Budget…. It began as a budget wedding but we definitely went (on purpose!) over the budget we set when we decided to get married. We wanted a great wedding without opening a mortgage though!

The Venue… Ceremony at Camden Town Hall and party at The Union Club, Soho

The Dress + Accessories….. Burgundy boned corset with matching ’50s style skirt and ivory petticoat. Ivory shoes by Irregular Choice to match. For the party ’50s halter neck ivory dress by Vivien of Holloway with red petticoat and waistband. Wedding ring by Cartier. Lingerie by Wonderbra.

Groom’s attire… Tailor made suit by Suit Supply. Light grey with red lining, white shirt and red, burgundy and white checked tie. Brown pointed leather shoes by Ted Baker and striped socks.

The Readings + Music…. We did not want the ceremony to be lengthy or formal. We had no readings but we had a friend translating it into Italian for parents and friends. We selected few jazz tracks to be played before our entrance and chose ‘Guilty’ (Al Bowlly, as used in the movie Amèlie) as the track that accompanied us inside the hall.

The Flowers… I had the bouquet done by Igloo Flowers, with white peonies and roses and red (hot) chill peppers – my own twist to the traditional bouquet!

The Cake… Cheese cake. Literally. Stacked British and Sardinian cheese, topped by bride & groom cake pops hand made by Francesca and accompanied by crackers.

Your Photographer…. We met Samantha Capitano at our friends Elisa and Daniele’s wedding and we become friends almost immediately. Samantha invited us to participate to her project “Londra beautiful people” about italians in London and we fell in love with her style and approach to photography. She is relaxed and engaging and our guests loved the Photo Booth moment with her.

The Details + Decor…. We wanted the decor to be simple as The Union has already a unique style. Francesca made candy trees to decorate the venue and cake pops as favors for our guests. We also had a jar with pebbles instead of the classic guestbook.

The Honeymoon…. Caribbean and Cuba.

Memorable moments… One of the most important thing for us was making feel the few members of our family and dear friends that couldn’t be with us that day involved. During the ceremony we had one of our friends filming everything and broadcasting the most important moment for them – Francesca’s grandmother who’s 95 and never left Sardinia was in front of the computer weeping and Diego’s brother and his family were able to see everything from New Zealand.  What a thrill when our friend said that in that moment loads of people were watching us! We felt loved.

At the party Francesca and her friends started singing together a cappella as they used to do years ago before she moved to London, and Diego and his friends followed after a while singing old fashioned italian songs.

Advice for other couples… Plan with plenty of time if you can and take it easy. Do what you like and not what you think you should do – the only way of having happy guests is being happy yourselves.

Bride’s dress – www.fairygothmother.co.uk; www.vivienofholloway.com

Bride’s shoes – www.irregularchoice.com

Groom’s suit and tie – www.suitsupply.com

Groom’s shoes – www.tedbaker.com

Groom’s barber – www.tedsgroomingroom.com

Photographer – www.samanthacapitano.com

Cupcakes, sweets, decorations etc. – www.glutenfreak.co.uk

Cheese-cake  - http://www.ilformaggio.it and http://www.waitrose.com

Flowers –  http://www.iglooflowers.com