I do love a London Town Hall wedding.

There is something about them that suits the way I photograph weddings. You don’t necessarily need hundreds of guests, a huge venue and three days spent deciding where Auntie Jean is going to sit. You can gather together the people you love, get married and then head out into London and enjoy yourselves.

And The Old Marylebone Town Hall has to be one of the most iconic.

I’ve photographed weddings at quite a few of London’s Town Halls now and I love them all for different reasons. 

Big wedding, little wedding or just the two of you…

One of the things I like about Marylebone is that it isn’t just for one particular type of wedding.

There are seven ceremony rooms, ranging from the very intimate Paddington Room for up to eight guests, right through to the rather grand Westminster Room, which holds up to 100.

So you really can make the day your own.

Personally, I have a real soft spot for the smaller weddings. There is something lovely about being surrounded by just the people who really matter to you.

So how do you actually book it?

Thankfully, you don’t have to turn up at Marylebone clutching a diary and hoping for the best.

Bookings are made through Westminster’s official A Day to Remember website. You choose the type of ceremony you want, select your venue and room and then choose your available date and time. Once you’ve secured your date with payment, you’ll get access to a MyWestminster account where you can manage your booking.

Official Old Marylebone Town Hall booking page

If you’re having a legal marriage or civil partnership, you’ll also need to give notice. This is done in person and must be completed within the year before your ceremony.

It’s worth looking at all the official information before booking, particularly regarding giving notice and timings.

And then we get to the photographs…

This is obviously the bit I like.

My heart is very much in documentary wedding photography.

I want to photograph what actually happens.

The looks between you. Someone wiping away a tear when they think nobody has noticed. Your friends laughing. Your mum fussing with your dress. Your dad looking ridiculously proud. The hugs. The slightly chaotic bits.

All those little moments that you couldn’t plan even if you tried.

But there is one area where I will happily put my documentary photography to one side for a few minutes.

The family photographs.

I think they’re important.

I know standing in a line smiling at a camera isn’t necessarily the most exciting part of your wedding day – and I certainly won’t keep you doing it for an hour – but these photographs become part of your family’s history.

People change. Families change.

And sometimes a photograph that feels quite ordinary on your wedding day becomes incredibly important years later.

So we’ll do them.

Quickly.

No disappearing for hours. No twenty-seven different combinations involving cousins twice removed.

Just the people who matter.

Marylebone makes a pretty good backdrop

And if we’re going to do family photographs, Marylebone isn’t exactly a bad place to do them.