When florist Christie Leigh Corbally met Soho House’s global head of music, Dom Chung, she knew he was The One because of his drink of choice. “I remember he had a glass of chilled red wine, and I thought, ‘he just gets it,’” she laughs. “Dom had slid into my DMs during Covid and we went on our first date in May 2021 as restrictions were lifting.
He planned an amazing date with cocktails at Sage and Wild and dinner at Brat. We lived at different ends of London Fields, so it was quite funny we’d not met before, as we went to the same coffee shops and did the same walks.” They had been together for just over two years when Dom proposed during a holiday to Marseille.
“We spent a few nights in Arles in Provence while the town was hosting its annual photo exhibitions,” she remembers. “Dom booked us a stay at L’Hotel Particular, took me for dinner and when we came back to the hotel there was a bottle of Champagne in the room, and he asked the question.” Serendipitously, the date of their engagement, 31 August, became the date of their wedding too, though neither of them realised it until much later.
“We’re doers,” explains Christie. “We didn’t want to wait around for years. Everything in London was booked up for years, so we started to look at Hampshire, where Dom grew up.
We decided to ask the local church, as we’d walked past it hundreds of times and Dom used to play football nearby, and settled on the first date that they could do.” The couple did most of the planning themselves, but did call upon local planner, Amanda James of Sage and Season, to help with on the ground logistics. Christie isn’t the sort of woman who grew up dreaming about her future wedding, so when it came to dress shopping, nothing felt right.
“I just knew I didn’t want to look too ‘bridal,’” she explains. “I heard that Cecilie Bahnsen, one of my favourite designers, was doing a London pop-up so I went to try on a few dresses. I tried on four dresses and settled on one with spaghetti straps and bow detail on the skirt.
I went to Copenhagen for the final fitting and met Cecilie, which was really special too.” She accessorised simply with Gucci heels and pearl and diamond drop earrings from Completedworks, and wore a veil made by her friend Tessa, the founder of House of Hai. “I could not have had my wedding day without wearing something by Hai,” she laughs.
For her hair, she had her friend teach her how to do a simple half-up, half-down style, “I’d feel really self conscious if I had a glossy shiny new hair do as it’s not me at all,” she says. “So I just bunged it up and hoped for the best!” As for her make-up, she kept it simple too, wearing her favourite Chanel products, plus Rose Novella by Santa Maria Novella as her fragrance – to match her flowers. As a florist, the flowers were obviously a major part of Christie and Dom’s day.
“I really wanted sweetpeas, but they were too far along in the season this year,” she explains. “I found a flower farm 10 minutes up the road from the venue and they had some amazing really soft, really pale, beautifully scented roses. So despite the fact that I never do roses, I decided to do entirely roses!” Not only did Christie do the table decorations, but she also did two large arrangements for the church, which included cone-headed pink hydrangeas.
“For the flower girls (Dom’s nieces), I made baby bouquets with scabiosa, and the groomsmen’s button holes were just a simple rose.” The couple are drying some of the flowers to keep, while the rest they gave to local villagers who helped on the day. The day itself started with arrival cocktails by Cosmic Liquid, before Christie walked down the aisle to a cover of Dionne Warwick’s “I’m Your Puppet” sung by Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor and chosen specially by him.
The reception drinks took place in a marquee outside in the church grounds, while the band Flyte performed an acoustic set. The food and drinks element was particularly important to the couple, who asked their favourite pub, The Marksman , to cater. “We had an amazing platter of beef and barley buns, whipped cod’s roe and crudités, smoked meats and celeriac remoulade, followed by a chicken and girolle pie and Swiss chard and girolle tart, with roast potatoes and a watercress salad,” remembers Christie.
“The desserts – tiramisu and migliaccio – were served with espresso martinis in espresso cups.” Dom’s sister, Alexa , designed a motif for the couple, which they used across all the menus and the table of service, with napkins embroidered by Cressida Jamieson. “It was so cute, it said D+C,” says Christie.
“She drew loads of different ones. She also hand wrote all 130 of the place names!” Local band, The Old Gits, performed a series of their favourite covers outside while the church dancefloor was prepared. “No one wasn’t dancing,” says Christie.
“They played banger after banger. We’d seen them playing at a Jubilee party before we were engaged, so when we were looking at entertainment, it was a no-brainer to book them!” Once inside, Alexis Taylor and Lou Hayter DJed, while a tray of McDonald’s burgers and chips circulated. “It still feels weird when he refers to me as his wife,” laughs Christie.
“It was so beautiful, we were so happy to do a traditional church wedding and say our vows in front of our friends and loved ones.”.
