Who here’s in the mood to peruse a gorgeous London wedding this morn’? Bride Lonika Chande is an interior designer, so it’s not too surprising that she’s spent most her life fantasizing about her dream house, not dream wedding. When she enlisted Liz Linkleter Events to help design the big day, it was all about translating her love of color, warmth, texture, and pattern to her + Theo’s wedding. The result was a celebration that pulled in interior design, luxe décor, and the bride’s Indian heritage—all while managing to stay festive and fresh. Thanks to Holly Clark for sharing the photos with us!
Being 5′ tall, finding the dress was one of Lonika’s biggest hurdles in planning. They were all wearing her, not the other way around! In the end, she decided to look for the perfect cut, rather than tons of embellishments and lace. She opted for a Caroline Castigliano gown and paired it with the highest heels she could find—Charlotte Olympia Paloma pumps!
They were also on the hunt for long sleeve dresses for her winter bridesmaids. Preferably in velvet and jewel tones! These Reformation dresses were an instant match, so they had them sent over from here in the US.
On choosing London for their wedding… We love this city, it’s where we met, and it’s our home and always has been. We had never considered anywhere else to be honest. Neither of us are country sorts at all! We’d also been to a lot of lovely traditional country weddings already but not many in London and were keen to do something a bit different.
Love how they decided to bring in a lot of those Rajasthani influences in the fashion and florals, rather than just decor.
Liz of Liz Linkleter Events says, Trinity Buoy Wharf is a large, white space, so we wanted to warm it up with a rich and vibrant colour palette of cream, mustard, amber, ochre, soft green, and aubergine, colours Loni knew she wanted right from the start, bringing in tactile linens, silks and velvets. The start of the design was a draped fabric canopy across the dining tables in a fine green and cream stripe, originally inspired by the stripes common in Rajasthani interiors, with amazing giant mustard curtain tassels.
As this was a December wedding, we wanted their celebration to feel festive, but not ‘Christmassy’ or themed. With that in mind, we created bespoke crackers for each guest in a green stripe with silk mustard ribbons, that doubled as place names—they were filled with chocolate coins that flew everywhere when pulled. Alongside the crackers, tables were dressed in natural stone linen, with warm flashes of amber, bronze and mustard throughout via leopard print water glasses, mustard taper candles, bone-handled cutlery and twinkling amber votives. Florals featured ranunculus, Icelandic poppies, roses and plenty of wild foliage, adding colour and drama.
The stripes and cracker favors ended up being the bride’s fave detail. Liz and her team killed it, huh?
The bride, on a fave memory… Theo had never given a speech before and I had no idea what to expect. Being a complete control freak, it killed me that it was the one area of the wedding I could not get involved in! As with everything though he took it in his stride and did absolutely brilliantly. I was so proud. It is the best moment EVER hearing the person you love most in the world saying those special (and funny) things in front of everyone else.
Liz totally got it straight away! She is on same wavelength completely. Before we met I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about letting someone else take over the reins—being a creative too. Will they have the same vision and ideas, how will they execute it all and will they keep us updated throughout?! I need not have worried. None of my off-the-wall ideas were too mad; Liz listened and created something with far more finesse than we ever could have pulled off. I could not recommend her more highly.
Cheers to the happy couple!
Photography: Holly Clark / Videography: Pure White Films / Venue: Trinity Buoy Wharf / Wedding Planner: Liz Linkleter Events / Florist: Flower Appreciation Society / Hair: Gustav of Michael Van Clarke / Makeup: Susan Yates / Catering: Spook / String Quartet: Liquid Strings / Bride’s Dress: Caroline Castigliano / Shoes: Charlotte Olympia / Reception Earrings: Oscar de La Renta / Bridesmaid Dresses: Reformation
