old marylebone Town Hall Wedding Photography
Weddings at The Old marylebone Town Hall
The Old Marylebone Town Hall is one of the most iconic and stunning wedding venues in London.
It is the primary home of the City of Westminster’s Register Office and has hosted the wedding ceremonies of many famous celebrities, including Sir Paul McCartney (twice!), Ringo Starr, Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit, Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffiths, to name just a few!
It was closed down for complete refurbishment in 2014, and finally re-opened this year complete with SEVEN, yes, really, seven (!) beautifully appointed ceremony rooms, to perfectly suit the size (and budget) of your wedding. You can see some images of each of the rooms above and of course there is always the The Old Marylebone Town Hall’s official website too, where you can book any of these lovely rooms for your wedding.
But let’s talk about the photography for your wedding at The Old Marylebone Town Hall. The registrars would generally like you to arrive in plenty of time for your pre-ceremony interview and usually recommend arriving 30 minutes before your wedding ceremony is due to begin. Your photographic coverage will usually start with your arrival.
The registrars will then whisk you away for a private pre-ceremony interview. At this time, they will walk you through the details of the ceremony and reconfirm with you that you’re still happy to get married! During that time, your guests and I will be invited to wait in your ceremony room. The ceremony itself will usually take around 25-30 minutes, before we emerge onto the steps of this magnificent building for (hopefully) a big confetti through, and some family portraits followed by some more intimate wedding portraits of the bride and groom alone.
wedding portraits at The Old Marylebone Town Hall
I love photographing newlywed portraits on the plateau at the top of stairs, as the roman pillars and sandstone backdrop allow for the most beautiful, flattering soft light to fall on the subject.
After we've finished here, we can then head off towards the nearby classic neighbourhood streets, for some timeless London wedding portraits, featuring some of the most timeless architecture that London has to offer.
For those who are particularly keen on wedding portraits in a park or green space, it is worth noting that there isn't really a usable green space in the immediate vicinity of the Old Marylebone Town Hall.
Whilst Regents Park might seem the obvious choice, it is actually one of HM The Queen's Royal Parks, and as such a permit is required to undertake any form of commercial (i.e. wedding) photography here. If you have your heart set on photography in Regent's Park, then a permit needs to applied and paid for separately (£150 the last time I checked), well in advance of your wedding, and unfortunately this is not refundable if the weather on the day means you don't want to go to the park after all.
The Paddington RoomSeats 2 on chairs & 5 on pouffs& 8 standing
The Marylebone RoomSeats 10 guest & 5 standing
The Soho RoomSeats 14 guests & 6 standing
The Pimlico RoomSeats 20 guests
The Knightsbridge RoomSeats 30 guests
The Mayfair RoomSeats 30 guests
The Westminster RoomSeats 100 guests