Skip to main content
search
wedding couple by chandelier Hendon Hall London

Hendon Hall Hotel Wedding North London

By Barnet Wedding Photographers, London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

To photograph a Hendon Hall wedding is also a chance to immerse yourself in one of England’s greatest sporting achievements. By that I mean the World Cup win of 1966, led by Captain Bobby Moore and his team of now household names. It was the Hendon Hall hotel that Alf Ramsey and the England camp decided to use as a base to stay for the team, and also a training ground between matches. Conveniently placed it was just a short skip and a jump to the old twin towers of Wembley Stadium. That training ground is now tarmaced over as the car park that your wedding guests will leave their vehicles on to be a part of your big day! It’s a fantastic bit of history that acts as a nice backdrop to any wedding day celebrated at this popular venue.

Confetti shot at Hendon Hall London

Personally we have photographed at Hendon Hall many times. You have a choice of venues for your wedding ceremony from one of the Georgian rooms in the main house itself, to their dedicated function room the Pembroke Suite, adjoining the Hall for a larger gathering. There is also an extra bar attached to this where your guests can chat and drink between courses or when the room is being turned around. Of course in the main house there is a restauarant, bar, terrace and gardens for socialising and photography. Featured here on the blog post image is a shot from Laura and Colin’s special day at Hendon Hall, and this image is taken in the Georgian part of the hotel at the top of the main stairs using one of our specialist spotlights. The image above is one from their confetti shower on the back lawns of the house. I love this moment shown below in the Pembroke where Colin full of emotion on seeing Laura walk down the aisle, has a reassuring hand suddenly placed on his shoulder by his best man.

Wedding ceremony at Hendon Hall Hotel

Also featured is one of my favourite images from past weddings here in the Pembroke Suite, as the bride and groom made their grand entrance for the wedding breakfast dressed in a gangsta style throwing money around personalised with their faces on the dollar bills. I never dared ask the groom what he really did for a living!

Hendon Hall wedding photo

For convenience here’s some of the capacities of Hendon Hall Hotel for weddings: Pembroke Suite, Ceremony: 300 Dining: 180, Reception: 250. Hogarth,  Ceremony: 40 Dining: 40 Reception: 50. Sheridan,   Ceremony: 40 Dining: 30 Reception: 40.  Johnson, Ceremony: 25  Dining: 20 Reception: 20. As you can see a room and space pretty much for every size of occasion.

By David Green

 

Love1
wedding couple celebrate in rain Leez Priory

Leez Priory Wedding Photographers. The French Connection.

By Barnet Wedding Photographers, London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

The question is quite simply, who wouldn’t love a wedding at Leez Priory? It has everything, from a rich history, stellar good looks, and a proven track record as a very very popular venue.

wedding_disguises_at_Leez_Priory_essex

As previous Leez Priory wedding photographers we knew what we were talking about when we first met Marie and Xavier to hear about their plans for their special day. The difference with these lovebirds compared to previous couples we had photographed at this premier Essex venue, was  that they were both French, and basically everyone attending the wedding day would be French too. Sacré bleu!

Outside wedding at Leez Priory bride approaching photo

Not a problem as we regularly photograph weddings across the channel in France, and it was interesting to experience our Gallic neighbours and friends here in the UK. The whole idea was to have a very English celebration as a great experience for their friends and family.

confetti throw at Leez Priory wedding ceremony

aerial confetti shot taken at Leez Priory in Essex

Weather permitting the wedding ceremony would be outside in front of the Priory’s Great Tower followed by English high tea, croquet and other games.

London wedding photographers Big Day Weddings image

Well although the weather forecast threatened to put a damper on the days plans I’m happy to report apart from a couple of quick showers everything went ahead as planned. That’s also a point I always make to potential wedding couples, that it is not worth worrying about the weather as one, it probably won’t rain ALL day, and two, shots with umbrellas can look fantastic anyway.

wedding couple kiss under arch at Leez Priory

The day began with both Marie and Xavier getting ready separately at Leez Priory, and naturally we documented the fun and the frolics of that essential part of their story. Check out the shot later in the post of the boys multi tasking with their shirts and cuffs in one of the dedicated outbuildings. The weather was holding so the guests gathered outside in the shadow of the Great Tower for Marie’s grand entrance. And what an entrance is was, across the majestic lawns to her husband in waiting. We took some images of this and the ceremony and confetti from an upstairs bedroom window too, for a more birds eye view and memory of the day.

sunset wedding couple shot at Leez Priory

Interestingly the Great Tower and other areas at Leez were the first in England to be granted a civil licence, including underneath it’s arch, which is where Marie and Xavier chose to wed.

groomsmen get ready before the wedding

While the guests drank champagne and enjoyed their complimentary nibbles we went off with the couple for a while around the grounds. For our shots we had an interesting mix of weather in a short time. It rained, it stopped and then the sun came out too, which meant we could have even more variety to our shots. We love an umbrella wedding photo!

