Genevieve and Matthew both grew up in Toronto, but chose to host their gorgeous wedding in London, where they currently reside. Their venue, at The In and Out Club is everything we love about an indoor wedding–romantic chandeliers, plenty of white, and all sorts of architectural details. We thought we’d let Genevieve tell you all about their wedding in detail, so be sure to read what she shared with us. Very special thanks to photographer David Jenkins for sharing his work with us.
Despite both of us being from Toronto, Matt and I chose to host our wedding in London, our home together for the past four years. We wanted our wedding to reflect the excitement and elegance of the city.
We chose the central London venue, the In & Out Club, not only because it is a beautiful English club, but it would also host our civil ceremony, reception, a seated dinner and dancing all under one roof. Guests were free to roam the grand house and find tucked away parties in different rooms. There were leather sofas by the grand fireplace in the bar where dancers could rest their feet and girls could slip out of high heels.
I loved the portraits on the wall and the elegant rich colours. Set with massive amounts of flowers and candles this would be a romantic spot in the beautiful St. James Square near Piccadilly Circus.
The venue is a spectacular place, but like many London clubs it is a bit tired and frayed around the edges. While this is certainly part of the charm, we needed grand flowers to showcase the venue. Moyes Stevens did a fantastic job with the flowers creating something truly unusual and bespoke to the venue. We had a few large displays around the club which made the rooms feel even more glorious and elegant. For the tables, I preferred low arrangements so guest could see over each other and conversation would not be interrupted. I chose tulips as they are one of my favorites and perfect for a spring wedding. My bouquet was a mixture of pink roses and peonies.
We were very much inspired by a 1920s, Great Gatsby-style party. I wore a vintage influenced dress by David Fielden which I altered to make almost entirely backless. The dress was light and easy to wear and dance in which made me very relaxed throughout the evening. Shoes were Dior pumps. I also wore a white blazer from The Krooples which I wore to and from the venue. The straight edges of the blazer gave the outfit a very modern, urban look in contrast to the vintage style elsewhere. The dress code was black tie, which I think looked fantastic in the venue.
For the ceremony I wore a birdcage veil which was custom made by Vintage Rose. We arranged the chairs in a semi-circle which felt really intimate and small despite there being 108 people. The ceremony was short and sweet which both Matt and I appreciated as well as our guests.
Sparking wine and Pimms were served in true English style at the reception. For dinner, I wanted it to feel like a classic dinner party which encourage conversations amongst the guest rather than being interrupted by speeches. There was no classic head table – each table sat 12 people. Matt and I sat at a round table with our wedding party, their guests and a few close friends. For place cards, I hand gilded gold eggs and my mother wrote each person’s name on card which we tied to the eggs with ribbon.
The wedding cake was made by Katerina Janakova at Villandry which was an almond and lemon cake with marzipan icing. Katerina dressed the cake with flowers that mirrored the embellishment on my dress.
We had the fantastic 1920s French jazz band Benoit and His Orchestra play in the evening. The music was lively and although few people knew how to dance to the 1920 music, everyone was dancing. The music was also not overwhelming for those that preferred to sit in the bar with a cocktail and chat with other guests.
At 12am the guests departed in black taxis. A few of us gathered at the Green Room in the Gore Hotel, another classic London venue in Chelsea for a nightcap to close a wonderful celebration Matt and I will remember forever.
Photographer: David Jenkins // Venue: The In and Out Club // Flowers: Moyes Stevens // Dress: David Fielden // Blazer: The Kooples // Shoes: Dior // Veil: Vintage Rose