Kathryn & Peter’s Thames Rowing Club Wedding, London

I’ll be honest: the day started with me locking my keys in the car outside The Lodge Hotel in Putney. Not my finest moment. But that’s the last you’ll hear about it.

I’d met Kathryn and Peter about six weeks before the wedding for a shoot in Hyde Park. They both said they weren’t photogenic, which, in my experience, is something couples say right before they prove themselves wrong. They were relaxed, natural, and easy to photograph. That same energy carried through to the wedding day, and it shows in these pictures.

Morning at The Lodge Hotel

The Lodge Hotel in Putney is a good spot for bridal prep. The light is generous, the rooms have a calm feel, and that combination matters more than most people realise before the day. There’s always a mix of nerves and excitement in the morning, sometimes in equal measure, sometimes tipping one way or the other. These quieter moments before everything begins tend to produce some of the most honest pictures of the whole day.

 

 

Thames Rowing Club, Putney Embankment

The Thames Rowing Club sits right on Putney Embankment, and the view does a lot of the work. The balcony looks straight out over the river, and even on a grey day it’s a genuinely good backdrop. Guests arrived, the space filled up, and the ceremony room took shape.

 

 

The Ceremony

 

 

 

Portraits: Rain, a Multi-Light Setup, and a Break in the Clouds

The rain arrived, as it sometimes does. Group photos moved under the awning, which ended up working better than fighting for an outdoor spot would have. While we waited for a gap in the weather, I set up some portraits indoors, more dramatic, more contrast, and honestly some of my favourite frames from the whole year.

Then the rain eased. I had a multi-light setup ready by the Thames, and we moved fast. The resulting portraits, riverside, post-rain, with that particular quality of light you only get after a downpour, were worth every minute of waiting.

 

 

 

Kathryn and Peter were exactly as easy to work with on the wedding day as they’d been in Hyde Park six weeks earlier. The venue delivered, the rain added something rather than taking anything away, and the riverside portraits at the end of the day are ones I keep coming back to.

If you’re interested in wedding photography, reach out. We’d love to hear from you.

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Locations:

• Preparation: The Lodge Hotel Putney, London · @thelodgeputney
• Ceremony: Thames Rowing Club, London · @thamesrowingclub · thamesrc.co.uk