We got engaged prior to Covid. We flew out to LA November 2019 for my birthday and James proposed on my birthday at the Madonna Inn (a hotel I’ve always wanted to stay at). Our room was wild (floor to ceiling pink – think it was called Tall and Short) – if you haven’t checked it out you need to!
We drove up and down the West Coast for 2 weeks had the best time!
The Proposal
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The year before Covid hit we went to something like 7 weddings and we thoughts the most fun ones were the most casual because it was easier to relax.
When we were looking at local wedding venues, we discussed them with James’ parents and it turned out they’d had their wedding reception at the Trafalgar Tavern, so it made sense to have our reception there.
The Vision
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I have a design degree so I knew I wanted to do a lot of the wedding stationary myself and had an idea what I wanted the flowers to look etc. My sister and James’ sister are not dress wearing types, so I knew I didn’t want them in typical bridesmaid dresses as I wanted them to feel comfortable and confident.
The Vision
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We won’t divulge precise figures but under 10,000! We didn’t want to spend our whole life savings on one day. We kept to our budget including a free bar which I think is impressive nowadays (and in London).
Budget
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The Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich
The Venue
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Our ceremony was also at the Trafalgar Tavern. We were considering having our ceremony at the beautiful Woolwich Town Hall, but with Covid and having our grandparents at our wedding, we decided it would be easier and safer to hold the entire wedding at one venue.
The venue room was beautiful, with views of the River Thames. The ceremony only took about 20 minutes and then a friend played the piano for us whilst we had canapes and prosecco after!
The Ceremony & Music
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I bought rainbow confetti from Proper Confetti (I had a vision of a really colourful confetti shot which Lauren Marchant really delivered on!).
For music I really wanted everyone to have a good time and I am from Essex so knew I wanted some RnB and generally to dance the night away. At my last work Christmas party before Covid, the venue had the best DJ (@djsimbaofficial) and I didn’t sit down all night so I tracked him down and we had him at our venue.
The Ceremony & Music
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Bride – so I had to pick my dress in the middle of a lockdown so didn’t get to go wedding dress shopping and did most of the process via Facetime with my mum and sister.
I knew that I’d rather spend my money on the shoes I could wear again rather than a dress I’d wear once (personal choice!) so I got my dream Loeffler Randall gold bow heels and matching bag and a gorgeous 200 dress from Maids to Measure (meant for bridesmaids but I loved it).
Your Outfits
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I got the Suzannah Dress in Cream Soda which was a very pale peachy colour (I am very pale so needed something off white to warm my skin tone up). It really suited my body shape and I am glad I didn’t spend lots on my dress because it ended up covered in mud and espresso martini haha!
Groom – my husband used to work in formal wear in Selfridges so I knew his suit would be very important to him.
Your Outfits
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He decided he wanted to get a suit tailor-made so we went to a boutique suit makers in Shoreditch for an appointment. We were there for an hour and what he picked out was almost EXACTLY like a Ted Baker suit he had in his wardrobe already from his suit salesman days.
So he ended up just sticking with what he had and getting new shoes from Grenson, Ted Baker pocket square and a tie from Eton.
Your Outfits
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Bridesmaid – as I said, my sister and sister in law weren’t big dress wearers so I decided to pick something that they’d be more likely to wear again. I got them matching sage suits and crop tops (the suits were done up in the ceremony) from Nasty Gal. I think they looked really cool!
Your Outfits
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Our photographer was Lauren Marchant. I had been following her for years because I went to sixth form with her and always loved her creativity with her shots and how colourful her photos were. I thought we had similar taste so we booked her and it was a great decision because we have so many amazing photos of our day!
She was very organised and wasn’t afraid to give everyone clear instructions to get the shot. I can’t recommend her enough!
Your Photographer
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We didn’t want to spend our whole wedding day taking pictures, we wanted to spend it with family and she was very good at being quick!
Your Photographer
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For decorations, I made my own. I made my banners with the laser foil method and hung them myself! I would eventually love to start my own business making these because I really enjoyed making them and they turned out awesome!
For the cake I decided to have two (to be extra!) My husband isn’t a fan of fruit cake but I really wanted one so we decided to get one of each.
The Styling & Decor
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My mum made a delicious fruit cake and we topped it with cake pops made to look like us from @popbakery (we sent them photos and they were amazing) and we also ordered a gorgeous pink, with cherries on, three tier cake from @lilly_vanilli_cake which was an absolute dream.
They even had an event on and weren’t making cakes at the time we ordered, but managed to fit us in and we were absolutely obsessed with it!
The Styling & Decor
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I think it fitted in with our style and the Madonna Inn type of vibe from our proposal.
We chose our florist through the suppliers list at the venue as she knew the venue very well and we loved her work. She asked our budget and made the amazing suggestion to design our table displays in a way that the flowers could be used in the ceremony room first and then moved in to the main room when we ate.
The Styling & Decor
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The flower piece at the front of our ceremony was the same size as the fire place mantel in the main room so our flowers were carried by staff from one room to the other before we moved through. Our ceremony flowers were in jars down the aisle and were moved to our tables. The flowers were beautiful.
The Styling & Decor
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After the wedding the talk of a Covid increase started so we were unsure if we were even going to be able to go! We managed it and flew to LA on 13th November to come home from New York on 13th December. We drove most of the way with one internal flight from San Francisco to Minneapolis in the middle.
We managed to have another small ceremony in the Little White Chapel in Vegas which was a fun experience
The Honeymoon
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(originally before Covid we were meant to have a big Vegas wedding with our family out there but changed our mind and it worked out so well!).
We had so much fun traveling around and visiting as many craft breweries as we could (and there were a lot). We met up with some friends in Vegas and in New York and stayed in 18 hotels and visited 10 states in the month!
The Honeymoon
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‘Getting low’ with my mum (Flo-rida) at the wedding. It was amazing to be around all of my friends and family for the first time since Covid started. Of course, marrying James and saying our vows to each other!
Memorable Moments
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– We booked the wedding in April and had our wedding in October so a short lead up time can work! I think if we’d had more time we would have just added in more things and spent a lot more!
– Break the ‘to-do’ list into really small manageable chunks and do a little bit every day.
– Don’t worry too much because it’ll all be okay.
– Everyone says this but try and enjoy every second because it’ll go so fast!
Advice For Other Couples
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– Don’t worry if you don’t sleep the night before. I hardly did and I somehow didn’t feel tired at all the next day.
– Also no one noticed that I had a 200 dress!!!