ring, bought by Lewis from Michael Arthur in Sydney Australia, the wedding band was from Hatton Garden, London.
We had two readings, one more traditional poem, The Art of Marriage by Wilferd Arlan Peterson, read by a close family friend. The second was an abstract from his Dark Materials, a fictional triology dad and I read in my childhood by Philip Pullman. I then made Lewis read it when I met him. The passage refers to two souls as inseparable atoms, and brings me to tears every time.
Photography
I found Darina Stoda through a wedding blog on a wedding at the original cocktail bar venue. I loved how she captured natural moments and light as if they were memories, we had a call and we instantly knew she was the perfect photographer for us.
We had originally opted against doing a engagement shoot, as we didn’t feel it was necessary however when Darina recommended it and offered a second time, we thought why not!
We met at sunset on the stunning Norfolk coastline and had a beautiful, fun evening. We were so glad we did it, not only because of the beautiful photos, but it gave us an opportunity to get to know Darina and get used to be photographed before the big day.
On the day Darina and second shooter Daisy were incredible. Darina’s friendly, fun, relaxed attitude makes her seem like more of a guest than a vendor, she is so talented that I didn’t even have to think about ‘getting the perfect photo’, and lose special moments by ‘posing’ in endless different ways, I knew she would capture every moment and we were not disappointed.
How They Met
Lewis and I met at university, after graduating, we maintained a long-distance relationship between Oxford and London. Three years later, we moved to Sydney, Australia, where we spent just under four amazing years living our dream lifestyle. When we decided to return home to be closer to family, we took one last road trip along the entire west coast of Australia.
It was on that unforgettable trip that Lewis proposed. We moved back home, and two and a half years later, after buying and renovating an apartment, we finally tied the knot!
The Reception
I wanted to keep the wedding style classic, elegant but not over the top. Both the reception and venue rooms spoke for themselves, we didn’t need anything extra.
I appreciate the idea of favours, but I felt it can be a little wasteful from an environmental perspective. Instead we wrote a personal message to each guest on the back of their name card. This included a ‘two truths and a lie’ for a number of guests who were sat next to other guests they may not have met before. A fantastic ice breaker and we received so many lovely comments on this – a far more personal touch than a favour that might end up in the bin.
Our stationery was DIY! 100% of the order of services, menus, table plans, place cards and signs were DIY using adobe Procreate. I’ve always had a creative side and what better way to use it!
Oxford Find Dining are an exceptional company that offer far more than just catering services. They plan, manage and co-ordinate the entire day with you. Their service is second to none. After our initial reception venue cancelled, they essentially saved our entire wedding day and helped us re-organise the entire event, we couldn’t have possibly asked for more. They exceeded any expectation we ever could have had, going above and beyond for our special day.
It was really important for us to celebrate Lewis’s family’s West Indian heritage and what better way to do that than through delicious, authentic food. Our evening food carters were the fantastic C&S Catering, they are typically London based but they happily made the trip to oxford to help us celebrate our big day. The food was absolutely fantastic and went down an absolute treat with our guests!
Our cake was homemade by a wonderful cousin! (The fruit cake tier was apparently dropped on arrival – 5 second rule!)
For the bouquets and ceremony flowers we used Oxford Flowers, they offer a really helpful consultation and the bouquets and displays were beautiful! I was really keen to do my own bud vases. Two days before the wedding both mothers and me had a super wholesome morning flower arranging. My bud vase design was very simple, white roses and gypsophila, this meant it was very easy to and not stressful at all. We bought the flowers from The Garden Oxford and bud vases were either borrowed or bought from hobbycraft.
Evening & Dancing
We are beyond blessed to be family friends with the incredible Louise Marshall, who brought along a fantastic band and put on an incredible show (incredible doesn’t even describe it well enough).
Our first dance was to Alicia Keys ‘If I ain’t got you’. Not only does the song perfectly describe us and our relationship but it’s another powerful song that creates an atmosphere. The ultimate movie feeling!
Our first dance was my favourite part of the day, without a doubt! We had five sessions with the wonderful Annabelle from Fearless Pole, London. I have trained at Fearless for years and not long before the wedding I found out Annabelle also offers dance choreography for couples!
Annabelle choreographed our first dance, and we were thrilled. We just didn’t have the time to organise something ourself but also didn’t want to end up awkwardly swaying begging friends and family to come in early! I think we ended up being more nervous about the dance than the aisle walk BUT it was the most joyous, soul freeing moment of the entire day. Not to mention the five sessions were, five hours of FUN and laughter in between wedding planning! If we could relive one moment again and again it would be our first dance.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
If I could change anything about the day I would have had a videographer, we decided against it to stick in budget but I think it’s a really lovely way to capture your day.
While Instagram is a wonderful place for sharing, creativity and business, as soon as your algorithms find out your getting married BAM your instagram is drowning in adverts. I found the marketing on wedding dresses particularly overwhelming. Once I’d chosen my dress, other more well marketed dresses I had looked at before became the primary adverts on my Instagram, to the point I nearly changed my mind! I say this to remind other brides, ‘comparison is the thief of JOY’, go with what you feel happy in, what YOU love, (not what Instagram makes you think you love or need). This extends to all aspects of YOUR wedding. If you need to take a break from instagram to achieve this, I highly recommend doing so!
We did a low key night before dinner with very close family and friends. I would actually really recommend this, when we arrived everyone cheered and we found it a little overwhelming at first but weirdly we found it then took the pressure off the following day? We didn’t feel like we needed to work as much of the room because we had caught up with so many people, and had been able to give them our time the night before!
We kindly let our guests know that we didn’t want gifts, but if they wished to contribute, they could do so by donating to our honeymoon fund. We provided our bank details and also set up a Prezola account. We offered both options, as some guests preferred the ease of online banking without creating website accounts, while others valued the security of a trusted platform. Prezola turned out to be a fantastic choice—easy to use and reliable.
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