Connie and Jordan's Fun Filled Homespun Hackney Wedding by This Modern Revelry

Jordan and Connie wanted a personal day that they could plan the way they wanted with no restrictions, a modern day filled with lots of personal touches. May I just say this, they nailed it!! This Hackney wedding is filled with so many fabulous details, a modern ceremony, followed by the most stunning looking reception. The hanging flowers, the table set up, the colours, it is all super impressive! I just love this wedding, I love the modern take on a winter wedding, adding in warmth with the rich oranges, which give off an almost tropical feel. A truly wonderful day, captured perfectly by This Modern Revelry

A hugely meaningful, and extremely fun day that embodied not only the importance and value of our relationship but also how important our friends and family are to us. We didn’t take anything too seriously, we let the day play out as it did, and it was a testament to those around us who contributed to it being such an incredible day and overall experience from the moment we got engaged to the end of the wedding night.

Jordan and Connie were married on 21st December 2023 at North Atria, Hackney Town Hall, with the reception at The Hackney Co., Hackney Road. ‘We were looking at wedding reception venues and stumbled on The Hackney Co. having recently started offering the coffee shop as a wedding venue. We loved the look of it, and were really grateful they offered a “wedding calculator” upfront so we could feasibly see whether or not it was within budget before speaking to them. Once talking to Hugo who is the events manager for the space, we knew we had to have the reception there! As they didn’t offer wedding licenses, we thought the easiest option was to investigate the town hall in Hackney (only 8 minutes down the road) and we were so lucky that both spaces had availability! We had previously thought the North Atria was outside our budget, but it turns out it was way more affordable than we had initially assumed, so we had to take it! Both teams were also so helpful, as Connie was living abroad for the entire wedding planning process, and Jordan had 6 months still in London before heading to Qatar where we both live. The friendliness and helpfulness of the teams really sold it to us in the end, and we couldn’t recommend them enough. We had 60 guests for ceremony, additional 30 for the reception. and it took 12 months to plan (we were engaged on 4^th December 2022)’

How they met
We met during our Masters in 2018. We didn’t get together until the very end of the Masters in July 2019. The usual good-friends-turned-lovers trope. Constance stands by the fact that she had “no idea” I (Jordan) was infatuated with her, but it was obvious to literally everyone with eyes. We will have been together 5 years this July.

The proposal
We had started talking bout a “paperwork wedding” after Connie was offered a job in Qatar. It turns out it wasn’t as crucial as it had been made out to us, but the idea had stuck in Jordan’s head. Connie came home from Qatar in December 2022, and Jordan had everything planned after asking our best friends Briony & Jack for help with the proposal. Connie thought it was just our usual “trip to the countryside” that the four of us usually do, but the three of them had the plan ready. We headed to Snowdonia, Wales, for what Connie expected as a usual weekend, and during a walk in Llyn Crafnant, Jordan got down on one knee in front of a waterfall called Fairy Falls. Connie even managed to accidentally film her own proposal, which was a nice touch. Jordan proposed with the words “I know I don’t have to, but I want to. Will you marry me?”. Jack then pulled 4 cans of Stella Artois from his backpack, and we finished our walk, whilst Briony kept crying and struggling to not shout “THEY JUST GOT ENGAGED” at every passerby for the remainder of the walk. Once we’d finished the walk, went to a really cosy pub for some lunch and drinks and to sort of let it all sink in. Then, in true homage to the silliness of it all (and us), we went to Adventure Parc which was essentially a huge indoor soft play for adults – we are big kids basically. We were supposed to go to a fancy restaurant for dinner, but we decided to cancel that as we were shattered, grabbed pizzas from a petrol station co-op with a bunch of prosecco and played board games whilst listening to our favourite music all night once we got back to our Airbnb. Ridiculous and wonderful.

