A Little Big Day - An Intimate London Wedding for Beth & TC

We got married in October 2021 during the global pandemic. We had our ceremony in the Westminister Room of the Old Marylebone Town Hall and then had lunch at The Orrery in Marylebone. Planning our wedding was completely stress-free once we decided to embrace the intimacy of a tiny pandemic wedding! We did have to change our plans when restrictions tightened from a guest list of 25 to 4! That was definitely the hardest part, it was a difficult decision to make as it meant not having any of our siblings or close family and friends present. However, we found the actual wedding planning itself very simple - we always knew we wanted to take a relaxed approach to our little big day and had clear ideas of what we liked so finding great suppliers was easy.

2020 reminded us on both a global and personal level that nothing is guaranteed in life. Losing a very important family member - Beth’s grandmother Sylvia - encouraged us to embrace life despite the pandemic, so we decided we didn’t want the long planning process or fuss that often comes with a wedding! When the restrictions started changing, we had a tricky decision but ultimately what mattered was marrying each other! A few weeks after we decided on our wedding date, we found out Beth was pregnant with our little rainbow baby, it felt really special to have our son join our day in bump form.

There was no pressure, no stress, no family politics or demanding expectations. Although we missed some important faces, it felt really special to exchange our vows without a large audience, with just TC’s parents and Beth’s mum and grandfather to witness. Of course, we also saved a lot of money by having a small day which meant we didn’t have to spend years planning and saving or accrue any debt to get married. We were able to focus our budget on much more luxurious things - like a four-course fine dining lunch and a 5-star hotel suite for us to spend our wedding night in! I wore a £70 ASOS dress and felt like a million dollars; none of the usual wedding pressure felt like it mattered.

The Dream Team

BRIDE: @bethsandland PHOTOGRAPHY: Victoria Somerset-How Photography @victoriasomersethowphotography FLOWERS: Emma Hewlett Floral Design @emmahewlettfloraldesign MUA: Keeley Wilson Mke-up Artist @keeleywilsonmakeup HAIR: Whiteman Soho @whiteman.soho DRESS: Asos @asos VEIL: Etsy @etsy SHOES: Jimmy Choo @jimmychoo GROOM’S OUTFIT: Suit Supply (suit) - @suitsupply, Ted Baker (shirt) @ted_baker, Dune London (shoes) @dune_london, Reiss (tie & pocket square) @reiss WEDDING BANDS: Angelic Diamonds @angelicdiamonds