Annesha and Cassiopeia: A Joyful London Celebration Rooted in Community and Ritual
Annesha and Cassiopeia’s love story began on Hinge in March 2020, with a first date spent painting pottery just one week before the world went into lockdown. What followed were months of imaginative Wednesday date nights over video calls, themed outfits, shared activities, and conversations that stretched until sleep, laying the foundation for a deeply intentional partnership. Married on 29 June 2025, their wedding was a joyful reflection of that same spirit, and a day less about spectacle, and more about community, culture, and celebrating love in its most generous form.
Photographer Joséphine Elvis | Location London, UK
How and when did you meet?
Annesha: We met on Hinge in March 2020. Our first date was spent painting pottery… a week before lockdown.
Tell us about the standout moments in your relationship…
Annesha: During lockdown Wednesdays was date day! We had a themed dress code and different activities planned for each week and would video call from midday until one of us fell asleep. In July 2020 we were finally able to return to the pottery place to collect the items we had painted four months before! We got engaged at home in our flat in June 2023, and then 2 years later we were married!
When did you get married?
Cassi & Annesha: We were married on 29th June 2025.
What was the main influence behind your wedding day?
Cassi & Annesha: In terms of decor, we were really inspired by the Round Chapel itself. The pulpit, arch, and pillars around the organ have carvings of leaves, and this tied into our vision of using plants rather than flowers for most of our decor as we liked the idea of being surrounded by nature that was still alive and growing. Our colour scheme for the wedding was pulled from the venue too - we had decided on green to go with the plants, and then used the invitation of the blue pillars that surround the venue and the chairs included in the venue hire to land on the secondary colour of navy. We decided to wear traditional white dresses and our engagement rings are gold - so this gave us the colour scheme of Green, Navy, White and Gold.
The actual vibe of the day was inspired by our family gatherings. Special occasions for us are usually focussed on bringing as many people together as possible to play games, dance, sing and eat food from around the world - we decided to honour these personal traditions by incorporating board games, code breakers, quizzes and line dancing into our reception, serving korean and chinese food, inviting a steel band to play during our cocktail hour and including group singing during the ceremony and reception. We also wanted to reference our weekly dress codes from our online dates during lockdown so we asked all our guests to “Dress-to-Impress in Navy Blue” - everyone looked amazing and it created a beautiful sense of community!
What was something unique to your wedding?
Annesha: We had three aisles - one in the centre and one on either side of the altar, so we could both walk down the outside aisles at the same time at the start of the ceremony and leave together down the centre after we were married.
Before the ceremony, we asked all our guests to write down a wish or intention for our marriage and place it into a box on the altar. Our bridal parties walked down the aisles first ahead of us and when they reached the altar, they also placed their wishes for us into the box.
We then followed after our bridal parties arm-in-arm with our parents and met each other at the altar.
Looking back, what was your favourite part of the wedding day?
Annesha: I’m from Zimbabwe and at Shona weddings there is a tradition of singing Tauya Naye to welcome the bride. We incorporated this into our reception entrance - I created cards with the lyrics for any of the guests who wouldn’t know the song and our DJ taught it to everyone so they could all sing to welcome us as brides into the reception. On the spur of the moment we decided to dance round the balcony before coming down to the middle of the hall - it was so spontaneously theatrical but also super emotional to make this tradition our own and feel so welcomed and celebrated by everyone.
What was the most difficult thing about planning your wedding?
Cassi: We both got super stressed and almost totally burnt out during the planning process, in hindsight I would have planned the wedding in a shorter time period as we found that in the end most things came together in the final 3 months and truthfully a lot of it in the last 6 weeks - there was really no need to send out save the dates a year and a half in advance!!!
And finally, any advice for other couples planning their day?
Annesha: If you are happy to see each other before the wedding ceremony - definitely schedule the bulk of your group photos before the ceremony - everyone looks pristine as you only just got dressed and then you don’t have to worry about staying pretty for the rest of the day so can just be free to cry, run around, and enjoy spending time with all your friends and family!
Cassi: Everyone is coming together to celebrate your love so don’t worry about what anyone else will think. Ultimately if you like it - they will love it, because they love you! Make decisions based on things that truly resonate with your vibe as a couple - if it feels true to you then it can never be wrong!
Annesha and Cassiopeia’s Team
Photographer Joséphine Elvis
Venue The Round Chapel, Hackney, London
Content Creator Through A Different Lens
Videography (Instagram Reel) Jacob (Cassi’s brother)
Florals / Plants New Covent Garden Flower Market
Rings (Engagement) Sarah O. Jewelry
Rings (Wedding) Akind
Officiant / Registrar Hackney Registration Services
Catering (Cocktail Hour & Desserts) Francis Agyepong
Catering (Dinner) Firecracker (Kennington)
Cake Maker Eat With Hakka Jo
Entertainment (Steel Band & Ceremony Music) Endurance Steel Orchestra
Bridal Boutique WED2B
Dress Designer (Cassi) Sofia Cruz – JULES
Dress Designer (Annesha) Viva Bride – SHANNAY
Fabric Supplier (Scarf) Minerva
Shoes Converse (Custom)
Hair Salon La Bella Hair Salon
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