Inside: A Sustainable North London Wedding With Lashings Of Vintage Glamour

From a winter first date at the Natural History Museum ice rink to a barefoot beach proposal in the Maldives, step inside Bianca-Francesca Alleyne née Foley, Joseph Alleyne’s North London wedding.

In a world that often leans toward excess, Bianca-Francesca and Joseph Alleyne chose intimacy, intention, and understated luxury. Their North London wedding was a masterclass in personal style and meaningful storytelling, rooted in their shared values and shaped by instinctive decisions that felt, in Bianca’s words, “meant to be.” From a Pinterest-saved dress found at the perfect moment, to rented florals and sustainable diamonds, every detail of their celebration reflected not only their love, but their life philosophy.

Marrying at Islington Town Hall – a nod to Bianca’s roots and Joe’s lifelong devotion to Arsenal – the couple exchanged vows before dining with their closest family and friends at the art deco gem, Bellanger. With custom playlists, QR codes for photo sharing, and a first dance that turned into a full-blown Caribbean-inspired celebration, the day unfolded with warmth, spontaneity, and quiet glamour.

The story so far

We connected on a dating app back in 2014 and after a few months of chatting we decided to meet up. Our first date was at the Natural History Museum Ice Rink in December (now closed), followed by a very casual dinner. After 6 months of dating, we made it official (which is now our wedding anniversary) and the rest is history.

Fast forward to May 2023, he surprised me with a trip to the Maldives where he proposed on the beach. Knowing that I am conscious about sustainability, Joe opted for a lab grown diamond from Kimai, The Maya Pavé Round Ring which features an eternity band of diamonds. In all the excitement of the proposal, I had missed a key detail and it was only a few months later that I noticed that he had engraved the words “Ti Amo” meaning “I love you” in Italian on the inside of the band – a nod to my fathers side of the family who are Italian.

Venue

We were never set on having the big event nor did we have a specific venue in mind. Our wedding planning was very simple, decisive and pretty quick, we managed to get everything done in under 6 months. The only thing we knew for sure was that we wanted it to be small and intimate – going against family expectation and having a *grand affair*.

Islington Town Hall seemed like a perfect fit for us, I’m a north London girl born and raised and with Joe being an avid Arsenal fan; when we found a restaurant who could accommodate our party as well as being nearby to Islington Town Hall, it felt like kismet.

When selecting our venue, The Bellanger on Islington Green, we loved their decor, food and overall vibe. The art deco settings leaned very much into my moodboard – vintage glamour; and after visiting the space and having lunch, we knew it was the venue! The team were incredibly welcoming, the food was sensational and they ticked every box for us – private room, great food, space for our entire party and beautiful settings.

Fashion

Like I mentioned before, everything with this wedding felt very “meant to be” and that includes the outfits. As part of my job, I had the pleasure of trying on a number of stunning dresses but nothing really felt like “the one”. Years ago, when we first started discussing getting married I started a Pinterest board to save inspiration (as we all do) and the dress I had fallen in love with was a Mara Hoffman piece from her resort collection. I saw so many people had been wearing it for their “second look” but I saved it, adding to my idea of what my big day could look like.

After the brand closed suddenly in spring 2024, I thought that I would never get my hands on it. We had started discussing getting married very late in 2024 but with nothing booked and no definitive plans, I hadn’t even started looking for a dress. I got a text one day from a friend saying “MARA HOFFMAN DRESS, VESTIAIRE, YOUR SIZE” and I genuinely don’t think I have ever moved so quickly in my life. It felt a bit premature buying a dress without booking everything but when it arrived, it just felt so right; and soon after, everything else fell into place.

My shoes were a similar story – I had always known I wanted to wear Jimmy Choo shoes for my wedding and after trying on everything they had in store, I decided to try Bicester Village. I checked every shoe store on site, to no avail and saved Jimmy Choo for last. I walked in, saw them and that was it.

We saw his gorgeous butter yellow suit on Suit Supply and snapped it up immediately. He wanted to feel modern and comfortable, he has always been quite fashion conscious and he wanted a summer suit he could wear for years to come.

Jewellery

On the day, my jewellery was a mix of vintage with some modern elements. I wore a small heart shaped crystal from Orelia along with a beautiful vintage necklace and earrings borrowed from my godmother. My something blue was in the form of my mother’s engagement ring, a light blue sapphire with diamonds on either side.

