A Winter, London Underground Inspired Wedding

This beautiful winter wedding was submitted by Sara Lipowitz. This is the first time Sara has submitted a wedding to a wedding blog so as you can probably guess, I feel very privillaged that Sara chose the Bow Occasions Blog for her first wedding feature.

Jane and Gary married on 18th December 2010 at Gibson Hall, London.

All photos courtesy of Sara Lipowitz

The first thing that we decided was that we were going to have a winter wedding, as we were both very  reluctant to rely on the great British weather. With this decided early we knew the venue had to be spacious so that guests didn’t feel confined, and we also wanted to have the ceremony in the same venue without having to change the wedding room into the reception room. Gibson Hall in Bishopsgate London was the perfect venue, and practically on our doorstep. This beautiful former bank had colourful high ceilings, lavish lighting and stunning chandeliers and pillars.

Next on the agenda was the dress, I was sure I didn’t want a standard and traditional white dress, and it needed to be as opulent and stunning as our venue. After falling in love with the unusual designs of Ian Stewart I visited London Bride Couture in Victoria who stock a lot of Ian Stewart Gowns and found Dominica in Taupe Metallic was the one for me. This silk and lace gown was unusual, and a work of art just on the hanger.

We designed and put together the invitations ourselves, simplistic in silver and black. I also bought some beautiful crystallised wreaths from red direct in the summer to avoid the Christmas madness and these would be the start of our centrepieces. I also bought gold and silver pine cones from eBay to pile inside the wreaths and as it was a listed building the finishing touch was very realistic flickering flame free candles rented from smartcandle UK. With this sorted early we continued putting our silvery winter look together with silver dusting, silver and black chair covers from Sparkle Events a wonderful starry cake from The Cake Store .

My hair was booked through Love Hair and my amazing stylist Alex Gillott loved the fact that I wanted big Audrey Hepburn style beehives for all the bridesmaids, and height and volume in my vintage style with looser structure.  I was also lucky enough to have a hair piece designed by Yasmine Luscombe as a gift from my friend. Old movie star glamour was the style for the day and I bought floor length silver and black gowns for the bridesmaids from Coast, these were set to match the best man and both father of the groom and bride in Black tuxedo’s and silver ties. The groom in a black Hugo Boss tuxedo, with skinny black tie to finish off the look. As it was a winter wedding flowers were kept to minimum, just small bouquets with cream roses and silver jewels for all the girls, and a head table silvery winter centrepiece to stand out from the other tables. Elegantly put together by London florist Windsor Flowers near St Pauls Cathedral.

After an initial bump in the morning due to snow causing issues with guest transport, the day ran smoothly. We enjoyed every minute and relished the informal and warm atmosphere with the elegant and snowy backdrop. After an excellent 3 course dinner including wintery Venison and a white Chocolate parfait to die for, we got our dancing shoes on and enjoyed the music selection from Neil, our DJ from JSO events.

A day we will remember and cherish always, our memories have been perfectly captured by our photographer Sara Lipowitz who’s discreet and unobtrusive approach was key to catching those special moments. We knew she would be perfect after seeing her fabulous work from our friend’s summer wedding. After all the winter wedding fun, we set off for our honeymoon on the Maldivian Island of Veligandu, absolute paradise.

With thanks to Jane and Gary and to Sara Lipowitz for sharing this gorgeous real wedding with the Bow Occasions Wedding Blog.

Louise ♥ xx

Bow Occasions is always on the lookout for gorgeous real weddings to feature. If you are interested in submitting a real wedding to the Bow Occasions Blog, please visit the submissions page for more information.