The stylish rise of the low-key bride

Former Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo and her husband, BrewDog founder James Watt, before their wedding ceremony this summer - @georgiatoffolo

Across Britain, a subtle but definite trend is emerging. For the modern bride, the classic, Four Weddings And A Funeral-style triumvirate of country church service, marquee and cheesy band has been replaced by something altogether lower-key and, well, cooler. These days, true tastemakers get hitched at the registry office before an intimate reception at the local pub, or in their parents’ garden.

Last year, actor Jack Lowden married actress Saoirse Ronan in a secret ceremony at Edinburgh Registry Office, and Georgia Toffolo (former star of Made in Chelsea) nixed expectations in June by marrying her millionaire husband, BrewDog founder James Watt, with 48 hours notice – cue a homemade wedding cake and a bouquet of supermarket daffodils. Singer Charlie XCX, meanwhile, was a Brat Bride personified when she exchanged vows with George Daniel, drummer of The 1975, at Hackney Town Hall last month. The photographs showed Charlie sporting a Vivienne Westwood minidress and her signature shades, while the pair smoked and knocked back wine outside an Italian restaurant at their reception, a row of Lime bikes in the background. The brief might as well have read “romance meets East London grit”.

Toffolo and Watt celebrated their marriage on a fishing boat in Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Travel PR expert Deborah Arantes’ 2024 wedding was eerily similar to that of the singer’s – even down to the location and the dress. “We got married at Hackney Town Hall, and I also wore Vivienne Westwood. Charlie and I even had the same stylist in Rosie Boydell-Wiles!” she laughs. She and her husband followed up their ceremony with dinner on the Hackney Road, and rounded off the evening with dancing at the balloon-festooned Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. “We toyed with getting married abroad, but we both felt that destination weddings were starting to become a bit of a drain on people’s finances,” she says. “It just feels like it’s asking a lot of your guests. I wanted people to be able to hop in an Uber at the end of the night.”

The cultural landscape of weddings is shifting: as the cost of living creeps ever higher, not everyone remains happy to blow the budget on one day, however special. One new report found that just over a quarter of couples spend less than £10,000 on their wedding, which effectively represents a 30 per cent decrease in spending compared to previous years. Photobooths, enormous flower arches and fire-eaters arguably feel a bit “much” in the current climate, as do the miles of tulle and OTT gowns of old.

Charli XCX sported a Vivienne Westwood minidress and her signature shades for her wedding to drummer George Daniel at Hackney Town Hall last month - @charli_xcx

“There’s definitely a shift happening,” says Orlagh McCloskey, co-founder and creative director of Rixo. The high street brand launched its first bridal collection in 2021 – and the range of silky separates and sequinned minis is increasingly popular with a more laissez-faire customer. “People today want to get more value from their bridal look, with something they can rewear after the event. Our brides are looking for something that feels true to who they are, not just what tradition dictates.”

Charlotte Alexander-Stace, communications director at Maybourne (the hotel group behind Claridge’s, the Berkeley and the Connaught) knew that when she married her DJ husband in 2021, tradition wouldn’t play a large part in proceedings – in fact, she was keen to work against it. “We dreamt up an anti-trad, chilled London wedding. It’s just who we are, and we wanted to stick very closely to that,” she says of her nuptials at Hackney Town Hall, in the borough where “our whole relationship was built”. A small crowd of friends and family gathered afterwards at Bethnal Green stalwart Bistrotheque, where a string quartet played Dr Dre and cigarettes were piled high on silver platters.

Alexander-Stace wore a custom, white silk wrap dress from Emma Beaumont, which she matched with “a very extra” pair of Jimmy Choo sandals and Jessica McCormack jewellery. “My gut was telling me to get married in something shorter that would showcase a great shoe,” she says (both she and her husband are devoted to haute footwear; the groom wore Dior trainers). “It felt quite nonchalant, which is just what I wanted. I did my own hair, used an old bag I’d bought years ago on Ebay and painted my nails dark red.”

