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Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding couple walk to London bus

Old Marylebone Town Hall Weddings

By Barnet Wedding Photographers, London venues and events, London Wedding Photographer, London Wedding Photographers, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

Old Marylebone Town Hall weddings are probably some of the most iconic that happen in central London. Right next to Baker Street and not far from Madame Tussauds it has been trendy and very sought after for over a century. I’m there a lot (that’s me David) and I think if I was going to choose a place, especially if I was coming in from another country, this would be it.

Confetti throw Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding day

In fact, if you were appearing in a Richard Curtiss rom-com THIS is where you would get married, when the girl gets the guy in the final scenes! Or the guy gets the guy, or the girl gets the girl…well you get my drift.

Old Marylebone Town Hall Wedding Couple in Christmas decorations image

Wedding drinks reception Holmes Hotel London

Old Marylebone wedding couple at Holmes Hotel London

I’m going to write an info piece soon with lots of examples of all the main London Registry offices, as I’ve photographed at all of them  multiple times, just to give an insight for prospective couples and other photographers spying on me (lol!). Old Marylebone, Islington and Chelsea Town Hall’s I would put as the big three. All with rich history and plenty of A listers who got married there. Including myself 😉

London wedding couple kiss on street near Marylebone Old Town Hall

Old Marylebone Town Hall bride and groom hold hands by wall

Honorable mentions also go to Camden Town Hall, Hackney Town Hall and Stoke Newington Town Hall. All great choices.

Bride and groom walk to their Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding

The December wedding I’m featuring here was shorter than most I do at Old Marylebone Town Hall, as this was both a smaller celebration and a legal requirement for V and P who were getting married later overseas (I wasn’t available for that one). This is quite a frequent request for central London registries though.

Wedding couple on way to Old Marylebone Town Hall

Bride and groom walk uo Old Marylebone Town Hall stairs

On a freezing cold crisp morning I started my coverage in The Holmes Hotel on Chiltern Street, just round the corner from fictional (is he!?) character Sherlock Holmes’s home at 221b Baker Street. V and P were staying at The Holmes and met myself and their wedding party there for celebratory champagne before taking the short walk to Old Marylebone Town Hall.

Wedding ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall image

Wedding Ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall wide shot

Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding ceremony collage

First kiss at Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding ceremony

Bride and groom celebrate in wedding ceremony Old Marylebone Town Hall

Our plan was for V and P to spend 15 to 20 minutes with myself on the way. The thing is: all the images features in the blog: Blog – London Wedding Photographers Big Day Weddings (bigdayweddings.co.uk) on Instagram: Big Day Weddings (@bigdayweddingsuk) • Instagram photos and videos, and the galleries on the website: Wedding Galleries – London Wedding Photographers Big Day Weddings (bigdayweddings.co.uk)  (there are four of them by the way) are all done in short real world time scales, in whatever the prevailing conditions might be. That’s the best way to be relaxed and natural, as long as your photographer has skill and a ‘can do’ calm attitude! One of my gripes is how much fake stuff I see on socials, where photographers have set up entire wedding shoots with models and other suppliers. While undoubtably some are really pretty and are obviously a form of advert for those involved, it is totally unrealistic, and I believe misleading in expectations for potential couples. Sorry, small rant over!

Couple kiss in corridor Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding

Bride and groom laughing Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding

Wedding couple corridor Old Marylebone Town Hall

Ok, so I was delighted to go to Holmes Mews on our little jaunt to the Town Hall, which is tucked away round the corner from the hotel, and then to work in some of the streets I know so well. Of course with a busy city every time you visit a location it may be different, or too busy, or covered in scaffolding, so it’s good to be adaptable and have a backup plan in mind.

Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding couple walk down stairs

Wedding ceremonies at Old Marylebone Town Hall are strictly controlled now, especially since the venue’s refurbishment. I think this is a really good thing and what I mean by that is: it’s a very busy place, a lot of weddings take place there on the main days and if the staff were not clear about when you can go in, how long a photographer has in a particular spot, then it could be chaos, and nobody wants that on their big day. So for those of you in the stages of planning for an Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding, bear in mind that you will get somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes only with you photographer after the ceremony within the building itself. That’s fine because I will get everything we need and more in that time. Your wedding party will have been charmingly ushered out of the building in that time, to get ready on the outside steps for a confetti throw if you are having one.

