“When I first met Freda and Pierre I was really excited about photographing their wedding because of how impeccably dressed they were, I thought to myself, “these guys have got style”. They did not disappoint.
They chose to be married at Sunbeam Studios, a beautiful Edwardian building in West London.
Pierre arrived early to help with preparations. The dining area was decorated with hot pink flower arrangements, highlighted by a display of giant pink and white balloons floating above the tables, from Bonbon balloons. Vowed and Amazed provided large lit up F&P which looked fabulous against the white backdrop.
Freda had a relaxed morning with friends and family, getting ready at a hotel near the venue. Rinaldo Pastore styled her hair and Laura O’connor did her make up.
Freda’s daughter, looked beautiful in her Gilly Gray flower girl dress, with hot pink and white circlet and sash.
Freda, her father and daughter arrived fashionably late by London taxi, Freda looked stunning in a dress by Jesus Peiro from Morgan Davies Bridal and shoes by Dior, accented with a elegant Swan Lake head piece by Natascia Fileppi Millinery.
Her vintage pearl earrings – her “something old” – were a 21st birthday present from her sister, Jane, who was sadly too unwell to attend the wedding. She also wore two bracelets, both by Georg Jensen, one a wedding gift from Pierre and the other a gift from her mother.
Freda’s daughter processed down the aisle first, scattering flower petals; the basket and the cones for the confetti were a gift from a friend of the family, petalsandroses.com.
It was a touching and lighthearted humanist ceremony led by celebrant, Mark Hayford, featuring Pierre and Freda’s personalised vows.
The guests showered the bride and groom with rose and hydrangea petal confetti as they walked back down the aisle. This was followed by a receiving line into the champagne reception where guests enjoyed canapés while listening to an acoustic set by Phil Maher.
We photographed a few group shots and then gathered back in the ceremony room to watch the couple cut the show-stopping wedding cake, designed and made by Danielle Gotheridge.
Guests took their seats to enjoy goats cheese salad, followed by lamb, lovingly prepared by the chefs at Sunbeam Studios, accompanied by a well-matched New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and a Cote du Rhone, supplied by Lea and Sandeman.
The speeches were between courses; Freda’s father gave a lovely warm welcome speech and then Pierre delivered an entertaining and personal speech, followed by a few kind words of thanks from Freda.
After dinner, the guests retired to the ceremony room for cake and coffee, to a sophisticated singing performance by Sapphire. For me, the most spectacular point of the day was watching the bride and groom’s first dance, a waltz. I think this was the best wedding dance I’ve seen in 15 years of photographing weddings, they really did glide across the dance floor together.
Their band, The Child, kicked off the dancing and later that evening Freda’s daughter blew everyone away when she joined the band to sing “Dear Future Husband” by Meghan Trainor. DJ Sapphire played some cool tunes late into the night.
Freda and Pierre would like to say:
We are very grateful to all the very many friends, family and suppliers who helped us both before and on the day itself. Rinaldo and his girlfriend, Gillian, were superb when things went awry with the Flower girl’s circlet in the latter stages of getting ready. Nicki, at Tela films, telafilms.co.uk made a brilliant job of the video.
We would particularly like to thank the staff at the gorgeous Sunbeam Studios who did an amazing job, with lots of extra little touches that they just did, without being asked; transforming the rooms and making everything run smoothly. The food was delicious.
We had the most fabulous and magical day and are over the moon with how everything went. What a blast!”
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