Zoe and George wanted a good old-fashioned knees up. Their ceremony took place at Hackney Town Hall , a building they pass most weekends, followed by a reception at The Mildmay Club, a working men’s club George belongs to and that feels frozen in the 1970s.

Guests travelled between venues on a vintage Routemaster, clutching Aperol tinnies in a nod to their early dating days of pre-drinks on the bus. On arrival, there was no prosecco as Zoe and George hate it, pints of Guinness was much more their style.

They didn’t do much in the way of décor, as they wanted the space to do most of the work. Zoe did make a large banner for the stage, inspired by the lyrics of their aisle exit song, September by Earth, Wind and Fire. They also decorated the tables with pink tablecloths, simple flower arrangements and candles.

“We both work in the creative industry, so our favourite parts of planning were weighted largely in the more hands-on creative aspects”, Zoe told us. “Designing the smaller details like our own beer mats, the menus for the table and the velvet banner with our first dance lyrics that hung across the DJ deck. Oh and food tasting. Who doesn’t like trying plates of pasta? We also enjoyed the more meaningful moments for us such as thrifting memorial pins to honour those who had passed away (which attached to the bridal bouquet) and frames to display all the wedding photos of our families.”

There was no seating plan and no formal dinner set up. Instead, pasta was served family-style in big platters, with guests sitting wherever they liked. They had both suffered through weddings with long waits and small portions and wanted the opposite! Zoe and George reserved only two seats in the room. Their sweetheart table gave them a clear view of everyone they loved, and a moment to sit together and take it in.

Instead of a bridal speech, Zoe picked up the mic to host a round of bingo. It was for her grandma, who played every Friday for forty years. They also didn’t have an open bar, they had a Tayto crisp open bar instead with unlimited free crisps for all! “The Tayto crisp tasting was so much fun”, Zoe said. “We went to the Mildmay on a weeknight and brought every single flavour they stocked to decide on the big three that would make it to the day. If you are wondering on the outcome, it was Cheese and Onion, Prawn Cocktail and Worcestershire Sauce!”

The planning was extremely hands-on as almost everything was organised by them, with help from friends and family. Cake, flowers, props, décor, and stationery were all made or sourced that way. It took more time and work than they expected and if they could redo one thing, it would be hiring a wedding planner to organise it all.

“It takes A LOT of time if you are doing it largely by yourself like we did”, Zoe concluded. “We organised everything from the décor, the staff, the catering down to the cutlery. If you want to have a unique day that reflects you, you have to realised you are picking up a lot of that admin that say wouldn’t be there if you went for a package wedding at a typical wedding venue. Our wedding was different from a lot of our friends who had done a package style straight from a wedding fair, so we had the expectation the labour would be the same – it was not! Although we loved our day, if you can afford or even rope in some friend to help you with the co-ordination of all the suppliers absolutely do, we wish we had. Also hiring cutlery, what the hell why is that so expensive? After the fun bits are out the way, those banal decisions are a constant humdrum, and it can really get you down when you lack the motivation to do them but know they have to be done. We never want to organise cutlery for 80 people ever again!”