Gavin & Emma from MintySlippers

We met first as teenagers, both being part of a larger crowd of kids in the area in which we lived. With plenty of friends in common, we had a strong friendship for many years, before finding love with each other in 2008. Fast forward to December 2010 and we were on holiday together in Long Beach, California, staying on the beautiful Queen Mary, the worlds once romantically famous ocean super liner, now a permanent floating hotel in SoCal. It was the last night of a week long trip that had began in Las Vegas, and when walking around the famous deck, taking in the holiday vibe for the final time, Gavin dropped to one knee and made the proposal. Being the final day, Emma was perhaps more shocked that she hadn't seen it coming than for the proposal itself!

When we began looking at venues, we knew we wanted somewhere unusual or different. Being in our late twenties, we had more or less been attending weddings on a monthly basis for a couple of years! Limited to the venues that were available just nine months later when we intended to marry, and those that could accommodate up to 250 people eating Kosher food, we were desperate not to return to one of the venues already enjoyed by friends of ours (often on multiple occasions!). We sat down to shortlist places we had never seen that would meet our criteria, and came across the St. Pancras Renaissance project. Completion of the hotel had been set for March 2011 and (with half a mind on the issues experienced by couples marrying at the Savoy when its renovation ran badly over) we felt confident that it would be up and at running speed by September 18. The fact that it was stunning (even back in Jan 2011 when we visited it as a full blown building site) and somewhere that no one we would have invited would ever have been to, was enough for us to know that we didn't need to go and see anything else!

Our inspiration was only to take the 'must have' elements required and put any interesting twists on that we could think of. For example, we replaced flowered table centres with blue coloured ostrich feather arrangements bathed in contemporary LED lighting. With such a spectacular and freshly finished venue, we were keen to keep production elements to a fairly subtle level. As for colour, we went with blue to reflect the famous pale blue ironwork of the St. Pancras Hotel and International Station.

One of the most successful elements of the day was the party at the end. We'd chosen a band/dj hybrid meaning we had the flexibility of a disco with the spectacle of live singers and musicians. Combine that with podium corners on the dace floor (and of course the sambucca) and we had a party that was so much fun, the crowd actually booed when carriages were called!

Videographer: MintySlippers / Photographer: Reportage By / Venue: St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London / Catering: Chives / Shoes: Alexander McQueen / Dress: Ian Stuart / Toastmaster: Jamie Paskin / Florist & Chuppah Design: Black and Cook / Music: Creation Disco-Live