Lucy & Andrew

Well this is a rather stunning Winter wedding isn't it. Styled to perfection by recommended supplier Liz Linkleter Events with an elegant navy and gold colour scheme and an abundance of twinkling lights and beautiful blooms by Palais Flowers. It also features sumptuous satin gowns by Charlotte Simpson Bridal and Ghost Fashion who are members of our Look Book, and together the bridal party look absolutely flawless. Not forgetting Groom Andrew in his Military uniform, with the moments captured by M&J Photography of Lucy & Andrew walking through the Guard of Honour from the grooms fellow swordsmen being some of my absolute favourites from this gorgeous day.

The Dress

Lucy the Bride: My dress was designed and tailored by Charlotte Simpson. The necklace was a gift from my parents.

The Grooms Fashion

Andrew was wearing his Royal Air Force No.1 uniform for the church service but wanted to change for the reception. After spending a bit of time researching Andrew found a couple of recommended tailors as he wanted to have a tailored dinner jacket. Andrew finally went for Gresham Blake as they understood exactly what he wanted and offered a friendly and bespoke service.

The Venue

We are both very lucky to have large families and a lot of friends who we really wanted to have at the wedding. However this meant that we'd likely have over 230 people at the wedding. We also wanted to put our own stamp on the wedding. This therefore resulted in us only having a few venues large enough to host the wedding. After visiting a couple of venues we didn't find anywhere suitable in London, until I managed to find a different kind of venue in the form of St Mary's Church Hall. It's an active church but they do venue hire to bring in some extra income for their charity. After viewing it we knew it would be perfect.

Colour Scheme/Decor

We both like Navy and Gold. The wedding was around Christmas time but we really didn't want this to be the theme or overshadow the wedding. With the help of our planner Liz Linkleter we came up with a colour scheme that focused on these colours and various types of floor, ceiling and wall lighting to create the atmosphere/effect that we wanted.

Flowers/Florist

Wedding Party Flowers were created by Palais Flowers (recommended by Liz Linkleter). Decorative arrangements on the tables were done by Liz Linkleter and her team.

The Wedding Party Fashion

The groomsmen suits came from Marks and Spencer and their waistcoats from Debenhams. Despite being a simple look we thought they looked incredibly smart and they all did a great job ushering the 232 guests.

Ceremony

Readings by close family and friends. My good friend who is a professional actor was Master of Ceremonies and helped bring some theatrics to the day. The canape reception music was a guitar and sax combo by the white keys. The evening music was done by The Whitekeys and their DJ Mikey. Andrew spent a whole day researching wedding bands and got down to three that he liked. He then showed them to me and I instantly said that I wanted the Whitekeys. We then discovered that I'd actually seen them at a wedding previously and had really enjoyed them so we were delighted with the decision. Amy and the band were incredible throughout and our planner Liz said she'd never seen a dance floor so full at a wedding.

Food

Spook Cooking provided the food apart from the cake which was made by my bridesmaid Anna. For the food we wanted delicious canapes and a tasty vegetarian option as a large number of Andrew's family are vegetarian. Spook certainly didn't disappoint with tasty food for all including a perfectly cooked steak for the main course. The desserts were 'canape' style as we both not big dessert eaters and found at previous weddings we'd been to the dessert was often wasted. Thankfully the dessert canapes went down very well.

Photographer

M&J Photography - Jonny is a school friend of mine. They both did an incredible job throughout! Captured so many moments in particular ones when you didn't even know they were there. The picture they captured of our first dance is really really special.

Videographer

Selected relatively last minute but proved to be a great decision as Boutique Wedding Films captured the day perfectly.

Advice

It's your day so make sure the things you're doing reflect you. Also, if you can stretch to having a wedding planner, we can't recommend the decision enough. It helped make the process so much less stressful as you always have someone providing useful recommendations and more importantly you have someone there on the day to help ensure you get to fully enjoy your special day.

From Liz the Wedding Planner

Liz Linklete: Lucy and Andrew had a sparkly, festive, joyful winter wedding, full of candlelight, beautiful florals, twinkling lights and touches of gold. From the very beginning, we were tasked by the couple with creating something festive but never Christmassy, transforming a huge and empty church hall and it’s dark basement in beautiful Marylebone into a warm and welcoming location for their drinks, dinner and dancing. Brilliant Emma at Palais Flowers transformed the entrance with a stunning floral archway and decorations in the alcoves. Guests headed straight downstairs to the basement, where we draped the walls and lined them with hundreds of pillar candles. Inside, the ceiling was covered in festoon lights, with a lightbulb installation above the bar. Following the drinks, guests headed up to the main hall with its dramatic high ceilings. Working in a palette of wine red, navy, champagne and gold, we dressed long rows of tables with hundreds of taper candles and beautiful florals, and hung a twinkling fairy light curtain behind the band. This was an elegant and magical wedding and a brilliant example of how great lighting and dramatic flowers can transform a space.