Nicole & Daniel

There aren't many ways to make a wedding ceremony more romantic than with twinkly fairy lights and pillar candles and Nicole and Daniel's big day has both in spades. Throw in a floating floral chuppa, one seriously sexy wedding dress, killer dance moves and some absolutely dreamy couple portraits by James Frost and you've got yourselves one heck of a Jewish wedding. The venue, Trinity Buoy Wharf is one of our favourites in London. It's lofty warehouse spaces and exposed brick walls create the coolest backdrops and is the ideal place to throw a massive party (which these two clearly did, judging by the images)! Plus the location is waterside with the most stunning views across London, providing gorgeous soft sunsets, again perfectly captured by James. Hats off to Nicole, who we think wins the award for the most sexy Bride of all time on RMW...she's a total stunner and it just goes to show that when it comes to your wedding day, you should always stick to your own style, if you want to vamp it up, then you vamp it up! Also, in a super cute twist of fate, today is three years to the day since Dan proposed to Nicole :)

The Bride

Nicole the Bride: Daniel and I have been together for 14 years but we decided to plan our wedding in the space of 4 months. I never believed we would actually get married so had never thought about my dress (or any aspect of the wedding) before. I thought selecting something in a boutique would be a quick, simple process but I couldn’t find anything that was ‘me’, especially in the short timeframe that I had. I wanted something slinky, romantic, elegant and easy to dance in. I decided to design the dress myself and contacted Bob Holly, a lovely local dress maker I’ve known since I was 14. She introduced me to Marylebone based fabric store Joel & Son where we found the most beautiful lightweight silk chiffon and delicate lace fabrics. I discovered an art deco style beaded fabric which I knew would be perfect for the train. The design of the dress evolved in each fitting. We added the slit 5 days before the day and the super long veil 3 days before. It was a really fun process creating something from scratch. Bob Holly also made me a cute little drawstring pouch bag out of the camellia lace fabric we had leftover. I pinned a antique shamrock brooch of Daniel’s Mums to the inside of this so that she could be a part of our special day. My earrings were by Miu Miu. I’ve never worn clip-ons before and they absolutely KILLED from the moment I put them on but were worth the pain. My shoes were the Clarita style by Brazilian footwear designer Alexandre Birman and were really comfortable - I’ve worn them lots since.

The Groom

Dan was confident in my choice for him and the groomsmen. We kept the look relaxed with navy chinos but teamed with smart brogues, contrasting grey blazer and plush velvet bow-tie made things dapper. I loved how cool all the guys looked together and think they enjoyed stepping out of their comfort zone a little.

The Venue

We wanted a cool, memorable venue that would lend a party vibe and with a late Sunday licence, Trinity Buoy Wharf ticked the boxes. I had come across it previously when researching venues for a fashion client of my company Nicole Levy PR (@nicolelevypr) We liked that it was dry hire and we were able to bring in and coordinate everything ourselves which whilst adding to the stress of a quickly planned wedding it meant that we could totally personalise our day.

The Decor & Styling

We wanted to keep the décor elegant, simple and chic and stuck with a botanical palette infused with neutral white. We decided to be a little frivolous and opted for gold cutlery and vintage gold-rimmed glasses and crockery to add a touch of understated glamour. I do have a girly side so we had a big gold heart shaped light behind the top table.

The Flowers

Our florist did an incredible job with everything and completely got our ‘simple, clean, romantic’ brief. We sent him hundreds of photo ideas and probably drove him crazy but he was such an integral part of creating the overall look of the day and stayed chilled the whole time. He also built our ‘chuppah’. I originally wanted this to hang from the ceiling but we weren’t allowed due to the venue being a listed building. His solution was to use Perspex poles and lots of orchids threaded on clear wire to create a ‘floating’ effect. My bouquet was Lily of the Valley and smelt beautiful. The bridesmaids all had hydrangeas and were tied with spare fabric from my dress.

The Bridesmaids

We opted for timeless, non-complicated shades. Predictably, my sister who was my maid of honour insisted on wearing black and I had no issue with this at all. I wanted everyone to be comfortable in their attire.

The Ceremony

The ceremony atmosphere was incredibly romantic and emotional. We had music from a selection of artists including Massive Attack (Teardrop), Portishead (Glory Box), Santo & Johnny (Sleep Walk), Goldrapp (Black Cherry) for the hour leading up to my entrance to create a unique ‘anti- soppy’ vibe. The Electrician Shop at Trinity Buoy Wharf is a derelict basement and pitch black. We prettied it up with an abundance of fairy lights and candles running down the aisle. Remarkably Daniel (the groom) insisted on the Jeff Buckley version of Hallelujah for the bridal entrance and which became a special song from the moment he played it for me and it couldn’t have complimented the haunting environment we had created any better. I’ll never forget the excessive 7-minute entrance for the bridal party.

The Entertainment

Daniel and I are very selective with our music and spent every spare moment creating playlists for the whole day and evening. We strongly believe that our selection along with our persistent ‘turning it up louder’ meant that all our guests got up and danced throughout the day and the atmosphere built to a crescendo by the end of the evening. Exactly what we wanted to achieve! Our band Shine On were amazing. I knew I wanted them from the start. They played everything from Blur to Libertines and everyone went nuts. They were so professional and made sure our playlists never stopped. We finally decided on our wedding breakfast entrance song the night before the wedding – You Never Can Tell by Chuck Berry. We danced into the room ‘Pulp Fiction’ style and it set the tone perfectly for the rest of the day.

The Food

Tasting Plates were incredible and everyone commented on how tasty and fresh the food was, I only regret not eating more on the day. For drinks we started the day off with Spanish Gin to complement our selections of canapes including quail eggs with keta caviar in filo cups and gruyere cheese choux buns served straight from the oven. For the wedding breakfast the guests broke the ice sharing huge antipasti platters featuring mozzarella, roast pumpkin, parmesan and grappa raisins, marinated artichokes, baked fennel...followed by BBQ lamb with salsa verde or seabass with salmoriglio complimented with hot new potatoes with lots of herbs and delicious bowls of seasonal salads including bulgar with mint, pistachio and pomegranate. Dessert was the dreamiest panna cotta with raspberry coulis and homemade profiteroles. For late night snacks we had a huge Neals Yard cheese board, fish finger sandwiches, cream cheese and smoke salmon bagels and ice-cream with all the toppings.

The Photographers

We were lucky enough find James Frost just before the wedding after my original photographer disappeared on us! It was a stressful way to lead up to the wedding weekend and I am eternally grateful for him getting involved at such short notice. Daniel and I are beyond thrilled with the images.

The Videography

Our Further Project captured such special, intimate moments and were very discreet on the day. Andy and I met up a couple of times before the wedding to discuss ideas and the finished product was beyond my expectations, the quality is like a proper movie. I have watched it several times already and Daniel finally understands why I was so persistent about having our day captured via film. Even our cat makes an appearance which was the icing on the cake.

Final Thoughts

We had a power cut for about an hour during the dinner. Fortunately, the candles we demanded Trinity Buoy Wharf allow us to have on the tables meant that we ended up with a mysterious romantic hour during dinner and actually added to the ambiance, although the timing of this left Dan and myself stuck at the top of the lighthouse during a photoshoot. Finally, our best tip for any would-be wedding couple; make sure you spend as much time on the dance floor as possible. If you are having a good time, then your guests will feed off of you and we made sure we didn’t leave ours from 8 till 1am.