A few months back I received an email from Dale asking if I’d like to photograph his ‘shotgun’ wedding in London at The Crypt at Ely Place in London. I’d wanted to photograph a wedding in The Crypt for a few years since photographing a wedding in St Etheldreda’s church above. This is an interesting area of London which once belonged to the Bishops of Ely (Ely is in Cambridgeshire). St Etheldreda’s church is the oldest Catholic church in London and one of the oldest in the country, you can read about the history on the official website here – http://www.stetheldreda.com/index.php/history-of-st-etheldredas/ The Crypt has an equally interesting history involving Henry VIII. Amazingly both the church and crypt survived the reformation relatively intact. Today The Crypt is part of The Bleeding Heart restaurant and makes a fantastic wedding venue.
Maddy and Dale had a small wedding with just a handful of guests who all sat around one table for dinner. My coverage started at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel where Dale and the guests arrived for pre wedding drinks. The ceremony was across the road at Camden Town Hall, afterwards I travelled with Maddy and Dale in their taxi for a few photographs before arriving at The Crypt in Ely Place.
The Crypt looked beautifully atmospheric lit with candles, some emotional speeches followed. Maddy is Swedish and there seems to be a tradition of almost everybody doing a speech rather than the usual three speeches at most weddings. Later the evening guests arrived for the party.
I took only two lenses on this wedding as I wanted to travel light as I was on foot having left my car outside of London, most of these images are from a Canon 24mm F1.4, the other lens was a Canon 85mm F1.8.
Please get in contact to see more Crypt wedding photography.
