Today we’re making our way to undoubtedly one of London’s most atmospheric and fascinating venues, for a brilliantly relaxed, late summer wedding, featuring a beautiful, pink hued colour scheme, our groom in smart, timeless tweed, and our bride wearing a dress with the most spectacular statement sleeves.
This is the wedding of percussionist and drummer Emma, and Matt, a YouTube vlogger. They celebrated their marriage on the 10 August 2019 at the wonderful Wilton’s Music Hall, near St. Katharine’s Docks, London.
Wilton’s history stretches back into the 1600s, but the building in which Emma and Matt were married is an old Victorian music hall (the oldest in the world) now restored and used as a space for events of all kinds.
“We couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else after we saw the stunning auditorium at Wilton’s.”
Nikki Van Der Molen Photography + Follow
With gorgeous hair and make-up from LoLo & Co., Emma added a delicate, contemporary hair vine by Dolecka, which she chose at our wonderful Little Book member boutique, Mirror Mirror. Emma’s shoes were by Harriet Wilde, with designer Harriet’s signature botanical heel embellishment.
When it came to her dress, Emma knew she wanted amazing statement sleeves, and that’s exactly what she got with her spectacular Pronovias gown: floral lace, a sexy keyhole back, and a set of detachable tulle sleeves, draped open from just above the elbows.
“I was totally inspired by the design from a show I did in 2018 at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (Othello). Designer Jonathan Fensom made this fabulous mustard jumpsuit with floor length sleeves for Sheila Atim.”
Breathtaking floral arrangements for the day were by Laura from Petal HQ, who weaved a magical floral spell with Old English roses, dahlias, cosmos and statice in shades of pink.
“Laura’s floral arrangements on her Instagram page were exactly what we were hoping for – a little bit boho, and full of lots of gorgeous colours. My only real guide for her was that I loved dahlias, and wanted to avoid anything too rigid.”
“I knew right then that I wanted some dramatic sleeves for my wedding! We had an excellent seamstress named Alex, who worked so hard to get every little detail perfect on the day.”
Matt’s fantastic three-piece tweed suit was from Well Suited, which he wore with a purple linen bow tie and pocket square from Mr Linen Tie via Etsy.
“Well Suited are a family run business, and really went the extra mile. Matt’s three-piece tweed suit was everything he hoped for and more, and Well Suited was one of the few places we could find near London that hired tweed suits as well as selling them.”
Emma’s bridesmaid wore a simple and elegant dress from Reiss, with shoes by Nine West, whilst her bridesman looked smart in highland dress.
Over at Wilton’s, the stage was quite literally set for Emma and Matt’s ceremony. Lots of beautiful flowers by Petal HQ created a meadow effect across the stage, with pedestal arrangements and cascading fairylights as a dramatic backdrop, along with the red velvet curtains and matching chairs.
To the sounds of The Beatles’ Here Comes The Sun, Emma walked down the aisle together with her dad.
“We were both just about giving up on Tinder when we matched in 2015. Matt proposed in Las Vegas whilst watching my absolute favourite show, The Blue Man Group. We were engaged for two years to save up for our dream wedding at Wilton’s.”
The couple’s ceremony was conducted by a registrar from Tower Hamlets Council, and they were able to write their own vows, which they kept short but sweet. There were also three beautiful readings, too.
“Our readings included ‘The Good-Morrow‘, by John Donne – this poem has always stuck with me, and I have one of the lines from this poem tattooed on my arm.”
“We also had ‘Seven Thoughts for a Day’ (based loosely on the traditional Jewish seven blessings for a wedding day) and adapted by my dad to be made secular for non-religious ceremony.”
“Our third reading was. ‘I Will Love You Forever, from The Amber Spyglass – Phillip Pullman’ – I think Matt found this on Love My Dress!”
The groom discovered readings on Love My Dress! You can do the same here
“Matt’s background is in science, so he really loved the science/humanist elements of this reading.”
Alongside their vows, Emma and Matt also exchanged bespoke wedding rings by Kitty Stops.
“We wanted to get our rings from a ring maker themselves, so I found Kitty through Instagram. She usually makes signet rings, but made bespoke wedding bands for us, and we couldn’t be happier with them.”
At the end of the ceremony, Box 9 Drumline (of which Emma is also co-director) came onto the stage to get the party started. This brilliant part of the day was captured in all its glory by the couple’s photographer, Nikki Van Der Molen.
“Nikki was the very first supplier we wanted to book – even before we got the venue! We came across her fabulous photography at The National Wedding Fair, and fell in love with her relaxed style and colour palettes. She was the exact right fit for getting the relaxed feel we were hoping for the day.”
“She also offered an engagement shoot, too, which was something we wanted. She was so calming to have around on the day, and captured all of the little moments as well as the big ones. Would 100% recommend Nikki, and I’m sure we’ll be back for another session with her soon.”
Providing invaluable on-the-day styling and coordination was Krysta Smith from For the Love of Weddings.
“The building really spoke for itself, and didn’t need too much doing to it. The bohemian style of renovation Wilton’s had in 2014 led the way for our style choices on the day.”
“Our main colour themes were dusty pinks, gold and grey, with nothing being too neat. We wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere perfect for a party.”
Krysta decorated the dining tables beautifully in keeping with the loose colour scheme, with pink linens and glassware, gold cutlery, posies of flowers, and elegant stationery by Bureau.
Guest favours were bespoke crackers filled with temporary tattoos, bubbles and tealights by Crackerheads, along with colourful paper fans to help keep everyone cool.
A delicious dinner was served by Easy Gourmet, and it was followed by an epic, four-tier, marble effect, gold leaf cake by Jen’s Cakery.
“Jen is local to us, and makes beautiful bespoke cakes for extremely reasonable prices. To echo the decor in Wilton’s we asked for marble, gold leaf, partly duck egg blue cake with sugar flowers based on our flowers on the day. It was unbelievable.”
After dinner, cake and speeches, guests made their way to the upper gallery of Wilton’s to enjoy Emma and Matt’s first dance together.
“Our first dance was Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede. We wanted our first dance to be upbeat, and this is one of our favourite songs from one of our favourite movies – Guardians of the Galaxy. Top soundtrack on that one!”
“Our favourite part of the day was definitely the party, when Groove On Up came on stage. They absolutely tore the house down, and held their own in a wedding filled with musicians. Great energy, great songs, and we never wanted the night to end.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“I thought that we didn’t need to have the extra cost of a wedding planner, but I’m so so glad that we ended up getting one! Krysta provided a stylist service rather than a full wedding planning one, as I’d already found most of the vendors myself.”
“Krysta and her team were instrumental on the day, making sure everything
was being set in the right places, the day was running to time, and they dealt with the fallout of our collection van not turning up in the evening. This took all the stress away from our family and friends so that they could just sit back and enjoy the day.”
Well, Emma and Matt, what a day! And what a spectacular venue Wilton’s is, filled with history and theatrical drama. Thank you for sharing your day with us, and many thanks to Irene Piera for her film, and Nikki Van Der Molen for her gorgeous photography.
Lots of love,
Laura
Laura Callan
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Laura is a freelance writer and content creator who loves telling stories. She has keen eye for photography and art, and lives with her husband, cats, and huge amounts of books.