Islington Metal Works Wedding with Andy & Becky
Whenever I cover a wedding in London there always seems to be something just a little bit different happening, so what would Andy & Becky's big day have in store? Well, how about a Mexican Day Of The Dead-themed celebration, with a humanist ceremony led by a Radio Four presenter in a music venue and nightclub converted from a three-storey horse stable? And a mariachi band and a tank. Yep, that should just about do it.
The Metal Works is a seriously funky venue right next to the Angel, Islington. Most often used as a music venue, it's stuffed with crazy details (bar in a tube carriage, anyone?) and has bags of potential with all sorts of rooms, spaces and corners, all of which had been decked out by Becky & Andy to the Mexican max. Flowers, skulls, pinata... all present and correct. But before we get to all that, a quick re-wind to their flat, where Becky and bridesmaids were getting ready while Andy waited at the venue greeting the arriving guests...
The stage was set, the lights were dimmed, the sound system was primed... Our bride and groom had actually performed the legal side of their nuptials the day before, which meant that they then had total freedom to put together a one-off ceremony exactly the way we wanted with a sing-along to Madness ("It must be love...") and a really rather touching and poetic reading of Method Man's "You're All I need" (which I won't be re-printing here), before a beautiful hand-fasting ceremony led us to the exchange of rings. The whole occasion was led by Susan Rae, a humanist celebrant who also happens to be a presenter and announcer for Radio Four and who has such a gorgeously soft Scottish accent that I could quite happily listen to her read the ingredients off a bag of crisps.
Freshly married, Becky and Andy headed back down the aisle before stepping outside to walk through a tunnel of bubbles on their way to the main entrance, ready to kick off some serious latino celebrations. Cue the mariachi band and the margaritas - it's fiesta time!
Speeches completed and wedding breakfast served, Becky & Andy stepped back out with me into the street for some couple photos as the evening light started to draw in. This venue properly goes to town with its decorations; it's the first one I've photographed at with a tank parked just outside the front door. Up at the other end of the street, a massive mural which was also high on the photo wish list. Back indoors the (excellent) band had warmed up and the evening's party was getting into full swing. Cake was cut (decorated with over 1000 individual pieces of sugar-work, if my memory's correct) and the first dance was danced. And then the party proper was go, and it was one which looked like it had some very long legs...
An absolutely immense day and an incredible wedding I've got no doubt everyone who was there will carry with them for a long time! Many congratulations Becky & Andy. Muchas felicidades. Que Fiesta. Que Boda!
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Massive thanks go to John Erskine for his excellent work as second photographer on this very busy day.
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If you are currently planning a London wedding and would like to know more about my wedding photography services, packages and prices, please don't hesitate to contact me to ask any questions you might have and talk through your plans. I'm only too happy to help however I can.
I hope you enjoyed looking through just some of the photos from this spectacular celebration. Friends and family can view the full set in Becky & Andy's personal gallery, but you'll need to ask them for the password first.
Thanks as ever for reading, and come back again to see many more wedding photos from what's already an absolutely incredible season.
Stephen