By Alex Beckett Photography

AS FEATURED IN:

Having photographed in the Penthouse and Pavilion Suite many times, I'm really familiar with how the interconnecting rooms work and how a wedding functions within them. If you're holding the wedding ceremony in the green, baroque room, the staff will turn that around for the wedding breakfast while all the guests are out on the terrace, and it's done with incredible speed and efficiency. Lighting-wise, we go from a darker, mirrored room to the clear light and big sky of the rooftops, and back again - that's something to bear in mind when you're briefing a make-up artist. My other piece of advice is to bear in mind that with a small wedding, the focus is all on the people in the moment so it’s really important that your photographer is comfortable blending in and becoming an unobtrusive but friendly part of your day.

You might think that green would be a difficult shade and that it would reflect back, causing sickly complexions in colour photographs of the wedding. However, such was the designer, Oliver Messel's brilliance and the way the light works within the room, it is actually amazingly fresh and flattering. This room converts into a dream dining room for a smaller wedding breakfast; thirty guests can be seated at the table, enjoying amazing food, and the atmosphere is like no other I've experienced, like a family dinner in a magical wonderland room. I love to quietly and unobtrusively capture that warm and convivial vibe in my photographs.

Again, another unique wedding location in the heart of London. It's a great space with a huge, catch-your-breath view to the London Eye and across the rooftops of Mayfair. When you walk out here, there's a real sense of change - from the beauty of a wedding service to 'let's get the party started!' The great thing about all London weddings is that we can sneak off to take a few shots of the two of you at an iconic location. The outside of the Dorchester itself, with its stream-lined, evocative architecture, and its plane tree (named one of the great trees of London) is an amazing urban backdrop in itself, but we are also close to Hyde Park corner with its iconic arch. My team and I are very experienced at lighting these shots quickly, so we can go get the image and sneak you back into the fun before your guests even realise you’ve been gone! And, of course, there are beautiful corners of the hotel, both inside and outside, where I’ve found a well-shaped shot.  

Postscript from a Dorchester Wedding Photographer