Saira & Jim

Dress

Saira The Bride: As we had always planned an informal wedding I wanted to have an informal dress. I didn't think a traditional long dress would have a) suited me and b) matched our venues. I had an idea of the sort of dress I wanted and went to try a few on. Before we got engaged my dress-maker friend Alice, had said she would not make another wedding dress for a while. So it came as a shock when she offered to do mine! Alice said that after I had shown her pictures of the sort of dresses I liked she went away and decided that she wanted to make it. I love my dress because it is completely bespoke. The journey that we went on from choosing the fabric to having a belt made was really special. Alice's knowledge is invaluable and I don't think I want to buy anything from a shop ever again! It was a fun dress that was full of movement.

The Grooms Fashion

Jim loved the mohair fabric of his suit. It gave it quite a luxurious feel. The colour was lighter than most wedding suits and it looked really striking against the burgundy that we had chosen as he accent colour for the day. Jim and his best men went for slim fit suits to go with the 60s vibe that was a loose theme for the day. Jim had the lightest colour suit and then from the best men to the father of the bride and the father of the groom the suits got darker shades of grey. They all wore the same tie, shirts, cufflinks and socks.

The Venue

We really wanted to have a London wedding. We were both born and brought up here so it was really important for us to celebrate our wedding in our home town. The two venues couldn't have been more London if they tried. Islington Town Hall is simply stunning. It is round, so it also meant that every guest could enjoy the ceremony and feel included. From the moment we went to see The Peasant we really loved all the staff their vibe. Especially Nick, he plans so meticulously, we really had no worries about our day. The pub is delightfully Victorian and reminds us in layout of the Queen Vic (arguably the most famous East End pub!!!!!).

Colour Scheme/Décor

Decor wise there is nothing that needed doing to the Peasant as it's already beautiful. It's a very relaxed venue and that, for us, really suited what we wanted to achieve. Which was a relaxed, fun day with a massive party on the other side! We really like that at the Peasant your guests can choose their own food on the day. We're big foodies so that was a big draw for us and it has been a focal point for our guests who keep raving about it!

Flowers/Florist

We were really keen to have as much of our wedding sourced from London as possible and That Flower Shop was an obvious choice. The flowers produced by Hattie and her team are outstanding. We wanted dark, Autumnal, almost moody flowers and when we met with Hattie and Alice they were on board with that from the start. The Peasant is already an amazing venue so massive centre pieces were not required and this was another reason that we chose That Flower Shop. The natural and undone look of the flowers meant that they fitted it perfectly with the eclectic look of the Peasant.

The Wedding Party Fashion

There was a 60s vibe that ran through the day and that was reflected in the bridesmaids dresses. They found their dresses themselves and they reflected the style of the day completely. We wanted the ladies to feel comfortable and relaxed. The Madewell dresses did this perfectly. Both of the bridesmaids had lovely half beehives to go with the retro feel.

Ceremony

Our ceremony was written for us by our lovely friend Samantha who was also our registrar. She asked people close to us what they thought of us and incorporated their answers into the ceremony. This was lovely and it meant that people got a shout out during the ceremony. Samantha also did a group vow where she asked our guests to commit their support to us during our journey into marriage and everyone has to shout "we do!" This was a beautiful touch. We wrote our own vows and removed anything negative because for us that's just a given. Instead we promised to encourage one another to be the greatest and promised to be the best people we can be for the other. The music before and during the ceremony was all Motown. neither of us could resist having a little dance. I walked down the aisle to "Get Ready" by the temptations. When I say walked, I mean danced down the aisle! We had two readings that Samantha found for us. One was called invisible kisses, by Lemn Sissay which my uncle Andrew read. Jim's aunt Claudette read a quote from Bob Marley called "he's not perfect." Both readings had the right amount of sentiment but didn't detract from the sense of fun we wanted to convey throughout our day. We felt really lucky having our ceremony written for us. Lots of our guests said it was one of the highlights. They all enjoyed how personal but light-hearted it was.

Food

The wedding cake was three tiers that included lemon sponge and rum cake. It was decorated with fresh flowers. The cake was a wedding gift from my closest family friend Sharon. The food at the Peasant was one of the main draws for us. All of our guests got to choose what they wanted on the day. They had choice of Crispy confit of pork belly, pickled cabbage, root vegetables and pork jus; Crispy Somerset brie with endive, beetroot, apple and walnut salad, cranberry compote; or Salad of smoked salmon, crayfish tails, rye bread and pickled vegetables to start. Pan fried fillet of sea bream, lemon and chive crushed new potatoes, bok choi, capers and brown shrimp butter; Confit duck leg, dauphinoise potatoes, braised red cabbage, mixed greens; or Aubergine schnitzel with pesto, tomato, mozzarella, spinach, garlic potatoes, horseradish cream and basil sauce for the main course. Apple crumble, vanilla ice cream; Sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce and ice cream; or a Selection of cheese. After the speeches, we had shots of tequila for our toast. Even my 89-year-old Nan did her slammer! In the evening we served bacons rolls, fishfinger sandwiches and goats cheese and caramelised onion pizza.

Photographer

We decided that we would either spend money on a photographer and have an unplugged wedding or not have one at all. We soon realised that we did not have enough friends and family that were good at taking casual photos and that could remain present throughout the day so we decided that we would invest in a high quality, timeless photographer. And that is what we think of Laura's work when we look at it. Working with Laura and Pete in the run up to the wedding was brilliant. If we had any questions or ideas we never felt that we were bothering them or asking silly questions. This was important among all of the suppliers that we used and we would say that it's another piece of advice. You're spending a lot of money on your wedding day, work with people that value you and want to work with you as much you want to work with them. On the day Laura and Pete were amazing. They slotted into the day perfectly and we gave ourselves over to Laura whenever she decided she wanted us to climb on things or get into alley ways! If we could work with her again we would in a heartbeat. Most of all, when Laura asked on our first meeting what look we wanted and how I wanted to be represented on the day, Laura did not bat an eyelid when I said "I want it to be like Diana Ross and the Supremes." That's when we knew that Babb Photo was for us!