M Restaurant, Threadneedle Street, London
Laura and James

It’s been a while since I shot Laura and James’ wedding. Late May in fact but blogging takes time and time is something I don’t have much of between May-November. In a way though, it’s good for the soul when I finally do get around to writing up this years weddings gone by and the way the photos remind me of their amazing day is a testament to why I shoot weddings and, the value behind the frames.

I started in Chalcot Square where the girls were getting ready for the day. On arrival it was hard not to notice their home was a nod to their journey in pretty much every corner. From old passport photos among the movie memorabilia to James’ N64 collection….it felt like a home, it felt like theirs and you could get a feel for their personalities as a result.

This first part of the day was a hilarious experience because as Laura was from Australia we had Aussie bridesmaids and those are great to have. Cheeky, outgoing and always funny, they were great to be around.

Once everyone was ready we black taxi’d it to the venue which was M Restaurant, situated in Threadneedle Street. This is a relatively new venue with a really nice modern feel to it. Lots of light and shadow everywhere and it leant an urban feel to the day.

I met up with James and the guys. I spent a little time with them before the girls arrived and as the guests ushered in we got ready for the ceremony. All the guys were in black suit and tie combos. I loved this. Classically simple styling won out.

As Allan walked Laura down the aisle towards James it was to Pink Floyds ‘Wish You Were Here’ which I’ll admit, blindsided me a bit as I love a bit of Floyd. While yes, I have played WYWH to death over the last 20 years – when you aren’t expecting it to be the song the bride is walking down to it blindsided me a bit. Especially when you’re indoors, manually setting flash and trying to stop the motion of a subject coming towards you.

After they became one Laura and James exited through the confetti and we headed upstairs for drinks at the bar and a little while later went for photos.

For their photos we headed to the Royal Exchange and found streets and backgrounds along the way central to the venue so we weren’t away from the guests for too long .

Dinner was next. I really liked M Restaurant, there were booths and banquet style tables for everyone and it broke the area up nicely. You could see everyone but also they could naturally interact in smaller groups. The venue has lots of low lighting everywhere which looks great in the background of photos.

After dinner we headed to the dancefloor and spent the rest of the evening either dancing or going off piste for some night photos.

This was definitely one of my more memorable weddings and here are some more images from their day: