Inspiration

The white bunting and festoon lights framing the couples first dance have got me like woah! So much so I couldn't resist including every single image Bridgwood Wedding Photography took of our gorgeous duo. I also adore the way bride Kristine's bespoke Soon Bride gown flows as groom Stefan twirls her. What a perfect moment. The contemporary Artisan bar definitely echos's the couples style and flair and was the perfect party location for this London based duo to celebrate their nuptials. The guests are full of smiles, love and laughter, pulling out all the stops to help bake cakes, and DIY decor to bring Kristine & Stefan's vision to life.

Dress

Kristine the Bride: One of my oldest 'London' friends is a fashion designer and has her own wedding dress label, Soon Bride, and as I always wanted my dress to be unique, made just for me and to work within my budget we decided over Mexican snacks in Brixton to collaborate on a bespoke outfit. I wanted a feminine look, something to flatter my figure and something that I would feel like myself in so after lots of Pinteresting and some consultations with Stephanie I decided to go with a simple silk top with low cut back and an off-white boho/Edwardian style tiered skirt. We selected three different types of French lace that worked together well and added dotted tulle, which came from Spain, to give the skirt a dreamy flow. We tweaked the style until I was happy with the fit and shape, and I know my friend felt so honoured to watch me get married in this special outfit that she'd made for me. Rose gold was part of our colour scheme and I picked Carmela Kurt Geiger low heel white sandals with gold heels. For my hair accessory I had a bespoke natural and dried flower comb made by Botanique Workshop with flowers like blue thistle matching mine and the bridesmaid’s bouquets and buttonholes for guys. We got our rings made in rose gold by London based Nikki Stark. I went for a hammered finish to blend with my antique engagement ring and Stefan went for a classic flat band in rose gold.

Grooms Attire

Stefan's outfit consisted of a Dusty blue suit from Whistles (unlined thinking it would be a hot day!), a white fitted shirt from Reiss, a tie from J.Crew and brown brogues from Office. We aren’t that traditional and the wedding wasn’t that formal so we weren’t worried about matching groom party clothes. The best man dislocated his shoulder the day before the wedding so wore a fetching NHS sling.

The Venue

My husband used to live in Clerkenwell when we started seeing each other. We spent a lot of time in the area and have many happy memories. For our big day we wanted a location that is familiar to us and has a meaning. St John's square is a beautiful space and only 2 minutes walk from our church. Artisan is a nice bar right in the middle of the square and Helen made everything run smoothly on the day. We had the whole venue to ourselves and the food was amazing. (So were the cocktails!)

Cake

For cake we didn’t want a typical wedding cake so we asked three of our great friends and excellent bakers Lucie, Victoria and Cat to do something for us. They baked a gorgeous naked cake, beautiful flowery cake and stunning cute little cupcakes. Cakes were truly loved by everyone!

Colour Scheme & Decor

Our colour scheme started with rose gold (my choice) and dusty blue (Stefan's choice), and a couple of weeks before the big day we decided to throw some red tones, just for some accent. We spent months getting antique brass candlesticks from eBay for all of the tables (we had many tables of 8 rather than large rows - to potentially make a better atmosphere and allow people to talk with everyone at the table). The hens spent hours making white tissue paper tassels which were attached to large white helium balloons to decorate the space. We used white bunting and festoon lights to hang above the tables and dance floor. We did all the invites and stationery ourselves including drawing everyone’s face as a small graphic for their place cards. Everyone ended up wearing them as badges and taking them home which was great fun. We also had old photographs of our families wedding days and other fun times. These were accompanied by a little note to tell people who they were and a nice story about them. This was a nice day to remember our grandparents who and relatives abroad who couldn’t be there.

