Inside: A Relaxed Chic London Wedding

Sarah Royce-Greensill is a Jewellery Editor and Kris is a Business Development Manager. The couple met at a pub in Clapham in 2016; Sarah was out for drinks with a PR friend Lauren, and Kris was Lauren’s lodger at the time (they went to uni together). Lauren texted him to say ‘come meet me, having drinks with a pretty journalist’ and he did – the rest is history! Kris proposed at home in October 2019, with an antique ring bought at an auction.

The best part of our day was….

The ceremony. The venue was so breathtaking that the service needed to do it justice, and our celebrant Dave Octave was wonderful. He created a unique, funny and touching service full of warmth and laughter. We incorporated personal touches like drinking whisky from a Quaich cup as a reference to Kris’ Scottish heritage, alongside readings. Our first appearance as a married couple dancing through the pub to Dua Lipa was also a fun memory.

We choose to get married at…

The Asylum in Peckham. We wanted to get married in London as that’s where we met, where we live together and where we’ve had so much fun. Much as we loved the idea of a beach wedding, our priority was that as many of our friends and family could be there as possible. I had seen The Asylum on Instagram long before we got engaged and it was my dream venue. It’s so unexpected to find this gorgeous dilapidated candlelit chapel in the middle of Peckham. It’s stunning and incredibly atmospheric, and as it’s dry hire we could personalise the drinks reception with champagne and crisp sandwiches. Our reception was at The Lordship Pub in East Dulwich which is a lovely proper pub with a beer garden. We figured that everyone would feel relaxed and at home in a pub.

I knew I found ‘The One’ when….

I tried on over 100 dresses which was fun but ultimately confusing (one day my sisters and I did six wedding dress shops in a day – we were all fairly delirious at the end of it). It became an existential task trying to decide what ‘type of bride’ I was. Ultimately it came down to the day itself – I tried on lots of gorgeous big dresses that would have been perfect if I was getting married in a chateau in Provence, but not so practical for a reception in a pub in East Dulwich.

I found my dress at an Alexandra Grecco trunk show. It’s pared-back and unfussy but the gorgeous silk makes the simple silhouette very special. My veil was from Halfpenny; I absolutely loved the floral elements which added a romantic, whimsical feeling to the minimalistic dress.

I bought the dress in February 2020 as our wedding was originally planned for July 2020 – we all know how that panned out! We eventually got married two and a half years (and one baby) after I bought the dress, and I did have a few wobbles about whether it would fit post-baby, but the seamstress I used for alterations was fantastic. We created detachable tulle straps with hand-embroidered petals as a last-minute addition and I’m so glad we did – it made the dress the perfect mix of modern and romantic, which was exactly what I hoped for.

The most enjoyable moments of planning were…

Back in 2019, visiting venues and chucking around ideas about how we’d like the day to pan out was exciting. Then finally doing our tasting at the pub in early summer 2022, when we got a chance to really think through how our guests will experience the day, and it all started to become less theoretical and more real. It was also just a fun baby-free afternoon out at the pub!

The hardest part of planning was…

Trying to do it around a one-year-old! As our original wedding was postponed I thought I was 80% of the way there with the organising…turns out I was more like 50% because the small details are what take the longest. Babies also take up quite a lot of time(!) so a lot of the planning had to be done on the fly while pushing the pram or snatched during nap time. There were definitely no Pinterest boards or long romantic evenings of #wedmin over a bottle of wine, but we got there eventually with the help of some very kind friends and family who stepped in to babysit.

A Rustic Chic London Wedding — Photographer: Jackson & Co

Our wedding menu highlights were…

The food at The Lordship is incredible and one of the reasons we chose it as our reception venue. The starters of mini chicken pies, roasted vegetable skewers and salt cod croquettes were passed around while people mingled in the garden. For dessert we had sticky toffee pudding which should by law be on the menu at every British wedding breakfast IMO.

Our first dance song was…

Otis Redding These Arms of Mine. In true last-minute style Kris decided what it would be on the day so when the song started I had no idea what we were dancing to. I think (hope) we styled it out.

The best accounts to follow on Instagram for big-day inspo are…

I didn’t follow much as I didn’t want to be overwhelmed by options. I think Love My Dress was one of the only ones I followed. We didn’t do too many bells and whistles, and as I go to a lot of beautifully done events as part of my job I had quite a clear idea of how I wanted things to look. That’s not to say I didn’t lose hours to Instagram’s ‘discover’ algorithm…

My top three tips for any couple would be…

Mine everybody you know for recommendations. My incredible make-up artist, hair stylist and florist were all recommendations from friends, which saved me hours trawling the internet reading reviews and trying to decide.

Follow your gut instinct (and it’s never too late to make a decision). For example, if you really think you need a steel drum band for the beer garden and nobody else agrees, but you still really believe you do, just do it – I booked ours literally the day before the wedding and it was one of the best parts of the day.

Once you’ve made a decision, move on. This was advice given to me by a friend and it is so true. Thanks to Instagram we are all totally overwhelmed by options and it’s very easy to experience decision paralysis or to regret a decision you’ve made when you see something you think you like more. So try to go with your gut, trust the choices you’ve made and trust that your chosen suppliers will do a brilliant job.

Cheeky fourth tip – use Rachael Barker for your flowers if you can, she is the best of the best and a truly remarkable person to boot!

For our honeymoon we chose…

We haven’t been on honeymoon yet as we bought a house straight after the wedding, but hope to do a long weekend trip to Paris and Bordeaux later this year, and Italy next summer as a delayed honeymoon.

If I was able to do it all over again, the one thing I would change is…

Using FreeNow or Addison Lee as my wedding transport! Both cancelled at the last minute so I was incredibly late. Fortunately we served champagne as guests arrived so everybody was happy and already a bit drunk when I eventually showed up.