A rustic chic aesthetic, live music aplenty, adorable extras and an incredible amount of family involvement defined Charlotte and David’s divine Soho Farmhouse wedding day.
When we say family involvement, we mean that the happy couple had an entire team of amazing helpers. The wedding was planned by the bride’s mum, the invitations designed by the groom’s sister, the jewellery provided by the groom’s mum, a dear friend of the bride sang the couple through their first dance – a perfect example of how the Jewish community comes together in times of celebration.
As Charlotte is a music manager, it went without saying that the wedding was packed with live music, including a gospel choir for the ceremony – now that’s something you don’t see at every Jewish wedding! The wedding featured two of our wonderful musical Recommended Vendors: Boutique Chupah Music (hear their amazing rendition of ‘Boi Kallah’ to the tune of ‘Hallelujah’ in the Insta-clip below), and the amazing Wedding Smashers, who were on hand to kick the party up a notch and truly honor the venue’s ‘last man standing’ curfew policy.
Adorable extras included a midnight munchies van outside (heaven), and the guests arriving by milk float, which the STG team has now decided to use as its exclusive mode of transport from now on.
We’re also LIVING for Charlotte’s incredible, full-skirt Elizabeth Fillmore dress. What an absolute vision of bridal beauty!
Right, it’s now Charlotte’s turn to take over the STG pages with her fabulous write up – enjoy!
A venue with a last-man-standing curfew
Charlotte, the bride: We got married at Soho Farmhouse. We loved going to friends’ weddings abroad. You can’t beat the laidback atmosphere of an abroad wedding. We wanted to create that in the UK without any hassle of organising a function abroad, and Farmhouse allowed us to do just that.
We loved Soho Farmhouse from the moment we stepped foot onto the grounds, which was when it first opened, perhaps a year or so before we got married. Plus, their curfew rule is ‘last man standing’.
A wild garden wedding with a lot of help from mum
I’m not really a theme sort of person, but we did have neutral tones that ran throughout. My floral inspiration was similar to that of a wild garden – rustic, but chic.
Mother extraordinaire was the wedding planner (available for bookings!). She worked tirelessly on this wedding, day and night, and Natalie, the coordinator at the Farmhouse was wonderful.
Keeping it in the family
My now sister-in-law is the brains behind the luxe stationery brand, Studio Sarah. We were lucky enough to have Sarah help us to design our invites, and we used her staple colors: powder green, cream and gold, which are totally in keeping with Farmhouse.
We had our invites printed at Mount Street printers, which was handy, as it is right next to my office, and they were lovely to deal with.
Makeup by the best in the business
I kept my hair and makeup very natural. Having been on stage from many years myself, I am very well versed in doing my own makeup, so I am not very easy to please as far as makeup artists go. Stacey Lincoln really is the best in the business. Really.
A dress inspired by Dior’s New Look
I didn’t really fall in love with any dress, but had an idea of what I wanted. Originally, I wanted something quite slinky and fitted, but after trying on tighter dresses, I felt like I wanted something more special for the big day, something I would never have an opportunity to normally wear.
I went to about 13 dress shops, and Browns Bride were so helpful, lovely and truly gave the ultimate bridal shopping experience. I fell in love with the iconic full Dior skirt after watching the film ‘Dior and I’ (a must watch for any fashionista!) and the ‘Tuileries’ dress by Elizabeth Fillmore had the fuller skirt with the personality I was after to match.
It ticked all the boxes, and Maria at Browns seriously did couture it up to the max, her skill, blood (literally) sweat and tears went into that dress. Off the hanger, it really is a work of art – so much so, I am considering box framing it.
The Monique Lhuillier shawl really did finish the dress off, too.
Custom-made jewelry
My mother in law is queen of jewels – jewelry is really her thing, as her father was in the business. She so kindly had me some exquisite earrings made. I love them so much – she has fantastic taste. Hair jewels were a rushed job in Debenhams, but they did the trick and the veil was from Browns.
Prada heels
I am a skyscrapers-always girl, and had my dress been long, I would have gone straight for the biggest platforms I could find, but as you could see my shoes, it needed to be something very elegant.
They were ivory – the exact match to my dress, and very comfy Prada heels from their exclusive bridal range at Harrods (they don’t put them on the shop floor, so you have to ask – I just got lucky, as I got chatting to the shop assistant, otherwise I wouldn’t have known).
