Don’t wear a wedding dress. ~ controversial advice maybe, but one of my favourite bits of advice from one of the very best couples we’ve featured on English Wedding in the last year. I love Anna & Ollie because they were brave enough to challenge the normal ‘rules’ of weddings. And rule #1 – if you’re to believe the wedding media – is that you have to wear a wedding dress!

Rules are there to be broken, and Anna and Ollie had the most fabulous wedding. Anna’s interview is pure brilliance, and the gorgeous set of photos by Annelie Eddy Photography absolutely inspires me. Scroll through the fabulous photographs by our friend and English Wedding member below, and you’ll find Anna’s interview after the pics. Keep reading right until the very last question!!

Anna and Ollie’s wedding is perfectly THEM: individual, stylish and relaxed. They had 3 venues throughout the day, taking their party from registry office to foodie heaven to party venue. Venue styling simply wasn’t required: instead the focus was on celebrating their love and entertaining their guests! Likewise, Anna avoided bridal boutiques and found her incredible dress on The Outnet. She looks more than amazing – and  blissfully happy, confident and beautiful! 

 

Wedding photographer’s website:

https://annelieeddyphotography.co.uk/

We really wanted a photographer that took really natural shots, nothing staged or forced that we would look back on in later years and cringe at. We also as a couple hate having our photos taken so Annelie’s sleuth-like photography style suited us down to the ground.

We were so happy with Annelie – a super chilled lady, who did exactly what we wanted. Why wouldn’t we be thrilled!

We felt sheer joy when we saw our wedding photographs for the first time: we both looked passable. All the photos really conveyed the happiness and joy that we think filled the day.

Wedding venue:

We had a three part wedding of sorts. First was the registry office at Marylebone town hall, then we all hopped on a bus to Borne and Hollingsworth buildings in Clerkenwell for lunch. Then in the evening, thankfully not photographed, we all let loose in the very swanky Fontaine’s bar in Shoreditch, with personalised cocktails and dancing till late.

 

We knew we wanted nice food and we knew how many people we were having so just found a restaurant that worked for all of that. We fortunately already knew of Fontaine’s so we knew that would be the place for the after party. And Marylebone has to be the nicest of the registry offices that is central so that was a no brainer.
The only thing I made was some confetti cones out of Ollie’s old Private Eyes which was a super simple thing to do, although the house did have a scattering of brightly coloured paper (all biodegradable recycled paper of course). We got a colin and connie caterpillar cake from marks and spencers! they were great and who doesn’t love colin!

The fabulous Becky from Rocco Flowers (Battersea Park Road) did my flowers. I had grand ideas to have Magnolia Grandiflora, which was quickly put to bed as it wasn’t in season. So she got me some great fakes and got leaves from the Magnolia plant (no one guessed they weren’t real) And for the bridesmaids she made great white sprays with freesias etc, similar vein for the boys button holes.

What’s your top tip for saving money?

Don’t buy a wedding dress. I chose something I truly loved and felt comfortable in, and that I wasn’t going to panic while wearing/didn’t feel like a human sized barbie princess doll.

Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?

I did. It clung in all the right places and skimmed the others. Perfect dress, I found it on the Outnet and it was the first and last one I saw. I also bought it in exactly the right size so I didn’t have to starve myself to fit in!

Tell us about your accessories: jewellery, shoes and anything else!

Shoes I found a real struggle so went with some red almond pointed numbers, after months of searching. Jewellery I kept very minimal with what I would usually wear, and a bracelet given to me by my grandmother.

And what did the groom wear?

Smart navy two piece blue suit and a jazzy Paul Smith tie.

Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?

My best girls I wanted more than anything to feel comfortable and Hot, so really i gave them free reign, i started off by saying wear whatever colour you like but then this gave too much choice so limited it to the spectrum of red. All beautiful girls, all different shapes and sizes, and they all looked great. I always think it is a bit mean to make everyone wear the same no matter what they look like, I wanted my girls to have a great outfit they could wear again and never be sat there thinking they looked like a lilac blob.

Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?

One of my bridesmaids did my makeup as she is much better at it than me, and for the minimal look i wanted i didn’t see the point in paying someone to do it. So instead I treated myself to some new makeup and used that.

Where did you buy or source your wedding stationery – or was making it a labour of love?

Fortunately I have a friend who is a fabulous graphic designer (Cecily Maude) who knows me well, and knew when we said we want a drawing of the town hall with us riding the lions and a plane with a banner completely nailed the brief, we then got them printed online on some super thick card.

Words of wisdom: share your best piece of advice for other couples:

Don’t stress the small stuff, or in fact any of it. You should enjoy the day, and if you cant let go, employ a friend to be your worrier so you don’t have to.

What’s the best thing about being married?

joint bank account. JOKES. I have to say it is the same as before, we were very happy then as we are now.

Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:

https://annelieeddyphotography.co.uk
https://www.cecilymaude.com/
https://www.bandhbuildings.com/
Florist: Rocco Flowers
Dress from: the Outnet