Ellie & Tom

06.09.2026

Overview

Ellie and Tom's wedding was one of the last events The Columbia hosted before closing for renovation — and we sent the old girl off properly: 191 guests, three floors of the building, and a design brief I fell in love with on the first call. Colourful. Mismatched. Nothing white, nothing safe.

The ceremony was celebrant-led under a birch chuppah — and here's my favourite detail of the whole year: Tom is a Savile Row tailor, and he supplied his own fabric for the chuppah top. A string ensemble played guests in, and the couple married in front of everyone before the building opened up around them.

Dinner was a sharing feast across tables named after the places they love — Cappadocia, Benicàssim, Torcello — with speeches run on nothing more formal than Ellie's dad tapping a glass. Then everyone moved downstairs: a five-foot cake, a first dance straight after, and two and a half hours of dancing on a stage we'd built with a powder-blue carpet and a mirrored front.

services:

Full Event Planning & Coordination

Event Vibe

Colourful Playful Design-led Family-filled

(check out the details & the full list of key partners ↓)

the details

A Chuppah With a Story

The ceremony was held under a single birch chuppah, its canopy sewn from fabric Tom — a Savile Row tailor — chose and supplied himself. A string ensemble carried the processional, the blessings and the exit.

One Building, Three Acts

The Columbia gave us a ceremony space, reception rooms and a party floor — and the day moved through all of them. With the hotel closing for renovation at the end of the year, this was one of its very last celebrations.

Tables Named After Places They Love

Dinner was a sharing feast — 191 seated across tables named for the couple's favourite places. The styling was deliberately colourful and mismatched: no white tablecloths, no white flowers, every table its own moment.

A Five-Foot Cake and an Ice-Cream Bar

The cake stood five feet tall and was cut downstairs as the party opened. Later, instead of late-night food: an ice-cream bar served from a carved-ice display in coupes — mint choc chip, salted caramel, two sorbets.

The Party

First dance straight after the cake, then two and a half hours of dancing — live band into DJ — on a stage with a powder-blue carpet and mirrored front, with a family tequila toast an hour before carriages.

key partners

Planner: Events by James
Venue: The Columbia, Lancaster Gate
Catering: Archie's / Caiger & Co
Florals: Calluna Flowers
Music: Muzika
Production: Red Event Production
Chuppah: The Chuppah Company
Draping: Mae Dae
Bar: The Rum Runner

Photography: Craig Williams Photography
Tabletop: Maison Margaux / Social Kitchen
Chairs: Black Saucers
Furniture: Options Greathire
Cake & Ice Cream: Evie Jacobs
Stationery: Written by Emily
Kids' Entertainment: Sharky & George
BTS Content: By Kelsie

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