London elopement wedding photographer
Organising a micro wedding in London
Updated 9th June 2022
I originally wrote this blog post when we were in the heart of the pandemic – guest numbers at weddings were hugely restricted, and many couples chose to elope in London, or around the rest of the UK. Either just by themselves or with some of their closest friends as guests.
I have a feeling that trend will continue, and microweddings and elopements are truly some of my favourite weddings to photograph – there’s so much intimacy and genuine joy – that I thought I’d update this post to give you as much info as possible but missing out all the bits about how you can only have -5 guests, who can only drink an alcoholic drink standing on one leg whilst eating a scotch egg (shall we ask the PM if a birthday cake counts as a ‘substantial meal’, ahem)
if you like the look of this, you can also check out some of my favourite London venues for a microwedding
So I hope this guide stands as bit of a guide to organising a micro wedding or an elopement in London.
What is a micro wedding?
Well, anything you want to be. Though typically it’s a wedding with 30 or less guests. Now we’re not having to talk in absolutes, it can be anything you want it to be. The challenge with most micro weddings is finding a wedding venue that feels suitably intimate and is happy to cater to smaller numbers, but it can also be a bit of a world of opportunity. You can do exactly. what. you. want.
I’ve had couples surprise their guests by not telling them they were getting married until everyone was assembled, couples who got married and went to the pub, couples who got married and ate a beautiful 10 course tasting menu; and couples who had a more traditional wedding structure to their day – dinner, speeches, a dance floor – just with 15 of their absolute favourite people. There are no limits – and the best thing is, when you’ve covering fewer heads, your budget stretches further – the nicer champagne, the shoes you had your eye on, the more experienced photographer (ahem, raises hand).
So why not get married and go roller skating; take your family on the London eye; go mud larking; go out late night dancing; book the fanciest hotel room you can afford; head to all of London’s best photo shoot locations and get some epic photos with an amazing photographer.
Eloping
You don’t have to go to Gretna Green…
An elopement is a super micro wedding! Usually thought of as a wedding where just the couple head off to say their vows and grab a couple of handy witnesses from the street, they can take all forms. Though more often it means a couple heading with a few of their very best friends. Sometimes it’s because one set of parents lives overseas, and it felt fairer to only have friends than one side of the family. Sometimes both sets do, and sometimes people just want to go it alone and tell everyone afterwards!
One of my favourite ever elopements was Jen & Owen’s – we hit the streets of London for some editorial inspired portraits, before myself and their videographer acted as witnesses for their ceremony, and then they headed off to dinner at their favourite restaurant.
Rules on witnesses at weddings
Rules may vary from borough to borough, but in general the old cliche that you can grab witnesses off the street may be true.
The only requirements are that the person:
- Can speak English and understands the ceremony
- Has the mental capacity to understand what is taking place
Many boroughs will ask that ‘at least two of the witnesses are over 18’. Since two witnesses are required, let’s assume that means you need two adults. I believe you can ask children to be witnesses symbolically.
In all cases I’d check with where you have your legal ceremony booked – when I acted as a witness for Jen & Owen at Chelsea Old Town Hall, I was permitted to be both photographer and witness; however in Norwich, when acting as witness for two friends, I was told I wasn’t also allowed to act as a photographer (I mean, as a photographer you are literally looking and observing, but whatever)
If you’re thinking of having one….
Maybe the most important thing to the both of you is to just be married, maybe you were always going to have a smaller wedding – whatever your reasons, there is something bold and brave about deciding to go ahead and do things completely your way.
I got married a lifetime ago (in 2009!) and we talked about a truly paired down, super tiny wedding, it snowballed due to parental pressure to invite lots of extended family and we eventually settled on 45 people, but I’d love to think how relaxed and simple it could have been with just a handful of our closest families and true besties.
Where to get married
Anywhere you like (well, within reason, the same rules regarding where you an get married apply as before – if you’re considering an outdoor wedding you might want to check out my blog post – getting married outdoors in England and Wales). Town Hall weddings are a super popular choice – for good reason – many of London’s Town Halls are beautiful, iconic spots. But don’t discount ‘regular’ wedding venues too. You can also check out some of my favourite London spots for an intimate reception.
The Best London Town Halls to get married at.
London has an epic range of iconic Town Halls; there’s the Big Hitters like Islington, Chelsea and Marylebone. But there’s also a whole range of other town halls, in fact each council typically has it’s own. So here are some of London’s lesser known Town Halls if you fancy going that route.