The handsome groom
David wore a Mr Start custom-made suit, and grandpa’s watch and cufflinks.
Bridesmaids in ASOS dresses
My bridesmaids bought their dresses at ASOS – I really loved them! David had four best men.
A gospel choir
David and I love gospel music, so we had a gospel choir, The Bespoke Choir from I Can Create Anything, enter the chuppah room singing Let The Sunshine In, Love Love Love and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. It was a very special moment, especially for a Jewish wedding. They led the wedding party into the reception room.
Boutique Chupah Music sang at our ceremony, which was special, as we have known them forever, and their dad was the Rabbi who took the service along with Rabbi Rosenfield.
Singing friends and feel-good party tunes
My mum heard Love Story by Jon Schmidt and played it to us – we all loved it and found it highly emotive and chose that for everyone to walk down the aisle to. It is a very special piece of music. Our first dance was sung by my friend Laura, and was Just The Way You Look Tonight.
At the wedding, we had feel-good party tunes. We had an after party, which went on until early hours, and there the DJ played RnB, hip hop ‘Kisstory’ kind of vibe. The DJ was from Wedding Smashers. He was amazing, took requests and had everything!
‘Rustic chic’ flowers
Farm Flowers brought our floral ideas to life. Rustic chic and a huge, HUGE amount of pictures was the brief.
The bridesmaids had long-stemmed roses tied with a ribbon, and the men had a single long-stemmed rose with a diamanté pin.
Our fabulous photographer
Our photographer was Pascal from Reportage Gallery. He didn’t stop until 2am, I couldn’t recommend him enough. He even came to brunch the following morning with a magazine he had put together overnight full of pictures from the night before!
Unforgettable food
Food Story, our caterer, was amazing. People have raved about the food since, and Matt was a dream to work with. We had LOADS of reception canapés and food stations, which was really the first course, so we could fit more dancing into the evening.
Plenty of live music
I am in the music industry, so this was a big thing for our wedding. The Sweethearts vocal trio wowed at the reception our reception – a band that I sang in years ago.
My dear friend sang our first dance – she is now a professional singer in The Swing Revue in Dubai.
The party band were also from I Can Create Anything – I really didn’t want a show band. They can often draw focus, and I wanted something fresh and exciting. These guys were exactly that – they are so so talented
Wedding cocktails
The cocktails at the reception were named Soho Silver Mule, Wedding Bell-ini, Mr and Mrs Mojito.
Midnight munchies and guests arriving by milk float
I wrote little notes for all of our friends on their place setting. There was a midnight munchie food van stationed outside the afterparty.
Our wedding hashtag #sohosilver was stuck onto all the milk floats, which brought the wedding guests to and from the wedding.
A brunch the day after
A welcome pack was given to each guest on entry into the farmhouse outlining the day and their stay, followed by a brunch the next day.
The guests all stayed overnight in cabins and bell tents, and we have a big brunch the following morning. When guests entered their cabins, the TV screen saver was a picture of me and David.
At the brunch the day after the wedding, there were florists on hand to make our guests individual bouquets of flowers from the wedding flowers to take home with them. They could also take some wedding cake, which had been divided up into boxes with stickers attached that said ‘love from the bride and groom’.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Don’t stress – there is nothing you can do about anything on the day.
Have everything completed three weeks in advance of the wedding, so that you have nothing to do other than enjoy the lead up.
You won’t eat at the wedding, so make sure you have lunch, and eat loads at the food tasting.
Find a moment with your bride/groom to watch the party in action – they’re all there for you.
Charlotte & David’s little white book
Photographer – Reportage Gallery
Videographer – Mariage à La Mode
Venue – Soho Farmhouse
Catering – Food Story
Chuppah Music – Boutique Chupah Music
Entertainment – Wedding Smashers, The Sweethearts, The Swing Revue, The Bespoke Choir from I Can Create Anything
Bride’s dress and shawl – Elizabeth Fillmore and Monique Lhuillier purchased at Browns Bride
Bride’s shoes – Prada purchased at Harrods
Bride’s accessories – Debenhams
Groom’s attire – Mr Start
Bridesmaids – ASOS
Hair – Josh Wood Soho Farmhouse
Makeup – Stacey Lincoln
Flowers – Farm Flowers
Invitation – Studio Sarah
Thanks for sharing this, it´s wonderful!
Some beautiful photography in here! 🙂