Royal Inn on the Park Wedding // Kate & James
My last wedding of 2013 saw me heading over to east London and lovely Victorian boozer, the Royal Inn on the Park, for the wedding of Kate and James. I first met Kate when she was a bridesmaid at Guillia and James’ (not the same James, fortunately) Upper Court wedding in 2012. Guillia was returning the bridesmaiding favour for Kate, sporting a perfectly round bump as she and James are now expecting their first baby (in fact in the time it has taken me to blog this, they are probably now proud parents… congrats!) Back to the day in question. It was a crisp and bright December morning when I arrived at Kate and James’ house in east London where the girls were getting ready. The Christmas tree was twinkling with fairy lights, the house smelled of pine cones and cinnamon (yum), the girls were quaffing champagne and quality Christmas cheese/tunes were playing on MTV. A hive of activity and hairspray, once everyone was ready, we drove to St John of Jerusalem church in Hackney for the ceremony. The aisle in this particular church is quite long, and as Kate made her slow procession down it with her father, the emotion on James’ face seemed to build and build until the moment he saw Kate and bang! A little tear. I do so love a groom who is overwhelmed when he sees his bride for the first time on their wedding day. After the ceremony, everyone took a short stroll around the corner to the festively decked out Royal Inn on the Park, a great little pub I am familiar with having spent long Sunday lunches there with friends over the years. Kate and James had exclusive use of the pub, and champagne and mulled wine got everyone into the wedding day spirit before it was time to sit for dinner. Speeches followed, and featured laughter, tears and photos of Pat Sharpe’s mullet (for those of you old enough to remember, it was quite a mane of hair). Come the evening, there was cake and dancing and good times. A lovely day with Kate and James, some favourites from their London wedding at the Royal Inn on the Park are below
See some more London pub weddings here