Inspiration

I really do love a bride that embraces Autumn and all that the season has to offer up in terms of colours and florals and Fay and Chris' wedding does this in spades. The pair said their vows in the super atmospheric and oh so beautiful Asylum in London which they decked out in heaps of candles and a heart shaped wreath above the altar. I know flipping epic! I love Fay's golden hued bouquet too complete with raspberries which complements her Eden Jenny Packham gown perfectly. And then there are her gorgeous maids in metallics and Chris' boys in burgundy with a spot of kilt action. This is the first time where I've heard of a wedding sing-a-long as well but by heck what a brilliant idea; surely every wedding should have one. All the excitement and gorgeous detailing was captured by the very talented Chris Barber

The Bride's Fashion

Fay The Bride: I originally wanted to go for a 50s style wedding dress, something short and a bit rock n roll. I tried on a few at different shops but never had that "wow" moment. I knew I didn't want anything traditional and ended up in Jenny Packham on a whim. Their dresses aren't great if you've got a decent size pair of boobs but there are few that really do look great. I tried the Eden on in two colours - white and platinum - and with the help of my Maid of Honour, chose the Platinum. I still never really had the "wow" moment but I knew I'd never worn anything that looked so lovely - and more than anything - it was really comfortable. Some of the 50s dresses required some serious corset action. Accessories were very simple. I don't wear much jewelery so I wore a pair of pearl studs I've had for ages. I bought a beautiful comb from Beretun Designs close to home in Brighton and got my bridesmaids a smaller version for their hair. Shoes came from Russell and Bromley. I knew I'd never wear white shoes again so opted for something sparkly to pop out the bottom of my dress. My very talented hairdresser, Sabrina from Hari's Salon on Kings Road did wonders with my crazy curly hair and the equally talented Jazz, made my bridesmaids look stunning. Andrea and Pamela from Panda Makeup were also a great team who turned me (hungover bride to be) into a a fresh faced blushing bride - truly amazing!

The Wedding Party Fashion

My bridesmaids each chose their own dress, with the brief to get something short, in a neutral colour with a bit of sparkle to match mine. This worked incredibly well as they all live scattered around the globe and didn't see each other until the Big Day! I bought them each a fluffy shrug so they had a matching accessory and in the end, we all ended up rocking a 20s Gatsby-vibe, quite unintentionally! Chris and his groomsmen all wore hired kilts and traditional Scottish Day Wear from Milsom and Main in Aberdeen. Chris grew up in Aberdeenshire so it was important to him to wear a kilt on our wedding day. Like me, he didn't want to look too formal, so each groomsmen was allowed to pick his own tartan to wear. Little did I know that he had picked out a pair of cherry red boots from Jump the Gun in Brighton - so he managed to make his kilt look a bit rock n roll!

The Venue

Chris and I met in London and as neither of us had been to a city wedding before, we never really contemplated getting married anywhere else. I looked at about three different venues in person but as soon as I saw the Asylum I knew it was for us. There is a real atmosphere to the place, and a sense of history (it was burnt and bombed during WW2) and it is eerily beautiful. It needed very little dressing, just a few flowers and candles and that was it. We both knew we wanted a very relaxed, informal reception - basically it needed to be like the best night out at the pub with all your mates there. And that is exactly what we got at the Peasant. From the moment we met the owner, Nick, we knew we were in good hands. If you want a pub reception - there is only one place to do it.

Colour Scheme

We really didn't have a scheme to begin with but then once I'd picked my dress and we had the date sorted - it was obvious that Autumnal colours would work best. Everything ended up in muted tones, golds, pale yellow, very soft pinks. It just sort of worked. The Peasant also didn't need a lot of decoration but Chris's Mum, Heather, chopped up loads of kilts and made us 60m of bunting which looked great hanging above our heads as we ate our Wedding Breakfast.

Flowers

I'd seen the fab work that JamJar flowers produce at a friend's country wedding a few years back and I loved it. I only went to see them and Melissa and her lovely team took the time to look through my pinterest boards and translate what I wanted into beautiful blooms on the day. My favourite piece was the heart garland we hung at the altar - it looks stunning in every photograph.

Wedding Party

I had a Maid of Honour, Best Woman and two bridesmaids and Chris had two best men and two ushers. A good friend's two children were our Flower Girl and Page Boy. Sam - our Page Boy - stole the show when he walked down the aisle wearing a Darth Vadar mask and brandishing a light saber!

Ceremony

I think it's fairly accurate to say we were both most looking forward to the party but the ceremony turned out to be so beautiful. I loved the moment of walking in and seeing everyone and making my way down the aisle to Chris. The lovely ladies from Til there Was Uke entertained the crowd and played "I believe in a thing called love" as I came in. I think from that moment I didn't stop smiling. Chris's uncle read a poem he had written in Doric - Doric being the Scots dialect spoken where Chris is from. I'm pretty sure only 15% of the crowd understood it but it was great having him take part in such a personal way.

Entertainment

Danny Mills led a two hour singalong around his piano after we'd eaten - it certainly set the tone for the rest of the night! We got engaged in Japan and it's fair to say us and most of our friends love karaoke so we had to involve it somehow. The Wedding Smashers kept us dancing into the small hours with a really eclectic mix of music.

Food

As we got married pretty early (12pm) we decided to feed everyone straight after the ceremony. The Canababes created a very cool Japanese-Scottish menu of nibbles that all disappeared pretty quickly! The Peasant is renowned for its food - each guest had a menu and chose what they wanted on the day. This helped add to the informal feel of the day and everyone commented on how great the food was. I made my own wedding cake the Thursday before we got hitched. Having been to loads of wedding where the cake doesn't get eaten, I didn't want to waste hundreds of pounds so decided to create something myself that we could cut. We live in Brighton now so I made a rainbow cake - much like the Rainbow flag. It was decorated with wooden dolls - painted to look like Chris and I. The dolls were made during my Hen Do so it was nice to have them featured at the Wedding too. In case my cake was a disaster, we had a Macaroon tower as well that came from the deliciously talented Julian Plumart in Brighton. They tasted divine.

Photographer

What can we say? Chris Barber is a brilliant guy and took the most awesome photos. Chris stayed with us all day and captured some blinding moments; it was so much fun looking through all 680 photos!

Top Tips

1. Have a party the night before - invite your family and the main wedding group. This turned out to be one of the best things we did (despite the hangover!) 2. We hired a double decker bus to get everyone to the Peasant - it was a riot! the atmosphere was electric and people had so much fun (with plenty of Prosecco to go around) 3. Danny played our first dance - Dignity by Deacon Blue - on the piano and it turned into a huge singalong - I loved it! 4. About two weeks before the wedding we started buying dressing up props. We knew we didn't have space for a photobooth but with good-old-social-media that didn't matter as people took loads of photos wearing all sorts of silly gear and shared them all online. Chris captured some great photos of The Queen talking to Del Boy...
Lauren Gautier-Ollerenshaw

Written by Lauren Gautier-Ollerenshaw

Bride's Gown: Eden Platinum by Jenny Packham | Shoes: Russell & Bromley | Headpiece: Beretun Designs, Brighton | Ceremony Venue: The Asylum | Florist: JamJar Flowers | Reception Venue: The Peasant | Macaron Tower: Julien Plumart | Caterers: Canababes | Hair: Sabrina at Hari's | Make-Up: Panda Make-up | Groom and Groomsmen: Kilts and jackets hired from Milsom & Main, Aberdeen | Entertainment: Til There Was Uke | Piano sing-a-long: Danny Mills | Disco: The Wedding Smashers | Transport: Retro Routemaster Bus

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