Vintage Glamour In The City

It’s time for a bit of mid week London love.

Last Christmas Kavita and Alex married in true vintage style. I love the fashion today folks, we have a very striking and different dress that made Kavita look a million dollars whilst Alex rocked the James Bond look (with more than a hint of geek chic) perfectly.

It’s great that they decided on a relaxed and intimate affair in familiar surroundings with the people they love. The games, the music, the laughter and the romance. We have it all for you today!

And on top of all that we have some great photography from RMW first timer Milda Vasile.

All About The Celebration

We wanted to have fun and wanted our guests to have fun. We wanted to keep it as informal and non-traditional as possible to take a bit of the pressure off us, it was all about enjoying the celebration – and we may have had the world’s shortest ceremony! The venue was the star really, it was just perfect for what we wanted and we built everything around that.

No Particular Theme

We booked the venue over a year in advance – much to the suprise of the manager. All the rest was planned about 3 months before and in the run up. Ideas seemed to come thick and fast, we weren’t limited by a theme so we just chose what we liked the idea of – from a Blackjack table, Magician, Karaoke, pic n mix and lots of fizz.

Christmas Spirit

We choose The Phoenix Artist Club, Soho, London. We have friends that are members and it was the first place that came to mind when we thought about getting married. It is especially lovely and very cosy at Christmas time, so that also took care of the choice of date.

Twenties Glamour

The dress was always going to be very difficut to choose and I wanted something different. I am a big fan of all things vintage or vintage inspired and I love 20s glamour. I explored a number of vintage outlets in London and found the one in Annie’s vintage clothing, Camden passage, Angel. As soon as I saw it, I loved it!

The Perfect Items

Accessories were selected by scouring the internet and a number things had been returned before the right items were found. I had a lot of help from my bridesmaids who had kept their eyes peeled on any shopping trip to ensure i found the perfect items.

Vintage Style

Hair and make-up was also going to have to be perfect for the dress to look great. I was recommended a hair and make-up artist by a friend whose sister recently got married. Issidora from Ninas Parlour specialises in vintage styles and she was amazing, she can add a splash of glamour in no time.

Back In Black

The groom’s suit was a vintage dinner suit from Burton. The decided to go with the third one that he tried on!

Barbershop Serenade

We are lucky to know a few musicians and had a friend play the coda from ‘Layla’ on the venue’s stand up piano just before the ceremony. After the toasts Alex and two friends sang 3 love songs barbershop – style over the piano – very romantic! Later on almost everyone joined in with the Karaoke in the side room.

Beautiful bridesmaids

Although I had chosen to keep the day very informal my sisters had taken upon themselves to put themselves forward as my bridesmaids. They wanted any excuse to dress up and go shopping. Their dresses were from Ted Baker were great – they all looked stunning.

The Cake

I had someone in mind to bake the cakes, but unfortunately her business did not open over the christmas break. So I took to the internet and came across a small business, Maya’s cakes and cupcakes, who had a website which featured some absolutely lovely creations. We discussed ideas and all was well. The cakes were delicious and looked fabulous.

Storytelling

We chose Milda Vasile as our wedding photographer. Her website featuered beautiul wedding photography and we arranged to meet. Milda was perfect, very friendly and very excited to be working with us. We could instantly tell she was ideal and made us feel confident with her work. The photos are amazing and have a great storytelling style to them – perfect.

A great Time Was Had By All

The buzz and the laughter – everyone just seemed to have a great time – we didn’t let any of the formalities of the day get in the way (no one missed there not being any big speeches). Pete the Magic Man astounded guests early on with some incredible close up magic. The beautiful cupcake arrangement was a lovely centrepiece.

Sammi – the Romanian chef – did fantastic and really inventive vegetarian food. The Blackjack competition got highly competitive and there were daft Karaoke renditions ranging from a twelve-strong ‘Like a Prayer’ to a very risque Mr Boombastic’! A vast amount of retro sweets disappeared within half an hour of them going out later in the evening! Even the bar staff couldn’t resist tucking in.

Later in the year we are taking our honeymoon. We are trying a cruise through the Norwegian Fjords. Neither of us has been on a cruise and we are very excited.

Forget The Rule Book

Have fun. Forget the rule book and go with what you want!

Dress Annie’s vintage clothing

Shoes Red or Dead

Suit Burton

Hair and Make-up Nina’s Parlour

Photography Milda Vasile

Magician Pete Is Magic

Venue The Phoenix Artist Club

I have fallen a little bit in love with the The Phoenix Artist Club this morning. I love that theatrical cellar bar feel and all the musical entertainment is right up my street.

With no particular theme or colour scheme in mind, Kavita and Alex pulled everything together simply by going for things they liked. And It seems to have worked out for them perfectly.

Adam.