Fun Colourful & Warm Two-Part William Morris Gallery Wedding

I am going to begin with sharing Polly and Teodora’s advice as I think it perfectly sums up their colourful and fun William Morris Gallery wedding in London:

Don’t take yourselves or the occasion too seriously…

How brilliant is that? I can’t recommend this approach enough to have a stress-free and enjoyable wedding planning experience. Onto their days themselves. First up they had their ceremony in Walthamstow, followed by a party at Signature Brewery. I love the colourful touches and cute balloons!

A few days later they headed to the family home in Leicestershire for their celebrations in a pretty marquee with rustic touches. Polly and Teodora both looked incredible in their chosen outfits, plus there were sunflower bouquets and some seriously amazing food! It’s lovely to hear how they incorporated Romanian elements throughout both days too.

Matt Horan Photography has kindly shared these absolutely gorgeous images with us, which I am certain you will adore. Thanks Matt!

William Morris Gallery Wedding

The Proposal

We flipped a coin on our anniversary in 2018 to decide who would be the one to propose. Teo “won” and proposed to Polly in Eze, South of France the following year.

The Vision

We split our wedding into two parts. The first (14 July 2021) involved the ceremony and reception which we wanted to do locally where we live in Walthamstow, London. We were keen for it to reflect us, be relatively informal and involve our nearest and dearest.

The second part was hosted by Polly’s parents at her family home in Leicestershire (17 July 2021). This was more elaborate and formal with a marquee and sit-down dinner but still had a lot of input from us to make sure it felt like our party!

Teo is originally from Bucharest and we were keen to have lots of Romanian elements throughout both days.

Budget

The ceremony and reception in Walthamstow cost around £15,000 all in.

We were very fortunate to have Polly’s parents pay for the majority of the celebration party in Leicestershire so not sure of the budget for that.

The Venue

Civil partnership ceremony at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, London, followed by Signature Brewery.

Celebration party at the family home in Leicestershire.

Your Outfits

Polly wore Galvan – a trouser and halter neck outfit for the ceremony and reception and a jumpsuit for the celebration party.

Teo wore a custom-made dress (with pockets) by Suzanne Harrington.

The Ceremony & Music

For the ceremony, Polly’s good friend Sylvia-Ella sang ‘Simply the Best’ by Tina Turner.

Readings by Polly’s brother and Teo’s father
Vows
Double Decker bus
Signature Brewery for pizza and beers

For the celebration (it was mostly a party with speeches) we had a band called 29 Fingers dancing on the tables and then a friend DJing until the end of the night. We had 2 traditional Romanian dances which everyone got involved with. The Penguin dance and the Hora.

The Styling & Decor

Informal/rustic
Sunflowers (based on Polly & Teo’s 2019 trip to Romania where encountered fields and fields of sunflowers)

The Honeymoon

We spent our wedding night at Birch and following the celebration party spent 5 days in Barcelona recovering – it was not enough!

Memorable Moments

Our nieces wearing traditional Romanian outfits for their flower girl outfits.
The vows were said in both Romanian and English.
Walking into the marquee to Katie Perry’s “I kissed a girl”
My parents realising on the day that we had named the tables after famous lesbians – Anne Lister, Cressida Dick, Ruby Rose and Ellen DeGeneres.
The speeches – Teo’s mum (who prepared and learned it all in English) did a beautiful, heart-warming speech that had everyone in complete awe and Teo’s bridesmaid Lulia ending her speech with “We came here for your jobs, and now we’re taking your women”.
Teo being “stolen” by her friends and taken away in a stretched hummer mid-way through the celebration party (Romanian tradition).