Victoria and Jason at Chelsea Old Town Hall.
I’ve had the pleasure of photographing a few weddings at Chelsea Old Town Hall so when I connected with Victoria and Jason through Bark.com and they started telling me about their day I was already looking forward to it. They had a midweek wedding and hired me a few weeks beforehand. This gave us plenty of time to go through the details of their ceremony and for me to get to know them as a couple. Spoiler alert, they’re awesome!
On the day itself Jason arrived slightly ahead of Victoria as planned, I then helped to ensure that the bride and groom didn’t see each other before the ceremony. Victoria looked effortlessly beautiful. She had even hand made her own bouquet (which you would have thought was professionally done) which pulled in colours from her dress and overcoat. Whilst Jason spoke with the registrars ahead of the ceremony this gave me the opportunity to spend some time with Victoria and her mum, capturing some of the precious moments before she gave her daughter away. We had a few shots to camera and then I hung back and let them enjoy their time together, being a fly on the wall from afar.
The ceremony time arrived and it was full of so much love and laughter. I think sometimes registry office weddings are felt to not have the same essence as a church or venue wedding, how wrong this is! Both of the mums got up together to read a poem (wipes tear from corner of eye) whilst Jason’s dad had the role of ring bearer, which he seemed to have a great time with! The beauty of doing small ceremonies is that you get to know everyone really well. Victoria and Jason’s parents were lovely and I was made to feel so welcome by all of them. It really is a privilege photographing couples wedding days, especially when you’re effectively the 4th person there outside of the bride and groom.
After Victoria and Jason were announced as Mr and Mrs and it was sealed with a kiss, we headed outside to take a few photographs on the steps. Some of Victoria’s friends came along to congratulate her and throw confetti which I absolutely loved. The more confetti the better in my view!
Earlier in the day and on the way to the venue I had spotted the most amazing mural wall not far from COTH, so when Victoria and Jason said they weren’t in an immediate rush I took them for a quick walk. We were technically over our ‘time’ together but I didn’t care, this was a backdrop that was too good to miss out on. As we walked down, we passed Chelsea Fire Station and we posed for a quick photograph outside. Then imagine our surprise when the doors opened and there were the Chelsea fire brigade saying congratulations and would we like a picture. Erm…yes please!
It really was the most perfect time spent with Victoria and Jason; they were my favourite type of couple. Friendly, down to earth and so so welcoming of me into their intimate wedding celebrations. I wish them so much love and happiness for their future together. Congratulations guys.