How did you allocate your budget?
We didn’t really have a budget in mind, we just wanted everything to be as cheap as we could make it whilst we simultaneously honoured both our wants for the wedding day. We also wanted to pay for the wedding ourselves so we knew going into it we didn’t have a big budget to start with and would be putting any additional money we could save into the day. As we started doing our research and looking into venues, we knew we could very easily axe some ideas and investigate other avenues to make the day what we wanted it to be. Some close friends of Connie’s had got married in the summer and were so helpful giving us some tips on how to keep track of our expenses and giving us a heads up on all the sneaky fees that may arise. Being in two different countries whilst planning meant a lot of Zoom calls and tracking everything on a big Google spreadsheet.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We were very lucky that when we booked our reception venue, they basically included everything we needed whilst letting us choose from various packages, alcohol requirements and food options. We saved by not having an open bar for the entire night but did ensure we had a welcome drinks hour once all the reception guests arrived! Another reason we loved The Hackney Co. is because it’s such a beautiful place, it really doesn’t require much decoration, so we knew we didn’t need to spend lots of money on additional flowers. Stationary, signage, hanging decoration options and beautiful table settings were all included in our package!

The splurge ended up being the venue because it was worth it! We splurged a little on the hotel, so we’d have a place for us to get ready in the morning and come back to, so got some nice rooms at a local place called The Town Hall Hotel which was walking distance from The Hackney. We made sure we got larger rooms so there was enough space for the wedding party to get ready at a relaxed pace in the morning and have breakfast all together before we split off to get dressed and made up!

How did you choose your photographer?
Having been following The Hackney on Instagram since we chose it as a venue, we got to see loads of weddings and the photographers were always tagged. A friend of ours who was going to be our photographer had to unfortunately pull out due to unforeseen circumstances, and Connie knew exactly who to contact! She’d been seeing a lot of work from Laura and Alan on Instagram from a couple who had used the same venues and knew she wanted them. They had the best questionnaire ever with questions about our favourite films and music and knew they’d be perfect for us if they had availability. Fortunately, they did! We were happy for them to completely take charge; they’re the experts and we are long and (endearingly?) awkward. They were incredible from start to finish along with extra tips for us pre-wedding on anything that could make the day and photography run smoother. Our biggest regret from the day is that we didn’t have the money to also have the videography from them also, as watching the movies from other weddings they’ve worked at were incredible! Use them, they’re truly brilliant people.

The dress
Dress – Coast. Shoes & Bag – Zara. Jewellery – some old stuff she already had, a pair of earrings from the Gold Souq in Doha, and some earrings and a necklace from Vivienne Westwood. Connie’s wedding band was bespoke by a small Cornish jewellery brand called Mor and was a beautiful arched band with sapphires. Connie’s veil was made by her Nana!

The suit and bridesmaids
Jordan’s suit was from Next, and the groomsmen Joe and Olly got their matching suits from Hawes and Curtis. The Bridesmaid’s dress was from a website called Stacee’s which makes dresses to order. Jordan got a tie from Etsy and a pair of Dr Martens loafers. We got the boys some ties from Etsy, along with an additional lapel pin. Jordan had a Vivienne Westwood tie clip gifted from our Bridesmaid Briony; to match the earrings she gave to Connie (and Briony wore the same pair!).

Theme or colour scheme
The theme accidentally became “Not a Christmas Wedding, Just A Wedding in December”. Lots of remarks had been made about how Christmas weddings are very romantic, but we didn’t want it to look Christmassy! We had lots of greens, golds, oranges, dark purples and deep blues. The Hackney Co. is covered in plants, so we built off of that slightly-jungle feeling with our colour choices and knew we’d both be wearing a lot of gold jewellery to match the settings we’d chosen for the tables. The Bridesmaid was in a vibrant orange dress, and the groomsmen in deep blue suits with orange & black ties and orange boutonnières.

Flowers
We didn’t have a florist and left the flower options to fate the day before the wedding whilst shopping around the local supermarkets to help decorate the ceremony venue! We were really lucky they had some pillars left over from another wedding, so we knew we could design some large bouquets for the top of the aisle! We just kept our flower options to match the girls’ bouquets!
The bouquets and boutonnières were from Hidden Botanics, which was wonderful to choose because you could see exactly how your bouquet would arrive due to them being artificial and could choose them based on size and colour. We went for vibrant oranges, greens and reds in Connie’s bouquet to compliment Briony’s bridesmaid dress, and Briony had a green and white bouquet to compliment the wedding dress and the main green colours we had decided on for the decorations in The Hackney Co.

