Charlie and Gemma's wedding is so fun, super quirky, and utterly stylish.
This chic couple married with a movie-themed bash at Central London's Corinthia hotel, close to some of the city's most iconic landmarks.
As they say in The Notebook, (and on Charlie and Gemma's wedding invitations!) “Behind every great love, is a great story,” and who better to capture the story of their day, than the incredibly talented, Tarah Coonan Photography?
While British style lead the way for the attire (a unique Saville Row suit and stunning Jenny Packham wedding dress), it was Hollywood that shaped the decor, with a vintage movie theme that leant itself to glamorous bridesmaids in black, film title table names, and some on-set touches throughout.
Gemma and Charlie's big day is such a gorgeous example of going with a themed wedding, while still keeping it really classy, elegant and stylish.
This wedding blends the vintage with the glitzy and the novel with the chic. But we'll stop telling you about how fabulous it is, and let you see for yourself.
So without further ado… Lights, Camera, Action!
Wedding Day Snapshot
Our Wedding
We wanted a vintage movie theme with lots of fun with our family and friends.
We came across the Corinthia Hotel just from googling London hotels and hadn’t heard of it before, so gave it a try and arranged a visit.
We fell in love with it straight away and made up our minds as soon as we left the hotel that it would be our wedding venue.
The Flowers
Moyses Stevens designed our flowers. I was quite relaxed about the flowers, I just wanted anemones as I had seen them in a few bouquets on wedding blogs and thought they were perfect for my dress.
The Attire
I didn’t try on many dresses before I found the one. I went to the Wedding Shop in Colchester as they stocked Jenny Packham.
I had always wanted a dress with a vintage feel to it and had always wanted to have something different and quirky. The Azalea was the last dress I tried on, I knew it was for me when my mum started to cry!
I felt so comfortable in it and I felt like ‘me’ in it.
Charlie’s suit was from Gieves and Hawkes bespoke. He wanted a tux with a twist so chose burgundy velvet for his jacket.
He really enjoyed the whole process of choosing everything from his shirt collar to having his initials embroidered on his cuffs. To go with our movie theme Charlie chose his favourite superhero Captain America for his socks.
I had four bridesmaids, my two close friends Chloe and Hayley, my sister Sarah and my cousin Hannah.
They wore dresses from Dessy in black, I asked them to choose their own dresses as I had always liked the idea of them having a dress that they felt good in and that it was their style. It looked really nice that I had two in short dresses and two in long.
The Ceremony
We chose our readings, ‘I Can Promise' by Mark Twain, which my sister Sarah read and the poem Carrie reads in Sex and The City at her friend’s wedding which my cousin Hannah read. Both were really beautiful and easy for us to choose as we both loved the meaning of them.
I walked down the aisle to ‘One Day Like This’ by Elbow. We both loved that song and the strings intro always got Charlie a little teary eyed.
The Photography
Tarah was brilliant, from our engagement shoot to our wedding day.
She made us feel so relaxed and we didn’t stop laughing with her all day. She has such an eye for great photo locations.
The Refreshments
We had Peggy Porschen design our cake for us. We wanted a simple and elegant cake and chose to incorporate the anemones. It was three different flavours – lemon and passion fruit, Victoria sponge and dark chocolate truffle. Delicious!
Our sweet table was designed by Sweet and Eventful and the ladies didn’t disappoint with their cinema concessions stand.
The Decor & Details
We had a vintage movie theme and this was brought to life by our wedding stationery by Andrew Bradley at Vintage Designs.
His ideas were brilliant, he brought the cinema experience to our wedding perfectly.
Advice for Other Couples
Take a few moments, just the two of you to take it all in.
The day seriously flies by and it’s nice for the two of you to just relax for a moment.
Oh isn't it wonderful?! I just love the mix of British style and London backdrops alongside the vintage feel and movie adornments – such a chic combination.
Thanks so much to Tarah Coonan Photography, and Gemma and Charlie for sharing their fabulous London wedding with us.
For more one-of-a-kind wedding inspiration, see Chic + Unique Real Weddings.
