Old Marylebone Town Hall Wedding Photographer | The Landmark London Wedding Guide

Micro weddings and elopements are all the rage and as a wedding photographer who had a micro wedding elopement herself, I am HERE for it.

If you’re being romanced by the idea of a micro wedding, or perhaps you’re planning a civil ceremony here in the UK before flying off for a larger celebration somewhere fabulous – the South of France, as my couple did – then let me introduce you to one of the most incredible civil wedding venues London has to offer: Old Marylebone Town Hall.

And if you’re already planning an Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding, then might I suggest pairing your ceremony with The Landmark London? I can tell you first-hand that it has to be one of the most beautiful ways to create an intimate wedding day in the heart of London.

There is something incredibly romantic about a London micro wedding. Not because there is less of a wedding day – a civil wedding ceremony or elopement can be pure magic – but because there is so much freedom to make it entirely your own. You can choose which traditions matter to you, leave space for the moments that do and create a day that unfolds naturally around the two of you.

For this intimate Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding, my couple began their day at The Landmark London, spending the morning there with their little boy before making the short walk through Marylebone to their ceremony in the beautiful Paddington Room. With just five family members joining them, the day was wonderfully personal – from wedding portraits inside The Landmark and photographs on the London streets to their ceremony, those iconic Old Marylebone Town Hall interiors and confetti on the famous steps.

As an Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding photographer, this is one of the things I love about photographing smaller London weddings. Micro wedding photography doesn’t have to mean turning up for the ceremony and leaving immediately afterwards. With a little breathing room in the timeline, even a few hours of coverage can tell the story of the day – the anticipation beforehand, the journey, the people you love, the ceremony and those brilliant just-married moments afterwards.

So if you’re planning your own Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding – perhaps with The Landmark London as part of your day – this guide will show you just how much can fit beautifully into an intimate London celebration.

Getting Ready at The Landmark London for a Marylebone Town Hall Wedding

Our Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding story begins upstairs at The Landmark London, where I joined my bride as she was getting ready with her make-up artist.

The suites at The Landmark have a wonderfully calm quality to them, with gentle natural light that lends itself beautifully to wedding morning photography. It gave me time to capture those quieter details – the dress, the final touches of make-up and the anticipation before everyone came together. My bride preferred this quieter approach to more traditional bridal prep photographs.

Soon, her husband returned with their little boy and I was able to photograph some of those getting-ready moments as a family too. This was never intended to be a traditional wedding morning. My couple had a larger celebration planned in the South of France, so for their intimate London civil wedding they chose to spend this part of the day together.

That's one of the things I love about a London micro wedding: there doesn't have to be a formula. You can keep the traditions you love, forget the ones you don't and shape the hours before your ceremony around what feels right for you and your wedding day.

Wedding Photography at The Landmark London

Once the couple were ready, the bride's parents joined us at The Landmark and we all made our way downstairs together. I love that even moving through the hotel became part of the story – lifts, corridors and all those little in-between moments that are so often some of my favourites to photograph. What could be more joyful than a whole family spilling out into the lobby of The Landmark, excited and full of beans?

I steered the family towards the main lobby and stole my couple away for some couple portraits before we left for Old Marylebone Town Hall.

It is completely normal for at least one of you to feel a little uncomfortable in front of the camera – sorry grooms, but in my experience it is usually you! – and with a London micro wedding, you may not necessarily have had an engagement shoot beforehand which is a wonderful way of having time with your photographer prior to the big day. 

The Landmark London Hotel is every bit as spectacular as you imagine, but rather than heading immediately for its most iconic spaces, we began in the quieter lounge area with its beautiful sweeping staircase. It gave my couple a little privacy and, more importantly, time to relax, get used to having me and my camera around and allow any nerves to disappear before we moved into the busier public areas of the hotel.

From there, we simply kept moving.

