What I Wore to My City Hall Wedding

A linen suit and shoes I've worn 100s of times.

Jul 03, 2025

I’m getting married in Italy this summer, but like a lot of couples who opt to have a destination wedding, my partner and I decided to do the legal bit at home first (far less paperwork).

We deliberated over whether doing this would take away from our “main” wedding, but honestly, I’m so glad we got to do this, too. Our guests were just our parents and most of our siblings, nieces and nephews (my brother and his family live in Sydney, so they sent their good wishes from afar). So, as well as being the day we legally got married, last weekend was an opportunity to gather various family members from across the UK for an intimate, pre-wedding celebration before the guest list ramps up on the big day.

It was a small, no-frills ceremony at St. George’s Hall in Liverpool. We wanted to save most of the wedding-y bits and traditions for our big day in a couple of months, so our ceremony was simple (we walked down the aisle together, we had no rings or readings, and our photographs were taken on our family members’ phones) and our ‘reception’ was low-key too. The Bezos-Sánchez wedding this was definitely not.

The setting

The register office at Liverpool’s St. George’s Hall, followed by a drink in the local pub and a summer feast in my parents’ back garden.

The brief for the flowers: whites, greens, and a smattering of wildflowers

For dinner, we threw an old white linen tablecloth over a long wooden table, and added pinstripe linen tablecloths from Cultiver, my bouquet from Ewer-Roberts, the local florists, and a tall green carafe from Toast that acted as a water vessel and décor.

The menu

We booked the wonderful Liverpool-based Fig & The Wild to do our food. After a quick chat over the phone, they created a bespoke menu based on our brief: Ottolenghi-inspired plates of seasonal foods, with a few kid-friendly bits thrown in.

To say they nailed it is an understatement. We had fluffy focaccia, silver coupes spilling over with olives, big sharing plates of roast squash hummus with chickpeas, potato salad with salsa verde, roast broccoli with chorizo and manchego, homemade sausage rolls, and a few rosewater pavlovas topped with berries and edible flowers to finish it all off. Our guests are still talking about how delicious it all was.

The outfit

I’ve written a few times on Substack about how the traditional bridal look isn’t really “me” and my desire not to get sucked into wearing something just because Pinterest tells me to. So, I avoided the usual bridal shops and edits and went to a brand that I love: LaneFortyfive.

LaneFortyfive is a London-based brand that makes everything to order by hand, and uses organic materials and fabrics. The designs themselves are completely original, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find similar pieces elsewhere. Think workwear-inspired jackets with big pockets or statement colourful patchwork, trousers with pleated detail, and loose shirts that come in an array of shades and patterns.

I have another linen suit from LaneFortyfive that I’ve had for a couple of years, and I always feel good in it when I wear it. It’s relaxed but considered, and the fit is excellent because it’s made to my measurements. So, I asked them if they’d make me another suit in off-white linen; one that I knew would feel special to wear, but not so bridal that I wouldn’t want to wear it again.

Wearing: LaneFortyfive jacket, shirt and trousers*, old Zara Mary Janes (similar here).

I chose the double-breasted Molori3 jacket with the tapered, box-pleated Lora2 trousers (I asked them to make them slightly longer than they appear online, so they finished at my ankle), and the organic cotton embroidered Flora2 shirt, which has a loose fit and big sleeves (and I can imagine will get a lot more wear this summer). It was all made to order and took about 4 weeks from ordering to arrive.

I finished off the look with the black Mary Janes I must have worn 100 times, my usual silver rings from Monica Vinader, and Barceloneta sunglasses from Jimmy Fairly (not pictured, but needed in the sun).

Adam, my other half, wore a suit he’s worn to almost every wedding and smart function we’ve been to over the past few years. Proof that you really don’t need anything new.