5 Top London Wedding Venues 2022
As a Londoner myself, I know how many beautiful locations the capital has to offer, from stunning outdoor venues to cool urban spots. Every year my couples find new and breathtaking spots to get married in and I feel lucky to have visited so many great venues.
It was very hard to whittle the list down to 5 and there are definitely many other great places, however I chose to only include venues I have filmed at in the last year to make sure the list is up to date and that I had experienced a full wedding day there myself.
The Painted Hall, Greenwich
The Painted Hall, housed in the Royal Naval College in Greenwich is one of the most breath taking venues in London and I’m not just saying that because it’s a stones throw from where I live- it really is rather special.
The Baroque interior, known as ‘Britain’s Sistine Chapel’ is a stunning 40,000 square foot painting covering the entire ceiling which is a wedding videographer’s dream, especially one with my classic and elegant style.
I love historical venues as I feel they lend a grandeur to your day, a splendid backdrop to your story, and it doesn’t get much more historical than the Painted Hall, a venue built on the site of Greenwich Palace where Henry VIII was born.
Getting married, and having your wedding breakfast under the epic painting is hard to beat in London, so I always love working at the venues dn was lucky enough to do so twice in 2021
Sangeeta and Joseph chose the venue for their special day in July 2021, with a day that started at a nearby hotel, before Sangeeta was driven to the venue. Joseph stared his day at the nearby Nelson pub on the river.
Sangeeta arrived into the Painted Hall to a string quarter playing some of the coupes favourite songs, and after a beautiful ceremony the couple and their guests headed out into the grounds of the Royal Naval College for drinks and canapés, which was a perfect spot for couple portraits.
The wedding breakfast took place in the Painted Hall, along with the speeches, lending them some appropriate grandeur.
The first dance and party took place in the undercroft with some great live music from a band, which always gets everyone dancing.
Kew Gardens, Richmond-upon-Thames
Kew Gardens is a stunning venue in West London, set amongst 320 acres of botanic gardens. Couples have the choice of Cambridge House, the Nash Conservatory, an Orangery and, possibly the most iconic location, the Temperate House- the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse, filled with thousands of plants and containing some grand period spiral staircases.
I have been lucky enough to film in all of the locations on offer at Kew but it is the Temperate House, once dressed with long tables among the plants, that really takes your breath away, particularly when viewed from the balcony hanging above.
Another great feature of Kew Gardens is no matter which of the venues you have your wedding and reception, couples get to take a drive in one of the buggies to have photos in some of the nicest posts around the grounds including the Davies Alpine House, the Palm House, the Waterlilly House, Kew Palace and much more.
The video above, which has now been viewed nearly 40 million times on the grooms YouTube channel (see here) was filmed in both the Nash Conservatory and the Temperate House and I also took some time in the morning to take shots of some of the other beautiful spots around the grounds.
Chiswick House and Gardens, Chiswick
Chiswick House is a glorious 18th Century wedding venue in West London. The house is a beautiful example of classical architecture and looks like a building that wouldn’t look out of place in Italy. Inside the house has been beautifully restored and a great place to have portraits taken.
The venue also has some stunning Italian gardens and a beautiful conservatory where wedding ceremonies can take place.
Shayda got ready for her day at a nearby hotel while Yusuf and their guests gathered at the venue.
It was a gloriously hot day (almost too hot!) lending the Italian Gardens an appropriately Mediterranean feel. Shayda arrived in the gardens and the wedding took place in the conservatory. It was a short but very sweet ceremony.
The afternoon was a mixture of mingling with friends and family in the gardens and couple portraits in the beautiful Chiswick House. My favourite moment of the day was probably all the guests posing for a photo in front of the house with the couples beautiful vintage car parked out front.
The day then moved to a lovely hotel on the Thames in Richmond where the couple arrived in style with traditional Turkish drummers leading the procession.
The scorching day turned into a beautiful warm evening, with the sun setting over the Thames providing a last chance for some couple portraits.
After an immaculately curated wedding breakfast the first dance and entertainment started and the couples night ended with sparklers outside, which always looks great on film.
The Ned, City of London
You don’t get much more ‘London’ than a venue set amongst the banks surrounding the Bank of England in the City of London. The Ned is a hotel and private members club but most importantly it is a piece of beautiful art-deco design. The sixth floor has been transformed into a wedding venue by the esteemed team from Soho House and contains multiple event rooms and a terrace with hard-to-beat views across central London, from the Shard to St Paul’s Cathedral.
After the views from the terrace, which I couldn’t get enough of when I filmed here, the Tapestry Room is my favourite spot- a walnut panelled room with chandelier-adorned high ceilings. When candle lit for the wedding breakfast it is truly a magical spot and provides the perfect after dinner atmosphere for toasts.
Dancing takes place in one of the other event spaces, with guests having the option to enjoy the cool evening air and hubbub of the City below them from the terrace.
I loved shooting here and can’t wait to do so again!
One Marylebone, City of Westminster
One Marylebone is a beautiful venue in the heart of London, just a stones throw from Regents Park. Built in 1826 by Sir John Soane, the building is Grade I listed.
The venue is a perfect blend of the old and the new, originally a church, with its stained glass windows, but now housing a modern bar and entertainment facilities. The wedding I was lucky enough to film here was one big party and this was a perfect setting for that as it offered all the grandeur befitting a central London wedding but with space for a large band set up and dancing space.
As well as utilising some lovely spots in the venue for portraits, including the staircase and chandelier, we were so close to Regents Park and some of the beautiful surrounding streets and circuses, we were also able to take the couple out for a short walk to give them a flavour of the grand London streets in their film.
Emily also chose to get ready in the morning at the Langham hotel opposite BBC Television Centre, which was a great choice as not only is it close by but the hotel is also a perfect accompaniment to One Marleybone with similar architecture and in similar surroundings, which made everything tie nicely together visually in their film.
I knew from the outset that the party element of Emily and George’s day was going to be important, so I made sure a good chunk of their film involved a dancing montage.
My Approach
My main aim as a wedding videographer is to produce cinematic, yet authentic, mementos of a wedding day. I want them to be stylish, filled with all the emotions of the day, while being infused with a classic-cinema flair, which I always have in the back of my mind when choosing which lens to use in a certain moment, how to frame a shot, the sounds and music I will use to tell that part of the story and how things will come together in the edit. Filming at locations that suit this style is, therefore, very important- as a nostalgic, elegant and classic sort of style may not suit some types of venues, so it’s always important to keep that in mind when choosing a videographer.
Once I have all the key story telling elements in place for my edit (which include the right choice of music, the key moments from the day to be included and the readings, speeches or eulogies that best help tell the couples story) I then finesse my films to make sure they are as cinematic as possible. By that I mean I use every tool and technique at my disposal, from the filming style on the wedding day, to the editing and colour grading techniques afterwards, to create a piece of work that feels like a mini-movie, like a short piece of classic cinema, with a proper beginning middle and end, establishing people, place and story as elegantly as possible, woven together with music I choose carefully for each project.
Most importantly though, I use equipment and a filming style on the day that allows me to capture these moments without leaving a heavy footprint on the day- I use very minimal equipment, similar to a photographer, and avoid stage managing the day in any way because the most important element of making a great film is authentic moments and emotions and the only way to achieve these is allow them to happen naturally, unhindered by over posing/staging and manufacturing the events.
