Inside: an Effortlessly Chic London Wedding

Karis Scarlette Lynch, a former professional ballerina now ballet and wellness entrepreneur and Crischarleson (known as Junior) Borges, from Bahia, Brazil who works in hospitality. The couple tied the knot in London in serious style and are planning a second wedding barefoot on the beach in Brazil. 

It all started when… 

In August 2019 when I was hired as Artist in Residence at UXUA Casa Hotel and Spa in Trancoso, Bahia and commissioned to hold a ballet retreat and produce a choreographic performance for their full-moon beach luau. Junior was working behind the bar of the hotel during my stay and happened to be the first person I saw while being given a guided tour of UXUA upon my arrival! We double-took each other and then didn’t speak for 2 weeks because we were both too shy to make the first move. In the end, it was me as I asked him to make me a drink after my luau performance! 

The best part of our day was… 

For Junior the best part of the day was the preparation time in the morning. He was very chilled and reflective, drinking a little champagne and listening to our wedding playlist that we’d both prepared while I was more busy getting ready. For me, I think it was the moment we walked out into the crowd of happy friends, family and confetti, plus the strangers who’d gathered outside the Chelsea Town Hall to watch us walk out were also cheering! There was enormous amounts of happiness and love around us and given the time we got married in (April 2021 lockdown) the wedding was a breath of fresh air for everyone. I also really enjoyed the drive in our incredible convertible wedding car from the ceremony to the reception – we went over the Albert Bridge in the beautiful afternoon sunshine, drinking champagne and knowing we’d achieved something monumental. It felt like a dream. 

We choose to get married at…

We chose to get married at Chelsea Town Hall because it’s so iconic, especially as a Londoner and I wanted to be added to the list of people who’d gotten hitched there! My mother got married there also. 

I knew I’d found “the one” when…

Due to lockdown, I wasn’t able to go shopping for my wedding dress so I wasn’t able to have that moment of ‘this is the one’. I didn’t even try it on before I bought it (online I might add). I have a few beautiful Ghost dresses which fit me perfectly so I took a shot in the dark and ordered a simple Ghost wedding dress. I thought the fine details on its long sleeves and the open back were really unique, bold without being too ‘in your face’. As I am quite small in height, its very long train made me look a lot taller and I wore a pair of black 6-inch Louboutins to add more height and to contrast the demure dress. I guess I chose it for its subtle elegance and I added a black gothic crystal tiara plus lots of ruby jewellery to make a statement. 

The most enjoyable moments of planning were… 

Again, due to lockdown, we were limited in the amount of planning we could do. We were only allowed 13 guests and an outside meal somewhere for the reception. For me, I started to get excited when we finally secured a venue for the reception – a trendy pub in Battersea with a beautiful outdoor garden. It all felt like it was coming together. I had always wanted a small, non-fussy wedding so having a pub-garden wedding reception was plenty rock and roll for us! We knew we were gonna have one hell of a party which was long overdue given the circumstances. 

The hardest part of planning was… 

The hardest element of wedding planning was again the lockdown and having to limit guest numbers. I initially wanted the reception at the Big Easy restaurant on the King’s Road which is a favourite of mine and has featured in many a family birthday and reunion! But sadly their outdoor space was limited to just 2 tables of 4 so that was out of the question. We were met with many challenges but we knew that everything would fall into place if we remained positive and aligned with what was important to us, which was that everyone had a good time! 

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

Controversially I didn’t follow any Instagram accounts for wedding inspo! I had an authentic vision of my own which Junior was happy to go along with – his only request was that he got to try a jug of Pimms at the reception! I mainly took inspiration from wedding photographers such as Andy Leo as for me the photo memories, capturing the emotions and light of the spring afternoon were to be more important than anything else. 

My top 3 tips for any couple would be… 

My top 3 tips for any couple getting married would be: 1-Communicate with each other always and be open minded. 2-This is YOUR day, not anyone else’s and don’t be afraid to stand strong in what you want your day to look like, even if it’s unconventional. I feel like how you get married says a lot about your relationship and you want it to be authentic, not just ‘for show’. 3-Be present on the day and HAVE FUN! Have as much fun as you possibly can. Laugh at things that go wrong (our registrar got my name wrong constantly throughout the ceremony which we all found hilarious) and don’t feel like it needs to be storybook perfect at all times. Let it happen and live every moment without expectation because before you know it, it’ll be over! 

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

We are planning on having a second wedding in Brazil for Junior’s family as they weren’t able to attend. This time around we will have unlimited guests (including our baby who’s is due in 6 months) and our ceremony on the beach barefoot with horses instead of a wedding car to take us the reception! We’ll also get to enjoy our first dance – something we were unable to do in the pub garden due to a lack of space! 

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