Meanwhile, Freddie wore a suit by Casely-Hayford. “He knew all along he wanted a green cord three-piece suit,” explains Raine. “Charlie [Casely-Hayford] helped him find some stunning Italian fabric with a pink silk lining.” He completed the look with a white Emmett shirt, brown leather Bottega Velasca loafers, and a vintage Hermès swan tie with the pièce de la resistance being novelty duck cufflinks.
As south Londoners, the couple opted for a civil ceremony at Lambeth Town Hall followed by a wedding lunch at The Camberwell Arms. The couple drove themselves to the reception, after being advised by friends that it’s good to have a moment alone together after the ceremony. “We love our old Mercedes 1985 280SE,” says Raine. “So it felt right to drive ourselves to the venue. We sorted decorations for the car the night before. I love ribbons so I went wild with those—I kind of wanted it to look a bit scrappy.”
Speaking of ribbons, the couple’s reception venue was covered in them. “We wanted them to cover everything,” says Raine. “We added pink ribbon to the candelabras, candles, and vases.” The couple’s friend Yolly designed the flowers, choosing rich, bright, happy tones, filling the space with poppies, cyclamen, ranunculus, and tulips. “We also got gorgeous birds and hand-painted oil lamps from Brixton Market to decorate the tables.”
As it was a few days before Christmas, the couple decided, rather ambitiously, to make individual crackers for every guest, each with its own unique joke. They also made beaded Christmas decorations for the place settings that doubled as a souvenir. “Luckily it went down really well as it took forever,” Raine says. “We also did a stencil profile cut-out of each other, based on ’50s Polish film poster designs,” she continues. “Then the amazing artist Alia Wilhelm used it for things like the invites, menus, posters, et cetera. She collaged them into an amazing design, which we loved.”
The reasoning behind choosing The Camberwell Arms was twofold, and simple: “We love the food there,” says Raine. “We didn’t want the wedding to feel traditional or overly formal. And we wanted to go somewhere that we could go again for our anniversary.” The cakes—plural—were from Hebe Konditori (“I couldn’t not do three… they are works of art and there were a lot of people to feed”) and featured both a whippet and swans, in a nod to the couple’s houseboat home. Entertainment was provided via Colbert, a black Elvis, which Raine describes as the real highlight of the day: “We wanted something unique for our party and Colbert’s performance had everyone on the dancefloor, it was incredible.” Late-night food came courtesy of Cornfield Bakery, who served Jamaican patties as a nod to Raine’s heritage.
But the most cinematic touch of all? The couple’s names were emblazoned on the front of the iconic Ritzy cinema in Brixton. “I lived in a flat opposite the Ritzy with my dad growing up,” explains Raine. “And with us both being directors, it was only right to have our names up there for the wedding day.” Now showing: Happily ever after.