Alicja & Chris

There's something so striped back about elopements. It really is all about the couple, the love, and what's truly important to them. Alicja and Chris adore London so it was there only choice when it came to the location. You can tell they have a good eye for fashion too. Alicja's Agata Wojtkiewicz Atelier gown makes her look like a grecian goddess with its one shoulder detail, and to see her mustard yellow Manolo Blahnik's poking under the hem is like a little ray of sunshine. Not to be outdone Groom Chris wows in a striking cobalt blue Paul Smith suit and tie by Ian Scott Kettle. Making this intimate union even more adorable is that it all started with a proposal with a yellow De Beers diamond. All this and more was captured beautifully by Joasis Photography, so sit back relax and enjoy.

Our Story

Alicja & Chris the Bride & Groom: We’ve known each other for over 12 years, we first met when Alicja was working in the coffee shop inside De Beers and Chris was coming to buy coffee twice a day (cappuccino in the morning and white americano in the afternoon), we think he bought much more coffee than he needed... We have been together for over 8 years (7,5 by the time we got engaged). We’ve lived together over 6 years. We both had previous marriages which didn’t last long so we didn’t rush to get married again.

Engagement

We got engaged at Bubbledogs at the end of September 2017. It was a perfect engagement, we had just been to a gallery opening and we had hot dogs and champagne after that. Chris said that he had a present for me. He gave me a scruffy bag from a Polish book shop. I thought it was something like a chocolate bar or similar. We often give each other silly presents but inside there was a bag from De Beers jewellers. At that point I thought that inside there were diamond cleaning wipes but there was a much bigger box with a yellow diamond ring inside. I didn’t expect that at all!!! He had been planning this surprise proposal since Christmas 2016!!!

Venue

We love London so there was never any question that we would want to get married anywhere else but in this beautiful city. We chose Islington Town Hall as we live not far from it and we have seen so many beautiful weddings when we passed. There is a beautiful small room called the Mayor’s Parlour which seats only 12 people and our elopement was to be only for 7 people including the two of us. As we were married before we did not want a big wedding again so we invited only our parents and witnesses.

Fashion

As we decided to have a city wedding we wanted something beautifully tailored but simple. We love colour so beige was never an option. Chris wanted to have to wear something in Alicja’s favourite colour (mustard yellow) and cobalt blue was a perfect combination that goes with it. We went to a wedding fair and Chris spotted a very interesting bespoke tie designer - Ian Scott Kettle. Alicja had difficulties finding the right dress at the beginning but she found the perfect one in her home city, Lodz, in Poland -. It was a beautiful, simple silk dress, just perfect for the day. I also had silk feather shoulder wrap and Mulberry small bag for my essentials.

Ceremony

We wanted a simple, non-religious city wedding. Islington Town Hall gave us a selection of five different types of ceremony and we chose the one which uses humour and that you need to be together but independent. We wanted to have one humorous reading and one a little bit more serious. For the former we chose John Cooper Clarke’s ‘I wanna be yours’ and ‘So much happiness’ by Naomi Shihab Nye for the latter.

Flowers

Alicja’s Mum is very creative and created a beautiful bouquet made of flowers that we had bought the weekend before at Columbia Road flower market. Alicja made the button holes for the boys and her own flower crown.

Photographer

Jo from Joasis Photography was amazing, so easy to work with and very laid back. We booked Jo in November 2017 and had an engagement photoshoot with her in January, which helped us to get to know one another.

Special Moments

All of it was special, especially being pronounced husband and wife, and when the registrar gave the marriage certificate to Alicja because “ at Islington we feel that after the vows the woman is now in charge...!”

Advice

Remember it is your day but it is very easy to let it run away from you, and get out of control. Do what you want and don’t be afraid of upsetting people!