Is Clelia the happiest of brides? I think she might well be and I love how she’s laughing in almost every picture from her London Zoo wedding. It was an immense pleasure working with Clelia and George and I loved their relaxed day that focussed on their family, their friends and having fun exploring the zoo.
I have shared Clelia’s thoughts on working with me as her London Zoo wedding photographer over in this round up of my year so far, but I keep coming back to this paragraph which honestly makes my heart sing:
I know that some women may look at their wedding pictures with either sadness (they’d dieted and regained the weight), disgust and shame, and I am grateful that women who will work with you, will see pictures of joy. I am drawn to the words from a feminist writer that said something about bodies becoming our politics. I always thought that to be effective in changing perceptions, one shall choose a mainstream forum. So although that might be a far fetched interpretation, I am pretty convinced that with your images showing diverse bodies and non traditional gendered couples getting married, you are opening minds far beyond the traditional hipster audience. And empowering women to go beyond searching aesthetics and beauty, and embracing just a happy memory written with light.
To read more about their wedding story scroll to the bottom. Clelia talks about her journey to self acceptance and also her amazing florist who works for free and donates the client’s fee to charity. How inspiring? Pop back later this week when I’ll be sharing Clelia and George’s London Zoo wedding highlight film by Pete.
The Beginning
We met at the back of a colleague’s car ! We both were getting lifts back from Northampton and ended up sitting together. I had the Proust questionnaire in my pocket and asked him every question on it. Three years later I’d taken him all around the world, and he’d made me a spurs supporter. We were engaged just under tower bridge, not far from where we had our first date.
The Venue
We chose the London’ zoo because George loves animals!
After we got engaged, I moved to Panama and we saw lots of monkeys and sloth (my spirit animal !) when George came to visit. So the zoo was a perfect place to gather our friends and family (and not far from St Pancras where a lot of my family travelled from, coming from Paris!).
The Outfits
I was very scared about finding a dress that would fit me my size 14-16 figure. For a year I did some work on body positivity, listened to podcasts, starting an instagram habit, following only body positive accounts.
I also did a wonderful e course by Vivienne McMaster called ‘Be your own beloved’ teaching self love through taking selfies and pictures of yourself.
After years of suffering from eating disorders and hating my body, I can honestly say there was no tears in the changing room of the bridal shop and it took me a few minutes to find a dress I loved.
The dress was by Essence of Australia and the shoes by Jimmy Choo (who else ?!)
The Decor
My florist is called Steph Merton and she does it all for Charity. Yes, you read that right, for our flowers, we gave a donation of £1700 to Mind, our chosen charity. We used all sustainable flowers (none were farmed by children in Africa using farmland), and the result was stunning, especially on the Chuppah.
The Ceremony
We had a Jewish liberal ceremony and asked our friend and family to read humanist blessings. We got married under a Chuppah, a traditional four pillar arch, covered by a canopy where had been printed pictures of our family, including our beloved grandparents who are no longer with us.
The Words of Wisdom
Meditation! wedding planning is stressful so a few minutes of controlled breathing is really helpful. If I was to do anything differently: I’d wear different shoes under the Chuppah – they got ruined in the mud. Poor Jimmy Choos!
The Credits
Outfits : Angelica bridal – essence of Australia
Shoes: jimmy Choo
Veil: made by friend Coline Houssais (with embroidered David stars!)
Groom : suits supply
Bridesmaid dresses: ASOS
Entertainment : Shir
Caterer: Ampersand
Cake Maker : Laduree
Venue : Zoo
Florist : Steph Merton – charity florist
Wines : Lea and sanderman (who were amazing !)
Rabbi: Paul Glantz
If you’re looking for a London Zoo wedding photographer please do get in touch and check out more of my recent work on the blog.
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