Jules and Layla’s London meets Egypt Art Deco Wedding By Samie Lee Photography

Happy Friday everyone! I do hope the week has treated you well and that you are looking forward to a fun weekend ahead. Today we are heading over to the Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel for todays wedding. Jules and Layla, a gorgeous London couple share with us their modern wedding mixed with an art deco twist and lots of Egyptian entertainment. The result is this stylish and fun city wedding captured by Samie Lee Photography. Check out the Bellydancer and the beautiful bespoke gown worn by Layla.

‘A very happy day. Amazing to be amongst beautiful friends and family and married to the love of my life’

Layla and Jules were married on 26th March 2016 at Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel. ‘It was the first and only venue that we visited, as it felt like a perfect fit. We loved the art deco theme, architecture, interior design and the artworks featured in the building. Another reason was that we live in east London, and wanted the venue to be convenient for people to get to. We had a total of 100 guests. The planning took 6 months in total’

How they met
We met through a mutual friend at a gig where we were both performing. We had a date a few weeks later and things took off immediately. We have been together for 5 years.

The Proposal
It was quite a relaxed affair, when we were on holiday in Marrakech, Morocco. We were having tea one afternoon and Jules said that we should go shopping to buy a ring. We then bought two Moroccan rings, and waited until we got back to England to tell our family and friends.

How did you allocate your budget
The food was provided by the venue as a condition of holding the wedding there, which was great as it was delicious. This was a large chunk of the budget. We wanted to put on some entertainment and decorate the venue so had to factor that in.

Where did you splurge and where did you save
The dress was a splurge, but a necessary one. And fabulous to have something that fit me perfectly where I could choose the fabric and pattern myself. Things soon mounted up, but we let it go as it was a one off thing!

How did you choose your photographer
Samie Lee Photography is a family friend and talented photographer. I loved her friendly and hands on approach. When we met to discuss the wedding day, we really clicked and talking to her got me very excited. She really understands the important moments to capture, and was a pleasure to work with.

The Dress
Ami-Elisah custom made my dress. I spotted one of her creations in a magazine and gave her a call. I was having a hard time finding something that fitted and that was right for me. Ami was amazing and put together the creation in just two months. My shoes were by Prada. I didn’t have accessories as the dress was so detailed.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
Bridesmaids were my three sisters, who wore dark green lace dresses. I loved how this dark sexy look contrasted with my pale dress. The suit was by Sandro, and Jules wore a black shirt with psychedelic socks.

Theme or Colour Scheme
No theme, just wanted everything quite simple. I had an idea that I wanted each sister to wear a different shade of green, but that didn’t work out.

Flowers
My bouquet was calla lilies, a favourite of mine and also worked well with the art deco theme. The rest of the flowers were white – Juliet roses and gipsofilia. There was a pink ban!

Decoration
It was flowers only, and candles in the ceremony room.

Food
Salmon sashimi to start, roast cod and watermelon, coconut sorbet and honeycomb for desert. There were also meat and vegetarian options. Delicious.

Wedding Cake
I insisted on a vegan cake at first, as I wanted to challenge the idea of a wedding cake. This was accompanied by cupcakes and a red velvet more traditional wedding cake, so there was something for everyone.

Entertainment
As my father is Egyptian, we had a Zaffa band and bellydancer (Caitlyn Schwartz), which was excellent entertainment. To accompany us through dinner, we had two talented musicians (Greg Gottlieb and Iakovos Loukas) on double bass and guitar, playing jazz.

The Stationery
We did not use stationery. All invitations were sent out by email.

Personal or Handmade Touches
I hand wrote all the place names in my calligraphy handwriting. The tables were named after artists that we love. And during the signing of the register, we played ‘Castillian’ by Ceephax, which is quite a heavy song, to lighten the serious mood of the ceremony!

Special Moments
Being led upstairs by the Zaffa band and bellydancer, drumming very loudly was a special moment, quite a juxtaposition in the art deco hotel. Speeches were lovely, and we loved dancing with everyone.

Advice to other couples
It doesn’t have to be a stressful affair! Have a glass of champagne before the ceremony, it helps with the nerves.

Biggest surprise
The rings! when they were produced during the ceremony, I was so happy to see that they had been custom made, by my dear friend Tara Thadani.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Dress designer – www.ami-elisah.co.uk
• Greg Gottlieb – Double Bassist
• Guitarist – [email protected]
• Photographer – www.samieleephotography.com
• Flowers – www.graceandthorn.com
• Tsura – www.tsura.net
• Caitlyn Schwartz – www.orientaldance.org

For more information on Samie Lee’s work please go to:

www.samieleephotography.com / FACEBOOK / I:samieleephoto / @SamieLeePhoto / [email protected] / www.samieleephotography.com/blog

Natural Contemporary Photography with a twist of Boho