Anna & Tom

I don't know about you but bride Anna's beautiful bright bouquet is making my heart sing. The vibrant colours and blooms are simply stunning and pop against her intricate lace Eternity Bride gown, which is a work of art in itself. Don't forget to check out the back, because it's just as beautiful as the front. Also making me weak at the knees is all the eclectic decor at The Roost in Dalston, an alternative wedding venue that was once upon a time a pub, turned into the most quaint reception full of Moomins, Marrimekko bunting and shots of Vodka, which are all subtle nods to Anna's Finnish heritage. Thanks to Christine Wehrmeier Photography we get to view all this and more, and it's an absolute delight.

Bride

Anna the Bride: I wanted a dress which was light and off-the-shoulder and after a long search ended up picking an Eternity Bride dress. I also had a second dress for the evening, which was a prom style so I could run around, and dance without worrying about ruining it! I only wish I had changed into it sooner as there are no photos of it. I also wanted green shoes just because I love green, I couldn’t find what I wanted so ordered the dying service through Elegant Steps. Justina at Beautiful Brides did my hair and make-up along with my mother’s and my bridesmaid. I wanted something quite natural and she did a perfect job.

The Grooms Attire

Tom the Groom: One of our very close family friends works at Hugo Boss and helped pick the suit, shirt and shoes. My aunt in Finland found a bright Marimekko tie, which added a lovely pop of colour. We also bought colourful Marimekko socks for the groomsman, along with bespoke cufflinks from Etsy.

The Venue

Anna the Bride: We were both born in London and still live here, so it made sense to keep the wedding in London as well as making it easier for our friends and family. We had a tough time choosing the ceremony venue as several of our choices were being renovated that year but we ended up booking the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich which is only minutes away from where I grew up. It was lovely to spend the morning getting ready at my mum’s house and being such a short journey away. It was also important to have somewhere with lots of green outside space which worked out perfectly as the weather was stunning on the day. For the reception venue we wanted a relaxed atmosphere, nothing too formal, but it was also important for us to pick our own caterers and supply our own drinks. After months of searching we found The Roost, which provided a really relaxed pub style feeling along with the sort of shabby chic look we had been wanting. Once we realised the freedom we had to decorate and use our own suppliers, we knew we’d found our venue!

Transport

Tom and his friends travelled to Greenwich on the River Bus, while I booked a London Black Cab using the Halo app. For the guests travel to the Reception we booked a Red Routemater through London Retro Bus Hire, we liked being able to bring our own drinks and play our own music from an iPod and requesting the route over Tower Bridge was a nice touch.

Colour Scheme/Decor

We didn’t have any strict colour schemes or themes but wanted it to be bright and colourful. Being half Finnish I also wanted to incorporate some Finnish elements. My mum picked up lots of Marimekko fabrics in Finland and both our mums made some amazing Marimekko bunting for the venue. I also have a little obsession with all things Moomin and my mum found Moomin wall stickers for the reception venue which were a really nice personal touch. One of my bridesmaids made some beautiful map bunting for the first floor using maps from London, Finland and Ireland.

Entertainment

We decided to have a classical guitarist for the Ceremony venue, we weren’t sure if this might feel a bit odd… but it was actually lovely. We both play ourselves, and Tom’s father was classically trained, so it was great to be able to request some pieces the family would recognise. For upstairs at The Roost we simply made a playlist for background music while the guests were having drinks, for the basement we booked Disco Shed. I met Paddy from Disco Shed at wedding fair, and after chatting with him for a while and checking them out online, we went ahead and booked. We were introduced to our DJ (Jason) in the weeks leading up to the wedding, and provided him with a list of 10 – 15 songs we wanted to hear on the night, the rest was up to him! I would defintiley recommend Disco Shed, but be aware that you are handing over control and every so often you might get Whitney Houston!

Food

We were recommended Jimmy Garcia while looking at a different venue, despite not going with the venue we decided to meet him and found his enthusiasm infectious. We both love BBQ food and as we were going to the USA for our honeymoon we decided on an informal BBQ sharing menu. Jimmy also supplied the bar and serving staff who were amazing and attentive during the day, and fun and chatty in the evening. We wanted to add little touches to the day, so found personalised bibs and wet wipes to put on the tables and had home made BBQ sauce for our favours. I used to work as a cake maker at Daisy Cakes in Greenwich and my former boss who is now one of my best friends made our wonderful cake. We also ordered a crate of meringues from the Meringue Girls after seeing them at a wedding fair and cake of cheese from the West Country Cheese Company, along with jars of penny sweets spotted around the venue.

Photographer

We both agreed we wanted to make sure we picked the right photographer for us and Christine was perfect. She had worked at The Roost before, and was very excited to shoot at the venue again. She was always available to answer our questions, and share her knowledge of other weddings when we were unsure of ourselves! She made us both feel very relaxed and we were really happy with the natural look of her photos.