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Southwark Cathedral
The Royal Academy of Arts
Southwark Cathedral is a place we both find extraordinarily beautiful. Christian worship has taken place on this site for centuries and today the Cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Southwark, the Diocese in which we have made our home together.
It has a particular meaning for us because so much of our life together has unfolded in this part of London. Peter attends St Peter’s, Walworth, one of the Diocese’s parish churches, while Bermondsey Street, where we had our first date on the 16th October - sixteen years ago, has been at the centre of much of our working and social life together. José also co-founded Brindisa at Borough Market, just around the corner from the Cathedral, many moons ago.
Christian faith is important to us, so being able to gather here with our family and friends for Choral Evensong and the Blessing of our Marriage is a real honour and joy.
Choral Evensong is one of the great traditions of Anglican worship. Much of the prayer is carried through music, with psalms, readings, choral settings, silence and the sound of the organ filling the Cathedral. There is something very special about being able to simply sit, to be, to listen and allow the music and words to carry the service.
During Evensong, prayers for us will be woven into the liturgy and the Dean of the Cathedral will bless both our marriage and our wedding rings. We find this incredibly moving and are immensely grateful that this can form part of the service. We are deeply grateful to the Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley, Dean of Southwark, and to everyone at the Cathedral for the warmth and generosity with which they have welcomed us.
We are also delighted that The Fourth Choir, London’s LGBTQ+ chamber choir for advanced singers, will sing the full Choral Evensong for us, including the responses, psalm, canticles and anthem. The choir combines musical excellence with a commitment to diversity and to bringing underrepresented voices into classical music. Their involvement feels very special to us, and we are immensely grateful to them for being part of the blessing of our marriage.
Whatever your own faith or beliefs, we very much hope that as many of you as possible will join us for this part of the day. The Cathedral and the blessing are at the heart of our wedding, and we hope the music, words and beauty of Evensong will make it a memorable and moving experience for everyone.
Following the blessing, we will travel together across London to the Royal Academy of Arts for the reception, dinner and dancing.
Founded in 1768, the Royal Academy has been at the heart of British artistic and cultural life for more than 250 years, and we are absolutely delighted to be able to celebrate our marriage in such an extraordinary setting.
The RA also has some lovely personal connections for us. As you know, José’s restaurants have been part of the Royal Academy for several years, and Peter has had photographic works selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in both 2024 and 2025.
Our celebration will take place in the Burlington Gardens part of the Royal Academy, a part of the building José knows particularly well through his restaurants’ former home there.
After the formality and beauty of the Cathedral, the evening will be altogether more relaxed and celebratory, with drinks, music and entertainment before dinner, followed by a wonderful feast prepared by José’s excellent team. Food and hospitality are such an important part of our life together that it feels only right that they should also be at the heart of the evening.
After dinner, the doors will open into the lounge and party galleries for dancing, music and a rather less restrained end to the day. And do make sure you find the Vintage Photo Pod for a few suitably memorable photographs.
We feel enormously privileged to celebrate here with our family and friends, and hope the Royal Academy will provide a spectacular setting in which to eat, drink, dance and celebrate together late into the night.