Posted byWe showed you the first part of Chrissy & Danny's mind-blowingly gorgeous double wedding in Thailand. Now here is the scoop on their second wedding at a hotel in London. In typical London fashion it was filled with high-tea and croquet. -Coco
The offbeat bride: Chrissy, Secondary school teacher
Her offbeat partner: Danny, Secondary school teacher
Location & date of wedding: West Lodge Park Hotel, London, England — August 24, 2010
What made our wedding offbeat: This was our second wedding. We had been married in Thailand about four weeks earlier. This one was the legal one and the one for the parents to witness. 
Because we were getting married first in Thailand (and travelling for almost a month) we wanted to keep the second wedding very small. However, our parents were coming in from the USA for it, so it did have to be slightly nicer than merely a visit to the registrar.
We had no idea where to begin. And neither Danny nor I enjoy planning these sorts of things. Luckily, a friend of a friend was a professional wedding planner, so I contacted her ASAP.
The idea behind the wedding was that it was going to be a really stereotypical British outing. We wanted to make it sort of kitschy for our parents who were coming from the USA for it. We had it at a nineteenth century country hotel (just outside of London), had high tea and played croquet. 
Tell us about the ceremony: It was a very typical civil ceremony. Nothing special really aside from the strange British law of not being able to be photographed signing the registrar's book. They provided us with a fake one as a prop. 
Our biggest challenge: Wearing inappropriately high shoes on soft ground. My heels kept sinking into the ground and Danny was having to hold me up by my elbows.
My favorite moment: My mom made me a garter from the wedding dresses of my late grandmother and my sister, who passed away a couple of years ago. It was extremely thoughtful – a total lovely surprise.
My funniest moment: Danny having to carry me very awkwardly through the wheat field for the photos. The grass was very tall, very dry and difficult to walk though in even the flattest shoes. My shoes were not appropriate. Also, there were thorns mixed in with the tall grass, which we didn't notice until we were already several steps in!
My advice for offbeat brides: 1. If you want an awesome wedding, but don't fancy doing all of the planning, hire a wedding planner. Ours was awesome. Wedding planners are experts and they know loads of vendors, so you can just describe what you want and they can match you with the correct person for the job. Our wedding planner saved us so much time. The wedding was completely stress free and was far nicer than anything we could have/would have planned. 
2. Try to hire a photographer with a background in fashion photography. They're experts in lighting and they know how to pose you to take the best photos. Phil does a lot of fashion shoots and did a great job with the quirky / unusual shots in addition to the standard family-standing-together-in-a-row shots.
What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? It doesn't have to be expensive to be awesome. Most of my stuff was from Etsy and eBay. Danny's entire outfit was from high street shops.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Venue: West Lodge Park Hotel
- Wedding planners: Sparkle and Wow wedding planning
- Dress: Wai-Ching
- Cocktail hat: itsthelittlethingsut on Etsy
- Necklace: The Harbinger Co on Etsy
- Rings: Zoe & Doyle on Etsy
- Shrug from eBay – like £4. Altered by my friend Claire.
- Japanese toeless socks by Tabio.
- Shoes: Carvela
- Danny's trousers, waistcoat and tie: Next
- Danny's shirt and socks: Topman
- Danny's belt is from Vegetarian Shoes
- Belt buckle is from eBay
- Shoes are from Converse
- Our photographer: Phil Bourne
- My hair was from Hayley at Inner Temple, London
- Make-up: Changi at Pro Makeup
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!
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Ooh, I adore the front panel modification on your dress! I am planning on a Wai Ching ensemble as well, but with some color and style adjustments to one of her designs. What a classy yet funky-artsy wedding! Love it.
I LOVE your dress!
just..too much…awesome…**thud*
Love love love the garter idea!
You are two of the luckiest spuds ever!
Both of your weddings are just beautiful… so yummy that I had to share them with my siser as well so we could coo over the pretty pics. Congratulations!
gorgeous!
That dress is AMAZING.
When I first saw the bride, I thought, “What?! Lady Gaga is getting married?!”
Congratulations!
I’m delighted by the henna on your hand.