Lucie and Chris’s relaxed wedding with a London theme

One of the reasons English Wedding Blog was born (way back in 2009!) was to celebrate every aspect of weddings in this country — from stately homes and elegance to quirky styles and English creativity and contemporary crafts. I really do love how we do weddings here — because they’re always special, beautiful and personal. Today I’m pleased to share Lucie and Chris’s wedding with you all. The gorgeous couple married in London, with a ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall and their reception at The Swan at The Globe.

Congratulations Lucie and Chris, and thank you so much for sharing your story on the English Wedding Blog! My thanks also to my friend and sponsor, wedding photographer Benjamin Toms for the lovely images of this London wedding. Enjoy! Claire xxx

Lucie and Chris: a beautiful and relaxed London wedding

Wedding venue:

Old Marylebone Town Hall, The Swan at The Globe

Wedding photographer:

Kent wedding photographer Benjamin Toms

A little about the wedding ceremony:

Registry office ceremony in the Purple Room at Marylebone Registry Office (we loved the relaxed and warm style of the room and the bride still got her aisle to walk down), classical music on strings before the service, contemporary songs on strings from the entry of the bride onwards

Wedding readings: Scaffolding – Seamus Heaney, After the lunch – Wendy Cope

Tell us a little about your wedding venue styling and details:

We tried to embrace the season, going for darker purple and warm pink colours throughout, from the bridesmaids dresses, through to the flowers in bouquets, the registry office and The Swan and on the cake.

While we lived in London, a lot of our guests didn’t so we laid on a Routemaster bus – complete with sightseeing tour – to take our guests from the registry office to the venue – and rather than be apart from our guests, we thought we’d hop on the bus too!

All our stationery embraced the London theme and, to complete things, we worked with The Swan to set the reception up in such a way that our guests could see the fabulous iconic views of St Paul’s Cathedral from the drinks receptions and during the meal. We hoped that the Swan would come across as a modern stylish venue and that the views would amaze our guests and we were not disappointed.

However, the most important thing for us was to make sure the tone of the day was warm, comfortable and relaxed and the set up of the Balcony Room and the staff at The Swan achieved the balance perfectly on the day.

Invitations and reception stationery:

All with a fun brightly coloured London skyline theme (from Hello Kitty). Homemade London Underground map as a table plan.

Wedding music and entertainment:

Strings at Old Marylebone Town Hall and drinks reception – Manor House Music. Band after the wedding breakfast – The Van Goghs (booked via Function Junction). Both were excellent – we had seen the Van Goghs at a friend’s wedding, so we knew they had the range of songs to make the party go with a bang.

What did you wear?

Lucie: Lusan Mandongus dress (“Tara”) and accessories from Teokath, Wimbledon; Filippa Scott shoes. Bridesmaid dresses: Dessy.

Chris: Gieves & Hawkes

Memorable wedding day moments:

Walking along the South Bank for our photographs and having complete strangers congratulating us – not something you’d expect in London!

The string quartet breaking into “Chasing Rainbows” by Shed Seven as Lucie walked into the room (they had learned Chris’ favourite song as a surprise).