Couple tango by window Old Marylebone Town Hall London

As with V and P at that point I go outside and get the wedding party ready and super motivated. Then it’s thumbs up time from me, and you come out and enjoy your iconic wedding ‘moment’ on the beautiful steps of Old Marylebone Town Hall. It’s a good time after that to move to the right hand side steps, for any group shots you might have requested, or not!

Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding collage

Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding couple sat on lion

Two things usually happen after that, one, everyone gets on a Red Routemaster old London bus or taxis, and shoots off to the reception venue.  And/or two: our new bride and groom go and do some quick couple shots/portraits in the local area. Don’t ever worry about these though. They are going to be natural looking and sometimes epic, just because… Most people are a bit anxious about having their pics taken, read my reviews though here on the site or Google itself: big day weddings reviews – Google Search  We will do natural stuff, gently directed if needs be, that you need absolutely no skills or ability for. We have fun, I will coax candid genuine positive reactions from you, and most of all we will have a blast! Many times I’ve been told it’s one of the main highlights of a couple’s day 🙂

Wedding couple dance outside Old Marylebone Town Hall

I take a lot of shots, and I give you everything where you are not blinking or falling over, unless it’s funny… For V and P I delivered over 700 edited sots in a fairly short time scale. I’m including their review here.

Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding review from Google

Wedding group shot at Old Marylebone Town Hall

Jeez these guys were very romantic, they loved to kiss and dance. I didn’t ask them to do that, I just put them in good situations to be able to do what THEY wanted to do! They were both delighted by the results, and ultimately that is what is the single most important thing.

Wedding couple celebrate by lion outside Old Marylebone Town Hall

Wedding bus and bride and groom Old Marylebone Town Hall

Every wedding is so different even in the same locations, and that is one of the fantastic things about wedding photography and in this case about Old Marylebone Town Hall weddings!

By David Green

Here’s another of many Old Marylebone Town Hall weddings featured on the blog:

Intimate Weddings at Old Marylebone Town Hall

 

 

Confetti throw at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding 5 crop

Chelsea Old Town Hall Wedding

By Barnet Wedding Photographers, London venues and events, London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

A Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding has to one of our favourites in central London. Just as well as we have been there four times in the last five weeks alone! From ceremonies and wedding days of just four people, to forty five people, it’s been the usual blast on the famous Kings Road at this iconic venue for us.

Groom helps pageboy Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding ceremony

Groom waits at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding ceremony

Bride and mum in aisle at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding

Bride arrives in aisle Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding

For this particular day it was the meeting of two great cultures as well as their happy and exuberant families. A and D as we will call them were our fantastic bride and groom. A was of Persian descent and D’s heritage was Italian. David captured this wedding on his own, and as he has both Persian and Italian friends felt he had an extra insight into the dynamics involved.

Bride and groom laugh during Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding

Exchange of rings at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding ceremony

We’ve also done quite a few full Persian and Italian weddings in their own rights so it was interesting to see this as a simple but lovely pure registry ceremony for a change, rather than the usual large and often lavish affairs these can often be.

Exchange of rings at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding ceremony two

First kiss at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding ceremony

Chelsea Old Town Hall is a very busy registry office, and most of it’s weddings are done in daylight. For this celebration it was wet, dark and windy. No problem though, over 14 years experience meant that absolutely non of that mattered, in fact in it’s own way it added to things.

Confetti throw at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding 1

Confetti throw at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding

David converted a lot of shots to black and white, though the couple got all the edited colour originals too, because he felt A and D had an almost 1960’s film star look so it seemed appropriate. In fact they were delighted with these and wrote him a glowing Google review afterwards.

Confetti throw at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding 4

Confetti throw at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding

After all, along with Old Marylebone Town Hall, Chelsea Old Town Hall is and has been thee glamour destination registry for countless film stars, musicians and public figures over the years. A quick look on Google will confirm that for you, and it’s an intersting read for wedding bores like ourselves!

