My Wedding Blessing

It will be the anniversary of my wedding blessing soon, on the 30th of June! I thought I would do a photo journal in celebration of the (approaching of the) event, with wonderful music which was handpicked by us and used in the ceremony. The wedding blessing and reception took place in my favourite area in London, the peaceful, shielded and hidden jewel—Temple Church and Middle Temple (do visit their websites for detailed history and some lovely photographs). Our wedding blessing is the most special and beautiful day of my life, and will always remain closest and dearest to my heart.

Sweet Avalanche roses and Sarah Bernhardt peonies. The seasons of these beloved flowers of mine (as well as Lily of the Valley of course) determined our wedding date.

Order of service booklets handmade by me from scratch—David and I even had to steam and adjust every vintage silk tassel! I chose the theme of fairytale silhouette art to match our wedding invitations.

Lily of the Valley whispers "the return to happiness." (Lily of the Valley was my only floral choice when it came to bridal bouquet, right from the beginning of my wedding planning. Its heady perfume is intoxicating—my friends said they could literally 'track me down' on the day following the scent...)

My wedding gown is an original antique dress made in 1912 from the Edwardian era (La Belle Époque), which is the period I love the most, sartorially speaking.

This is one of my favourite photos—taken next to the wonderful little garden of Inner Temple.

Entrance to the Round of the Temple Church.

To have and to hold, from this day forward,
for better, for worse: for richer, for poorer;
in sickness and in health;
to love and to cherish,
till death us do part,
according to God's holy law;
and thereto I give thee my troth.

The Temple Church Choir is an extraordinary chorale. We had the full choir for our blessing and the music was such that it simply transcended you to a different place—it shows how similar our aesthetic consciousness is to our spiritual consciousness. We selected Bach, Palestrina, plainsong and Maurice Duruflé (be sure to listen to the most beautiful anthems Ubi Caritas by Duruflé and Exsultate Deo by Palestrina.)

Lyrics for Ubi Caritas

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exsultemus et in ipso jucundemur.
Timeamus et amemus Deum vivum.
Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Where there is affection and love, there God is.
The love of Christ has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and delight in him.
Let us fear and love the living God.
And from our hearts let us love each other sincerely.

Where there is affection and love, there God is. Amen.

Lily of the valley and roses...

The above two pictures are Peggy Porschen's exquisite creations (Peggy came to the venue on the day herself to deliver the cakes and arrange their display on my vintage mismatched china!).

Ladurée's gorgeous bespoke Ispahan cake made of rose petal macarons, rose scented cream, fresh lychee, raspberries and gilded with real red rose petals.

It took three people (two hairstylists and one assistant) over an hour to do my hair—my hair is so very long and I wanted a somewhat Romanesque, delicate updo featuring plenty of intricate plaits...

This is not just exquisite-looking, it tasted great too! Vanilla and chocolate marble cake with cream and almond marzipan... yum...

Our beautiful harpist Emma and I at the reception, Smoking Room, Middle Temple.

Hmmm... how can any girl not be happy with a perfectly pink slice of Ispahan cake?

This is my favourite corner in the Smoking Room (smoke-free of course!) at Middle Temple, with the bookshelf and fireplace.

David's toast at the reception, Parliament Chambers, Middle Temple.

My handmade invitations and order of service booklets along with some wedding souvenirs—photobooks which I edited myself including some of my favourite poetry and pictures of the special day.

On our honeymoon to the gorgeous Les Prés d'Eugénie in Eugénie les Bains, I discovered that this lovely painting in our room was also done in 1912, the same year my antique wedding gown was made. It was the best holiday I have ever had. :-)

More post-wedding souvenirs: this darling wedding cake topper of 18th-century bride and groom figurine is displayed on my grandparents' Japanese enamelled (?) little dishes.

*See a beautiful slideshow gallery by our wedding photographer here, and more pictures here.