“Relaxed photography which captured the spirit of the day! The after service from Jonny has been fantastic. He has created a beautiful album of photos which we will treasure forever.”
Chelsea Old Town Hall Wedding | The Ivy Chelsea Garden | London
A Chelsea Old Town Hall wedding was perfect for us as it is not too far from Balham where we live. We love vintage glamour so were very lucky to have our reception in the private room at the Ivy Chelsea Garden. It is very instagrammable! The walls are adorned with beautiful botanical prints in rainbow colours. It really tied in with the wedding dress and the flowers on the day. We are also thrilled with the photos taken at the reception which were beautifully shot by Jonny in quite difficult conditions due to the lighting. We were also able to get some fantastic shots in the garden at the Ivy Chelsea Garden which was great. It is such a beautiful space for a small wedding
How did you two meet? Is there a proposal story?
Our eyes met across the room at Law School in 2003. Love at first sight! We had many years of travelling up and down the country to see each other until Melanie moved to London. Jim proposed on the Golden
Gate Bridge in San Francisco in 2011. I was trying to wrestle the camera bag off Jim to take a photo unbeknownst to me the ring was hidden inside the bag. Jim had smuggled it all the way from London and Melanie didn’t have a clue!
Jim didn’t have a specific plan for the proposal but was intending to do it at some point that day. As Melanie might have spied the ring box during the wrestle, Jim got down on one knee there and then and proposed with a painstakingly ‘designed by Jim’ diamond vintage-feel solitaire ring which Melanie loves! With our son Theo coming along in 2014, it took us until 2018 to finally plan our wedding but it was all worth it!
What did you want from your London wedding photographer?
Relaxed photography which captured the spirit of the day. Jonny certainly met this request and was great to have around for the whole day. He didn’t set a specific cut off time and was happy to stay
until the end. All of our guests commented on how great he was, he put us and all of our guests at ease. Jonny was really up front with the pricing which was fantastic. A lot of photographers we
spoke to would have lots of hidden extras. The after service from Jonny has been fantastic. He has created a beautiful album of photos which we will treasure forever.
Tell us about the Vivienne Westwood wedding dress.
I loved this Vivienne Westwood dress (Cocotte) the moment I tried it on at the Vivienne Westwood Couture Davies Street store in Mayfair London. Having tried on a couple of other dresses, this one
was definitely ‘the one’! I really liked the idea of having some colour on the dress and thought thehand painted flower design was beautiful and it really tied in with the botanical theme of the Ivy
Chelsea Garden room where we had our reception. The service at Vivienne Westwood Coutureparticularly from Silvana was amazing, everything was made to measure and the whole process from start to finish was a dream! Jim wore a bespoke Hackett suit, Thomas Pink shirt and Gucci tie and pocket square – we had fun picking out the combo!
Any advice for those planning their wedding now?
All the to do lists come together in the end! Don’t sweat about sticking to traditions. In the end we didn’t have a cake which was lucky as I don’t think anyone could have fitted any more food in after the feast at the Ivy Chelsea Garden! The day really does go quickly, so enjoy every moment.
CHELSEA TOWN HALL WEDDING SUPPLIERS
Wedding dress: Vivienne Westwood (www.viviennewestwood.com | Groom’s suit: Hackett (/www.hackett.com) Gucci tie, pocket square and Thomas Pink shirt | Invitations: Matthew Williamson, Papier (www.papier.com/designers/matthew-williamson) | Rose confetti: Petals & Roses (www.petalsandroses.com) | Flowers Covent Garden Market (www.newcoventgardenmarket.com/flowers) | Rings: Alexander Hirschfeld Hatton Garden: (www.hirschfelds.co.uk) | Harpist: Harriet Adie via FixTheMusic (www.fixthemusic.com)
LOOKING FOR A LONDON WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER?
If you’re getting married at Chelsea Old Town hall, The Ivy Chelsea Garden (or anywhere else for that matter) and you feel that my style doth butter your parsnips, please do check my availability and request an eBrochure.
I limit my diary to around 30 weddings per year, so don’t drag your feet.
