Sara & David

Firstly let's just take a moment to appreciate Bride Sara's Vera Wang dress. It's got all the WOW, all the frou frou and fits Sara like a glove. I am also in love with London's Berkely Hotel in Knightsbridge. The hanging chandeliers just scream glamour and look unbelievably magical twinkling in the background. The incredibly pretty and classic pink and white blooms seen adorning the aisle and reception just add to the pure elegance and sophistication of this city wedding, as do the Bridesmaids in Navy and the stunning wedding cake made to mimic the fabulous ruffles on the Vera Wang gown.

The Dress

Sara the Bride: In the back of my mind I think I always knew that I would end up wearing Vera Wang on my wedding day. So many of the celebrities that I admire got married in her gowns and, in my opinion, there is no other designer whose dresses epitomise glamour and elegance quite like Vera Wang. When I first started shopping for my wedding dress I kept an open mind. I booked 6 different appointments and tried on a wide range of designs. Like many other brides, I ended up choosing a style that was very different to what I had initially envisioned. It was the structure of the Vera Wang dress that made it stand out – flattering and chic, a work of art!

The Grooms Fashion

In keeping with a city wedding we wanted the design of the men’s suits to be modern. The idea of a traditional morning suit for the groom was rejected straight away. Dave found a tailor in Shoreditch to design a bespoke, slim legged, fitted suit in dark blue with a blush pink lining to match the colour scheme.

The Venue

The Berkeley was the perfect venue for us. The hotel is modern and stylish yet the crystal chandeliers in the ballroom add an element of grandeur. The Berkeley’s location in the heart of Knightsbridge was ideal for our guests living in London and close to Heathrow for those flying in for the wedding. The reputation of the Michelin starred chef at the hotel was also a selling point for us. The events team at the Berkeley really went above and beyond in the run up to the wedding and on the day. They took as much stress out of the planning as possible – something that I was very grateful for given that Dave and I both work long hours in stressful jobs.

Colour Scheme/Decor

Whilst pastels look great for a country wedding, I felt that a city ceremony needed a more sophisticated colour palette. In the end we decided on dark blue for the bridal party with a touch of blush pink to add softness and femininity.

Flowers

Romantic, clean and elegant were the buzz words for the flowers. Poppy from McQueens was absolutely fantastic at making my floral visions come true. Poppy took a couple of images of bouquets that I had found on Pinterest and created a whole mood board of ideas. She even made two mock ups of the tall centrepiece table arrangements to make sure that everything looked exactly as I wanted it. The flowers were absolutely spectacular on the day.

The Wedding Party Fashion

Although all three of my bridesmaids look completely different to one another, I was keen for them to wear the same colour and style of dress. It was also really important to me that the girls felt comfortable. A classic, one-shouldered design by Alfred Sung caught my eye. On the day the girls chose their own accessories, hair styles and makeup which allowed them to add their own individual twist to the outfit.

Ceremony

We kept the ceremony short and sweet to give the guests more time to party! The music that was played during the ceremony was very personal to me - I walked down the aisle to Elgar's Chanson du Matin which is a piece of music from my childhood.

Entertainment

Outrage Entertainment provided music throughout the day. We specifically asked for a 30 minute set of garage music to be played and Outrage were happy to oblige!

Food

Dave and I love going to nice restaurants together so we wanted to make sure that the food at our wedding was memorable. The reputation of the chef and catering team at the Berkeley was second to none and they did not disappoint on the day! So many guests commented that it was the best food they had eaten at a wedding. Fifi's Cakery came highly recommended by our registrar. I asked for the bottom tier of the cake to be decorated with ruffles to tie in with the train of my dress and Fifi did an incredible job of recreating the monogram that appeared throughout the wedding (on the invitations, confetti bags, post box) in icing. The food and cake tasting sessions were undoubtedly the highlight of preparing for the wedding!

Photographer & Videographer

I picked up Christine's details along with a number of other flyers for photographers at the Brides wedding show. Dave and I then spent time one evening looking at each photographer’s website and we both agreed that Christine's pictures stood out because of her great use of natural light. Everyone looked so relaxed in Christine’s photos which also appealed to us. Dave and I made a conscious decision initially not to hire a videographer. We are both quite camera shy and didn’t really like the idea of having someone, in addition to the photographer, following us around for the day. As we got closer to the wedding Dave and I realised that we might be making a mistake. Quite by chance Christine mentioned to us that she was expanding into videography as her camera captured both pictures and film. Our problem was solved!

Mother of the Bride

A suitable mother of the bride outfit was proving difficult to find. After several failed shopping trips, my mum stumbled across a shop in Chobham called Melita. The friendly staff hand-picked a stunning outfit that not only flattered my mum’s figure but was comfortable to wear. My mum has never looked better!