Your London Wedding - Mar/Apr 2020 (Issue 70)

REAL WEDDINGS 39  H aving met through OKCupid, Kyriaki and Arran chose a gig in Camden Town for their first date. “After the gig, we worked our way down the other pubs and music venues on the high street,” remembers Kyriaki. “The conversation flowed really easily; we had Vietnamese food. Suddenly it was gone midnight and we were the last ones left in the Lock Tavern. It was a Tuesday – so a school night and we had to run to catch the last tube. Arran was determined not to be ‘friend-zoned’ and kissed me in the underground.” And that event-packed night set the tone for Arran’s proposal too; the groom-to-be planned a geocaching adventure for his future bride around their home in Archway. “I had to follow visual clues that took me to the old Archway Tavern, Stoneleigh Terrace, Highgate Library and, finally, Parliament Hill where Arran had buried an old film capsule containing his proposal,” explains Kyriaki. “It was a desperately romantic, cheeky and fun plan that was very nearly scuppered by the lawn mowers that had been out on Hampstead Heath that very morning. After a fair amount of digging in mounds of sticky grass clippings – the treasure hunt turning a bit more Time Team by this stage – we found the capsule and Arran got down on one knee. He’d stashed a bottle of champagne and a couple of glasses in his bag in advance.” CAMDEN CALLING As the couple started planning in earnest, they ruled out a destination wedding in Greece where Kyriaki was born, and, instead, decided to tie the knot in Camden where they’d first met and enjoyed many nights out. “We loved that the Glasshouse was on the canal and near Camden Lock. We visited on a sunny, crisp winter’s day and all the colours of the bustling market were mirrored in the canal against an azure blue sky,” Kyriaki remembers. “When we walked out of the venue, without saying a word, we made a beeline for the canal boat tour company across the bridge, having each thought that we wanted our guests to arrive by barge. At the time, we didn’t actually know that there was a Greek Orthodox Church just upstream – it still amazes me how it all came together.” Drawn to the bright colours and music this area is famed for, the couple chose to emulate the 1970s music poster style known as Art Nouveau psychedelia for their theme. “We wanted our wedding to be fun and colourful,” explains Kyriaki. IT’S ALL IN THE DETAIL This translated into table centrepieces made from 45” records, each a single the couple loved, teamed with brightly coloured floral arrangements and streamers and garlands galore. The Glasshouse on the Lock, Kyriaki reveals, went above and beyond to help them realise their dream day. “They printed our tableplan and place names in the same Art Nouveau font I’d downloaded for our invitations and even ordered cobalt blue chair ribbons specially for the day. I’d told them it wasn’t important and they could use the baby blue ones they had already but they were determined. You don’t often see that level of care.” The couple also adhered to a series of Greek traditions as a nod to Kyriaki’s heritage, ordering tulle pouches from Athens for their Greek ‘boubouniere’ favours, serving olives on board the canal boat as the guests travelled between ceremony and reception and a magnificent Greek buffet at the reception with souvlaki, salads and seafood, as well as a traditional Hellenic cake.