Brittany & Chris

Brittany is a vivacious, bubbly, beautiful & kind soul who I’m lucky enough to know personally and call a friend. We met through our other halves, both Chris and my husband grew up together after meeting in their teen years and so they’ve been in our lives for quite some time now. 2018 was the year they decided to say ‘I Do’, not once but twice! Brittany is from Portland, Oregon and wanted to get married there with as many friends and family surrounding them as possible and we were so lucky to travel to the US to watch this incredible moment and meet lots of people we’d heard so much about over the years and to explore her home town (amongst a few other places). Now of course with alot of destination weddings there are friends and family who can’t make it and so they decided to do it all over again this side of the pond in Putney, so that they could make more memories & recreate that special day again with everyone and guess what.. we were lucky enough to attend again!

I can’t wait for you to hear from Brittany all about her big day … take two!

the fairytale

“We met in Seattle, Washington one late night (early morning!) in May 2009 near Pike's Place Market in Kell's Irish Pub. I had just completed my undergraduate degree and Chris had just finished presenting his PhD work at a conference held nearby. After that night, we shouldn't have met again, really, but with the power of social media connecting the world we were able to start a transatlantic friendship once Chris returned to London. After daily messages and communication, we decided to meet in person again the following year which is where our love story took a big turn... a few months later I moved to London to live with Chris in Putney so that we could travel around Europe together and get to know one another better.

Fast forward beyond countless trips across the pond, visa applications (and a visa rejection!), a proposal, and a second proposal and here we are. I (very much surprised and) asked Chris to marry me on 7th April 2017, 7 years to the day that he visited me in Seattle for the first time and I'm so glad he said yes.

Coincidentally, 3 shared flats later we now live in Putney again (different home) and are so happy to be married (in both countries) and look forward to the continued adventures!”

our setting

“We aren’t religious people but we were drawn to the historic Lovekyn Chapel in Kingston for our second ceremony which is now used as a music classroom. We chose here as it is in the town that we first lived together in and has such rich history. We thought it would be really nice to show this off to UK & US family and friends alike.

We wanted the experience of transporting people on a double decker bus to the reception venue too which made this very fun! Kingston and the riverside have been big parts of our relationship and so a Putney pub reception venue was a natural choice. The pub had beautiful river views (inside and out), they had tasty gastro pub food and a cellar bar that was cool in temp and had enough space for us to have a little dancing area. this space led to the outdoors which was perfect as of course as we were hoping for beautiful weather so our guests could mill around outside and enjoy the views of the river and the sun definitely shone for us, thank goodness!

We wanted our UK wedding to be quite simple; the chapel was bright, airy and intimate, the perfect setting for us to read our vows to each other and we popped some prosecco outside the chapel in the little garden area before boarding a double decker bus to the pub. We wanted the riverside venue to speak for itself and give people a comfortable place to celebrate with us. Food wise we had a menu with a few different choices and they were sent to guests before the day for them to pick and choose what they’d like, so they were eating exactly what they wanted which was important for us. We dedicated one corner of the pub to host photos of our friends’ marriages, our family’s marriages and our US wedding ceremony too and we had some Polaroid cameras for people to take candid shots of the afternoon/evening and these were so fun to look through days after the wedding.

We wanted our guests to remember good food, music to get you on your feet and and an intimate setting. Knowing that our family and friends from both sides of the pond would finally spend quality time together was magical.”

princess with a flair

“I wore a tea length dress in a pale pink rose tone with crystal embellishments, diamanté shoes, a retro-crystal detailed head piece with a slight bouffant semi-up do. I wanted to look like a bride but be able to move and be free like a night out. My look made this easy to do.

As my dress was an off white, dusty pink we weren’t sure where to start, so we had a couple of dress sessions and eventually I decided that a light gray with diamanté accents would suit my dress nicely and I was so pleased with the outcome. My dress was a sweetheart neckline so I wanted theirs to look quite dreamy, so we went with an off the shoulder style to blend nicely with my neckline. I was happy for my ladies to choose their hair, make up and gave guidance on nude or grey shoes. They all looked stunning!

As a friend of Claire’s I have been privileged to have seen her work her magic on many other brides prior to my big day, so it was a no-brainer to choose her to do the honours. The biggest decision was whether or not to burden her with my ask (as she was also a wedding guest)!

The morning and getting ready was my favourite part of the day, period. I loved being in my own home to get ready and having all my girls around me bustling around and laughing. It was brilliant having a full flat. Claire managed the schedule so well that I always felt like she was in control; she was cool, calm and relaxed in the morning given the hustle and bustle. Claire put me right at ease and had such a natural eye for colour. Trust her!”

magical moments

“Chris and I wrote our own vows for the ceremony at the chapel which I was actually still finalising the morning of and printing just before leaving for the ceremony! It took a little convincing to get Chris to agree to write them but it was very important to me and he quickly saw the value too. We wanted our praises and promises to each other to be heard before our closest family and friends who will hold us accountable across the years in the happy and difficult times. I also done a speech at the dinner along with my bridesmaids which was super fun, the equivalent to a best mans speech but for the bride.. a ‘best bridesmaids speech’. As a threesome they managed to share a few sentiments each and weave it together perfectly with the kindest and most honest words that matched me perfectly.

We actually ended our night with our favourite people in McDonald’s, still in my dress and Chris still in his suit and there is photographic evidence of this too!”

listen up brides-to-be

“Definitely try the dress on while seated for measurements to make sure you’re comfortable, as you will want to enjoy the food and drink along with your guests, without feeling like you can’t breathe!!

Own your guest list (if you can). We didn’t feel pressured to invite distant family members that we never see. It makes the celebration feel so much more intimate and lovely when the people you invite are people who are relevant and invested in your lives.

Make the ceremony and speeches your own... don’t necessarily follow tradition for traditions sake, do as you like so that the whole day matches you and your partners style.

Take at least a few minutes out with your special partner to take some mental snapshots of the day & make sure to have a glass of bubbles in the morning to mellow your nerves :)”

Final note

As a guest at this wedding I thought it might be fun to share a handful of my favourite moments; spending the morning with Brittany and our friends getting to glam them all & watching Brittany finish her speech while in her dress being ushered out the door :) Riding the double decker bus to the venue and having a drink or two by the river, listening to all the speeches but especially Brittany’s and her bridesmaids as it’s so unusual for the girls to do speeches and of course finishing up the night with the bride, groom and a handful of other guests in McDonalds still in our wedding outfits!!

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday in September where we watched these guys say there own vows in a beautiful small chapel followed by an afternoon/evening spent by the river in Putney and the day was full of laughs, good food, intimate detail and lots of love!