Tag Archives: london

London Calling!

January 13, 2013 in Personal Rambles | Written by

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Image: Cargo Collective

I am SO EXCITED because Gala & Shauna fly into London this week. It seems like just a few short weeks ago we we’re all together in New York – this trip has come around so so quickly!

The agenda? Two very nearly sold out – we have ONE space left! - Blogcademy classes, talking about how to be famous online at The Photography Farm (tickets for this talk are only £100 if you want to come along) and four sure-to-be slightly chaotic days in Paris! Throw into the mix a little shopping (OK a lot of shopping), plenty of gallivanting around seeing the sights and oodles & oodles of giggles, self portraits and sparkly ear madness. Be sure to follow us all (Kat, GalaShauna) on Instagram if you want to be a part of it!

I LITERALLY CANNOT WAIT.

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Iconic London Landmarks & a Truly Epic Wedding Dress: Jolyon & Kate

January 7, 2013 in British Brides, Wedding | Written by Photos by Maria De Faci

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It’s a pretty good indication that a wedding is 100% awesome when I sneak peek a shot of it on my facebook page and it gets nearly 400 likes! That’s exactly what happened with Jolyon & Kate’s wedding and I’m pretty sure it was down to one thing… Kate’s epic wedding dress!

In fact the wedding itself was quite low key. The couple were married in London with just immediate family around them but that didn’t stop this bride going all out with her bridal style! She actually designed the dress herself with the help of a dress maker friend who helped bring her ideas to life.

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“I thought that choosing a wedding dress would be the easiest part of our wedding preparation”, explained Kate. “I tried on many beautiful dresses, but none of them really made me feel like I imagined I should feel on my wedding day. So I just decided to design my own. My family took some convincing that it was the right choice and sometimes I even doubted myself. But on the day the dress was perfect.”

“My first view of Kate and her dress was when she walked into the ceremony room”, Jolyon  took over. “When I saw her standing there my heart melted. She smiled and her every movement and expression just captured our love perfectly. The wedding was with immediate family only, but even with such a small audience the simple yet beautiful ceremony was everything we had hoped for. After the ceremony, our first adventure as husband and wife began.”

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Quirky London Pub Wedding: Ian & Chrissie

January 4, 2013 in British Brides, Wedding | Written by Photos by Mckinley Rodgers Photography

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Ian & Chrissie were married in October in London. Their ceremony was held at Islington Town Hall and their reception took place at The Britannia pub in Victoria Park, Hackney. The two venues helped to set the tone for their quirky, quintessentially ’London’ and vintage-inspired day.

“We knew we wanted to have our wedding in London where we live and met and the town hall was perfect”, began the bride. “The room we chose for our ceremony was circular which made it feel really inclusive. We have since found out the room in which we got hitched was used as the court room in the video for Culture Club ‘Do you really want to hurt me’ – which in our minds only adds to his awesomeness! Having a good old knees up in a pub was what we really wanted for our reception. The Britannia ticked all our boxes of being a lovely old victorian building with a lot of quirky details and also doing fab food. The landlord Andrew was very flexible in terms of how we decorated the pub which was music to my ears.”

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Chrissie wore a 1950s vintage inspired dress from Dolly Couture with Rachel Simpson shoes and a hair comb which was made from a 1960s blue rhinestone brooch. “I would describe myself as a fully card carrying vintage dress enthusiast!” Chrissie explained. “I knew I definitely wanted to go down the 1950s route for my bridal style. My dress was the first one that I tried on and I fell completely in love with it. I had my dress customised from the original design by a seamstress, adding longer sleeves, a more open neckline with a lower V back with covered buttons. I also wore a short petticoat to add more of that all important 1950s swing. I wore a gorgeous vintage fur cape to add some old school glamour to my dress. I found the cape at a vintage fair, and I think it wins the prize for my best bargain find for the wedding at £35!”

Her bridesmaids’ looks were also vintage-inspired with each girl being styled to suit a different era. “I knew I wanted my bridesmaids to have vintage frocks but I didn’t have a set idea of what style of dress, which is half the fun of vintage shopping! The idea then evolved in to them all having dresses and hair and make up with a nod to different eras – 20s, 40s & 60s. All the bridesmaids dresses were bought from retro stores and vintage fairs with the exception of the light green fringed flapper style dress worn by my bridesmaid Ursula which was from Traffic People.