Hammersmith Town Hall – currently closed for redevelopment, but when they re-open this will be one to watch for West Londoners – it has an epic marble central atrium and art deco meets 70s stylings.
Woolwich Town Hall – Also known as the Wes Anderson town hall, on account of it’s pastel palette and resemblence to one of April Bakers’ cakes.
Lambeth Town Hall – in the centre of Brixton, just across from the Ritzy. They’ve also recently had a redesign of their interior spaces and have a beautiful glass atrium.
Wandsworth Town Hall – some beautiful spaces, including their council chamber. Some spaces full of plastic flowers and stripy wallpaper. Handy if it’s your local town hall or you’re a Wandsworth resident.
Southwark Town Hall – in the same way that Wandsworth is fine if you’re local, Southwark too has been marrying residents of that corner of SE London. The rooms aren’t the sexiest, but it’s next door to parks, and slap bang in between Peckham and Camberwell if you fancy somewhere vibey for afterwards.
Your budget
The good news is that some of the main costs with a bigger wedding are catering for large numbers, when drinks and food is approaching £100/head it’s easy to see where the biggest spend sometimes sits and it means you can allocate more of your budget to things to make the day feel special – your outfits, the food that you do serve, the fancy champers, a photographer to capture it all and even picking and ‘wow-ier’ venue – it’s amazing what opportunities open up when you don’t need to find somewhere big enough for 120!
An added bonus is that if you only need to co-ordinate the whereabouts of 30 or less people so if you want to do it on a weekday, that’s also going to give you a bit of flexibility with your budget.
Finding a venue
Many venues are offering specialist micro wedding packages now, to fill the void from the postponements from 2020, and to attempt to balance the books. So if you’re prepared to compromise a little on the day of the week, you might find somewhere unexpected and beautiful. As we head into the winter months, although London Town Hall weddings are popular – don’t forget to think about restaurants with private dining rooms, country barns with open fires and boutique hotels. I have seen a few shots from a gorgeous micro wedding at the wonderfully quirky Aynhoe Park.
Making it feel special
One of my favourite things about micro weddings is that you really have the opportunity to make it feel special and intimate.
You can make sure you actually have time to chat to all your guests without feeling harried, having fewer heads to feed mean you can go to town on the dinner and the decor if you want to, you can drink the really good champagne! Instead of an evening reception with a band, why not head to a fancy hotel afterwards and actually spend your wedding night together instead of collapsing into bed exhausted and tipsy.
My Fave London hotels for an indulgent couple’s stay!
The Zetter and/or The Zetter Townhouse
Instead of spending money on 100s of table favours, or spending your evenings crafting, you can enlist the help of an events stylist, or an amazing florist to set a very special table to everyone. The key is seeing this as an opportunity.
It’s also an opportunity to snap up last minute availability at some rather lovely weddings, despite things still feeling ‘normal’, venues are still seeing cancellations and date shifts for all kinds of reasons, so there’s a good chance they have gaps for last minute weddings.
I’ve created a board on Pinterest full of ideas for styling a small, intimate wedding.
Why photos still matter
Micro weddings deserve beautiful photos too – for some people this is small legal celebration with a bigger party planned later on, for others this is going to be the main event, but I firmly believe that any size of wedding day still deserves beautiful, natural, creative photos to look back on.
With an uncoventional structure to the day, you can flip tradition on it’s head by doing a first look, so that you get all of your photos done beforehand. Meaning you don’t need to worry your guests are missing you and you can take time to go to whichever locations you like. Cool hey?
What to wear
Whatever the hell you want – even with a tiny wedding, feel free to be as creative as you dare. In fact I feel like a micro wedding is a license to go all-out. I’ve pulled together a Pinterest board
How to decorate
It’s entirely up to you – if details are important to you (and they make for great photos) then don’t feel you need to hold back at your reception. Having to decorate fewer tables means that you have a bigger budget for one WOW table and you can go crazy with flowers, candles, making the room feel super cosy. If you have a bit of wiggle room in your budget (now you’re not feeding 100 people) you could even consider hiring an event stylist. The added bonus of all this effort is that it will make a big space, designed for far more people, feel intimate and inviting.
Again, check out my Pinterest board for venue styling ideas.
My Favourite venue stylists
The Little Lending Co (East Anglia)
If this sounds like your cup of tea – then I’m now booking micro weddings and elopements and I’d love to hear from you to discuss how I can make your tiny wedding awesome. I’m Ellie, a creative, documentary London wedding photographer who likes to have fun.
Get in touch….
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