WPC Real Wedding: Camilla and James' Luxe London Wedding

The Wedding Present Company were really professional from the very start, from the tour of their Chelsea Showroom to helping us with wedding present inspiration, through to helping us organise our list and the delivery. The arrival of our wedding presents is like all previous Birthdays and Christmases rolled into one! There's nothing quite like it - it's so special and they went the extra mile to make it even more amazing with some lovely personal touches. 

Rosanna Lonsdale, Royal Scot Crystal, William Yeoward, Brixton Pottery, Oka, Sophie Allport, Villeroy & Boch, Flora Blackett and Le Creuset. We loved how we could choose from well known brands as well as smaller brands. 

The service at The Wedding Present Company was excellent and renowned within our circle of friends. We liked that there was a showroom so close where we could see things before adding them to our wedding list. One of the few things we did not see before was a pepper grinder and it is larger than you would find in most pizza restaurants. We love its eccentricity now!

Yes it was a source of huge excitement and we love looking around our married home at all the lovely presents from our friends and family. Our presents serve as the perfect reminder of this incredibly special time in our lives. 

We got engaged in the Maldives in the most incredible setting: on our balcony of one of the above water huts at sunset. We had arrived earlier that day by sea plane which was incredibly exciting for my husband who is an airlines analyst.  

A traditional ceremony in Chelsea Old Church, followed by our reception in a Marquee in the grounds of Royal Hospital Chelsea, Ranelagh Gardens.

We used Blue Strawberry and Table Talk Catering to help us plan our wedding. I was living in Hong Kong when we got engaged and their help planning a wedding back home was invaluable. They worked with Royal Hospital Chelsea Events to choose a suitable marquee. Despite being so close to Sloane Square, the marquee was set up on a private lawn/ enclosed garden and we got some lovely photos on the tree-lined walkway and also some striking shots in the interiors of the impressive venue, which has been beautifully maintained.

Pinstripes and Peonies helped me to design some hanging flower chandeliers with pink and cream roses and candles which hung around the marquee.  We also had a number of olive trees to bring the outside in and we still have these outside our house today.

I wanted to use a marquee rather than the interior of the Royal Hospital as you can personalise the space (and I have a thing against black and white checked dancefloors!). I drew some roses to mirror the flowers for our seating plan, menus and placecards.  We now have the seating plan hanging at home!

We hired traditional Red London buses to transport our guests from the church to the marquee. We also rented some beautiful 1964 Phantom Rolls Royces for the bridal party. My wedding dress needed quite a bit of its own space!

I designed my own bespoke dress with Phillipa Lepley which was built layer by layer over a number of months. They were fantastic at every stage. It had a relatively full skirt (when else can you wear one!) and a beautiful lace layer throughout. The trim of the veil mirrored the dress. I wanted a dress with three-quarter length sleeves which would look traditional for the church section of the wedding and these were then unpicked to reveal a small cap sleeve for the dinner and dancing. A seamstress from Phillipa Lepley was with us for the day to help with this and ensure my dress looked perfect. My 'something borrowed' was an elegant, family tiara from Cartier from a 1920s collection owned by my aunt. 

I am hoping to hang my veil over the crib for our new baby arriving this year.  

I had my hair done at Beauforts on the Kings Road. I opted for a bouncy, curly blowdry (Kate Middleton style). Jacinta Spencer did make up for me, my mother and my sister who was my maid of honour. I wanted it very natural and timeless which she achieved effortlessly. We largely used Charlotte Tilbury products. 

James chose a tie from Hermes.  His suit was from Oliver Brown on Lower Sloane Street and his waistcoat was from David Saxby (the owners are now in jail for tax fraud it seems)! I couldn’t persuade him to wear a pink one but yellow worked fantastically for Spring. 

My sister was my Maid of Honour. She chose an elegant dress from Paule Ka in the soft pastel pink colour to match our floral theme. We had five little bridesmaids and three pageboys as we had a lot of adorable cousins that we wanted to include. They wore beautiful outfits from Amelia Brennan with pale pink sashes, silk ballet shoes and grey shorts for the boys. They were all surprisingly well behaved!

Table Talk Catering delivered over and above on our wedding food. We had a traditional three course menu and the most incredible selection of canapes. I asked the caterer to save us one of each to accompany our first glass of champagne after the photographs. The presentation was incredible - they served one dish in parmesan cones served in wooden logs! The tasting was one of our favourite parts of the wedding planning (and with the greatest involvement from James!).

Our cake was a three tiered red velvet cake from Cakes by Robin covered in roses and cut with a family sword. 

The champagne at the reception and the wine at supper were from Justerini & Brooks (a tough choice as my father spent his career at Berry Brothers). After dinner, we had a selection of cocktails including personal favourites such as mojitos and moscow mules served from a round bar below one of the flower chandeliers. 

Chris Allerton did our wedding photography. He did an incredible job of making us feel less awkward behind a long lens. We have his photos all around our house and he helped us design our wedding photo album afterwards.  

Our videographer was Ben Clowes. He did a highlight reel and a much longer DVD for us to re-live the day. 

We used the band Articulate who we had seen at a number of our friend's weddings. They always keep the dancefloor filled and we were delighted that they did the same as our wedding. Our first dance song was Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Higher.

We used Blue Strawberry and Table Talk Catering to help us plan our wedding. I was living in Hong Kong when we got engaged and their help planning a wedding back home was invaluable. 

I drew some roses to mirror the flowers for our place cards, menu and seating plan board. Kall Kwik Chelsea organised the printing of our wedding stationary.  We use a thick card with burgundy embossed writing in a traditional style.  

Our highlight was being surrounded by all our favourite people and seeing their smiles for the first time as we walked down the aisle. The first dance was great fun (fortunately I was led by my husband as he is a very good dancer and refused to rehearse it in advance). When we departed all our guests were on the stairs with sparklers which was another special moment. 

We loved choosing a venue that was personal to us and which we can return to easily throughout our lives. Unless you are incredibly organised, a wedding planner was a huge support to us and helped us source suppliers

Venue: Royal Hospital Chelsea

Wedding Planner: Blue Strawberry and Table Talk Catering

Dress: Phillipa Lepley

Jewellery: Cartier

Groom's Outfit: Oliver Brown & Hermes

Catering: Table Talk Catering

Wedding Cake: Cakes by Robin

Champagne and Wine: Justerini & Brooks

Maid of Honor Dress: Paule Ka 

Flower Girls and Page Boys:  Amelia Brennan

Hair & Make Up: Beauforts & Jacinta Spence

Florist: Pinstripes and Peonies

Stationery: Kall Kwik Chelsea

Photographer: Chris Allerton

Videographer: Ben Clowes

Music: Articulate