Wedding | Emily & Mike

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We matched online during Covid but never met. A year later, we bumped into each at a local South-East London pub, it felt like it was meant to be! Though we didn’t swap numbers, luckily Mike did his due-diligence, swiftly found my Instagram and slid into my DMs. 

Two years later, Mike proposed in the Cotswolds on his birthday (with the help of sausage dog Bruce, who was in on the plan). It really threw me off as I’d planned the weekend as a surprise, but it turns out the surprise was on me.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

London is where we met, live and built a life together and we both love the city, so it made perfect sense to get married here. We loved the idea of a city wedding and that some of our friends could hop on the tube home afterwards.

We weren’t super-keen on a formal ceremony, so we decided to get married at Marylebone Town Hall – it’s an iconic London venue too. We invited guests to have drinks in a local pub beforehand and had a more laid-back personalised ceremony (our guests sang with tambourines). It made it much more relaxed and set the tone for the rest of the day.

We fell in love with our reception venue, 100 Barrington, almost instantly - it’s the perfect mix of urban-cool and is local to us too. We loved that the front is so unassuming and as soon as the gates open, you’re transported to a tropical courtyard. Thankfully, the sun was shining on the day, so it felt like our own little paradise! 

How many guests did you have?

80 of our closest friends and family.

What was your budget?

We had a figure in mind but probably crept a little over. We wanted to make sure we had a great venue and everyone was well fed with a drink in hand at all times.

Tell us about your outfits.

Mike’s suit was custom-made by our wonderfully talented friend Danni of Anni Nilsson. She’s worked with high-fashion designers for years and now has her own brand, so we knew she’d create something really special. Danni specialises in catering for brides, but we were so lucky that she offered to create Mike’s suit. We started with a mood board for inspiration and with Danni’s help, eventually landed on a classic double-breasted style in camel with more of a retro feel. It fitted Mike’s style perfectly and the pictures of Mike in his suit in a London pub before the wedding are some of our favourites.

It took me a while to work out what I wanted, I tried on everything from short dresses to suits. I eventually fell in love with the Prea James corset style top and flowing skirt, I loved the versatility of a two piece and the idea of switching out the longer skirt in the evening. I added a bespoke silk waterfall cape made by Anni Nilsson during the day, which was probably my favourite part of the entire outfit. I accessorised with Completed Works earrings and a Cult Gaia bag (kindly gifted by my bridesmaids on my wedding day). I changed into a fun short skirt made by Anni Nilsson in the evening which was an opportunity to show off the shoes I searched high and low for!

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

Being able to spend time with the people we love and finding the fun elements between the stresses of wedding planning. We tried to get as much done as early as possible to enjoy the week leading up to it - we went for a meal at one of our favourite restaurants and planted a sausage in our local park (something we saw on TikTok, which brought the sun out for us!). We had drinks and tapas food with our closest friends and family in Borough Market the night before too, which was the perfect way to kick-start the celebrations. 

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

Mike collects records and loves music, so that was a big part of the day. We wanted to nail a fun soundtrack which had elements of both our tastes and spent hours making playlists for each part of the ceremony (don’t underestimate how long this takes!). We found our amazing band Roameo online and though they were a little more than we initially budgeted for, they were definitely worth it – it’s not often everyone gets involved in a conga line at a wedding these days. You need a band to bring the energy after a long day and they definitely delivered. I’d say they were one of the best decisions of the day.  

As the ultimate crisp lover, we couldn’t have a wedding without my favourite snack, so we had boxes of retro crisps on offer to keep guests going on the dancefloor.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Make friends with someone who can batch-make cocktails! Mike’s best man owns ‘Stillroom’, an English vermouth brand so he was on-hand to help make 10 litres of negroni and 10 litres of picante which went down a little too well! 

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Obviously Danni from Anni Nilsson, she created one of a kind special pieces. She made our vision come to life perfectly and was there on the day to see us walk down the isle in them! 

Our photographer Jessica Gwyneth, who captured our day perfectly, our film pictures are amazing.

Our caterers Kitchen Party who created the most mouth-watering veggie sharing plates for our wedding breakfast. I loved their Pithivier so much that I took some home with me as a late-night wedding snack!

The staff at 100 Barrington were true professionals, they went above and beyond to make us happy and relaxed throughout (they even tied Mike’s shoelaces for him at one point).

Photographer: Jessica Gwyneth @Jessicagwynethphotog | Flora: I Think That You Are Magic  @ithinkthatyouaremagic | Ceremony Location: Marylebone Town Hall, London 

@adaytorememberlondon | Reception Location: 100 Barrington @100barrington | Makeup Artist:

Roseanna Hackett @Roseanna_bridal | Hair: Bride did her own | Catering & Beverages: Kitchen Party Events @kitchenpartyevents | Cake: April's Baker @Aprilsbakerlondon | Entertainment: Roameo Music @roameomusic | Dress: Prea James @preajames_bridal | Suit: Anni Nilsson @Anninilsson_  | Veil & Evening Skirt: Anni Nilsson @Anninilsson_ | Engagement & Wedding Rings: Rachel Boston 

@Rachelbostonjewellery | Shoes: Bottega @Newbottega | Earrings: Completed Works  @completedworks | Bag: Cult Gaia @cultgaia