Lewis + Yen by Paul Santos - Together Journal

We wanted a cinematic, classic yet modern and minimalistic style for our wedding.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

We’re the Sangsters! I’m Chinese / Vietnamese, and Lewis is from Grenada and Jamaica. We’re both very weirdly born on celebrated days (Halloween and Christmas Day), which was the 1st thing we bonded over. Born and bred in London, so definitely city people. We love anything that has to do with food, wine, cocktails, music, and somewhere else where we can have a little dance! We both currently work 9-5 jobs and have been over the last 7 years. Our ultimate goal is to someday work for ourselves in something that has to do with things we love – music, food, events. Our go-to date night is either heading to the theatre followed by a nice meal or ordering a takeaway with a good movie to watch at home!

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

It was a good 10 years ago when we first met. We were out on the 1st night of freshers at Loughborough University. It was at the Union bar towards the end of the night, and we didn’t realise that we lived not only in the same halls but also in the same block! We ended up staying up all night just talking about anything and everything. My first thought was that he was a really good-looking guy, but I’ve also not met anyone who’s so different from me, yet we get along and can talk for hours. I’m also not one to stay up all night either, so I must have really liked talking to him! 

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

If anyone knows me well, they’ll know that my partner would need to get along with my friends and family, especially my twin sister. My sister has never liked anyone that I’ve dated in the past, so it was surprising that he didn’t end up on her disapproved list! Then it came to meeting the rest of my friends and family and it was only good things I was hearing! It was a couple of years into our relationship when we started spending a lot more time with each other’s close ones, and it just felt natural. We had the privilege of spending a lot of time with each other very early on in our relationship, given we met and lived together during University, so working through any challenge (as we know, most relationships come with bumps!) together didn’t seem too difficult. We just get each other!

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

Magical, a moment that will never be forgotten. It was our 8th year anniversary; we were at a cousin’s birthday celebration the night before, and Lewis had planned a nice breakfast the morning after to celebrate 8 years. After a night of celebrating, I almost decided to cancel plans and order in instead, but Lewis persisted we should head out, especially as it was a nice summer’s day (rare in London!). We headed to The Hide in Green Park; Lewis had booked a private booth and ordered the most magnificent breakfast spread. We had agreed not to exchange gifts this year but Lewis handed a box over to me, it was an engraved necklace with what he said, was my initials. It wasn’t the initials I knew, and I was a little confused. He had put my favourite song (Tamia) in the background, and it was when he got down on one knee with a smaller box that I realised what was happening. Of course, I said YES. We left the restaurant, and our closest were there to surprise us! We made our way to a bar we had gone to for an event a couple of years ago, and a 3rd surprise had my family and friends there. It was such a magical day filled with celebrations with the people we love.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.

We wanted a cinematic, classic yet modern and minimalistic style for our wedding and as we’re both from London, very London-esque. We wanted a venue that could speak for itself, one where we really didn’t have to do much to emphasise our minimalistic approach. We decided on a black-on-black theme for our wedding party: Lewis’ groomsmen in classic black tuxes and my bridesmaids in elegant black dresses of different styles. As it was a summer wedding, we had our guests wear whatever colour they wanted to give the whole day a pop of colour! The one thing we wanted most out of our wedding was good VIBES. Lewis curated a playlist for our reception which embodied the best songs from the late ’80s to the 2000s of the genres we love to listen to – RnB, Hip Hop, Neo-Soul, Funk, and House, all of which, of course, set up our evening to be full of fun and dance.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

Three things! Our outfits, the venue and our photographer. Anything that would make looking back on our special day exactly how we lived it. 1. Of course, we had a budget for our outfits, but we thought it was the one day when you should be looking your best, so why not choose the outfit that you feel most beautiful, handsome and comfortable in? 2. This was a tricky one for both of us as the venue was going to be the most expensive part of our wedding. It had to be somewhere that was London-esque, had a delicious menu and was able to bring our party and vibes to life. 3. We had a vision for the type of photography we wanted. Neither of us likes posing for pictures, so we wanted someone who could capture our day’s best moments so that we’ll always look back as if we’re still in the moment. We’d like to dedicate a few words to our photographer, Paul Santos, who did this perfectly!

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

We come from different cultures, so I think I felt nervous about bringing both sides of the family formally together. Our immediate families met and got along, of course, but I suddenly felt myself thinking about it more so now that it was both our whole families meeting and coming together. Lewis wasn’t nervous at all, and nothing particularly happened, so it was just me overthinking it as I normally do! It turned out to be a beautiful day and it was so nice to see our families as one.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

We always seemed to match outfits, so it was only fitting that we did so on our big day! We both wore white on the day, which looked amazing, with our wedding party dressed elegantly in black. In all honestly, the style of my wedding dress was not one I had envisioned for the big day. I had always thought that I’d go for a classic ivory look, one with no embellishment. When I went to try on a few wedding dresses at Evelie with my friends and family, none of the classic ivory ones sat 100% well with me. It was only when I tried on my wedding dress that I knew this was the one! It was a pleasant surprise for Lewis, too! Lewis had always known he wanted an ivory suit, so that made his search slightly easier. He can be quite particular with his fits, so I thought it would take a lot longer for him to nail this down, but he ventured out to central London one day and made a decision at Edit Suits Co! This was probably the easiest decision to make for both of us during our year-long planning!