Traditional London wedding at the iconic St Pancras train station

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Okay, so news flash for those of you who are like me and didn’t know this incredible fact: you can throw your wedding at the iconic Victorian St Pancras train station in the center of London.

And no, that doesn’t mean exhausted & busy travelers walking in and out of your wedding reception! The stunning structure boasts a beautiful & private reception venue space in the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel – where this traveling bride & groom partied & spent the night after their classic cathedral ceremony.

Emma spent over two years planning their meaningful St Pancras wedding, using the ample time to craft personal details, be her own planner and get everything just right. We adore her train ticket invitations, that look uncannily authentic & delightfully cheeky.

Greenery was found in abundance from a fern-filled bouquet, wood nymph worthy crowns for the little ones & lush aisle runners during the ceremony.

Our Love Story

We met when we were 20 at a university choir Christmas party in Brighton. I thought he was rude but gorgeous and he renamed me Christine and ran across the street with me through oncoming traffic whilst chasing another girl! After the adventures of university we did long distance between London and York before Jono ended up living with me and my mum for a year in London. Then we moved to Kent whilst I studied for my Masters before finally returning to London where we now live in our garden flat in North London with our beloved cat Pingu. We have spent a lot of time on trains to-ing and fro-ing over the eleven years of being together!

He proposed after eight years of being together whilst we were adventuring in Bach Ma National Park, Vietnam. We had already been attacked by giant hornets and leeches and I had fallen down a waterfall before he actually got down on one knee. I was in such a grump that when he approached me with his hands grasping an unidentifiable object I thought he was playing a prank on me and I told him to go away!

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The Planning

Two years and one month in the planning and I hope my obsessive attention to detail and colour coordination paid off in the end! From the colour of Jono’s socks to the contents of the bathroom baskets I really enjoyed adding personalisation to as many details as I could knowing that each one was an expression of us not only as individuals but also as the couple that we have worked so hard to become.

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The Reception Venue

Kings Cross St Pancras train station has a very special place in our hearts as it is not only the station I travelled through from the ages of 10-18 on my way to boarding school but it was also the station that we travelled through to go to our first home together in Kent. It was pretty much written in the stars that trains would make an appearance in our wedding one way or the other though as my family historically were involved in building the first Canadian Railway and Jono is an engineer working for the railways! We are thrilled that for every anniversary to come we can find another excuse to explore all the culinary delights the area has to offer!

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Favorite Moments & Special Details

One favorite moment was seeing the wedding rings for the first time resting in a bird’s nest held by the Priest as well as The Disney music played by the string quartet whilst the guests arrived in the church.

The first dance to the live version of Jungle Boogie thanks to the phenomenal Oomphf! It was particularly amazing to stand in front of the band that we had fallen in love with ten years earlier and know that they were just as fabulous as ever and I was pleasantly surprised that I remembered almost all of the lyrics after all that time!

As for special details, each flavour of the gluten-free pizza named after the bride, groom and the cat Pingu! My something borrowed was a brooch from a family friend in Canada who couldn’t make it because of sickness. My something blue was a turquoise bead given by a Tibetan Lama known to the Bride. And my something old was military badges sewn into the hem of the dress and on the bouquet’s ribbon from the Bride’s grandparents.

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DIY Details & Favors

We crafted homemade confetti bags decorated with Dr. Seuss quotes like, “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than you.”

Our favours included flower seeds, honey from Sussex, tea from Fortnum & Mason’s, a mini succulent candle and hand made ceramic tree decorations shaped as maple and oak leaves.

Advice to Other Couples

For the future groom:
Listen to the bride, learn how to tie a Double Windsor Knot in advance, give in on the little things, hold out on the big things but then give in anyway. Take deep breaths when she walks down the aisle, it will be overwhelming.

For the future bride:
Start as you mean to go on and only invite the people who have made a difference to you during times of sickness and health. Don’t follow traditions for the sake of it. Once the money has left your account forget about it, you can’t get it back! Do sweat over the small stuff! It was so satisfying hearing guests comment on the unique, finer details. Do have a hair and make-up trial, engagement shoot and menu tasting Don’t spend two years planning unless you really have to! Don’t go back to work too soon! Don’t be surprised if you cry for three days afterward.

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The Honeymoon

Immediately after the wedding we spent a few nights in Paris. Staying in the St Pancras hotel on our wedding night we couldn’t resist the Eurostar and Paris was a great location to relax in because we had been a few times before so didn’t feel the pressure to go sight seeing plus it was a great place to break the wedding diet!