If you’re thinking about planning a vintage style wedding, you’ll be absolutely sold on the idea after seeing these photos from Ana and Blair’s wedding day at the stunning The Milestone Hotel and Residences.
With a love for the 20’s, Ana wowed in a gorgeous silk vintage-inspired gown that glittered throughout the intimate, family only celebration. In addition to their ceremony and reception at the Milestone, Ana and Blair captured our hearts even further with their beautiful photos taken in Hyde Park. From beginning to end, their wedding day was nothing short of glamorous, but don’t just take our word for it! Read Ana and Blair’s story and see all the special moments from their big day…
The Beginning
“While we ended up having a lot in common, on the surface we are pretty different people. Ana, born in Romania before growing up in Italy and then moving to London via Paris, works as a Director of Sales Operations for a company supplying data centres. Blair, Hampshire born and back in London after a few years in both Durham then Cardiff, works as a live television producer specialising in sport. Our paths crossed at London Business School where we were both students in the Executive MBA programme. Having barely spoken to each other, our class elected us as academic reps together in our first week and it turned out to be good group matchmaking as we were a couple by the end of our first year and got married the day after we graduated.”
The Proposal
“We were in a beautiful hotel in Surrey for Easter and, one evening, before going out for dinner, out of the blue, he said my outfit was missing something. I was surprised at first, especially since it is normally him asking me for advice. I started wondering if I needed to accessorize more and then, having checked my outfit, I got a bit mad at him for questioning my fashion sense! But then he went down on his knee, told me it was the ring that was missing and proposed. It was only a few months later when we were randomly watching Pretty Woman, a film Blair still claims he had never seen, that we realised he’d inadvertently stolen his line from it. At the time I was so happy and surprised and started crying tears of joy, then I called my mum and told her! Turns out she already knew because, while he doesn’t speak Italian yet, Blair had used Google Translate to get her blessing.”
The Attire
“I was wearing a wonderful vintage style dress, all in silk, and Blair was wearing a lovely three-piece blue suit. I had borrowed diamond earrings and bracelet, and Blair was wearing a nice Baume et Mercier watch I gave him as an engagement present, and a Hermes tie with small cats on it (we have a cat and wanted her to somehow be present).”
The Venue
“We always knew we wanted to have a small, family only wedding, and then have a few parties celebrating with the different groups of people in our life. We read this article about intimate wedding venues in London, and they were mentioning The Milestone Hotel and Residences. in Kensington. We loved the pictures so decided to go and check it out. When we went to see it and met Odile our wonderful wedding planner for the first time, we simply fell in love with it. It is such a wonderful, exquisite venue, very Downton Abbey-esque, very English. The staff were so nice, friendly and attentive, we totally fell in love with it.”
The Oratory
The Oratory
The Milestone Hotel and Residences
The Venue Wow Factor
“While there are lots of great things about the Milestone, the staff really do make it stand out. Everyone was so helpful, whether they were directly involved in our wedding or not. They all took the time to help us and wish us well. The hotel also had a number of little surprises they did for us, all of which were above and beyond what we were expecting. They wanted to make our day special and they succeeded. The arrangements in the different rooms we used were also amazing; from the Oratory where we had the service, to the conservatory which we used for a champagne reception and then the Windsor suite where we had our meal, it all looked like a fairy tale. Every little detail was taken care of. The hotel itself is lovely on a normal day, but with the flowers and all decorations, it was breathtaking.”
The Windsor Suite
The Windsor Suite
The Windsor Suite
The Conservatory
The Conservatory
The Photographer
“We loved how at ease we were with Jay, she was so warm and careful and made us feel comfortable. She captured wonderful, natural moments of the ceremony that we will cherish forever and the Italian Gardens photo session in Hyde park she suggested was just perfect. As we look through our photos, there are so many we love. Jay had plenty of great ideas for shots but she was also completely relaxed about taking on board our suggestions and making sure we got everything we wanted. She is just a very friendly woman and we were lucky to get her.”
Trends & Themes
“I love vintage dresses and the 20s, and I feel the hotel has that vibe a lot, so my dress was very much in tune.”
The Oratory
The Windsor Suite
The Windsor Suite
UNIQUE ADDITIONS
“With such a small wedding we wanted to do a few bits just to split the day and one of them was to hire caricature artist Francesco Tassi to provide wedding favours for our guests. He did an amazing job and we all left with a special little memento to take home.”
The Windsor Suite
The Windsor Suite
Special Moments
“The moment I came down with my mum and saw Blair, it felt really special, like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. We also loved just being around our immediate family, making sure we weren’t rushing around trying to talk to everyone at a big wedding. We could all just sit together, share some laughs and relax.”
“No real embarrassing moments, other than the photo session in Hyde park, where we were quite embarrassed at first, but it ended up being very cool and people were moving away from our shot and waving at us, it felt quite nice actually.”
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Supplier Information
Venue:
The Milestone Hotel and ResidencesPhotographer:
Jay KowalikBridal Shop/Designer:
Temperley LondonFlorist:
Pascal Lavorel, Décorateur FloralHair Stylist:
Lauren ChristyMakeup Artist:
Fran WynneCaricature Artist:
Francesco Caricatures
