Tell us a little about yourselves!
We’re Danielle and Joe – Joe is a diplomat and Danielle is a Producer. 10 year ago, we were set up by two of our friends who were dating – they met through Tinder so I guess we secondarily met through Tinder? We both love to travel and have spent time living in Melbourne, Paris, our beloved home London and now between LA and DC.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
We have a family connection to Classic Prop Hire – we’d previously been to a few of the company parties there and were always obsessed with it. When we got engaged, we did the obligatory venue search but nothing came close to the prop house. Considering Classic Prop Hire is a busy, functioning prop house, we knew it was a big ask to have them clear the decks and bring in the infrastructure needed to host a 170 person wedding. We put the request in with the incredible Sara Wan who not only entertained it, but truly just made it the best experience ever.
Needless to say, pulling it off from LA came with its challenges but between my producing experience and Sara’s Production Design background and business savvy – along with the incredible support of our parents- we pulled off a small miracle. I’d mentioned to Sara at some point that I’d always wanted a Vegas wedding, but we wanted to stick to London for our friends’ and families ease, her response was that she could just bring Vegas to me. She and James Hendy built our an entire chapel complete with draped walls and ceiling- no one would let me see it beforehand so the first time I did was walking down the aisle. The rest of the prop house they decked out in a mismatch of vintage furniture, lamps, rugs and props. It was divine.
How many guests did you have?
170 for dinner, 200 in the evening.
What was your budget?
We didn’t have a budget per say, just the intention to keep the costs as streamlined as possible. We ended up spending around £45K – but that was with a lot of incredible generosity from family, friends & Classic Prop.
Tell us about your outfits.
I (Dani) spend a lot of time in LA which has the best vintage scene. I knew that I really didn’t want an off the rack, overpriced dress that I was trying to flog on Stillwhite a month later. About 7 months before the wedding, I was browsing Ebay with the worst hangover of my life and up popped a vintage Vivienne dress that I immediately loved - and it was super reasonably priced. I was about to just buy it when I thought I’d check where in the world it was. I clicked through to the shop and it just so happened to be Gift Of The Garb in Silverlake – about 15 minutes from me. I called them immediately, asked them to take it off the rack, dragged my equally hungover friend out of bed and we drove over and I bought it. The pictures of me trying it on that day can never see the light of day but it was a very fun way to find a dress. I’ve never seen another dress like it and I (hope) that as a vintage piece it’ll stand the test of time.
I found my evening dress when I happened upon an estate sale in LA and met Jennie Walker who showed me the vintage Versace evening dress. It reminded me of a 2000s Victoria Secret runway look and I just had to do it. Overseeing all this was my beautiful friend Alicia who has the best style of anyone I know – I shared everything with her and she told me what was working and what wasn’t. She inspired all the accessories and honestly, just being around her has contributed so much to my style choices.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
Being able to host everyone we love and making sure that our wedding was as enjoyable for them as possible. We knew that having so many people would mean pinching in other places, but we were more than happy to. So, for example we had our friend filming on a handy cam rather than have a videographer, so it meant we could extend the invite to a few more people.
We intentionally chose London as our wedding location, to make it as easy and cheap for everyone to be there. I have really appreciated weddings where it’s clear the couple have been considerate of people's time and wallets, so that was a real priority for us.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
Between us, we have English, Irish and Texan families and we wanted to incorporate elements of all of these cultures into our wedding. The ceremony (officiated by Joe’s dad) was a Celtic hand fastening ceremony; we drove our old Classic English Triumph GT6 car out of the ceremony and then had the Vox Beatles tribute band play. Joe and his Best Men wore bolo ties. Joe’s tie belonged to my Texan step-Papa and was incredibly generously gifted to him by my step-Nana when my he passed away and I wore cowboy boots in the evening.
Any tips for couples getting married?
We’ve been to so many weddings of various scales and budget and ultimately, what makes weddings special rarely correlates with how much you spend. I think it really just comes down to prioritising your guests comfort and happiness and then just putting together a day that you know you’re going to f-ing love. It’s impossible not to enjoy a wedding when you haven’t had to spend an arm and a leg on it and can see that the couple are having the best day.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
Honestly everyone was amazing – Sogol (MUA) is a friend so it was so lovely to get to spend that time with her, she is such a gem and an artist. The Vox Beatles put on a SHOW, highly recommend and then Joe’s friend Sanjiv who has his own radio show DJ-ed our evening using his vinyl collection (and did a shout out to us on his show the weekend before our wedding which we loved).
The Classic Prop Hire team, Sara, James, Frank, Joe – they really made dreams come true. Unfortunately Classic Prop Hire isn’t available for public hire but if you ever need a prop, these are your people. Also a huge shoutout to our photographer Jessica Gwyneth who capture everything so beautifully and was the most calming, wonderful presence.
Photographer:Â Jessica Gwyneth @jessicagwynethphotog | Planning: by Danielle | Flora: Petal Collective @petalcollectiveuk | Ceremony & Reception Location: Classic Prop Hire @theclassicprophirecompany | Celebrant: Joe's father | Hire: @tdccordlesslighting_hire | Makeup Artist: Sogol Razi @sogolmakeup | Hair Stylist: Abi Ignacio @abiabiabiiii | Catering & Beverages: Eat Events @eat_events | Cake: Punk Cake @punkcake.rock | Entertainment: The Vox Beatles & Sanjiv Ahluwalia | Ceremony Dress: Vintage Vivienne Westwood @viviennewestwood from Gift of The Garb @giftofgarb | Evening Dress: Vintage Versace @versace from Jennie Walker Archive @thejenniewalkerarchive | Suit: Suit Supply @suitsupply | Tailoring: Sugar Ferrini @sugar.ferrini | Shoes: Vintage @los.rodeos & @bootbarn boots