Ruth and Alex’s ‘London Meets India’ Islington Wedding. By Rosko and Wallis

I have a real treat of a wedding for you today, courtesy of Rosko and Wallis. It’s a true London wedding, which takes place in an amazing venue, the Islington Metalworks. Islington has a very special place in my heart as it is where I was born. I wasn’t there for long before we moved to Cornwall, however it is still a place I hold dear, which makes me even more excited about this wedding! I just love the venue, the decor, the tower of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, the tube map table plan, and all the lovely London meets India touches. To top it off DJ Luck and MC Neat made a surprise appearance at the wedding reception, which really got the party going! Well done Ruth and Alex on a superb wedding, I would have loved to have been a guest!

‘The Ceremony was Relaxed, memorable, unique… well-executed! The Reception had great food, atmosphere and to quote the entertainers “This isn’t a wedding, it’s a rave!’

Ruth and Alex were married on Saturday 2nd August 2014 at Islington Town Hall, Angel in London and their reception was at Islington Metalworks. ‘The venue found us! On one dreary Sunday after looking at venues in King’s Cross (which turned out to be stuffy and well out of our price range) we decided to poke our heads through the Metalworks, as a friend of a friend had recently got married there and both of us had been on various nights out there. We instantly loved the venue, the staff and how much creative control we could have on the place. Not to mention their epic prop room too. Angel is also a very special place for us, we lived, shopped, exercised, dined, raved, argued and drank in various places nearby! We had 100 guests for the Ceremony and a further 100 were invited for the Reception. We secured the venues in April 2013 (Town hall is very popular). But the bulk of the wedding planning took 6 months.’

How they met
We met at University in Manchester and have been together for 9 years. Mutual love for the same club nights (mainly jungle and drum n bass raves) brought us together.

The Proposal
New Years Eve 2012 was the day. Alex did not wake up knowing this would be the day he proposed. Instead, he woke up still suffering from a stomach bug caught earlier in the week. We stayed in that evening, had some nice food, a bath and settled in front of the TV watching the London fireworks. Shortly before midnight, Alex popped into the bedroom and returned 7mins before the stroke of midnight, where, out of the blue, he awkwardly knelt on one knee whilst I was on the sofa and proposed! Totally unexpected…. And with zero permission from Dad too!

How did you allocate your budget
60% venue and food. 40% everything else.

How did you choose your photographer
Dom and I used to work together at the same school in Paddington. We loved their style of photography, taking artistic, unexpected shots rather than the posed and forced ones we had seen too much of.

The Dress
Dress was Maje the shoes were from Nine West the Accessories were Tikka from East London. Bangles bought from East London and borrowed from Mother and Sister in law. I found some Bridal henna patterns from researching the internet and then found a Henna artist through a friend’s recommendation– who also turned out to be a dental nurse at my school! Make up and hair, again, found through a friend of a friend.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
Suit: Paul Smith suit with tie from Pink
Bridesmaids dresses: Mango

Theme or Colour Scheme
Theme: London meets India
Colour Scheme: warm, bright colours. Reds, golds and oranges.

Flowers
Red and orange Calla Lilies.

Decoration
Mixture of Indian pendants, lanterns and bunting sourced from India by Alex’s Dad. Seating plan and table names followed a London Tube map theme. Plus, the venue supplied some really cool decorations that made things extra special on the day: an outside smoking area with shisha pipes, a typewriter, vintage suitcases to keep the cards and gifts and even table football for the kids. Did we mention the tank parked outside the venue too?

Food
The catering was provided for by Metalworks. It consisted of a delicious Indian Thali, butter chicken, spicy lamb, fresh naan bread and all the usual trimmings.

Wedding Cake
A fusion of Krispy Kreme doughnuts with some of the tastiest chocolate chip brownies you will ever experience. These were made by one of our friend’s Mums and driven up from Essex on the morning of the wedding. Just in case that wasn’t enough we also had two plates of Indian sweets

Entertainment
As neither us like live music, a DJ was always going to be the choice. We called upon a friend from Manchester that used to play at local nights and some of our parties. Part two of this answer continues in the last question…

Buy or DIY your Stationery
DIY. For the save the date, we took advantage of the creative types at Alex’s office and created a Save the date GIF  The designers helped again to create a bespoke wedding invite, with a clean and minimal colour fade and a simple henna pattern.…And they helped again with the table plan and table names which followed the London Tube Map layout but with guests names replacing the stations. I hand made the gift bags and placement cards (with a little help from my Mum).

Personal or Handmade Touches
For wedding favours we sourced 100 hand crafted small wooden elephants from India – Alex’s dad helped us on this and even transported the creations over for us. It sounds expensive but the price was under £1 for each elephant!
As we were moving to Dubai we placed a 2014/5 diary on the table and encouraged guests to enter their visiting dates. We also swapped a conventional guest book for a record player, vinyl and some gold sharpies

Special Moments
Wow, too many to mention. The fantastic readings, one of which was R Kelly’s Bump and Grind delivered by a very close friend of ours. The walk through Angel to the reception venue, where members of the public stopped to congratulate us. Alex’s nephews making loom bands for guests, the Groom and Best man’s speeches, the random photo shoots on the tank outside, the delight on our guests faces when samosas came out for the evening snack, the inter-racial conga on the dance floor and after party at the Ace Hotel where Alex and I were staying.

Advice to other couples
The wedding is yours, not that of the guests. Do things that matter to you and everyone will appreciate how genuine it will feel.
Don’t go silly with money.
Have a fiancé that is good at organising and very creative. Alternatively – Pinterest!
Don’t let it take over your life.
Call in favours and as friends and family for ideas, suggestions and help!
One from Alex – Google Docs is a great way to have a live, online spread sheet that can be accessed by anyone and on any device.

Biggest surprise
The biggest surprise for both of us was at around 10:30pm. The best man took to the DJ’s mic to make yet another announcement – we were confused, but then buzzing with excitement and pinching ourselves as he introduced the arrival of the legendary DJ Luck and MC Neat to take to the decks for an hour of garage classics. A truly incredible surprise planned by Alex’s best man and something that none of the guests will ever forget.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Reception Venue – www.islingtonmetal.com
• Ceremony Venue – www.islington.gov.uk
• Donuts – www.occasions.krispykreme.co.uk
• Caterers – www.ambalafoods.com
• Stationary – www.overnightprints.com
• Photography – www.roskoandwallis.com
• Music – www.teaindreamland.co.uk
• After Party – www.acehotel.com/london
• MUA – www.hollysilius.com
• Socks – www.happysocks.com

For more information on Rosko and Wallis’s work please go to:

www.roskoandwallis.com
www.roskoandwallis.com/blog
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07817054728

We are London based wedding photographers Rosko & Wallis, a photographic duo specialising in capturing the true essence of your special day. We combine the natural documentary feel of reportage wedding photography with occasional discreet directing to create a perfect balance of beautiful and memorable shots.