Bride gets ready at Leez Priory

Family and friends photos on the lawn followed along with some impromptu croquet playing. It felt all day long that we were a great fit for this particular English and French wedding day fusion. The couple’s friends and family were exuberant fun loving people, and it was great to see so much love and laughter on display.

The wedding breakfast was hosted in the Great Hall, with as usual fantastic fayre from the Leez Priory catering and events team. Special mention to these guys, as they really are very good at what they do and make the day run so smoothly, not just for the wedding party, but folks like us behind the scenes too. Thank you, it’s appreciated!

Wedding couple photo in the grounds of Leez Priory

After the customary speeches and toasts it was time to go downstairs for the cake cutting and then some serious dancing the night away.

Leez Priory itself was originally founded in 1220 as an Augustinian Priory, and lasted in that incarnation for a full three hundred years. Sir Richard Rich built his own magnificent house on the grounds as Earl of Warwick, and this became much of the Leez Priory we see and know today.

Leez as previously mentioned was the first venue of its kind to be granted a license for civil wedding ceremonies, and these can be under the Carriageway or Tower arch, and also the Great Hall and Coach House. Whichever one you choose you will be guaranteed a day to remember at one of the UK’s best traditional wedding venues.

To read about some of our other Leez Priory wedding days take a look at this related post: Leez Priory Wedding Photographers

Bonjour and au revoir.

By David Green

 

Love2
Wedding recessional photo Offley Place

Offley Place wedding photography. It’s not London, it’s the Hertfordshire Bedfordshire border.

By Barnet Wedding Photographers, London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesOne Comment

It’s good to get out of town, and there are some real gems in the countryside around London for celebrating your big day. Offley Place wedding photography is always a pleasure to do as the staff and venue are both top notch, and everything is geared to making the day fun and memorable. There is a fantastic large conservatory to hold a civil ceremony in, and we used a photo of this as our featured image on the blog post. The Offley Place wedding in Hertfordshire featured here was between Natalie and Paul, and it was a love filled day with every detail planned to perfection by Natalie. We’re sure Paul had a hand in something somewhere!

Groom and best man at London wedding photo

The day started with myself and Joanna documenting the couple’s preparations as both were getting ready at Offley Place. Joanna kept close but discreetly by Natalie, while I flitted between bride and groom Paul and his best man’s pre ceremony rituals.

wedding couple on bench at Offley Place Hertfordshire

I love seeing the different sides of the story of the day unfold this way, and the beauty of two photographers is being able to capture the moments that either bride or groom don’t get to witness at the time.

wedding ceremony at Offley Place

It is all about telling the story and telling it well. That to me is the greatest reason for investing in a really good photographer, and good investments always reap good returns to use financial speak.

couple kiss at the gates of Offley Place Hertfordshire

Light poured into the conservatory to illuminate Natalie and her fathers walk down the aisle, followed by a lovely heartfelt ceremony. After all the legal formalities were completed everybody gathered at the front entrance to Offley Place to throw confetti and petals as the couple walked between them.

wedding heart behind London bride

While guests enjoyed complimentary drinks and nibbles, myself and Joanna took some time around the grounds to take a mix of quirky, traditional and memorable moments with the couple. We had spoken at length before the big day about mood style and the type of shots that Paul and Natalie valued. Naturally we have our own ideas and creativity, but we always encourage couples to send us examples of shots and approaches they particularly like so that we can try and work those into the day too. After all we are in the service industry and it is the couples day first and foremost, not ours!

couple under veil Offley wedding

We made time for some more formal family and friends photos which fitted in nicely and right on schedule before the wedding breakfast began in the conservatory. We say wedding breakfast but it was more of an executive high tea which was all beautifully laid out and presented. The meal ended with the couple cutting their wedding cake.

wedding couple in London photograph

image of love sign at Offley Place

All in all a splendid day of Offley Place wedding photography.

Offley Place wedding photography

For more Hertfordshire themed photography take a look at this post on the blog: Fanhams Hall Wedding Photographers  

Or check out some more Hertfordshire and of course London wedding images here: Wedding Galleries   

By David Green

Love4
London Mandarin Oriental wedding photographer

Chinese President follows in the footsteps of London Wedding Photographers – Big Day Weddings

