Spring is officially here m’dears, and this next pastel pretty? Well, it’s the perfect warm welcome for a long-awaited season. After nine years, this pair put together one sunny affair filled with vibrant Fairy Nuff Flowers and whimsical bunny accents. From the hanging florals to the forestry themed favors, every detail is filled with classic color and Caught The Light captured it all here!
From the beautiful Bride… It was over eleven years ago when Allan and I met at university (I was trying to find the ladies’ toilets in the student union!) We were friends first, then flat mates and one day a more amorous relationship then blossomed over a Dawson’s Creek marathon….(don’t ask!)
Seven years later and Allan proposed on a trip to Australia. On the first night in Sydney, he took me out to the Sydney Opera House and projected a home-made video onto it, which animated our relationship through its seven years. It ended with Allan on one knee; with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the twilight sky bearing witness to our happy tears.
We were engaged for almost two years so we had plenty of time to plan for our summer wedding, which was a good thing given I was never one of those girls who grew up with a vision of their “dream wedding”. The dress alone took almost 6 months to find, but I finally found “the one” at Morgan Davies – a Kobus Dippenaar number with a beautiful lace appliqué top and intricate lace straps, and a simple silk skirt that was easy to move around in – I wanted something I could not only dance in, but also go to the bathroom by myself in!
As we had met at a London university and had lived in London all our lives, we had to have a London wedding! The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) was the perfect choice – it was such a bright, light contemporary space with beautiful balconies that had views of St James Park, the London Eye and Big Ben. They also have in-house caterers, Peyton and Byrne, who created a delicious wedding breakfast for us, which included seared scallops, juicy pork belly and the most salivating coconut marshmallow brownie.
Allan was definitely an equal partner in the planning – he designed the save the dates, invitations, table plan and order of service. He also crafted two lit up “A” signs out of foamboard that formed our main mantelpiece décor in the wedding breakfast room. Who says accountants aren’t creative?
We had two wedding favors for our lovely friends and family – chocolate Lindt bunnies (which went with our loose forestry theme) and vinyl style CDs that we made which included our wedding music, meaningful songs to us and songs that encapsulated the hen do and stag do (if you haven’t already heard it, Youtube “Channing Tatum & Jamie Foxx – I wanna”!)
We were inspired by hanging flower displays we’d seen on Pinterest and worked with the amazing Steph from FairyNuff Flowers to create one as the backdrop for our ceremony room. As the ICA was such an open light space, we wanted bright flowers to bring a bit of color to the day. We used animal vases from our living room as part of our centre pieces, along with old vintage books we spent months picking from old book stores – each had some relevance to us or to the group of friends on that table.
We chose two songs for our first dance – we started off slow-dancing to Bright Eyes – “First Day of my Life” and then broke into a choreographed routine to Hall & Oates – “You Make My Dreams Come True” that we learnt from a flash mob video from YouTube. It took a few sessions at the gym, but we almost nailed it on the night! Almost!
Allan also surprised me on the night with another video he had made, which he shared with everyone just before we cut the cake. One of my (not so secret) music vices is the band McFly, so whilst Allan was on his stag-do, he and his groomsmen re-created the “Love is Easy” video in Sofia, pink ukulele and heart shaped umbrellas included!
We had a lot of fun planning the wedding (“researching” wines and food/cake tastings were definitely highlights) and we’re so grateful that we had the talented Chloé take our wedding photographs for us – we now have a collection of amazing memories immortalized in her beautiful photos for the rest of our lives.
Photography: Caught The Light | Floral Design: fairy nuff flowers | Wedding Cake: Bea's of Bloomsbury | Ceremony Venue: The ICA | Reception Venue: The ICA | Shoes: LK Bennett | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Debenhams | Catering: Peyton & Byrne | Groom's Suit: Ted Baker | Groomsmen's Attire: Burton | Cake Toppers: Better Off Wed | Dress designer: Kobus Dippenaar | Groom's Shirt: T.M. Lewin | Groom's Shoes: Aldo | Groom's bowtie: Debenhams | Hair & Make up artist: Sam Sham | Veil: Morgan Davies