Four scrapbooks later, COVID-19 made Rachel’s “West-African cultural soiree” seemed like a far gone fantasy…

With London’s new COVID-19 restrictions in full circle, 12 months of meticulous planning had completely turned its head and in September 2020 Rachel (‘a COVID-19 bride-to-be’) found herself re-drawing plans of a 300 soiree in a North London hall, to a small scale gathering at the back garden of her uncle’s house in Essex.

Kobbie popped the question in August 2019 and the couple set about organizing, what was meant to be quite a large Ghanaian traditional affair, into what was now essentially a small back garden dinner party. Drummers, cultural dancers, authentic food and the notoriously famous hibiscus drink stands. Since the age of 11, Rachel loved hosting events for friends and family, creating invitation cards and always had a desire to curate unique experiences. She wanted her traditional wedding to feel like an extension of that, but a lot more authentic and fun.

Read more to find out how the day unfolded…

With the news that large functions could no longer be held, due to new restrictions, Rachel got in touch with Luminare Events and relayed her garden party vision. Rachel’s Pinterest boards were simply endless runs of ivy green chateaus in the South of France, screenshots of every Australian / Bali wedding and articles of every Australian wedding blogger there ever was!

Rachel calls the wedding planning process both "stressful" and "interesting". By August 2020, it was no longer a dream. It became something she just wanted to get out of the way. "My phone was filled with random Instagram links and Etsy page bookmarks and due to close family members passing, the anticipated joy had been dampened. Thankfully, my mum, who is truly my best friend, worked like an energizer bunny prior to the pandemic and had a lot of things sorted beforehand, so it was just a case of fixing what had been changed by COVID-19”.

Rachel decided to re-create her outdoor dream wedding by searching for a clear-span marquee with Dynamic Marquees. Marquee Hire London| For All Occasions | Dynamic Marquees. This was not as easy it as it seemed and even four days prior to the day, the clear-span marquee that Rachel had hired, had unfortunately been damaged with a carving knife by the previous decorator. “I remember the two weeks before the day, every break time I had, I was frantically speaking to every marquee company in the UK and no one could help but Ash! All I wanted was a clear span marquee and a pergola and you wouldn’t believe how these two things were so hard to find in the UK!”

Will Greenhalgh (Managing Director, Luminaire Events) brought Rachel’s Australian secret garden vision to life.

The ceremony took place in Rachel’s uncle’s back garden, underneath the pergola. Rachel really wanted the decor to feel contemporary but green, so her planning team had planned to line the long tables with mid to high level perspex candles, white linen tablecloth and a generous arrangement of flowers; white, green and pink were its colour theme.

The tables were actually meant to be much more luxurious and fuller of greens and whites, as Rachel loved flowers. “The candles were meant to be the perspex glow versions, not the dinner type, but unfortunately COVID-19 struck again and lot of what I had planned for my secret garden did not come to plan”. Each table included clear perspex chairs on either side to echo the festoon lights hanging from the pergola / clear tent and acrylic stationary to make the tent feel romantic.

Georgie Cheenery from Luminare helped fill the pergola with foliage. Foliage was the bride’s thing! Luminare added beautiful olive ruscas and Italian ruscus, packed tightly so people could take pictures in front of it. As a gesture, Luminare also added delicious rose scents to make the day smell as memorable as it looked. Draping was also added to the front three poles on the marquee for continuity.

A mood board like no other. Rachel Whitney had prepared a plan for a more luxurious Bohemian look to the day. “We took advantage of the fact that the setting in the clear span marquee would already provide a gorgeous atmosphere, but that was all at the mercy of British weather”. Letting the natural beauty of the day and energy from various lighting was to speak for itself. The couple kept ceremony décor simple in the end.

Some images from Rachel’s original mood board can be found below. All images were presented to the decorator.

It’s the little things that count…

“You couldn’t make it up! Unfortunately, my dream dress, which was being made from Ghana, never reached the UK in time, even though I had ordered it back in November 2019!”

My hair, make up, or dress had been a reflection of what I planned due to COVID. My hair was due to be in an up-do style, with varied gold adornments, and my make-up, which was due to be a full face glam, went out the window due to various mishaps. I wanted to look like a gold West African queen and I had a mood board full of my desired looks across so many years. I could not believe all three major things that were meant to make me feel special hadn’t gone to plan due to the continuous woes of COVID-19.

The worst feeling as I bride is when you don’t feel yourself! But I soon realized that I had to embrace the day for much more than aesthetics. I soon realized that for 2020, it was so much more about life. And simply the opportunity to celebrate life, was much more important than a face full of gloss!”

“Ultimately, getting hitched and allowing our friends and family to have fun was the most important aspect for us! Some of our family had not been out since March, and we wanted joy to be the backstory, everything else could wait, as 2020 has simply been one to remember. Lol!”

— Rachel + Kobbie Kessie

One is a marketer and the other a designer, both worlds intertwined through construction. The couple invested their personal skills in creating their own stationary, from the logo, invitations, to the event menus. This was something that meant a lot to the couple.