Inspiration

Evie and Rob look so flipping glamorous in their vintage car that they remind me of movie stars about to ride off into the sunset. This beautiful twosome decided that they wanted their wedding day to be one long epic party so they picked a dry hire venue with a late licence so they could dance their way into the early hours at The Loft Studios. The pair combined beautiful, summery vibes with a beach themed courtyard and the Australian outback complete with a crocodile and kangaroo and driftwood! I know flipping epic. Can we also take a moment to appreciate Evie's exquisite Ritva Westenius frock which Ellie captured swooshing perfectly in a black and white photo in the slider at the top here. It's possibly one of my favourite back of the dress shots to appear on these pages...

The Venue

Evie The Bride: We didn't want a traditional wedding, we wanted a party. We wanted a venue that effectively gave us a blank canvas allowing us to create a party that reflected our personalities. Food, drink and music (and plenty of all three) are the things most important to us at a party, as well as funky décor. A venue with a late licence was also critical; The Loft Studios was therefore perfect. It is a converted warehouse which functions as a photography studio by day and used as a party venue at night. The set up, lighting and props make it perfect for a big party and the sound system is incredible. The Studio also has a fantastic events manager who is creative and fun, who helped us a great deal in creating our day. We combined beautiful, summery and simple for the ceremony and dinner, a beach themed courtyard and an Australian outback themed party room complete with a crocodile and kangaroo and driftwood! We had a pool table, a vintage video games machine and a pin ball machine in the party /club room. We also had a separate cocktail bar from the normal bar as queuing for a beer when cocktails are being made is frustrating!

The Fashion

My dress was designed by Chenca Williams at Ritva Westenius - I still love it. I wanted a slip like dress, with a low back. My dress, the Gatsby, was a 1920s style silk dress with handsewn beading at the front and draping down the back. I loved the detail and the elegant fit. I accessorized with a handmade beaded headband, which matched the 1920s style and a simple, long veil which clipped into my hair.  For shoes, I opted for strappy sparkly silver Jimmy Choo stilettos - I wanted shoes I would wear again and strappy shoes better suited the dress.

Colour Scheme

We combined beautiful, summery and simple for the ceremony and dinner, a beach themed courtyard and an Australian outback themed party room complete with a crocodile and kangaroo and driftwood! We had a pool table, a vintage video games machine and a pin ball machine in the party /club room. We also had a separate cocktail bar from the normal bar as queuing for a beer when cocktails are being made is frustrating!

Blooms


I wanted colour for flowers - wild, summery and fun to reflect the day. Rebel Rebel in Hackney were amazing. I am no flower expert, but they understood exactly what I wanted when I said, English summer wild flowers with lots of green! I trusted them to be as creative as they wanted. The Loft Studios has wonderful beams in the ceiling so Rebel Rebel created beautiful wreaths which were tied to the beams - they looked incredible. My bouquet was similarly done, with big peonies and other summer flowers - I loved it.

 For the tables, we wanted small and simple - we found big centre pieces distracting and limit chatter around the tables. So we had small jars of sweet peas, two or three to a table which were simple and colourful against the white table cloth and the hessian runner. The combination of the bare brick of the venue, the beams, the flowers and the table decoration (white table cloth, brown with white lace hessian) created a wonderfully rustic feel.

The Ceremony

The ceremony was in one of the photography studios which has a huge white wall, exposed brick and beams. It looked beautiful; it's a simple room and gets lots of natural light, so perfect for the ceremony. The ceremony itself was designed to be relaxed - we had some sitting and some standing. We had three of our friends perform a song as I walked down the aisle - they sang the original version of "Sunny". They also performed their own version of "I wanna hold your hand" toward the end of the ceremony. We kept it fairly short as we wanted to get on with the day!

Entertainment

We had a fantastic 40s style jazz duo during the reception and dinner who are exceptional talents.

The Photographer & Other Genius Suppliers

The photography was excellent - Ellie is an incredible talent. We booked Ellie because her photos were not of awkward posing and fun created purely for the camera. Her documentary style was far more suited to what we wanted. Plus, she's cool, and we wanted to be cool too!

Her style suited our day perfectly. She captured every element of the day and everyone that was there, all enjoying the moment. The photos are fun and beautiful. Ellie is also the easiest person to work with - she is relaxed and flexible but also knows what makes a good picture - she was very good at whipping family members into shape to take a few group shots, which we wanted particularly given the number of Aussies that had come over. 

Ellie provides a full service before, during and after the wedding - she was worth every penny. If I need a photographer again I will be going back to her.  I would also highly recommend Irene Piera who made our wedding film. The Studio also has a fantastic events manager who is creative and fun, who helped us a great deal in creating our day. 
Lauren Gautier-Ollerenshaw

Written by Lauren Gautier-Ollerenshaw

Bridal Gown: Ritva Westenius | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Venue: Loft Studios | Florist: Rebel Rebel | Groomswear: Paul Smith | Jazz Duo: Nick & Kitty | DJ: Dan Lywood from Playlister | Videographer: Irene Piera

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