When selecting my wedding band, I wanted something that was similar but didn’t completely match my engagement ring. I searched across so many sites but decided on the very beautiful Chloe Lab grown ring from the Diamond Store. It sits perfectly with my engagement ring.

Bridal party

We didn’t actually have a bridal party – but my 2 oldest friends wore matching black dresses from Rewritten (who also very kindly dressed me for my hen party) along with jewellery from Orelia.

Transportation

As it was a city wedding, I just jumped in a black cab to the registry office – very cool and very relaxed.

Tablescape

Keeping sustainability in mind – I wanted to make sure that nothing from our wedding would be wasted. So for our wedding favours we opted for shot glasses with our name on so people could actually use them and keep them forever. Flowers are always wasted so I looked at ways we could reduce this; we opted to rent our florals for the tables The Brighton Florist – their founder Hannah was amazing to work with. The flowers were delivered straight to the restaurant and picked up the day after meaning minimal fuss and we received SO many compliments on them! My bouquet was custom made by Ett Hem London who also make the most stunning forever flowers. They are the best quality faux blooms I have ever seen, I even have them dotted around my home and change the stems seasonally.

To add a little more glamour to the beautiful space at the Bellanger, we added church candles to the windowsills and little cards where our guests could scan a QR code to add their photos from the day.

Food & drinks

The food was incredible at the Bellanger – classic French cuisine and guests had a selection of cod, steak or an orzotto main. As our wedding was very late in the day (4pm), we decided against canapes, rather hosting a drinks reception on arrival at the restaurant where they served a beautiful Cremant along with olives, breads and other snacks. Dinner was served promptly at 6pm to allow the evening to flow and get the celebration started. I had the steak and the sacher torte which were fantastic.

Entertainment

With our dinner being held in a private room within a restaurant, we couldn’t have any live music but we created a playlist to be played in the background on Spotify. With it being such a small wedding of under 50 people, it worked perfectly to provide some background ambiance during the wedding breakfast.

Our first dance was hilarious (well to me it was) – we had decided on Luther Vandross’ “So Amazing” as our first dance, but Joe wanted to spice things up a bit. Our families love to party and being from the Caribbean – and huge lovers of soca and reggae music, we wanted something that reflected our love for music and where we come from.

As we were walking up to dance Joe whispered in my ear “I’ve changed the first dance song” and I just had to roll with it! We started off dancing very slow in a perfectly timed two-step, then the beat dropped and it turned into a dance off. Looking back at the photos, it was perfect – fun, carefree and flirty.

Beauty regime & wellness

I took the past 6 months very seriously, sticking to a skincare regime and incorporating monthly facials along with Brazilian lymphatic drainage massage and microneedling. I only had 2 sessions of microneedling which, if you are a bride-to-be you HAVE to try it – I went to Laser Clinics and used their sister brand Skinstitut as part of my aftercare and all I can say is, it really worked for me – completely changing my skin texture and getting rid of all hyperpigmentation. I also tried threads in my lips to help give definition and add natural plumpness.

The day before the wedding I got my eyebrows done with Jeta Brows and had eyebrow extensions to add fullness as well as temporary lash extensions from Lashify. On the day I got my hair done at Elite Hair Lounge who I have been visiting for the past year. Their founder Talisha Cox gave me the most stunning non-bridal-bridal hairstyle I have ever seen, adding in clip-in extensions from IMAN Hair. My makeup artist Nellie Freestone was absolutely incredible too – we didn’t do any trials, for either my hair or makeup, but I could not have been happier with the results. I provided both stylists with some photos for inspiration and they simply understood the assignment.

Honeymoon

Instead of a gift list, we asked for contributions toward our honeymoon: two magical weeks split between Tanzania, Zanzibar, and Nairobi- the perfect trio of safari, beach, and city.

Advice

Make use of your notes app and write everything down – with the amount of admin you will have to do, you don’t want to miss anything.

Breathe – whatever isn’t done on the day wasn’t meant to be and no one will even notice.

It really is true what people say – the day goes really quickly, remember to try to take it all in, so much will happen on the day and it will feel like a blur so try to take a moment with everyone there.