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Americana Kitsch in London’s East End: Anna Lee & Paul

November 28, 2012 in British Brides, Wedding | Written by

Anna Lee & Paul were married in London in September. Their ceremony was held at Saint Etheldreda’s Church, and their reception – in two parts – took place at The Modern Pantry in Clerkenwell and All Star Lanes in Brick Lane. “We dined on a mouthwatering fusion menu for dinner, and mini burgers, hot dogs and classic American cocktails at the after-party”, wrote the bride.

Anna Lee looked stunning in her gold gown by by Roland Mouret. Called ‘Wallis’ and inspired by Wallis Simpson, the opulent diamond-embossed design looked amazing on her. Clearly Anna Lee wasn’t going for a traditional bridal look. She wore Beatrix Ong shoes and instead of a veil or any jewellery, she had pearls glued down the nape of her neck. I just LOVE this idea. “I didn’t wear jewellery or a veil”, she explained, “but wanted pearls in my cropped hairstyle. So Angela, my hairdresser, had the idea to fix pearls down the back of my neck using super-strength wig glue! They held fast all, and were a real talking point.”

“Right from the start, doing things differently was really important to us,” she continued. “We wanted to do what felt natural for us, rather than what’s often expected or ‘the norm’. So, Paul met the guests in the pub for a pint beforehand, I chose to wear gold rather than white, we got up and did a speech together, had ten-pin bowling at our after-party and honeymooned in Texas. If we were to have a theme it would have been ‘A dash of cool London, a splash of kitsch Americana… and a whole lot of fun.’ We met playing five-a-side football in Shoreditch, so – although neither of us is from London – it felt right to have an East End wedding. The city is a part of our history and set the scene and vibe for the day’s celebrations.”

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A Very Mod Wedding: Paula & Mark

November 14, 2012 in British Brides, Wedding | Written by

London. The 1960s. Mod.

These were the inspirations for Paula & Mark’s big day. The couple met at a rhythm, blues & soul night run by Mark in a bar in Bethnal Green, so the theme was very ‘them’. “We bonded over our love of vintage fashion and music”, wrote Paula, “I couldn’t believe my luck when we were introduced, we hit it off immediately. The bar has changed owners since, but we always smile when we go past it. It holds happy memories of parties and beautiful friends in immaculate vintage fashions dancing to great music and having fun.”

The ceremony was held at Islington town hall, with the reception taking place at The Peasant pub. “We wanted the wedding to feel like it was OUR day. Not a generic ‘wedding’ that looked like every other wedding you see on the pages of wedding magazines. We wanted it to be as individual as we are and to reflect our love of anything Mod.”

“First and foremost we wanted a party and a day where family and friends could relax and have fun. That was the most important thing to us. I didn’t want anyone to feel  uncomfortable. We knew that it would be a vintage inspired wedding as mine and Mark’s everyday life is inspired by retro style and the vast majority of our friends all have a love of anything Mod. It just felt natural to us. Even my entrance was different! I walked down the aisle to ‘The Avengers’ theme tune. The tune is very special to us as we share a love for the 1960s series and Emma Peel is my heroine! Our guests loved it and said that it was so us!”

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A Bohemian but Urban Wedding with a 70s Twist: Mark & Ania

November 13, 2012 in British Brides, Wedding | Written by

Mark & Ania didn’t particularly want a theme for their wedding, but what they did want was a relaxed and laid back wedding with all their friends and family. They chose Islington town hall as their ceremony venue as the north east of London is one of their favourite areas of the city. For their reception they headed to AK Rowing Club which is right on the bank of the Thames in Hammersmith.

“We went from not wanting a wedding at all to toying with an idea to run away and get married in secret”, began newlywed Ania. “But as the planning went on, the guest list grew bigger and bigger and we ended up with the project of organising a proper wedding. We really wanted for our big day to be as simple and relaxed as possible. We didn’t have any particular theme in mind when planning the day other than wanting a simple, informal day.”

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