Inside: A Multicultural Winter Wedding In London The Wedding Edition

The Story

We actually first met at university, but it wasn’t until four years after graduation that we first went on a date. Our mutual friend (who was the best man) put us back in touch. We then spent the next couple of years travelling back and forth between London and Bristol, getting to know each other better and falling more in love. Laurence ultimately moved to London and after many lockdowns and Covid bubbles later, we got engaged in 2022. It was our 4^th year anniversary and at a special place for us – the Millennium Bridge. Laurence chose a gorgeous oval diamond in a solitaire setting and a gold band. We’d always wondered what our wedding would look like given our multi-cultural backgrounds. We wanted to weave both Azeri traditions and Laurence’s Italian heritage into our London winter wedding in a way that felt natural to us – there was a lot to work out as there was no template for such a mix. And we were so pleased with the end result. It felt particularly special, and exciting, as there were elements of the wedding that some guests were familiar with and others that were new discoveries. We spent a lot of time working with our planner, Matthew and the team at Sauveur, on how we bring together different customs and rituals whilst ensuring that the winter wedding felt very much ours.

Venue

Our marriage ceremony took place at Our Lady of Victories in Kensington which is our local church. Our venue brief was a location that could accommodate everything we had in mind for the reception, was appropriate for a winter wedding, and not too far from the church. We viewed a number of venues with Matthew and chose One Great George Street in Westminster. It had the most amazing scale which would work for our celebrations as well as a nice warmth to it. The team there were fantastic and very accommodating to all our requirements.

Our international guests stayed at the Carlton Jumeirah and Laurence’s family stayed at the Royal Horseguards hotel in Westminster. Both sides hosted a welcome dinner the evening before as well as an informal post-wedding brunch the following morning.

Fashion

I knew that my style was a “modern elegant” look, so I was looking for a slim fit dress with some sort of twist. And I found it in Mirror Mirror Bridal London – a gorgeous Vera Wang design called “Babette” that I really loved. I opted for a Pronovias skirt and veil for the church – as well as a jacket I found on Etsy – and I loved being able to easily change my look for the dinner.

Laurence had a Black-tie dinner suit in midnight blue made for him from Ede & Ravenscroft that fitted him perfectly – one that he will be wearing for many years to come. Jewellery-wise – this was special to us as we wore jewellery gifted to us by our families for the special day

Bridal Party

We were fairly relaxed with bridesmaids and ushers. The boys were free to wear their own black tie – some in velvet and other more traditional! For the bridesmaids, we gave them a colour palette to guide their choice but the design was totally up to them. By chance, they all chose the dark red/burgundy end of the colour spectrum which was perfect for our winter setting. For bridesmaids gifts I wanted to give the girls something they would use, so I went for these sweet compact mirrors from Bloom Boutique individually engraved.

Transportation

We had a beautiful white vintage Bentley which collected Ayan and her father from the hotel and brought them to the church before bringing us both from the ceremony on to the venue. We wanted to ensure our guests made it safely and smoothly onto the reception venue and arranged for a fleet of minibuses to collect everyone after the ceremony and bring them on to the reception.

Tablescape

We started by looking at a selection of colour palettes with Matthew that would guide the invitations, stationery, and the tablescape. We wanted to avoid anything that involved too many traditional winter wedding colours. We decided on a maroon tone to provide warmth and then played on top of that with blush tones. The venue is quite grand and ornate so we worked with our planner to develop a warm, light and ethereal tablescape which Nancy complemented with the florals. We had three long tables running the length of the room and used lots of cut glass, blush tone candles, and silver to give the design and bright and warm feel. Ayan’s mother arranged for beautiful miniature Azeri carpets with our initials on which were placed at everyone’s seats.

Food & Drink

Food and hosting are an integral part to Azeri wedding celebrations, so we knew we wanted multiple courses. Spook, our caterer, did a fantastic job of designing a warm, modern, winter menu. Starting with burrata and then a squash ravioli to bring in the Italian elements. Azeri weddings serve a Shakh Plov which is a celebratory rice dish presented to the couple. We worked with Spook to perfect smaller, individual, plovs that were served to each guest as their main course. We then returned to Italian with a Tiramisù for pudding as well as lemon sorbet and limoncello shots passed around as a dancefloor refresher.

We wanted the cocktails to be a real talking point and Cock & Tail served fantastic drinks after dinner including a stand-out Negroni Sour that people still talk about.

Entertainment

From the beginning we’d briefed Matthew that we wanted a winter wedding filled with entertainment and were keen to avoid the more traditional dinner followed by dancing format. We had a fantastic house band from Rattle & Shake who provided the backdrop for the evening. They welcomed the guests into the dining room with a rousing set before we entered for our first dance. Ayan is a huge Lady Gaga fan, and the band prepared a beautiful arrangement of Always Remember Us This Way. We also had an Azeri MC, Leyla, who helped explain some of the core traditions to the guests and introduce the speeches that took place between the courses. We then brought in performances from a wonderful Azeri singer Hayyam and his band who brought traditional Azeri music and dancing to the repertoire. The plov also has its own moment when it is brought to the couple with a traditional dance so there was a lot going on. We spent a lot of time perfecting the schedule with Matthew to allow for all these moments but to ensure it flowed smoothly throughout the evening.

Beauty Regime & Wellness

We had a large bridal party and I was keen to make sure they all felt happy and glowing. I worked with Kelly Dawn bridal who arranged for a team of hair and make up professionals to look after the girls. Andrada Rusu did both my hair and make-up and I was beyond pleased – she really made me feel so understood. She put my hair up into a ponytail ahead of dinner too which elevated my modern elegant look even more.

I am also really into yoga and I wanted to be able to fit in a practice in the morning to help set me up for the day. I was so grateful that my favourite teacher came to the hotel and led a beautiful practice for me and a few of the bridesmaids; this 1 hour in the morning really helped me to feel both excited and present throughout the day.

Laurence and his ushers spent the morning in The Bath House where they enjoyed a traditional Banya experience, complete with massages and vodka.

Favourite wedding gifts

We decided to use The Wedding Shop. We’d looked at several options and Matthew recommended them due to the breadth of options and brands they had available.

Honeymoon

3 weeks after our winter wedding we set off on an African adventure. We spent 4 days in a safari in the Kenyan Masai Mara which was the perfect antidote to our busy London lives; we instantly began to relax and enjoy seeing some incredible wildlife and scenery. We then spent a week in Mauritius and a final few days in the winelands and Cape Town in South Africa!

Advice

Don’t be afraid to experiment with some speeches/dancing / live music in between courses. Our guests loved alternating between the high energy moments and sitting back down to chat to friends.
Do an activity in the morning that will help relax you and get you into a good mindset for the emotional day ahead.
Weddings are all about organisation and a clear vision of what you want – if these are not your forte, get a wedding planner. Our conversations with Matthew were invaluable and he helped us figure out what we want and feel confident in our choices in a way that surpassed our own expectations.