Anyone who knows me knows that I’m *obsessed* with Vivienne Westwood (I wore a couture design of hers to my brother’s wedding which was the first W Day I ever blogged) so I am super thrilled to be featuring a super glam Vivienne Westwood bride on the blog today — I have SO been waiting for this moment!
And what a stunning bride Ana is – all glowing skin and glossy locks (topped off with an exquisite David Morris tiara). She totally rocks that Vivienne Westwood gown (named ‘Bird of Paradise’), and it’s actually an adaptation of the purple Dita Von Teese Vivienne Westwood wedding dress that was featured in the V&A’s wedding dress exhibition earlier this year.
We also have bridesmaids in Alice Temperley and an equally fashion forward groom in Spencer Hart (my husband’s choice of suit designer for our wedding!).
This W Day is full of fun — from the bridal conga around Eros in Piccadilly Circus to the Scottish-Jewish melding of cultures, and the table centres designed by Ana’s mum. She’s a keen gardener and grew all the flowers for the wedding in the year leading up to it — how wonderful is that? Ana says she really wanted all of the family to play a big part in the wedding day and such a perspective always makes for a fun and inclusive celebration.
So sit back, relax and enjoy this incredible London wedding — not only do I have the breathtaking film for you by much-loved STG sponsor, The Dreamcatchers, but also the gorgeous images by Joshua Tucker. To life!
A Jewish wedding with Scottish influences
Ana, the Bride: Our favourite part of the day was the mix of my Dad’s Scottish blood with Adam’s Jewish Traditional family and a Rabbi we both adore. We really wanted a happy, relaxed, fun party with some dressing up! I think from the fact our friends went on partying until the early hours of the morning means we succeeded.
A central London venue
We chose to have our wedding at The Criterion in Piccadilly. We wanted a real London feel because we are both Londoners born and bred. We now live in Asia and wanted to come home and have a day with our closest friends and family.
We used Sandra from The Criterion to plan the wedding in-house. She catered to all our ideas and even let us Conga around the Eros statue!
Invitations and wedding stationery
Ruth Kaye collaborated with us on the invite. The Criterion is a historic building where the Suffragettes used to meet, so I came up with a ‘Victoriana handkerchief wrapped around an original postcard’. Ruth modernised the design and we worked with Charlotte Kaye to create customised stamps and gold calligraphy on black envelopes to make them pop.
hair + make up
We had Elvire Roux do all the girls hair including my mum and stepmum, which was a giggle to sit in rollers drinking champagne together before the wedding. Ashley worked the makeup like a charm, again I wanted a natural look and she made my lashes look long but not fake. Unfortunately I was suffering with terrible hayfever on the day so I needed Ashley to reduce my puffiness and make me feel fresh faced for the day.
A Vivienne Westwood wedding dress
The dress was couture Vivienne Westwood and called The Bird of Paradise. Funnily enough, it’s an adaptation of the purple Dita Von Teese wedding dress from the V&A wedding dress exhibition. I had fallen in love with Vivienne Westwood when I went to Central Saint Martins School of Art and was upset when her wedding dress design was used in Sex and the City because I thought everyone would want one. Like the Suffragettes, Vivienne is a woman with a voice and is not afraid to make a woman both beautiful and strong at the same time. It is pure silk and I love the feel and fit of natural material on my skin. It was a light weight bodice. My only regret is hitching the length up too early in the evening. It’s at is best full length.
A tiara that made me feel like a princess
The tiara is a piece from David Morris. Erin at David Morris looked after me and helped me select the perfect floral headband from the Le Jardin Collection. I usually wear gold jewellery but diamonds are a classic on the wedding day to match the ring. The tiara made me feel like a princess in my dress.
Nude kitten heels
Due to my long legs I was banned from wearing high heels and opted for a nude Stuart Weitzman one strap kitten heels. I found them through Solange Knowles‘ Pinterest wedding photos, after my third trip to Selfridges proved unfruitful. They were super comfortable and I didn’t regret dancing the whole night in them!
