AWARD-WINNING FASHION designer Helen Cody from Dublin and businessman Matthew Anglin from London were married in London on May 29th in Our Lady of the Assumption St Gregory Catholic church in Soho, by Fr Pat Davis. Helen is the youngest daughter of Des and Mary Cody of Foxrock and Matthew is one of three sons of the late Eric Anglin, who was British ambassador to Spain, Chile and Bolivia, and his wife Pat, who is from California. A total of 65 guests attended the wedding, coming from Ireland, France, Dubai and San Francisco. The reception was held in the elegant surroundings of the RAC Club in Pall Mall.
Helen was educated in Mount Anville and later at the National College of Art Design, where she studied fashion and textiles. She worked with French Voguein Paris and with designer Azzedine Alaia, and as a stylist on magazines and music videos, before setting up on her own in Dublin in 2000 and becoming known for her lovely antique laces and elaborate handworked embroideries. Matthew, who was born in Madrid and educated in Tonbridge, studied geology at University College London. He now runs a fish wholesale business in London. His best friend Oliver Allen was best man.
The couple met on a flight from Dublin to London a year ago when he helped her with her suit carriers. Six weeks later he travelled to Dublin to take her to dinner. “It was all very fast,” says Helen, “but I wouldn’t have liked a long-drawn-out engagement.” Matthew proposed to her in Kent just as she was leaving to go back to Dublin, and her French sapphire and diamond Art Deco engagement ring was bought in an antique shop in Dublin.
Known for her bespoke couture wedding dresses, Helen’s own bridal ensemble in vintage French lace and silk ottoman embellished with tiny crystals and pearls took a month to make. It was inspired by an early Belleek bowl given to her mother by her grandmother.
“Each flower took three or four hours to make and was then embroidered with crystals and pearls that I found in antique shops over the years,”she says.
The veil was made from handstitched silk tulle.
“Three days before I left for London for the wedding, I took the whole dress apart and remade it,” she says. Aer Lingus gave her three seats to lay out the gown.
The bride also made the navy lace dress and silk ottoman coat for her mother, and the dresses for her bridesmaids, her niece Izzy Conway, and sisters Marion Conway and Catherine Porry. The bride and her sisters were also responsible for the floral arrangements in the church and the all-white bouquets of peonies, roses and hydrangeas. Each guest received little lace pouches of fresh rose petals as confetti, and embroidered lace hankies. “It was the most stunning day. It was like something out of a movie,” recalls Marion.
The couple did not go on a honeymoon because, according to Helen: “We have been on so many honeymoon-type holidays, in Thailand, San Francisco, and we’re just back from Italy.” They live in Canterbury, and “my whole life has turned topsy turvy,” says Helen. “I am cooking, I am walking in the country, and I am being a lovely wife. I have a yearning now to sculpt and paint.”