Who What Wear Weddings: Frances & Olly De Sousa Sequeira

“I got ready with my bridesmaids and my parents in our North London house, it was very casual with our nanny running around after our little boy whilst two make up artists and a hair stylist looked after myself and all of my bridesmaids and mum. All with a glass or two of champagne of course! I went for a simple bun and paired back makeup to compliment the long veil.

I had a lot of fun in the lead up to the wedding designing my two outfits. I knew I wanted a halterneck style as I have broad shoulders and have always suited the style. I also wanted something flowing, simple, elegant and a little bit timeless to match the feel of the day. I designed a bias cut cross over halterneck dress with a small train in a drape-y matte satin (similar to the Marianne dress in our bridal range) and wore it with a long cathedral veil and satin shoes for the day. I worked with our pattern cutter and made the first toiles of the dress myself before passing it over to our London workshop for the final dress. I felt so glamorous wearing it; there is something old-school Hollywood about the silhouette and it made me feel like the most beautiful version of myself. I kept jewellery minimal with diamond drop earrings from Astley Clarke and a simple yellow gold band to sit alongside my white gold engagement ring.”

“We chose to get married in the wood panelled Council Chamber which holds up to 80 guests, we then had some photos on the front steps before heading by London taxi to The Delaunay restaurant in Covent Garden.”

“We wanted the mood of the day to be fun and casual and so opted for bright flowers from the seriously talented Kasia at Gloria Studio. She had free reign and did an amazing job. There were peonies, sweetpeas and wildflowers in an array of pinks, purples and oranges.”

“Olly and I wrote our own vows for the ceremony, which is something that was really important to us and made the ceremony feel really personal.”

“My bridesmaids wore Rewritten (of course!). One of my bridesmaids is my co-founder Katie who wore the Porto dress in Forest Green satin. The girls all chose their own dresses and so we ended up with a really fun palette of hot pink, burnt orange, olive and forest green in different styles which looked awesome paired with the bright flowers.”

“We organised our wedding on such a tight time frame and it honestly was a blessing, we didn’t have time to deliberate or worry about the small details and it was still the perfect day with very little stress in the lead up to it. Don’t get caught up on the tiny stuff and spend too long worrying about things.”

“Olly wore a bespoke suit from Beggars Run with monk shoes and a Hermes tie.”

“We started our reception with an intimate lunch in the private room of the Delaunay restaurant. It was important to us to have a smaller lunch to celebrate with family and our little boy.” 

“With wood panelled walls and silver service there is something so classic and decadent about this restaurant and it is one of our London favourites.”

“We started with a champagne reception followed by a beautiful three course meal before walking through the streets of Soho to our next reception venue, the private members club, the Groucho. It was so much fun walking through Soho past all of the tourists and famous London sights.”

 “At the Groucho, we caught up with the rest of our guests who had attended the ceremony. Olly and I entered the room to Sussudio by Phil Collins and kicked off the evening with a champagne reception followed by cake cutting and our first dance.” 

“When looking for a party venue we wanted somewhere that had cosy, fun party vibes and where guests could have a great time – we definitely got that with the Groucho and the food and drinks were delicious! We were in two private rooms which had mirrored ceilings and Damien Hirst art all over the walls – it felt like a secret sparkly little chocolate box of a venue. The dancefloor was packed all night and DJ Dave played some brilliant 80s, 90s and club classics.”

 If you want people on the dancefloor don’t go for a massive venue – people end up spreading out and it can feel quite empty. The Groucho was quite an intimate space which meant it ended up feeling like a busy nightclub dancefloor – it was great and really got everyone dancing!“

For the party I changed in to a bespoke mini feather trimmed dress from Rewritten with some Dolce & Gabbana heels and a satin hair bow.”

“Our first dance was Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve – it has such special memories for us as it was played on our first date and came on the radio on the way home from the hospital after the birth of our son – we knew then that it had to be our first dance.”