Decoration
Anything that wasn’t provided by The Hackney Co. was entirely homemade. Nights spent ripping apart fake flowers from IKEA and threading them onto string. We dried a lot of oranges and grapefruits and strung those together to make garlands that also hung from the ceiling at The Hackney Co. We really used The Hackney’s vibe as inspiration for everything else we did. They had tonnes of plants hanging from the ceiling, so we wanted to just add to that but knew we wouldn’t need much at all. We found a cute gold “Just Married” garland at a local craft store in a mall in Doha, and honestly just let The Hackney take control!

The ceremony venue being the North Atria is very grand in itself as a big atrium, so didn’t need much, so we bought a bunch of appletizers the day before, drank as much as we could, and spent the evening doing flower arrangements to line the aisle. We found two really large glass vases in Tesco for a fiver each, and arranged a larger bouquet in those for the top of the aisle where we would be standing, and the boys laid these out on arrival to the venue as the guests were arriving.
We were insanely lucky to have venues that really didn’t need much doing to them, which helped us save money and not worry about additional logistics whilst we were planning from afar!

Food

Food was all provided by The Hackney, and Jordan, our bridesmaid Briony and best man Joe got to go to an entire tasting menu evening to try the food and wines! One of the reasons we also chose The Hackney Co. was because they could offer a fully vegetarian and vegan menu, that didn’t feel like an afterthought, which we had been seeing from a lot of other venues. Any of the veggie options could also be made vegan, so it didn’t limit a single person coming to the ceremony to have a single option during the meal!
Our menu was:
Charred Broccolis Di Cocco with Burrata, Pine Nuts and Lemon OR Onion Squash Veloute with Sauteed Wild Mushrooms and Sage
Sweet Potato Fritters with Charred Scallions, Red Pepper and Pine Nut sauce OR King Trumpet Mushroom A La Bordelaise with Parsnip Puree, Seaweed Crumble and Puntarelle
Traditional Chocolate Mousse with Macadamia Brittles & Poached Blackberries
For evening food, we had a grilled cheese & truffle toastie, vegan tacos and a charcuterie cheeseboard!

Wedding cake
A Lily Vanilli chocolate cake. We chose a heart design with pink and orange frosting, edible pearls, glace cherries, and “Don’t F*ck it Up” written in icing!

Entertainment
We had a friend’s band called the Dogwood Flowers who are an Irish band that does traditional Irish music (Jordan’s half Irish) and folk covers of pop songs. They played during our welcome drinks when all the reception guests arrived.
As we did our speeches once the reception guests arrived, to enable those joining for the reception to feel part of the wedding day festivities. They also served as entertainment as everyone got to gather around together and listen. The speeches ended up being the thing most people said were the best part of the day and people constantly tell us how great they were!

Who supplied the stationery?
We made our save the dates and invites ourselves on Canva, and just sent those out virtually with the link to our wedding website made on Joy.co.uk as it was the easiest way for us to track all the RSVPs and meal requests when we were both in different countries. We made our Order of Service on Canva as well, and then forgot to lay them on the seats (Jordan was very preoccupied) for our ceremony guests to arrive to!
The rest of the stationary, the menus, the signage etc, were all included by The Hackney Co. and we got to choose a design from their offers, so we chose the one we liked the most and that matched our colours the best!

Where are you going on your honeymoon?
We are currently in the process of choosing a honeymoon! Our jobs both restrict us in some way regarding holidays; Jordan is a secondary school teacher, and Connie is a marine biologist with a peak season in summer, so our holidays don’t always match up! We’re hoping we can do a 3-week honeymoon over the Christmas break in 2024-2025, and are hoping to head somewhere in southeast Asia, Thailand/Indonesia!