Couple by flowers at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding

Couple laughing by flowers at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding

After a laughter filled and pretty emotional ceremony, we all went out into the rain for that must have confetti shot on the steps of the town hall, before quickly going inside again! Although David was ready to do some couple shots with umbrellas in the rain, and a few sheltered places he knew, A and D decided they would like shots around the town hall instead. In the end we think a pretty good choice.

Bride and groom sat on stairs at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding

Bride and groom by doors at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding

Bride and groom kiss by doors at Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding

After that time for toasts, celebrations and reception eats at Diba further down the Kings Road.

Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding reception toasts

Here’s a screenshot below of one of the reviews we received afterwards, this one posted straight on to Google:

Google review Big Day Weddings at Chelsea Old Town Hall

Here is a link to a daytime Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding as well:

Wedding at Chelsea Old Town Hall with Laura and James

Clapton Country Club wedding day two brides laugh image

Clapton Country Club Wedding photographers

By Barnet Wedding Photographers, London venues and events, London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

We love a quirky wedding venue, almost as much as we enjoy a challenge. Clapton County Club is certainly one of London’s great alternative wedding spaces, and perfectly complemented the vibe and values of D & M.

Clapton Country Club wedding ceremony black and white image

Clapton Country Club used to be a tram depot and all throughout its different spaces there’s was evidence of its former role. D & M told us they wanted photographers experienced with urban and quirky weddings and plenty of creativity when we originally spoke, and we were delighted to give them exactly what they wanted and then some 🙂 Not your home counties stately home big day for these two!

Clapton Country Club wedding prep collage one

Two brides and dresses Clapton Country Club wedding

Clapton Country Club Wedding prep first look collage

David had built a rapport with both through zoom and a very enjoyable engagement shoot in Shoreditch central London. Here’s a link to that shoot: Shoreditch Engagement Shoot, inner London photography

Clapton Country Club Wedding collage one

A new challenge for us as photographers was the fact that both brides were profoundly deaf, and so were ninety percent of the wedding guests plus the two videographers.

Clapton Country Club Wedding Ceremony Collage one

In truth, through communicating through a bit of universal sign language and skilled lip-reading on D & M’s behalf made everything a pleasure. In fact, I for one (David) hardly thought about it throughout the day, and it ultimately made no difference whatsoever, which is of course how it should be!

Clapton Country Club wedding ceremony holding hands

Clapton Country Club Wedding Ceremony collage two

End of Clapton Country Club wedding ceremony London

Our day started with both brides getting ready in a lovely hired Airbnb loft space five minutes away from the venue. Although they saw each one another on the morning, neither had seen the other in their respective wedding dresses, and it was a fantastic moment to document their first look and embrace in the loft.

Clapton Country Club wedding ceremony collage three

First kiss at Clapton Country Club wedding ceremony

A swift walk with cameras and equipment through the streets of Clapton lead us to the Country Club to get some establishing shots and into the wonderfully titled “Department of Life” which is used for wedding ceremonies. Full of urban chic and good looking well chosen tat 🙂

Wedding recessional at Clapton Country Club London two brides

A great ceremony followed, with sign language interpreters so everyone totally understood, including D & M, what was being said by the registrars, interspersed with much love and laughter. A totally unique and moving half an hour or so.

Two brides at Clapton Country Club wedding London 2

Two brides laughing at Clapton CountryClub wedding in London

When the big deed was finished and that magical first kiss as newly weds was done, we had a little time around the venue during the drinks reception to get some couple shots before some more structured pics of friends and family. Not forgetting of course an exuberant confetti throw in the road and yard space of the club. One thing to bear in mind if you are planning on booking this fantastic space, is that it is a working space with some other businesses around. That’s why we couldn’t get those cars out of some of our shots!

Clapton Country Club Wedding confetti throw collage

Clapton Country Club confetti throw image London

Clapton Country Club Wedding reception collage one

The Country Club’s largest internal area is called…wait for it…Clapton Country Club! In this chic industrial space D & M had their brilliant reception. It’s also used for ceremonies too if there’s more people than the Department of Life can hold, or the couple favour it. We’ve put some images of it shot from the balcony to give a sense of this excellent space.

