Our sunny, perfectly chaotic London wedding in the spring

Matrimony, 10/10 would recommend

Hello! Long time no newsletter.

I’m working (slowly) behind the scenes on a slightly tweaked format for this newsletter. I’ll still be covering the same kind of things - what I’ve been baking, cooking, eating out, buying second hand and generally enjoying. I’d love to hear from you about what you like reading most - drop me an email or hit up the comments section, I read them all and try my best to reply!

In the meantime, here’s the main thing I’ve been doing in my absence from Substack. On 25th March I married the love of my life. Here in London, the place we met, the place we call home.

We did the official bit at Marylebone Town Hall. We felt so honoured to add one small stitch to the tapestry of this beautiful building’s rich history. Our friends and family crammed in, and - after a week of biblical downpours- spilled out onto the marble steps to unexpected dewy sunshine. We piled everyone onto buses filled with champagne, before partying into the small ours in Stoke Newington.

It’s hard to do the day justice in a newsletter, and I also don’t know how interesting a blow by blow is to read. So instead, here are a few of the things I really loved about it.

• Our neice wore the flower girl dress I wore in 1996. It was made for me by my auntie’s mum Kay, who was a lovely lady and incredibly talented seamstress. Here’s me and Connie, 26 years apart.

• Chris, his groomsmen and friends striding through Soho after a pre-wedding pint at The French House, looking like The Sopranos.

• Our pre ceremony playlist was filled with the Beatles (Paul McCartney got married at Marylebone, twice actually), Elvis Costello, Self Esteem, Jessie Ware and 80s Elton John. My dad chose the song we walked into - Here, There and Everywhere by The Beatles. The lyrics couldn’t have been more perfect for that special moment with my Dad

  

• We totalled fucked up the signing of the register, everyone’s names were spelt wrong and the beautiful moment with our mums as witnesses was actually a mid-ceremony telling off from both of them. Very apt. And I’m told we are still legally married, despite the typos.

• My veil was 250 years old and has been worn by women in family since 1852. The box - now safely stowed in my parents attic for the next bride - is full of letters from each bride who’s worn it. What a privilege to join their canon.

  

  

• My best friends were all bridesmaids. Eight is a lot, but I knew I wanted to celebrate the amazing women in my life by having them walk in with me (and spending most of my speech talking about them). They wore their own dresses, arriving in a chaotic flurry of silk ribbon tied bouquets to pull them together.

  

• Chris blowing the doors off with his speech. If he quotes Caitlin Moran, reader - marry him!

• Chris’s sister and her partner made everyone negronis. Explains the dance moves.

• My parents both cried in my speech, quite a feat for a notoriously unweepy family. Will take it.

• I decorated the wedding cakes I made, halfway through the reception, with flowers pulled from my bouquet. Our caterers boxed it all up and we sent all of our well oiled guests off into taxis and the night tube with boxes of cake. Separate post on making your own cake (spoiler alert: I don’t recommend it) coming soon.

  

• Despite my insistences that I was a low key bride, I managed two outfit changes. What can I say, I’m only planning to do this once, I had to squeeze those lewks in!

  

  

• We crawled home at gone 4am, having attended one of three after parties across the city.

It was truly the day of our dreams.

For those interested, here are the incredible makers who made our day magic:

Outfits

Bridal shoes - Loeffler Randall

Ceremony dress - Shona Joy, altered at Anna Couture Bridal, Stamford 

Party dress - ASOS, via Vinted 

Party silk bow - Etsy

Chris’s suit - Percival

Veil, bridal jewellery & bag - antique / vintage 

Make up - Kate de Havilland

Hair - Irene Does Hair

Decoration, photography & party

Photography - Phoebe Piper

Flowers - Lys London 

Stationary printing - Charing Cross Print

Lighting - BPG Events

Band - Violet Soul

Locations

Ceremony venue - The Old Marylebone Town Hall 

Reception venue - West Reservoir Centre

Bridal prep - The Standard Hotel

Buses - London Retro Bus Hire

Food

Catering - Ren’s Kitchen

Cake - Lucy Burton Bakes (me!)