Charlotte Alexander-Stace married her husband at Hackney Town Hall in 2021 wearing a custom white-silk wrap dress from Emma Beaumont - Matt Crossick

While bespoke is still a popular route, more brides than ever are turning to the high street for their wedding looks, with Reformation, Whistles and Reiss all offering bridal ranges. Some opt out of bridalwear altogether: Emily Ash Powell, a writer and brand consultant who got married in 2023, wore a silver “Falconetti” dress from (the now defunct brand) The Vampire’s Wife for her nuptials. “It was a style I’d loved for a million and one years. I just thought yes – I want to get married in that. It wasn’t white, but then, we weren’t exactly doing things in the traditional way anyway.”

Ash Powell and her now-husband, Jonny, flew to Las Vegas six months after getting engaged, where they were married by an Elvis impersonator at the Little White Chapel with just two witnesses: Ash Powell’s best friend from university and her husband, who travelled over from Chicago. “I have a very big Welsh family, but my husband is estranged from his own relatives,” she explains. “It felt so complicated figuring out a guest list given our family situation. We joked that we should just elope to Las Vegas and, as soon as we said it, we knew that was what we wanted to do.”

Ash Powell and her now-husband, Jonny, flew to Las Vegas for their wedding six months after getting engaged - Brittany Lo

The couple ended up hosting a party a year after their wedding, set on a Welsh beach, and Ash Powell dug her wedding dress out again for the occasion – as well as for her belated hen do. She still has the dress in her wardrobe and rents it out to other partygoers (although, to her knowledge, it has yet to serve as a wedding gown for anyone else).

“We’re definitely seeing people having more confidence to go against the status quo,” says Amy Anderson, founder and creative director of Kindred of Ireland, which launched bridalwear earlier this year to offer “a fresh perspective on tradition”. Out of the collection’s linen sheaths and tailored trousers, the most popular piece isn’t even white at all – but a baby blue, ruffled dress. “Brides are choosing pieces that feel true to their style, values and personality and increasingly, they’re thinking about how the garment can have a life beyond the wedding day,” she adds.

Kindred of Ireland’s popular Something Blue Dress, £895 - Kindred of Ireland

“White has never really been my colour, so why would I suddenly wear it for my wedding day?” thought food stylist Thanee Paas-Margerison, who lives in London but got married in the Netherlands, in her hometown of Heerlen, in 2023. She and her husband gave themselves two months to plan a ceremony in Heerlen’s town hall, followed by a reception in Paas-Margerison’s parents’ garden. “Knowing that I didn’t have time to save up, I ordered a bright pink dress online from H&M – it had a train, which felt at least a little bridal!” she laughs. “My guests, knowing me, always expected me to do something that went a little bit against the grain.”

Londoner Thanee Paas-Margerison wears a pink H&M dress for her wedding in the Netherlands, 2023

Just as some brides are now ditching white on their wedding days, many are shunning dresses altogether. Daisy Knatchbull, founder of the eponymous tailoring brand for women, notes that she is increasingly asked for trouser suits with a “structured silhouette, a defined waist, wide-leg trousers and subtle detailing” in a palette that runs the gamut from champagne to clotted cream. She recommends adding a waistcoat underneath a jacket, “which gives you another ‘look’ should the jacket get too hot”.

Ali Pantony-Oluwole, the website director of Glamour UK, married her long-term boyfriend, Timi, at Islington Town Hall last month and knew she wanted to wear a suit for the occasion – citing Bianca Jagger as an inspiration. “I wanted something second hand, as it would feel like my outfit had more of a story to it,” she explains of the vintage Chanel trouser suit she sourced on Vestiaire Collective. A white, veiled headband made bespoke by VV Rouleaux – plus a lace-trimmed camisole and silk scarf, hand-dyed to match by Studio Kühü in Camden – provided the finishing touches.

Ali Pantony-Oluwole opted for a vintage Chanel trouser suit for her wedding ceremony with her long-term boyfriend, Timi, at Islington Town Hall last month - Jasmine Rose Simmons

According to Knatchbull, suits are particularly popular with older brides and those getting married for a second time. “People don’t feel the need to wear the ‘big dress’ they once lusted after, and instead opt for something that wears beautifully, both on the day and over time,” she says. McCloskey has seen a similar phenomenon at RIXO, “with women coming in to find something for a second wedding. They want to feel elegant, but not too traditional.” Whatever her age or life stage, for the modern bride, it’s all about being the best version of herself. We’ll toast to that…

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