Effortless Style for Any Season at RSA House

We’ve seen many weddings and inspiration shoots take place in this Central London location, and whilst each one is different the venue gently allows for the individual designs, colour palettes and floral choices to take centre stage. From moody and dramatic, to pretty in pink pastels – it all works so beautifully thanks to the incredible spaces to choose from.

Today’s editorial focuses in on the romantic underground vaults and the light-filled Benjamin Franklin Room. Take a peek inside and see just how versatile RSA House is. Over to Lucy Meehan Events for all the details…

Lucy says…

RSA House is an award-winning London wedding venue and it is easy to see why. It is also important to me to support venues whose profits from such hires help to fund charitable work – the RSA put their profits towards programmes around the Future of Work, Education and Learning and Sustainability.

It is a gorgeous venue, steeped in history and perfect for a ‘Quintessential City’ wedding. However, what made it the perfect choice for this shoot is the variety of spaces it has, that can be used flexibly by couples. The beautiful Georgian architecture and stunning interiors gives couples a variety of stylish spaces to choose from. We used the exposed brick Vaults to create a romantic and candle-lit ceremony set up. Followed by an effortlessly stylish and intimate dinner in the bright, modern and chic Benjamin Franklin Room. We used the same colour palette and florals throughout both spaces, showing the adaptability of the design.

Following a long period of turmoil, the wedding industry and many of its couples have had to change wedding plans multiple times. This meant changing dates, which may have meant marrying in a different season, choosing different seasonal flowers, different colour palettes even. So, my concept was to create an effortlessly stylish wedding that would transition beautifully no matter what the season.

The colour palette was going to be key for illustrating my concept. I wanted a palette that could be used in different spaces with different seasonal florals to bring it to life. I wanted to include a traditional and romantic bridal palette of blush and ivory, but with accents of caramel and berry.

Suzanne Neville’s dresses just ooze glamour, style and there is such variety in her designs that I just had to work with her dresses for this shoot. You can find a dress to suit many different shapes, sizes and styles and we luckily had four stunning dresses to work with, provided by stockist The Bespoke Wardrobe.

Sarah’s first look used the grand Operetta dress. When I first saw this dress I fell in love with it, it was perfect! I knew its full skirt and delicate detail would stand up against the strong artistic and architectural features of the venue. I wanted Sarah’s partner Rachael to wear a contrasting style, but equally one that would be effortlessly glamourous, one that would complement the varied backdrops and would transition classically throughout different seasons. We achieved this with Neville’s Sentiment dress, a silky, luxurious design.

The second look for the couple gave us another opportunity to showcase the variety in Suzanne Neville’s collection and the flexibility of such designs. Sarah wore the stunning Giovanna dress with simple fitted bodice and stunning pleated skirt detailing. Rachel wore the very elegant Kassia, a full lace dress with a deep v-neckline and incredible fishtail skirt.

Shoes and rings were provided by Emmy London we used the Swarovski embellished Gabriella, the Olivia ivory pointed court shoe, the beautiful Florence with satin bow and the simple Darcey ivory suede sling backs.

Stationery was provided by Millie Stone, the invitation suite was simple and elegant and with light caramel envelopes to tie in with the colour palette. Millie also gave us feather resin discs that she engraved, providing us with a stylish and keepsake alternative to place cards. The table was laid with the ‘Sicily’ crockery and the ‘Urbane’ napkins which both added texture to the tablescape. I chose the very simple and elegant ‘Marquis’ glasses and the copper cutlery provided a stylish alternative complementing the colour palette.

Florals were going to be a key part in capturing the concept of a stylish wedding that could transition no matter what the season. The florals would highlight the beauty of the colour palette and I wanted a simple, elegant design (again that would be easily transitional). Since 2020 the team at Mary Jane Vaughan have created The Edit, a curated range of fabulous ready-to-go signature designs for busy and stylish brides to choose from. So, when I needed a simple, elegant design they were the natural choice.

Mary Jane and her team brought the colour palette to life using roses (named quicksand, majolica and cappuccino) as well as burgundy scabiosa black knight, and other flowers including ranunculus, asrantia and fritillaria. The floral choices and loose, airy arrangements perfectly encapsulated the concept.

If couples would like to create the same look for their big day, then the key is to layer simple elements such as a luxurious napkin, textured crockery and an elegantly simple stationery suite. You can bring in the subtler tones of the colour palette with your linen and stationery and then use the florals and long tapered candles to highlight the full range of complementary colours.
The simplistic beauty of this styling ensures that it works in different spaces and different seasons but also creates a pretty, elegant tablescape for guests to enjoy.