Bridesmaids in Alice Temperley
The two bridesmaids wore Alice Temperley. She’s a family friend and we really wanted her magical designs in our wedding. They wore our favourite colour, blue, because it is both Adam and my Maid of Honours eye colour. We gave the bridesmaids Julia Cameron luna headpieces as gifts so they could choose to wear them on their heads, as necklaces or bracelets to suit them best. You can also customise the stone colour to suit your colour palette.
A Spencer Hart groom
Adam wore a tailor-made, three piece Spencer Hart suit, ironically from the same street as Vivienne Westwood but we managed to keep our fitting appointments separate so we both got surprised on the day! I loved his black suede shoes (which cost more than mine so it’s a good thing I liked them!!) they were an improvement on the shoes he wore when we met! Progress I think!
chuppah design
We had the same chuppah as Adam’s brother had the year before at his wedding. It was such a happy occasion for us that we wanted to inherit the same one and match the same flowers as a Newman tradition.
Our amazing videographer and photographer
Joshua Tucker is the most incredible photographer for capturing the innocent and natural moments without interrupting or dashing into the aisle in front of you. We wanted a very understated ceremony with the focus on the celebration for our nearest and dearest.
Adrian Stone from The Dreamcatchers was wonderful at creating a memento true to that vibe. We had friends who recommended Dreamcatchers and they didn’t disappoint.
music, entertainment and magic!
Adam is a DJ so has very specific taste in songs for the wedding! We had an old school garage set to remind us of the music we liked when we first met nine years ago… He chose Laurie from DJ Live and the singers from JustSeventy to mix tracks to live vocals and musicians. I didn’t know how this would work because it’s normally a band or a DJ at a Jewish wedding but Laurie had everyone dancing from the moment the ceremony finished until the moment the night ended. When Wayne Hernandez sang our first song Let’s stay together there was not a dry eye in the house. Now two of our friends have asked for Laurie’s details for their upcoming weddings.
We also had an AMAZING magician called Drummond Money-Coutts DMC Magic. He is absolutely wonderful – I highly recommend him too!
flowers
We wanted natural natural natural for the blooms. The bouquets, buttonholes and chuppah flowers were creations of Liz from Funky Flowers. Liz really captured the look I wanted and was a dream to work with. My mum is a keen gardener and designed the tables! I really wanted all of the family to have a part to play in the wedding and it was something she was excited to do/grow in the year running up to the wedding.
Fantastic food and lots of different cakes!
The food was a huge part of why we chose the Criterion, they offer kosher and non-kosher options with delicious accompanying cocktails. The cakes were from La Patisserie Des Reves Marylebone and my step-grandparents chose them for our wedding gift. They chose a selection instead of an individual cake because they could not decide on which flavour!
Advice to other brides and grooms
I had the aisle on one side of the chuppah and the guests on the other, so only Adam and the Rabbi could see me coming up the aisle, which helped with the nerves! The only other piece of advice is when you are walking around seven times, you are not in the frame of mind to count as you may get swept up in the emotions and your legs go wobbly! I wish I had the Rabbi or my mum nod to let me know when I was on the final turn!
Ana and Adam’s LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Videography — The Dreamcatchers
Photography — Joshua Tucker
Venue — The Criterion (now sadly closed)
Bride’s dress — Vivienne Westwood
Bride’s shoes —Stuart Weitzman
Groom’s suit — Spencer Hart
Flowers — Funky Flowers
Hair + Make up — Elvire Roux
Stationery design — Ruth Kaye and Charlotte Kaye
Bridesmaids — Temperley London
Bridesmaids’ headpieces — Julia Cameron
Cake — La Patisserie de Reves
Entertainment — Just Seventy
Tiara — David Morris
Toastmaster — Jonathan Waterman
Magician — Drummond Money-Coutts DMC Magic
Wow classy and fun. And can I just say the mother of the bride looked so beautiful and gracious..
Absolutely stunning!