Personal touches
Making a lot of the decorations ourselves and the flurry of getting the flowers together with our wedding party the night before was great. As we aren’t religious, our ceremony has non-religious readings in that were special to us. The first reading was words Connie’s mum had said during an interview with the producers of 24 Hours in A&E (story for another time) when she had been asked “What advice would you give to a couple going into life together?” and was read by our groomsman Olly. Connie’s mum didn’t know this was happening, so that was really special. The other reading was a song that we both like (Hide My Face – Acid Ghost), which is an instrumental track with the words from a recorded lecture of a philosopher Alan Watts playing over the top. This was read by Connie’s Nana and had some of our guests say “We would follow your nana to battle” as Sylvia read it so well!

We designed our wedding book on Papier and look forward to scrapbooking all our wedding cards into the leftover pages.

I guess we got to do so many little things ourselves due to the budgeting and being abroad, that even though some of the more traditional things that get done (trying on dresses with friends and family or visiting venues together), still meant we were always going to get to do something to make the day feel like ours! Every time we got to speak to Hugo at The Hackney or chat with Alan and Laura, it just all felt like the day was going to represent us, and we trusted them wholeheartedly.

We were also blessed with the BEST registrar ever, Andy Seaman, who ran our ceremony and even after only meeting us for a few minutes before the ceremony he absolutely nailed making the ceremony fun, joyful and relaxed. He was just incredible, and the ceremony wouldn’t have been what it was if it wasn’t for him.

Special moments

The ceremony was so special, as we really didn’t know what to expect and it exceeded our expectations. For Connie, the wedding was the first time she’d seen the venues in person as she was living in Qatar for the entirety of the planning process, so to see these places all dressed up on the day was incredible! The morning of the wedding was so great. We had breakfast in our room with our wedding party and got dressed to our favourite music; it just felt like a group of friends all getting ready for an evening out together as opposed to a wedding which helped us feel calm and even more excited to see everyone once we got to the venues!
We both loved being taken out of the venue with our wedding party and having photos taken by Alan, as he let us all be silly and just captured how much fun we were all having on the day.
The speeches were amazing, and we think everyone enjoyed them as much as we did. It was the best way to start the party and get everyone feeling great for the rest of the reception!
Having everyone we loved together was just beautiful, wouldn’t have changed a thing! We loved seeing everyone have a good time, enabling family to be together for the first time in ages, being able to hug our friends and know we’d made the day happen.

Advice for other couples
Take it slow, not everything has to be planned in a single day. Wedding planning becomes part of the routine – as long as you keep track of all your asks and desires for the day, it’ll come together.

A lot of the time we thought we were being awkward with our requests, but because we had such a good team behind us they made us feel so good, like our wants were easy. Making sure we were matched well with our venues really made the whole process much simpler. If it wasn’t for the teams at The Hackney Co. and The Hackney Townhall, we wouldn’t have had the day we had, and it really goes down to how excellent they are at what they do. The same goes for Alan and Laura from This Modern Revelry who provided so much more than just photographs and helped us hugely in the run-up.

If you can write your own vows, take the chance to do so. It made the day for us to have that moment to speak to each other openly, and to have this moment of “Hey, look, we did it! Thank you for doing it with me!”. We got to have so much autonomy over the ceremony, and it made it even more special. At the end of the day, it really does end up being the best bit.

There are a million ways to execute a wedding, and it turns out, you can execute it just the way you want to, so don’t let anything stop you!

Biggest surprise
How easy it all felt on the day. We didn’t feel stressed, we went into it with the mindset “What will be, will be” and we didn’t have to worry about anything. All the worries about what could and would happen disappeared, it all goes so quickly, and you don’t have to worry about how people will enjoy (or if they will enjoy) the day. Who doesn’t love a wedding!

The speeches were the biggest surprise, as they are to anyone, as we didn’t know what they would entail. They were so special, and all 4 speeches (bridesmaid, best man, father of the bride and Jordan) were amazing.

The overwhelming feeling of the day was the love and support from everyone there, and it is so special to feel that radiating in a space.