Love at first sight

Posted by Sarah Gallivan on 20 April 2023

Emma and Dan met at a music festival in Clapham during one of the sets. "Dan saw me in the crowd and came over to talk to me – the attraction was immediate," Emma recalls. "Not many people get to experience love at first sight, but we certainly did!"

Three happy years later during the November 2020 lockdown, Dan proposed. "It was very sweet because we'd planned on getting engaged but then when the country went into another lockdown, I thought it'd never happen," says Emma.

Couple being romantic But Dan had other ideas. "He totally surprised me by meeting with the jewellers on Zoom and ended up securing an engagement ring and proposing just weeks later!" she says.

Dan popped the question at Clapham Common where they'd met three years earlier. "We'd gone for a morning stroll and all the bystanders starting clapping it was the sweetest thing ever. We then spent the day walking around London going back to all of our favourite city spots and reliving memories of our three years of dating," she adds.

Their stunning day took place two years later and here, Emma shares all the details...

We're very active in our church community on Clapham Common, so it was a no brainer we'd get married at Holy Trinity Clapham. The Grade II listed building is gorgeous.

We wanted a reception venue within a few miles of church and one that was a blank canvas to create our dream and The Bedford in Balham achieved both.

During the day I wore a Mori Lee A-line dress that was full lace, just like my mother's wedding dress.

I accessorised with a cathedral-length veil that I borrowed from my unofficial second mum!

My shoes were clear jewelled Louboutins. I felt absolutely amazing in them.

Our bridesmaids wore grey dresses with whatever jewellery they wanted to complement the look in their own individual styles.

Groom & Groomsmen Dan wore a custom three-piece navy suit by Moss Bros. His groomsmen wore similar suits but Dan's tie was a darker shade to make him stand out.

Dan and I did a 'first look' outside the church before walking down the aisle. It was a precious moment for just the two of us to see each other, tell each other how beautiful we looked, cry a little, and then go get married in front of all of our friends and family.

Since our vicar married us, the church ceremony was my favourite part of the day. It was perfect.

I walked down the aisle to Lover by Taylor Swift being played by my good friends. I loved our scripture readings and the message delivered by our vicar – it definitely set the scene to just how much effort and planning went into creating our day.

Our day was a no-color color scheme. I wanted all white flowers with hints of green, grey and navy. It looked very romantic and whimsical.

We ordered a lot of confetti, but it totally paid off because the photos and videography are some of our favourites!

We had a beautiful floral arch at the entrace to the church.

Wood floors I loved the tarnished wood floors paired with our elegant white flowers – the whole vibe just worked so well and I was so pleased with how my vision came to life.

We decorated the pew ends with foliage to tie in with our theme.

I went big with the flowers at the reception venue. We had huge centrepieces to glam the space up.

We transferred the floral pedestals from the church and they completely transformed the pub's ballroom.

Our stationery, order of the day and table plan were all designed to complement our white and green theme and they all came together perfectly.

Our place cards doubled as guest favours. A local baker created name tag cookies. I'm a huge baker myself and this was a way to include one of my favourite hobbies. They were delicious and got all the guests talking the second they sat down and saw the delicious treats.

Our wedding planner, Ella, recommended a coloured water glass to add a pop of colour. They added so much to the entire room without taking away from our classic white theme.

Guest book Our friends and family signed a wooden guest book board for us to display as a memento of our day.

We opted for a three-tiered buttercream cake decorated with eucalyptus. The flavours were vanilla, white chocolate and raspberry, and lemon elderflower.

Dan and I also love taking photos, so it seemed only right to have a selfie station with a flower wall backdrop and custom Mr & Mrs Young sign! We also had a photobooth! The guests loved it.

Our friend from church is a professional musician and we hired his group, The Killer Groove. We wanted a party, so we went with the six-piece band and DJ combo to have more than four hours of entertainment.

Our must-have songs were Levitating and Shake it Off ! We coordinated that Shake it Off would come on when I switched out of my wedding gown into my party fringe mini dress to literally shake it off in!

First dance Our first dance was a slow rendition of Summer by Calvin Harris. It means a lot because we met in the summer at a DJ set. It was the highlight of the reception and we loved sharing that special moment.

We ordered 500 glow sticks for our guests to light up the dancefloor. Everyone had such a fun time with them. We even had a glow stick limbo!

We travelled to our reception in a London Routemaster bus. Everyone absolutely loved it – especially the photo opp at the back hanging off the pole! It was such a treat seeing everyone's faces light up when they saw it.