\n<\/p>\n
It\u2019s almost inconceivable to think now that Oda Jaune<\/a> and Robin Scott-Lawson<\/a> might have gotten married in Hydra or Scotland, two destinations that were originally posited. As the couple notes, their London wedding<\/a>\u2014staged at the Painting Rooms<\/a>, the home of Scott-Lawson\u2019s creative event production company, My Beautiful City<\/a>, and 180 the Strand\u2014was so resolutely them<\/em>. \u201cOur love story is here,\u201d says Robin, who first met artist Oda at one of her show openings.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t really notice him at that point,\u201d jokes Oda, before continuing: \u201cI remember the first time I really<\/em> saw him\u2014I can\u2019t even think of the place, I just thought, I can\u2019t look further into his eyes, I\u2019ll wait for him to approach me.\u201d Robin finally made a move during the pandemic. Oda had relocated from Paris to London to be close to her daughter, who was studying fashion at Central Saint Martins. All of a sudden, she was locked down with the phone number of just one person: Robin. The near stranger offered her his studio to paint in.<\/p>\n \u201cI dreamed away the hours, weeks, months,\u201d says Oda of creating her largest work to date: a 32-foot-long work entitled Tree, 2021<\/em>, that Robin, who had retreated to the countryside, saw develop bit by bit when visiting the city for hospital appointments with his mother. \u201cIt was really love in the time of Covid,\u201d remembers Robin. \u201cIt was very beautiful, very quiet, there were no distractions.\u201d Both believe that had the world not stopped, they might not have connected in the same way.<\/p>\n The proposal took place while the couple was in Venice for the Biennale. While party-hopping in torrential rain, soaked to the bone, they snuck into a pop-up club and lost themselves on the dance floor. \u201cWill you marry me?\u201d shouted Robin over the music, sans<\/em> ring and sopping wet, but overjoyed to see \u201cYes!\u201d mouthed back in response. Robin delivered an engagement ring later, while on a trip to the Indian jungle.<\/p>\n Back in London, the pair kept all notions of a celebration under wraps as they set out to create a wedding that reflected their imagination and creativity, giving themselves the freedom to dream big. In the end, they invited their inner circle to a pajama party. \u201cWe thought about that feeling children get the night before something big is going to happen\u2014like a birthday or Christmas\u2014when they don\u2019t want to go to bed,\u201d says Oda. \u201cThey\u2019re so exhausted that they mix reality and dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n Stage one: transforming the Painting Rooms into three different spaces. The first: a cocktail reception that looked like a dissection of a bedroom, where guests\u2014dressed in \u201cthe most glamorous going-to-bed attire\u201d\u2014could congregate around sleeping-related ephemera. The second: a 50-foot-long table built to look like a bed, with Oda and Robin at the head, wearing a vintage pink slip and Harvie & Hudson pajamas, respectively, and with a \u201cdreamy\u201d\u00a0banquet laid out before them. \u201cEveryone was in hysterics,\u201d they remember of the big reveal\u2014but not for long, because the third space, backed by the opera-singing Ellie Edmonds, accompanied by Milo McKinnon, opened to reveal \u201cthe ultimate pillow fight room.\u201d \u201cYou couldn\u2019t see, it was so white,\u201d says Oda, with Robin adding: \u201cWe\u2019re going to be finding feathers for the next 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n