The Bride Wore Feathers for Her Civil Ceremony in London, and a Dress Embroidered With Peonies to Her Micro-Wedding in Portugal
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Natalie Salmon, the digital editor of Vogue Scandinavia (launching soon), and Richard, an entrepreneur–VC investor, had originally planned to have their legal ceremony in London in April of 2020, then host a big wedding celebration in Portugal that May. “Originally, we didn’t really have any plans to do anything for the legal wedding,” Natalie says. “Then COVID changed everything, of course.”
After the pandemic hit, the couple decided in late March that they should postpone everything. They sent an email to their guests rescheduling the events for October. “We thought six months would be more than enough time,” Natalie admits. “Of course, we were wrong, and were faced with postponing the whole wedding until 2021 or going with a smaller wedding in October.” They ultimately decided to have a pared-back celebration in 2020.
Even though they were legally allowed to have up to 150 people in October, Natalie and Richard didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do considering the situation and the fact that the U.K. had blocked travel to Portugal. “We had a lot of guests contact us saying we should go ahead, and others asking us to postpone,” Natalie says. “The thing we were most worried about was our older relatives.”
They ultimately settled on doing a lunch in London to celebrate their legal ceremony and then a wedding celebration in Portugal with just 15 guests. “My mother is Brazilian, and it was important to her that we have a Catholic service,” Natalie explains. The mother of the bride, Ires Salmon, really took the helm during the planning process. “She was amazing,” Natalie says. “Helping to oversee everything that I did not anticipate and keeping the minor stresses at bay.”
For the legal ceremony in London, the bride chose a mid-length white dress with feather detailing by 16Arlington that looked like it was made for the occasion. “I only ordered it about a week before the wedding as I was so scared about the legal ceremony being cancelled due to to COVID,” Natalie reveals. “The dress was perfect because it was timeless and the feathers added a bit of glamour without being too over the top.” She borrowed earrings from Bulgari, carried a Carolina clutch—which worked as her something blue—and finished the entire look off with slingbacks by Louboutin. “I opted not to have a bouquet and let the clutch do the talking,” Natalie says. “Especially as I knew I’d have a more formal wedding weeks later.”
Before the civil ceremony, a small group gathered at Beaufort House, where they played a pub quiz and answered funny questions about Natalie and Richard over lunch. “It was a great ice-breaker for the guests,” Natalie remembers. Afterwards, at Chelsea Town Hall, no one other than the couple’s witnesses was allowed inside due to COVID, but friends and family could gather outside, where they showered the newlyweds with flower petals after they emerged from the ceremony.
A few weeks later, the couple celebrated with a more formal event in Portugal. Finding a dress for this was one of the more difficult aspects of the planning process for Natalie. “Even though I started looking a year before, I really couldn’t find anything I liked, and it felt like my bridesmaids and I went to every single wedding boutique in London,” Natalie recalls. “I also ordered and returned around four to five white dresses from Net-a-Porter. I thought it would be so easy but it really wasn’t.”
Upon receiving a word of mouth recommendation, she eventually went to check out Hermione de Paula in Shoreditch. “The dress [I fell in love with] was originally strapless, but the team added some sleeves to make it more appropriate for the church,” Natalie says. “And, the second I tried it on, my sister and I had that cliché moment where we both started crying.”
For jewelry, the bride borrowed a pair of vintage sapphire-and-pearl drop earrings from her mother and completed the look with a pair of lace heels from Louboutin. “They reminded me of Marie Antoinette’s court shoes for some reason,” Natalie says. “I’m a history buff so when I saw them in the store I was immediately in love.” Richard worked closely with the Ralph Lauren team in London on his suit, and the wedding party wore vintage and borrowed pieces.
On the morning of the wedding, Natalie couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed by the entire situation. “I started doubting why we were having the wedding this year and wishing I could have done it next year instead as I really missed my friends who couldn’t make it,” Natalie admits. “It just wasn’t the wedding we had planned.” The second she got to church, however, she felt instantly better. “After so many months of ups and downs, Richard and I were just happy to have a wedding at all.”
