Bike Shed Motorcycle Club Wedding for ELLE Digital Editor
Photography by Nigel John
Bride Walking Herself Down The Aisle
I’m a women’s interest journalist and stridently, if sometimes aggressively, feminist. And Luke is a species all of his own; an artist and a wanderer who doesn’t like playing by anyone else’s rules. Neither of us intended to get married and none of our friends expected us to, so we decided that we needed to interrogate many of the traditions of a wedding and marriage, to determine whether they felt relevant or meaningful to us. And, if they didn’t, we got rid of them. As a result, I walked myself down the aisle; I had bridesmen as well as brideswomen; we nixed all the stuff about ‘obeying’ and ‘serving’; my mum gave a speech, as did my sister; we didn’t have a gift registry; and I didn’t change my name. We created the sort of wedding ceremony that actually meant something to the two of us and wasn’t necessarily tied to the traditional tenets of marriage. - Natasha & Luke
Natasha & Luke
Shoreditch Wedding at Bike Shed Motorcycle Club
We got married at The Bike Shed Motorcycle Club, which is both where we met and where I first said "I love you" at a New Year’s Eve party. It seemed like a lovely idea to get married at a place that already meant so much to us. The venue was a fabulous blank canvas and, with the hard work of an amazing lighting and sound team from Visual Elements London, we turned the bare brick arches into a twinkly fairylight wonderland. Our guests expected to arrive at a motorbike club, but they stepped through the doors into a festoon lit arcadia.
Concept Catering By Mam Sham
I’m a women’s interest journalist and stridently, if sometimes aggressively, feminist. And Luke is a species all of his own; an artist and a wanderer who doesn’t like playing by anyone else’s rules. Neither of us intended to get married and none of our friends expected us to, so we decided that we needed to interrogate many of the traditions of a wedding and marriage, to determine whether they felt relevant or meaningful to us. And, if they didn’t, we got rid of them. As a result, I walked myself down the aisle; I had bridesmen as well as brideswomen; we nixed all the stuff about ‘obeying’ and ‘serving’; my mum gave a speech, as did my sister; we didn’t have a gift registry; and I didn’t change my name. We created the sort of wedding ceremony that actually meant something to the two of us and wasn’t necessarily tied to the traditional tenets of marriage. - Natasha & Luke
Natasha & Luke
We can't leave this wonderful wedding without a note on Natasha's dress: an exquisite gown made by her mother. With both a nod to the bride's fashion background through the simple silhouette and stunning construction, as well as a reflection of her playful personality thanks to the thigh-high slit, champagne and dusty rose coloured underskirts and feathers, it sums up this wedding day to a tee. Stuck with the gargantuan task of choosing your own gown? Episode 1, Series 2 of RMW's podcast is dedicated solely to the dress. You're welcome.
