Inspiration

I think I need a lie down after viewing all the beauty this wedding beholds. The grand stair case & courtyard at Dartmouth House in Mayfair London are truly spectacular and have created the dreamiest backdrop for Matt Penberthy to capture some beautiful portraits of our adorable couple; showing off bride Michelle's sweet pastel flower crown and bouquet to perfection as well as her dreamy layer upon layer of tulle Hayley Paige wedding dress. If you love elegance, finery and pastel pretty, you're going to love this classic wedding in the city.

Dress

Michelle The Bride: The dress is from Hayley Page. It's simple and made from organza. I liked the volume of the dress and the simple cut, I didn't want anything too elaborate - something classic that would still look good 10 years from now. It was also comfortable which was really important, I wanted to enjoy the day rather than choking inside a corset! I had pearls from Mikimoto and a floral headdress made from silk flowers. I didn't plan to buy shoes for the wedding but my friends pointed out they're the only thing you can actually wear again. So I got some Mahnolo Blahnik's in London.

The Grooms Fashion

Sam The Groom: I knew I wanted something non-traditional. I also wanted something that could be worn after the wedding, so not a suit with tails and waistcoat and definitely wanted a bow tie instead of a normal tie. The suit was made at the bride's uncle's tailor shop in Wan Chai in Hong Kong from Burberry material, dinner-jacket style. It was a fantastic colour, French royal blue. The shoes were Billay from Ted Baker and, after trying 20+ bow tie colours, it was a plain self-tie silver that really worked the best, but it took about 30-minutes to get right on the morning of the big day!

The Venue

Our wonderful wedding planner Ayshea Donaldson from My London Wedding Planner, who we can't recommend highly enough, put together a list of amazing venues. We wanted something old-English, like a country house, but close enough to London for our friends and family to get to. Dartmouth House in Mayfair was the standout choice. It really is an amazing building, with an outdoor courtyard and interesting décor. As we live in Hong Kong, we didn’t actually see it in person until a few days before, and it looked even better than the website. 

Colour Scheme/Decor

We wanted a colour scheme that would add splash of modern style to the old-English charm of the venue. We both love greens and pastels, colours that are refreshing and elegant. We went for mint green with peach and salmon pink and light and dark blues.

Florist

Ayshea recommended us Pemizett Flowers in Camden and she seemed to understand exactly what we wanted before we’d even finished telling her, she really delivered and was such a lovely person to work with. Really passionate about her job. The flowers on the day looked amazing. Michelle’s head-dress and hand bouquet were silk flowers which we got in Hong Kong. They're great because you can keep them after the wedding. We now have them in a vase on our dining room table. It’s nice to know that they will last forever.

The Wedding Party Fashion

The groomsmen’s suits were from River Island - very cost effective! The best man took them to get dry cleaned and they came out looking great, with the bow ties coming from Mrs Bow Tie.  The bridesmaids dresses are called Annabelle by Jenny Yoo. They're a collection, so the bridesmaids could choose a small variation but with a consistent theme and style. They could choose to tie a ribbon or have the dress in different lengths. Also very reasonably priced. They were our favourite colour, mint green.

Ceremony

Our planner Ayshea recommended Holly Smith to do our ceremony and we felt it was a perfect fit. She's young, full of life and has her own unique style. She asked us questions about our relationship and tailored the ceremony and speech around us. She also helped guide us through the different parts and made us feel relaxed, even when everyone was delayed by traffic! Everyone loved her and asked us about her during the day.

Entertainment

We hired a string quartet to play Michelle down the aisle, and also for some music during the champagne reception out in the courtyard. We're both big classical music fans so it was a great touch and suited the venue perfectly. We hoped to have a band in the evening but unfortunately the venue had a sound restrictor (if you're planning your wedding while you're reading this, make sure you ask if your venue has one!). In the end we went with a DJ. Before the wedding we told him we weren't really into any R&B, pop or chart music and sent him a list of bands we like. Then we walked onto the dance floor, the first song he played was Beyonce. But we still had a good dance and plenty of the guests do enjoy that music.

Food

All canapes and the meals were provided by Leiths at the venue. There was a great mix of traditional and modern, we particularly liked the roasted shallot, thyme tart tatin with goat's cheese fondant and tomato basil sorbert, which was an amazing starter and something quite different.

Photographer

We asked our wedding planner, Ayshea, to find us a young and creative photographer. We loved Matt Penberthy's work so it was an easy choice. We told him we weren't really into staring into each other's eyes and preferred more natural photos and he got that straight away. We're delighted with the end result and he sent us a lovely package all the way to Hong Kong, the whole experience was perfect.
Lorna Shaw

Written by Lorna Shaw

Dress Designer: Hayley Paige | Bridal Shoes: Mahnolo Blahnik | Pearls: Mimimoto | Grooms Suit: Wan Chai in Hong Kong from Burberry material | Grooms Shoes: Ted Baker - Billay | Wedding Planner: My London Wedding Planner | Wedding Venue: Dartmouth House | Florist: Pemizett Flowers | Bridesmaid Dresses: Jenny Joo - Annabelle | Groomsmen Suits: River Island | Bow Ties: Mrs Bow Tie | Celebrant: Holly Smith Celebrant London

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