Frequently asked questions
If you have any questions, please see if they're answered below and get in touch if not!
- Why are you doing this?
- Hang on, how many RSVPs do you need?
- And when do you need us to RSVP by?
- What should I wear to any of the events?
- Is there a gift list?
- What's all this zoo ticket-booking stuff about?
- When I go to book/accept on Billetto, it doesn't show any tickets available. How do I RSVP/book?
- Where should we stay in London?
- Do you have any advice for travelling around London?
- I've said I could come on the Billetto site but now can't make it. Can I cancel?
- How can I keep up with the latest news, any changes of plans etc?
Why are you doing this?
We married young – by current averages, very young. Edith was only 22! We invited all our friends to share the day, we put huge amounts of preparation and attention to detail into how it unfolded and we're touched ten years on by how often people still tell us it was one of the best weddings they've ever been to.
But some friends couldn't make it. And because we were young, we hadn't even met lots of friends we've since been lucky enough to make; and you'll all know how anachronistic the idea that London Zoo might be our favourite place in the city has been for a majority of our married life! Life moves on, friendships and ties accumulate – and we often find ourselves wishing the people and places important to us now had been involved back then too. Indeed, we'd sometimes considered throwing some sort of party, ideally at Southbank Centre, to mark our tenth anniversary – as good an excuse as we could find to get everyone together!
Then last year Southbank Centre held its first Big Wedding Weekend, we raised our eyebrows, awaited news of a repeat… and the rest is history – or rather it's the near future! We'd love as many of our friends as possible to join us for as much of this special weekend as they can, and we promise to do all we can to make it enjoyable for everyone.
And of course if you were at the original zoolyweds, and the above explanation leaves you feeling sidelined: don't worry! You were a crucial part of the original zoolyweds and as such will be a guest of honour at zoolyweds 10!
Hang on, how many RSVPs do you need?
One for each event you want to come to, except the Saturday evening dinner/drinks.
Since there were two events we need guest numbers for in order to book them, we set up two different events on Billetto for you to use to RSVP.
The RSVP period has now ended but you could still buy your own zoo ticket for the Saturday or get in touch with us ASAP if you want to come to the ceremony and we may well still be able to arrange this.
And when do you need us to RSVP by?
The deadlines for booking onto the Saturday zoo trip and/or Sunday ceremony day on Billetto were both 10am on 19 July so this has now passed. You could still buy your own zoo ticket for the Saturday though, or get in touch with us ASAP if you want to come to the ceremony and we may well still be able to arrange this.
The Saturday evening dinner/drinks has no deadline as there's nothing to book - you can just turn up on the day if you want! But it's always nice to have an idea who we might see so you're very welcome to let us know by e-mail or on Facebook.
What should I wear to any of the events?
Whatever you like! The zoo trip will involve a lot of walking so bear that in mind.
The Saturday evening will involve being outside for at least a little of the time so layers might be a plan.
The ceremony and party at Southbank Centre has no dress code so wear whatever you're comfortable in – and comfortable appearing in a photo or two in of course!
…Or if you'd just like a bit of clothing guidance, well, colourful's always good! We'll be going with the colours from the zoolyweds logo, of course, so feel free to coordinate. Or clash.
Is there a gift list?
No! It's not a wedding, it's just a party, and we'll be delighted if you show up – you certainly don't need to bring gifts. Presence, not presents.
What's all this zoo ticket-booking stuff about?
We set up a Billetto booking page to enable everyone to book on a 25% discounted group rate booking, which we then made on 19 July. We'll get the money from Billetto after the day itself!
It may be you'd prefer to book your own zoo ticket directly or think you can get a better price through some other deal or something. You're very welcome to arrange your own ticket for 29 August and just see us there.
When I go to book/accept on Billetto, it doesn't show any tickets available. How do I RSVP/book?
This web site and the Billetto pages are publicly accessible, but we have chosen who to invite, so you'll need to enter a secret code to be able to book.
When you were invited by e-mail and/or Facebook, we gave you a code word and this would originally have given you access to book. However, the RSVP deadline has now passed so the code will no longer work and you simply can't book on there any more!
You could still buy your own zoo ticket for the Saturday though, or get in touch with us ASAP if you want to come to the ceremony and we may well still be able to arrange this.
Where should we stay in London?
There are so many choices we can't really do this justice!
There are plenty of hotels, including a brand new Premier Inn very near our flat which may or may not be open in time, and a Travelodge not much further away.
Otherwise, well, there's Airbnb and there's TripAdvisor... and countless other web sites! Southbank Centre is near Waterloo, the zoo is near Camden Town and Model Market and our flat are in Lewisham so staying near any of those could be a good plan.
If you think you've found a good hotel but want to check convenience of its location with us, get in touch and we'll be happy to advise!
Do you have any advice for travelling around London?
Always! If you want any specific advice, get in touch and we will be delighted to provide it. In the meantime, here are some general tips.
Don't buy paper travelcards. These are now abysmal value in an effort to stop anyone buying them and push everyone over to Oyster or contactless payment, and it's not just propaganda, it really is an absolute rip-off to buy paper tickets for most London transport now.
Get an Oyster card. Assuming you're looking at this at least a few days before you come to London, order a Pay As You Go Oyster card online now (one per person). Otherwise you can buy them in thousands of Oyster outlets around London. This is a prepaid card which you then touch onto readers at stations at the start and end of each rail/tube/DLR journey (or just once at the start of a bus ride). You shouldn't need more than £10-15 of balance on the card for lots of travel across a couple of days in Zones 1 and 2 (where all our celebrations are taking place).
Or use your Contactless Payment card. If you already have a credit or debit card with the Contactless symbol on it 
you can touch this in the same way as Oyster and all your payments for your day's travel will be taken straight off your card each night. This system is quite new and not always 100% reliable but it's certainly more convenient than getting an Oyster if you don't have one.
Use Citymapper. If you have an Android smartphone/tablet or iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, download the app Citymapper and use this to find your way around by public transport. It will tell you how to get anywhere in London using intelligent search that can find places just from their names (e.g. "ZSL London Zoo", "#ModelMarket", "Southbank Centre"), and give you loads of options for routes to choose between, including fares. There are dozens of apps and sites for this purpose but none a better all-round performer than Citymapper so just grab this and you won't go far wrong – especially not if you allow a bit more time for journeys than its often optimistic estimates suggest.
Take the bus. If your journey would be fewer than about four tube stops, or you're just not in much of a rush, pick a bus option from Citymapper, or have a look at the beautiful bus 'spider diagram' maps on most bus stops – these look a bit like tube maps but show you all the places you can get from the area you're in by bus. The buses announce all their stops so if Citymapper has told you which stop to get off at, you'll know when to press a Stop button and get off. And you'll actually see the city going by, and probably get a seat!
I've said I could come on the Billetto site but now can't make it. Can I cancel?
You'd think you'd be able to, wouldn't you? Check it out yourself but we can't see a way to do this on Billetto unfortunately, even for free events, so if you also can't see a way you'll just need to contact us and ask us to manually remove you from the attendee list. Sorry about that!
If it's a zoo booking you're cancelling, so you've already paid, unfortunately we've already spent your money on your zoo ticket so we won't be able to offer a refund unless someone else who hasn't booked yet wants to buy your ticket.
With the ceremony, please still tell us ASAP as we may still be able to change our booking. Thanks!
How can I keep up with the latest news, any changes of plans etc?
Thanks for asking, 100% totally real person who asked this question!
We'll be posting any updates as things develop onto our Facebook event page (invited guests only) and you can also follow zoolyweds on Twitter.
Photo from zoolyweds © ShootingHip.com