Morning Peeps,

I have been so excited about sharing today’s post with you! I have no doubt in my mind that after reading Stephané and Jo’s story and plans for their wedding and then watching their awesome save the date video, you would have fallen in love with them as much as I have!

Putting together a video as your save the date isn’t a new concept however, this is the first time we have featured one on Festival Brides – we’ve just been waiting for the right video to come along and I’m so glad we did because Stephané and Jo have nailed it. It’s fun, simple, speaks volumes about them as a couple and leaves me smiling like a Cheshire cat every time I watch it!

Here is their story and why they chose to send a video as their Save The Date.

7 years ago, Jo and I met working in hospitality at a concert in London. We became friends instantly and remained best friends, becoming a couple 4 years in.

We are now engaged and tying the knot on the 14th July 2014 in Central London.

Throughout our relationship, Jo lived in East London and I in Oxted, Surrey. So much of our dating happened in Central London, it’s our second home. Long walks in Belgravia, our regular booth in China Town and a smoothie at Joe & The Juice to top it all off. London has always been at the heart of our relationship.

Food is also a big part in both of our cultures, so we plan on catering with a twist for our wedding. We’re both a huge fan of street food so this will be served instead of the traditional three-course sit down meal. Spinach & Agusi (Jollof Pot) from Exmouth market and You Doughnut’s ‘Kerb’ will be used at our wedding reception with a blend of African, Indian and British foods on the menu.

Joseph is from a musical background and I work in the media. Both being creatives meant that our Save The Date was gonna be a real fun experience for us and hopefully for our guests watching. We loved Pharrell Williams ‘Happy’ song and it just described perfectly how we feel about this next chapter of our lives, so we put together a SAVE THE DATE video to the song!

It was filmed by William Kee in Victoria Park, Bethnal Green and produced and directed by Steph.

Get ready to smile lovely people…..

Told you it would leave you grinning! Such an excellent song choice as well – you just can’t resist bopping along to that tune!

Because we’re nosy and like to get to know our lovely readers, we couldn’t resist a little Q&A with Steph and Jo.

How did you guys meet?

It was a cold October Friday in 2007 and we arrived at the hotel, where two famous gospel music artists were staying. We were both working as part of the hospitality team for that particular concert. That weekend was the beginning of a friendship that has lasted 7 years! We laughed and joked and found we had a lot in common.

Tell us about your first date!?

Whether or not you would call it a date is debatable, but what we have dubbed our first date was a trip out to London, where steph met me at the Apple store on Regents street as I bought my first Macbook using Steph’s University student card. From there we headed to Hamleys, where I picked up a Kite for Stephane, she loves Julie Andrews and Marry Poppins had always inspired her to ‘Fly A Kite’ so I bought her her first one and then it was off to KFC! for some fried chicken on Oxford Street! How romantic!

Who proposed and how?

Joseph proposed! I created a short film, reliving some of our most treasured moments. In the video, I am walking to all the special places to us within our dating relationship. I put this video on an iPad, booked a private booth at The Corrigans in Mayfair, asked the waiter to bring in the iPad with the video playing, when I gave the cue. He did, I got down on one knee and asked Steph to marry me! She said yes! I had created another video with her cousins and family wishing her congratulations. Steph loves her family, so immediately burst into tears. And as our private booth also happened to be a library, I had created a special book, with pictures and diary excerpts!

What do you both consider is an important element of your big day?

One of our big loves is food! And this plays a pivotal part on the day, with food and drinks EVERYWHERE you look!

What is the inspiration behind your save the date video?

Fun and happiness! The song made us so happy and we had great props to help tell the story! Steph is a creative and works in Film & TV so got all the props in and on the day we really just went with the flow! It wasn’t scripted or thought through, we just played around with the location and props. William Kee who filmed and edited it was great also – he encouraged us to be silly, play around and captured the best parts on film. Victoria Park where its set has been our summer hot spot many a time, where we both ride on Boris Bikes along the canal, so was really enjoyable!

Big Shout out to Steph and Jo for sharing your fantastic save the date wedding with us. You’ve definitely brightened up my day.

If you have a cool/quirky/fun/creative wedding story to share with us like making your own wedding invites or, like Steph and Jo, a save the date wedding video then please get in touch. We would love to hear from you.

Happy Tuesday Peeps,

Big Love

Festival Brides xx