Inspiration

This gorgeous urban city wedding is literally going to knock your socks off. I am well and truly smitten with Every. Single. Detail. For one, although it's in the heart of London at Brunswick House, an old mansion set amongst the skyscrapers, it feels like the quaintest country wedding with greenery, florals & fashion to die for. So lets talk about the fashion. Our stunning Bride wears the most beautiful satin Charlie Brear Haliton gown covered with a delicate lace Augustine jacket and then completes her stylish look with an incredible pair of silver Bionda Castana shoes. Honestly folks I think I'm in shoe heaven. Janey's best girls are also wearing the most fabulous grey Virgos Lounge gowns, which we are always swooning over here at RMW HQ and we're also partial to a Groom in a kilt, especially when it's been passed down from generation to generation. I think you can tell how giddy I am, so before I let you take it all in, I just want to say OMG the flowers. The flower arch in particular, oh and the bouquets and the buttonholes and the centrepieces, all of them are simply A.MAZ.ING from That Flower Shop. Get those pinning fingers ready folks, you're going to want to come back to this one time and time again :).

The Dress

Janey The Bride: I’d been to lots of weddings, but never really thought about the reality of my own until it was upon me and initially had no clue as to what style of dress to wear. In the end it became an easy choice. After trying on lots of different styles I new I wanted to be in a silky slinky dress that I could run around in. Charlie Brear does those kinds of dresses so well and their show room is beautiful and just a great place to hang out, so after a couple of visits I chose their Haliton dress and Augustine Jacket.

The Grooms Fashion

Being a Scotsman, Tom was always going to wear tartan and having inherited his Grandfather’s kilt it was perfect for the day. He upgraded some of the accessories last minute and then that was that.

The Venue

With the day starting in a church, we new we wanted the reception somewhere more informal. I’d remembered my Brother and Sister-in-Law going to a wedding in a place they’d raved about so on that recommendation went to check out Brunswick House in Vauxhall, I loved it and knew it would work instantly. I took Tom with me next time; being a big house, over three floors, we imagined it would feel like a big house party. I’d describe it as an emporium since everything is for sale – some of our guests purchased items on the night! – every wall, hallway and floor has something to look at.

Colour Scheme/Decor

The colour scheme was very simple, with all the different tartans I wanted to keep other colours to a minimum so we chose silver and grey for the Bridesmaids dresses, Groomsmen and Page Boys, and green, white and a little yellow for the flowers. The flowers very much led the way on the décor front, with the only additions being lots of different stars – wooden, silver and cut outs – scattered along silver runners the length of the dining tables.

Florist

We loved all of the flowers; they were beautiful and all British. Hattie and her team at That Flower Shop know exactly what they’re doing. I’d asked for everything to be very natural, unstructured and mainly green and white, with touches of yellow. My bouquet was filled with Japanese anemones, white cosmos and white English roses. Tom had a thistle in his pin and the flower girl had a little wristlet. At the church the showstopper was the archway of flowers at the entrance. At the venue all the flowers were in lots of different glass vessels on mantle pieces, tables and ledges.

Ceremony

Arriving at the church was a pretty nerve racking moment but as soon as I stepped inside and saw so many of my friends and family, all smiling at me, I just felt really happy. We chose an Old Testament reading from The Song of Solomon, and a New Testament reading from Corinthians. We also had a choir sing a few songs which was lovely to be able to sit and enjoy the moment. After the ceremony we drove off in our vintage Rolls Royce and parked up around the corner to have some time together and photos with our photographer on the mews behind the church. That was a perfect twenty minutes together and a breather before the reception.

Entertainment

Guests were transported to the reception in a red London double decker bus, which was reportedly a lot of fun, particularly for those who had travelled from different parts of the world. Once at Brunswick House, our master of ceremonies stepped up and began his duties to guide everyone through the evening. One of the rooms was set up with a vintage photo booth with lots of fun props, for the photos to then go in our guest book. After dinner The Jets got everyone dancing in the basement, it was jam packed and sweaty with everyone singing, or shouting, along to every song. Also in the basement was a bar and a chill out room with tea, coffee and cake for much needed breaks between dancing.

Food

After a champagne reception our dinner started with charcuterie boards, followed by a main of lamb shoulder with watercress, new potatoes, garlic and marjoram and was finished with apple crumble and custard. Our wedding cake was a three-tier delight of vanilla rose, chocolate milkshake and clementine and almond, with vanilla bean buttercream icing decorated with different sized edible petals. Our lovely cake maker Bee also made our wedding favours, they were vanilla bean cookies, iced in yellow and stamped with either Love Rules or J&T in individually hand tied cellophane bags placed at everyone’s place setting.

Photographer

We had seen our photographer Camilla in action at a friends wedding and thought she was great so were really happy that she and her husband Justin were available for our wedding. We were keen on the photos largely being action shots and that is right up their street. They stealthily captured so many great moments that perfectly show the sentiment of the day, particularly shots of people’s faces reacting to all the different moments and going wild on the dance floor. Our wedding day felt like a blur in the weeks after but when all the photos came through it was amazing, it all came flooding back
Lorna Shaw

Written by Lorna Shaw

Featured suppliers

Dress Designer: Charlie Brear - Haliton | Bridal Shoes: Bionda Castana | Earrings: Swarovski | Hair & Make up: Helen Asher | Bridesmaid Dresses: Virgos Lounge | Grooms Attire: Kinloch Anderson | Groomsmen: Dobell | Venue: Brunswick House | Florist: That Flower Shop | Caterer: Lassco | Cake: Bees Bakery | Stationery: Paper Shaker | Entertainment: The Jets | Transport: The London Bus Company | https://www.thelondonbuscompany.co.uk: Classic Hire

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