And I think that's something particularly lovely about micro wedding photography. A portrait session doesn't necessarily need to feel like a separate part of your wedding day where everything suddenly stops. We photographed our way through The Landmark – walking, talking, using the architecture around us and allowing the transitions themselves to become part of the photographs.

Eventually, of course, we reached that staircase.

The Landmark's iconic grand staircase really does speak for itself. It's elegant, enormous and utterly unmistakable – the kind of backdrop that gives you those show-stopping London wedding portraits without ever needing to leave the hotel.

One thing worth knowing if you're planning wedding photography at The Landmark London is that flash photography isn't permitted in the main public areas. For me, that simply meant working with the existing light and choosing the right spaces as we moved through the hotel – and there are plenty of beautiful ones to choose from.

Walking from The Landmark London to Old Marylebone Town Hall

One of the brilliant things about pairing The Landmark London with an Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding is just how close the two are. The walk takes less than ten minutes, which means there is no need for wedding cars, complicated transport or disappearing into London traffic between the two.

And photographically, what a way to arrive at your wedding. Walking out through the doors of one of London's most iconic hotels and straight onto the streets of Marylebone gives you the opportunity for London wedding photographs that feel completely connected to the place you chose to get married.

That doesn't mean I recommend leaving exactly ten minutes before your ceremony!

I always prefer to build some breathing room into a wedding timeline and, for this couple in particular, there was no reason to rush. They were naturally quite private and intimate together, so we simply took our time and let the walk become another part of their Marylebone wedding photography.

And honestly, London does so much of the work for you. Crossing roads, passing beautiful buildings, holding hands, chatting and walking towards your wedding ceremony – these aren't necessarily moments that need to be stopped and posed. They're part of the day itself, and they create some of my favourite London wedding portraits.

That's something I particularly love about photographing a London micro wedding. Everything tends to be in motion, but that doesn't mean it needs to feel rushed. Give yourselves enough time and the movement becomes part of the beauty – the journey from one part of your wedding day to the next becomes part of the story too.

And before we knew it, Old Marylebone Town Hall was in front of us.

Arriving at Old Marylebone Town Hall for Your Wedding

I'll admit, before photographing my first Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding, I had visions of couples pouring through the doors every few minutes and having to fight for a clear patch of those famous steps.

That wasn't my experience at all.

When we arrived, the rest of the family joined us and we had some time before their ceremony slot. The front of the Town Hall was surprisingly peaceful, which gave us the perfect opportunity to start making the most of one of the reasons couples fall in love with this venue.

Because if you're getting married at Old Marylebone Town Hall, you're going to want photographs beneath those pillars and on those iconic steps.

The sweeping arches, beautiful stonework and symmetry of the building are unmistakably Marylebone and make an incredible backdrop for wedding portraits. Having a little breathing room in our timeline meant we could photograph there without it feeling like something we needed to race through before the ceremony.

And while those famous steps might be waiting for the confetti later, there is so much to use around the exterior for Marylebone Town Hall wedding photography before you've even stepped through the doors.

Then it was time to head inside for their ceremony in the Paddington Room.

A Paddington Room Wedding at Old Marylebone Town Hall

Once inside Old Marylebone Town Hall, the family were shown into the beautiful Paddington Room to settle in before the ceremony, while my couple were taken into the Westminster Room nearby for a few quiet moments together.

And this is where some of my favourite photographs of the whole day happened.

With only five guests, there was no need for everyone to sit formally waiting for proceedings to begin. Their little boy could move around freely between the people he loved, and I was able to quietly photograph all that anticipation as the family waited. One of my favourite images I've ever taken is from these few minutes – their little boy simply looking up at his grandfather, the father of the bride.

Meanwhile, in the Westminster Room, the atmosphere was completely different.

The interiors at Old Marylebone Town Hall are rich and elegant, and that afternoon the light filtering softly through the drapes gave the room this beautiful warmth. It gave my couple a few private moments together before their ceremony and allowed me to photograph them without needing to manufacture a moment or pull them away from their guests later.