Two brides black roller doors Clapton Country Club wedding London

Clapton Country Club Wedding reception collage one

Clapton Country Club Wedding reception collage two

Two brides sitting at Clapton Country Club wedding reception

Entrance of two brides Clapton Country Club wedding reception

Food, speeches, laughter and then a lovely first dance where D & M romantically signed the words to each other, set the tone for the rest of a fabulous evening. We particularly enjoyed their sparklers at dusk. But most of all we enjoyed working with a simply brilliant couple and lovely crowd of friends and family. It felt a privilege to be part of their very big day 🙂

Clapton Country Club Wedding Reception speeches collage

Clapton Country Club wedding reception venue London

Clapton Country Club Wedding Reception collage four

Clapton Country Club Wedding cake dancing and sparklers collage

Two brides and sparklers at Clapton Country Club wedding

Congratulations to the both of you, and thank you Clapton Country Club for your hospitality and professionalism throughout the day!!!

Clapton Country Club wedding day two brides laugh image

By David Green – The man, the myth, the legend. I just wrote that bit because I’m convinced everyone just looks at the pics rather than reads the words all the way to the end 😉

More posts about two brides? Here’s another, take a look:

Two fantastic brides marry at Essendon Country Park. Gay wedding photographers London since 2006 – London Wedding Photographer – Natural Wedding Photography (bigdayweddings.co.uk)

Another lovely Google review from an Essendon Country Club wedding day – London Wedding Photographer – Natural Wedding Photography (bigdayweddings.co.uk)

Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding sparklers with bride and groom kiss two

Best Trinity Buoy Wharf Wedding Day in History ;-)

By Barnet Wedding Photographers, London venues and events, London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

We love a Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding, and we’ve done a fair few! As a London based wedding photographer there are certain venues we particularly looked forward to being booked for, and Trinity Buoy Wharf is definitely on our personal Top 10. We won’t say where on the ten, but it certainly the upper half! In fact we can’t see anything not to like.

Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding couple in lighthouse at night 1
I (David) grew up opposite a lighthouse, complete with a very loud fog horn on cold misty nights, and distinctive flashing beams lighting up my bedroom warning incoming ships.

Bridal prep for Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding

Bride arrives in car for Trinity Buoy Wharf Wedding

I mention lighthouses because one of the great things about the wharf is that it has London’s only lighthouse. Built in 1864 it was famously used by renowned scientist Michael Faraday and served as an experimental place to test lights and other things, rather than guide boats on the Thames!

Trinity Buoy Wharf Wedding day collage one

Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding ceremony wide shot

Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding ceremony close shot

Bride cries reading vows Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding ceremony

First kiss at Trinity Buoy Wharf Wedding ceremony

Trinity-Buoy-Wharf-Wedding-ceremony-collage-image

Wedding recessional at Trinity Buoy Wharf ceremony

It’s a fantastic place like the rest of Trinity Buoy Wharf, and when we were booked by C and L I knew they would have an epic day. I also knew that as well because the venue team, the wedding planners, caterers and outside suppliers are always top notch.

Confetti throw at Trinity Buoy Wharf Wedding

Photography opportunities abound at the venue with many quirky buildings and views of the Thames. This big day was a little different from our usual experiences though.

Bride and groom walk on pier at Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding day

For a start it was later in the day and in November, so darkness fell pretty quickly. Also, instead of the drinks reception being at Trinity itself the couple had booked a two hour Thames round trip cruise as a special treat. It was great but a little choppy, and I did start feeling a little motion sick looking through the camera viewfinders while we were bobbing up and down 😊

Trinity Buoy Wharf Wedding couple kiss on Thames cruise

Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding Thames cruise collage

Bride and groom walk towards Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding

Our day started at The Stratford Hotel where C and her bridesmaids were getting, ready which was about a 15 minute drive from Trinity Buoy Wharf. On then to L at the venue and his organising and greeting of the guests.

