Annie and Matthew’s Sentimental and Elegant London Wedding at Teatro Hall

Real WeddingsReal WeddingUK Real Weddings

19 Nov

The epitome of laidback city elegance which photographer Heather Sham captures so beautifully, Annie and Matthew’s wedding feels relaxed yet wonderfully detailed too.

Starting the day getting ready at home complete with all the lovely mementos and photographs they’ve collected as a couple, we can’t get enough of all the sweet moments Annie and her bridal party shared before they made their way to the ceremony. From the loveliest dress reveal, beautiful words in a card from her parents, her old teddy bear dressed in a tux and the most heartfelt little personalised sticker attached to her dad’s tie, we absolutely love how sentimental this wedding feels.

Arriving at Old Marylebone Town Hall for the ceremony in a vintage white taxi cab, Annie wore a stunning slim fitting wedding dress with the softest of chiffon sleeves layered over the top, creating a lovely romantic effect. Accompanied by her bridesmaids in chic forest green silk dresses and white and blue blooms all round, they were ready to head inside for a touching ceremony with all their friends and family.

Hopping aboard a fun vintage double decker bus, everyone hot footed it over to Teatro Hall in Ealing for the reception. Bringing art deco glamour in abundance, the venue felt soft, cosy and romantic, with all the tables beautifully styled with white blooms and pretty blue glassware.

The rest of the evening saw plenty of delicious food being served, hilarious speeches including one by the three best men involving a projector much to the groom’s dismay, and of course, lots of dancing!

Scroll on to see the wedding in full, the perfect inspiration if you’re planning a chic yet laidback wedding day yourself.

HOW WE MET

We met aged 16 in 2012 when we started college together and met through mutual friends. We became good friends ourselves through our journey to together every morning and found ourselves in our own little world chatting on the long walk. We started dating a year later and that was that!

THE ENGAGEMENT

10 years later on our anniversary in 2022 we were in Iceland doing a tour of the South Coast when Matt got down on one knee. We were heading to an ice cave tour so it was lovely to soak in the moment just the two of us before we started telling our families back home. It was such an amazing trip for obvious reasons but to cap it all off, we were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights the night Matt proposed.

THE VENUES

We live in Shepherd’s Bush and love London, so it felt right to choose a venue in the city. When we saw Marylebone Town Hall, we loved the iconic historical feel and knew it was right for us. For our reception we actually had a pub in Chiswick booked which unfortunately went out of business 6 weeks before the day. Luckily, we were spoilt for choice at the last minute and had some wonderful options to choose from across town. Ultimately, Teatro Hall in Ealing matched the classic but laid back vibe we were after and the food was amazing. We can’t thank the team at Teatro Hall enough for helping us pull everything together at the last minute, it was even better than what we had originally planned; everything happens for a reason!

WHAT WE WORE

Matt: After spending 7 hours trying on a whole host of suits with my groomsmen, we concluded that black tuxedos were the cleanest look and made me feel the most special.

Grooms suit:The Drop @get_the_drop / Shoes: Charles Tyrwhitt @charlestyrwhitt

Annie: I found Barbara (Bibiluxe Studio) on Instagram and was immediately drawn to her classic and timeless designs. She offers a bespoke service so I was able to work with her to create my dress and top combo. I’ve always loved the Regency Era and Jane Austen’s world, so the square neckline and double puff sleeve of my organza top was a nod to that. I couldn't have asked for a better experience finding my dress

Dress & top: Bibiluxe Studio (Barbara Hobbs) @bibiluxestudio / Shoes: Monsoon @monsoon / Veil: LBVeils (Lisa Bozman) / Bag: @happycraftsdesign / Hair & Make Up: Holly Ann Bridal (@hollyannbridal) / Flowers: Blossom & Threads (@blossomandthreads)

GETTING READY

Matt: For the groomsmen, it was a very relaxing morning as we told ourselves we had loads of time, got breakfast and faffed about, only to spend far too long tying bowties (we finally realised it’s very hard if you don’t practice) and ironing shirts. The nerves started to kick in on the journey to the town hall which all seems like an out of body experience.

Annie: I wasn’t particularly nervous when I first woke up, but it all suddenly started to feel very real as soon as my hair and make up was nearly finished when the nerves started kicking in. I wasn’t at all nervous about marrying Matt, it was more the realisation that a day I had thought about since I was little was suddenly here. I had a very chilled morning, I had my 3 bridesmaids (2 sisters and my sister in law), my mum and my dad all getting ready in our flat. It was lovely to be in my home and just take things slowly. I was picked up by a vintage taxi which drove me, my mum and dad to the town hall. It felt a bit like a film on the drive, people were beeping their horns when they saw us drive past which was so cute! When we arrived at Marylebone, my Aunty and Uncle waved to us from the balcony of the room which instantly calmed my nerves.

THE CEREMONY

We opted for a romantic wedding script, and instead of saying custom vows during the ceremony, wrote letters to each other to be opened on the morning of the big day. Alongside which Annie gave me an adventure book from the movie “Up” and I gave her a miniature knitted otter (one of her favourite animals) whose hand she could hold in case she got nervous.

Matt: I felt very emotional as soon as music started playing in the ceremony room. As I wanted our guests file in and the anticipation built, I shed a little tear before composing myself... and promptly losing it again as soon as the bridesmaids walked in

Annie: My dad is a brilliant pianist so recorded a version of Glasgow Love Theme from Love Actually, one of our favourite films, which I walked down the aisle to with my mum and dad.

COCKTAIL RECEPTION

We drank champagne at our reception arriving to a toast from our guests and ate canapes of arancini and padron peppers. The music was a mix of string quartet covers, classics from Bill Withers and Frankie Valli and some of our favorite pieces from films like the Secret life of Walter Mitty. We basically wanted the music to feel like us with a 90s rom com vibe!

FAVOURITE SUPPLIERS

Heather our photographer, obvs – she was awesome, so calm and lovely, couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Aunty Billy – My (Annie) Aunty saved the day when it came to the flowers for the reception when our original venue went under. They looked so beautiful on the tables and really brought everything together.

Katrina James – our longtime family friend made our wedding cake, it was beautiful with hand crafted peony flowers. It was absolutely delicious too, we had 3 flavours; victoria sponge, lemon and coffee & walnut.

Holly Ann Bridal – Holly was a ray of sunshine in the lead up to and on the day, she made me and my bridal party feel so special and was so lovely to have her and her assistant Lucy around on the wedding morning.

DINNER

Dinner was brilliant, as despite having around 75 guests we felt that everyone was close together and could see all our friends and family laughing and chatting. We had a mixture of Italian food from pizzas and pastas to burrata salads and chicken milanese. It all tasted delicious and the generous portions did well to prepare us for the party ahead. We interspersed the speeches between courses which was my favourite part.

THE SPEECHES

Matt: The father of the bride, groom and the three groomsmen (together) gave speeches. Of particular note was the beautiful Welsh Lovespoon Annie's parents gifted us after the speech, as well as the groomsmen’s use of a projector to share some less than flattering photos across more than 50 years of combined friendship