It's something I loved about photographing this intimate Marylebone Town Hall wedding: even with such a small wedding party, there were still different stories unfolding at the same time. The anticipation of the family in one room, the quiet of the couple in another and, in just a few minutes, everyone coming together for the ceremony.

A Wedding Ceremony in the Paddington Room

The Paddington Room at Old Marylebone Town Hall is absolutely gorgeous, but what I loved most about this ceremony was how relaxed and romantic it felt.

With such a small wedding party, there was no pressure for everyone to sit perfectly in their place. Their little boy could be close to his parents and grandparents and simply be part of his mum and dad getting married. It made the whole ceremony feel wonderfully intimate rather than overly formal. There was this wonderful moment of the little boy being asked to pass the rings to his parents and he did so in the manner to which a toddler is so accustomed… lobbing them full force at his parents.

From a Marylebone Town Hall wedding photographer's perspective, I also found the registrars incredibly welcoming when it came to photography. On this particular day, I was even allowed to photograph the couple during the actual signing of the register – something photographers aren't always permitted to capture during a civil wedding ceremony.

That freedom meant I could document the ceremony as it genuinely unfolded: the looks between them, their family around them, their little boy wandering in and out of the story and, finally, that wonderful moment when they were officially married.

For a London micro wedding, I honestly couldn't imagine a more romantic setting.

Wedding Photography Inside Old Marylebone Town Hall

Once the ceremony was over and the family had made their way outside, we were given around ten minutes to photograph the newlyweds inside Old Marylebone Town Hall.

And honestly, those hallways are a dream for wedding photography.

The arches, marble, symmetry, rich interiors and beautiful light give you so much to work with, but I didn't want these photographs to suddenly feel overly formal. So we kept doing what we had been doing all day – moving.

My couple walked and danced their way through those iconic hallways, giving us photographs that had all the grandeur of Old Marylebone Town Hall without losing the intimacy and personality of their wedding day.

I also love the variety you can create during a Marylebone Town Hall wedding. We'd already photographed quiet moments at The Landmark, portraits amongst its grand interiors and the couple walking through the London streets. Now, newly married, we had something completely different – movement, laughter and the incredible architecture of the Town Hall surrounding them.

Couples marrying at Old Marylebone Town Hall are given around ten minutes after the ceremony for photographs inside. It might not sound like long, but it's plenty of time to create some beautiful Marylebone Town Hall wedding portraits before heading outside to those famous steps.

Because the exterior might be iconic, but those hallways deserve their moment too.

Confetti on the Steps of Old Marylebone Town Hall

And then, of course, there are those steps.

With just five family members waiting outside, we still had more than enough people for a little confetti as the newlyweds came through the doors of Old Marylebone Town Hall. Proof that a London micro wedding doesn't need a huge guest list to have those wonderfully celebratory just-married moments.

A handful of confetti, the iconic Marylebone Town Hall steps and the people you love most. Sometimes that's really all you need.

From Old Marylebone Town Hall Back to The Landmark London

And with that, we were back where we'd started – walking through Marylebone towards The Landmark London, only this time as newlyweds.

I photographed my couple as they made their way back through the London streets before leaving them to join their family for drinks and champagne at The Landmark. For me, it was the perfect place to finish their wedding story.

And that's perhaps the thing I love most about photographing a London micro wedding. Micro wedding photography doesn't have to mean photographs of only the ceremony. My wedding photography collections can be tailored around the parts of your day that matter most to you – whether that's getting ready, the journey to Old Marylebone Town Hall, your ceremony and portraits, or staying afterwards to photograph drinks and celebrations with the people you love.

For this couple, their photography began quietly upstairs at The Landmark and ended with them walking back towards it, newly married and ready for champagne.

If you're planning your own Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding, whether it's the whole celebration or the beginning of something bigger somewhere else, I would love to photograph the story you choose to make of it. Please feel free to explore my Micro Wedding Package and reach out for a chat