Bride and bridesmaids at Trinity Buoy Wharf Wedding

C arrived in a nice vintage Rolls Royce with her dad and then on to her ceremony with L. It was a humanist wedding ceremony conducted by fantastic celebrant Anna Thirkettle.

Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding couple hug in lighthouse

Trinity Buoy Wharf bride and groom look out from lighthouse to Thames

Photo looking into lighthouse Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding couple

Straight after we had a confetti throw with all the guests and then straight on to our boat. Lots of classic reportage and good ‘in the moment’ photography followed (plus my sea sickness, not…) and a little window of opportunity in a small area at the back of the boat to get some couple shots, with Thames views and Greenwich Old Naval College in the background. Kind of made me think of Venice, which I’ve had the great pleasure of visiting a few times.

Trinity Buoy Wedding reception collage one

Wedding sparklers at Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding

Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding sparklers with bride and groom kiss two

When we returned to Trinity Buoy Wharf for the wedding reception nightfall had come, but there was still 15 to 20 minutes time built in for ourselves and the couple to do some images at the very top of the lighthouse, which as every time I’ve been there before, I loved!
Thing is, I’ve never seen shots of it done with a wedding couple in the dark before. However we always like to push the envelope and I enjoyed the challenge, and I’m very happy with the results and the variety of shots produced.

Cake eating ceremony at Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding reception

As well as all the usual candid and documentary shots we provide during the day and night, we love to give couples some images that are different, quirky stand out images, something that may not have been done before in a familiar venue. Almost as a conversation piece, and if it doesn’t take too long, why not!?

First dance image from Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding reception

Trinity Buoy Wedding Reception collage two

A great day shifted towards the wedding breakfast, full of amusing and emotional speeches, and some scrummy food courtesy of the street vendors brought in. Brilliant pizzas, and tasty crepes a bit later.

Fifteen minute of organized madness saw us all go outside, and me organize a sparklers shot with the O2 in the background. Great fun.

First dance was to C and L’s choice of live band: The Soundouts who I thought were phenomenal, and then it was time for some serious partying by the Thames.

Another fantastic wedding day for us at Trinity Buoy Wharf and thank you to C and L for being such a brilliant couple!
Supplier List:
Ever fab venue: @trinitybuoywharfweddings
@trinitybuoywharf
Event Coordinators & Suppliers: @theweddingarrangers (thanks Harriet)
@urbanweddings
Food & Drinks: @londonweddingbars
Street Food: @chew_that_events
Wedding Dress @sassiholfordbridal
Cinematographer: @confetti_and_silk_films
Celebrant – Anna @gentlerebelceremonies
Flowers: @sage.flowers
Light up stuff: @vowedandamazed

Band: The Soundouts: Function and Wedding Band in Kent, Essex & London | The Soundouts

Take a look at another Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding day from our blog here:

Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding photographers, and a sky full of stars – Creative London Wedding Photographers Big Day Weddings (bigdayweddings.co.uk)

By David Green

London Christening photographer font image Greek church Camden

London Christening Photography at All Saints Greek Orthodox Cathedral Camden

By Barnet Wedding Photographers, London venues and events, London Wedding PhotographersNo Comments

London Christening Photography is something that David has done, time permitting, between weddings for the best part of ten years now. We don’t post about it very often, but it does happen! Just pleased to receive a lovely thank you card here from Stella and Michael who’s wedding we captured at Old Marylebone Town Hall and the iconic original Ivy Restaurant in West Street Covent garden two years ago.

In the meantime they have started a wonderful family 🙂

David documented the christening at All Saints Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Camden on a very very hot Sunday in June, and stella gave us permission to release one of the images of her lovely daughter Emily.

Big Day Weddings thank you card image 2023

The card reads: “Dear David, Thank you so much for the fabulous photos for Emily’s christening. We love them and you’ve really captured some great moments of our baby girl. We really appreciate what a great job you did in 2 hours and the photos will stay with us forever! Pleased to work with you as always! All the best, Stella, Michael and Emily.”

It was seriously great to see so many faces again that were also at their fantastic wedding, and see the circle of life in action with the arrival of little Emily!