Hayford & Rhodes Archives - Smashing the Glass

I’m so thrilled to announce that one of my very favourite London venues, Kimpton Fitzroy London, is hosting a fantastic Winter Wedding Soiree on Friday, 7 February, from 3:30 to 7:00 PM – and I’d love to see you there!

Indulgence Bar® by STG Vendor GC Couture will be at the Soiree!

Set amidst the central London hotel’s Grade II listed ballroom and stunning Palm Court, this is going to be the ultimate winter bash party.

Design and Styling by STG Vendor Steven Duggan Events – they’ll be at the Soiree!

There’ll be live music all evening, circulating champagne and canapés, exquisitely crafted sweets by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor GC Couture, delectable cocktails – and it’s all FREE.

Photo by John Nassari Photography

And some of our very favourite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors will be in attendance, including Sensation Band, Hayford & Rhodes, GC Couture, Steven Duggan Events, Victoria Percival, Susan Yates, and Dimitria Jordan – do come meet them and check out their wonderful work firsthand, along with many other talented wedding suppliers!

Fall has arrived early on STG! If you’re already missing all the seasonal colourful leaves, chunky knits and spicy drinks, then settle in and relive the season with Frances and Rudi’s magically autumnal real wedding, captured by photographer Elegant & Wild.

Beautiful bride, Frances, wore an astoundingly stunning bespoke gown made by much-loved Smashing Supplier, Melanie Potro. The gown evoked echoes of Audrey Hepburn, and Frances looked like an absolute dream. We’re totally in love! We also highly approve of Frances’s choice to pair the dress with gorgeous, glittery gold heels.

Talented Frances was also able to harness her creative side, crafting the entire autumnal stationery suite for the wedding and even launching her own website selling her gorgeous products.

Melanie Potro wasn’t the only Smashing Supplier at Rudi and Frances’s big day. Amazing party band, Sensation Band, also played at the reception, even saving the day by keeping everyone entertained during a temporary mishap.

We also want to mention the beautiful, sentimental chuppah idea of using tallis from the bride and grooms’ respective grandfathers. The story behind this is so moving and it was a really wonderful way to honour generations of their families.

I’ll hand over to our gorgeous bride to tell us more. Take it away, Frances!

How we met

Frances, the bride: We have lots of mutual friends, we were friends on Facebook and knew each other from parties over the years, but in the end it was that good old matchmaker, Tinder, that got us together.

An appropriately named venue: Intercontinental on Park Lane in London

We got married at the Intercontinental on Park Lane, quite simply because it was central and big enough to hold 300 people. My Dad gave a nod to its significance in his speech, commenting on the ‘intercontinental’ nature of our wedding. Rudi’s family is from Iraq and mine from London, although prior to that Austria, Russia and Poland. We had guests from all over too.