Flowers

We wanted to go for a natural green foliage look with white and gold accents and to go with the nice natural wooden tables for table decorations. The greenery was ordered from Triangle Nursery. We went for eucalyptus and Ivy and ferns for the table garlands and had old gin bottles for each table filled with blue thistles eucalyptus and some simple white flowers. We were on a tight budget so did nearly everything ourselves and with help from friends. The button holes, my bouquet and the hair piece were done by Botanique Workshop. For the bridesmaid bouquets I chose a big bunch of gypsophila (baby breath) filled with some blue thistles and prepared them a day before along with the other flowers for the venue.

Bridesmaids

I wanted my bridesmaids to feel happy and comfortable so apart from the blue-ish colour I suggested they were free to choose what they wanted. They decided to go for TopShop jumpsuits that I really liked. They looked stunning.

Ceremony

The Church choice came before the venue which ended up only being a 2 minute walk away. We chose St. James on Clerkenwell Green which is very close to where we both work and where Stefan used to live. It’s a great church which is sometimes used in Clerkenwell Design Week for exhibitions and appealed to our designer eyes as it houses a permanent selection of Tom Dixon lighting and rugs. My brother read a poem in Latvian that was originally written by my Mother (for My Aunts wedding 30 Years ago). My father said a prayer towards the end of the service as he used to be a pastor. After the service we had Prosecco in the beautiful church garden under the trees in the rain. Stefan’s aunt and cousin made traditional Swedish cinnamon buns “Kanelbullar” to his grandmothers recipe which we served as an alternative to canapés which went down brilliantly.

Entertainment

As we were in a pub we decided to do a pub quiz which was loosely themed on us and our friends and family. After all the speeches which were done by the bar rather than in a formal seated dinner we just had a playlist that had been crafted over the last year to hit full on eighties at just the right moment (about 3 songs in)... We also hired a photo booth from Vintage Booth Me to have some vintage-looking fun after the dinner. It was a brilliant idea as they don’t look the same as a typical photo booth but a great looking vintage camera sitting on some old stacked books and the props were bespoke items selected from vintage shops. Everyone absolutely loved it!! I like the idea of having a first dance but we didn’t want the attention but decided to do one anyway and keep it as a secret between us two. About 8 songs into the evening we danced to our song even though seconds into our dance it was no longer a secret!!

Photographer

After a long search we found Steve Bridgwood from Bridgwood Wedding Photography and his photos grabbed us straight away. We love his style and after talking to him over the phone we knew he was the right photographer for us. He handled everything brilliantly - super relaxed and no stress. Helped put us at ease as well as we are both not keen on posing or having our picture taken and rarely even take a selfie! It was more of a quiet walk together after the ceremony than the full blown photo shoot we were fearing! The pictures speak for themselves. He captured the day perfectly and gave us a great set of memories to remind us of our day.

Videographer

I loved the idea of having professional photos of our big day and having heard of videographers I thought that was just the cherry on top. My cousin is a professional wedding videographer and has his own company Long Story Short he offered to record our big day for us. He did an absolutely amazing job and we got a priceless memory of our day! We loved the way he managed to capture the day and put together such a great short film for us to share it with our friends and family.

Advice

We didn’t want to spend thousands on a single day as we have other things in our life going on and we’re paying for the day ourselves. We had a very fixed budget set before any of the planning started and our advice would be to stick to it and be strict with yourselves! We then knew what we had to work with and set out everything to see which bits we could cut back on, could do ourselves or get friends and family to help with. We did all the stationery, decorations, flowers etc. ourselves. We were also very lucky to have so many creative and talented friends to help us out.
Lorna Shaw

Written by Lorna Shaw

Bespoke Gown: Soon Bride | Bridal Shoes: Carvela by Kurt Geiger | Hair Accessory: Boutique Workshop | Rings: Nikki Stark Jewellery | Grooms Suit: Whistles | Shirt: Reiss | Tie: J. Crew | Brogues: Office | Bridesmaid Jumpsuits: Topshop | Venue: Artisan | Cake: Cat | Greenery: Triangle Nursery | Buttonholes, Bouquet & Hair Accessories: Botanique Workshop | Photo Booth: Vintage Booth Me | Videography: Long Story Short

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