By London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

It has been very interesting for us both as we sit here editing our latest London wedding today, to watch the coverage in the background of Xi Jinping’s state visit to the capital. It feels almost like the Chinese president follows in the footsteps of London wedding photographers Big Day Weddings! Firstly he is staying at ther London Mandarin Oriental Hotel where very recently we photographed a lovely intimate wedding. That’s the featured image here on this post.  On that particular day staff showed us the “Royal” entrance at the back of the hotel where royalty and visiting dignatories could enter and exit. This was featured on BBC news coverage and included here are a couple of shots of that very entrance that Xi Jinping has been using. The only difference is that for these visits they construct a temporary overhead structure by the distinctive black gates. It was the Chinese who requested previously to move the nearby lamp post to the side, as it kept getting in the way on this drop off and in point! Also we see the red carpet at the Mandarin Oriental was rolled out,  photo included, from our wedding coverage, and apparently this is the same one used for all such high profile visits and weddings. So we treaded that carpet first before Mr Jinping. Read about it here: London Mandarin Oriental Wedding Photography

Newly weds walk through Hyde Park gates

laying the red carpet at Mandarin Oriental Hotel

Secondly a lot of the action is taking place at Horse Guards parade, which is a where we frequently photograph when wedding couples spend sone time alone with us for some extra memorable shots, away from the wedding party and reception. There’s an example image from Aishe and Habib’s lovely day below.

Love at horse guards parade photo

Finally we see that the Chinese president is also going to visit Imperial College London, and it was only days ago that we photographed Nicki and Stephen’s big day in Imperial’s premier event venue 58 Princes Gate, which you can read about on the blog here: London Kensington Wedding Photographers There’s a shot from the venue below as well. That’s one of the great perks of photographing central London weddings in that we get to work at tremendous venues, and also access areas not normally available to the general public.

Kensington wedding photographers

You can read and watch constantly updated coverage of the Chinese president’s state visit on the BBC News website linked here: BBC News coverage of Chinese President’s London state visit

By David Green

Love1
Kensington wedding photographers

London Kensington Wedding Photographers at 58 Princes Gate

By London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

wedding ceremony at Princes Gate Kensngton London photo

To say that Nicki and Stephen are energetic and busy people is an understatement. They contacted us as London Kensington wedding photographers to arrange an informal initial meeting, and suggested we get together after they had run the Regents Park Grand Prix 10k race.

Wedding couple toast on bench outside Victoria and Albert Museum

We rescheduled when we decided they both might be a bit too sweaty! Straight away we knew these guys would have a fun characterful and action packed wedding. Without giving too much away when Stephen saw a photo of Nicki dressed as Lara Croft and she saw an image of him skiing bare chested, they knew they just had to meet! Scouring the city for an intimate but classy London wedding venue they decided upon the very lovely 58 Princes Gate right in the heart of South Kensington, near the Science, Natural History and V&A Museums, and just round the corner from the Royal Albert Hall.

bride walks down aisle Kensington wedding

Such a great area, one that many parents like myself and Joanna know only too well from endless trips with the kids to the various iconic south Kensington emporiums of culture.

The day started with documenting Nicki’s getting ready preparations at 58 Princes Gate, while Stephen travelled energetically here and there and finally to the venue, with all the last minute details now taken care of.

wedding couple by Science museum south Kensington London image

This impressive venue the backdrop to their big day was once a private house, but is now a fantastic event venue owned by Imperial College London.

wedding couple pose on steps in London's Kensington

Nicki and her father climbed the classic stairway up to the ballroom where the wedding ceremony was to be held in front of close friends and family. An emotional and very loving ceremony was followed by drinks and nibbles for the guests. After a little while Nicki and Stephen snuck away with myself and Joanna, and took some time around the area to shoot a variety of couple shots. We know the locale of course, but we love to just see what a couple’s mood is, and also what takes our fancy on the day to determine our shots.

Kissing after wedding outside Kensington tube station

We could photograph a wedding here every single day of the week, but we know for sure that with this planned but free form approach that we take, every wedding shot would still remain fresh and unique no matter how many times we visited.

climbing Princes Gate stairs for London wedding ceremony image

London wedding photography featured here in this post shows the moment Nikki sees Stephen as she comes down the aisle at Princes Gate. The first kiss after the two are married in the ballroom. Toasting with champagne sat outside the Victoria and Albert Museum. Some randomly grand gates and steps we found, and a good old fashined romantic kiss outside South Kensington tube station frozen in time as people rushed around the couple oblivious. Oh yes and an impromptu stop at an ice cream van, Nikki waiting in her bridal prep room, and walking along a first floor corridor lit by a spotlight from my good self.

Kensington bride waits for groom to arrive

Great day, great couple, now either book us or tell your friends. The End.

London Kensington wedding collage

Actually there’s more, take a look at a similar sized venue post here, it’s also where Kate Middleton stayed before the Royal Wedding: Goring Hotel Wedding Photographers
And a small intimate wedding done recently around the corner in Knightsbridge here: London Mandarin Oriental Wedding Photography

Entrance at 58 Princes Gate Kensington photo

 

By David Green

Love3