I love The ICA. It’s a crisp, clean canvass on which to paint. Shelley and Alex obviously felt the same because their extremely laid-back wedding could easily be pictured in the Oxford English Dictionary under “cool”.
At every pre-wedding meeting, we would usually spend about 45 minutes chatting about stuff in general - then fill the last 10% of our time actually speaking about ideas and timings for their day! These guys are stylish: their main brief was that there was no brief.
After half an hour or so at the stunning St Martin’s Lane Hotel shooting the preparations it was a short walk across to the ICA in Carlton House Terrace to catch up with Alex and record the final few moments before the ceremony.
I always revel in the countdown nature to this part of the day. It goes from quiet, to a few people, to everybody - and then that wonderful wedding day tension reaches its climax with the arrival of the Bride. Suddenly there are pictures everywhere and it’s like trying to keep plates spinning.
I’ve been working in London for over twenty years, but every time I walk under Admiralty Arch and down The Mall, it hits me what an amazing city this is. This point is surely never lost on family and friends attending a wedding at The ICA, located at the very epicentre of our famous capital. Buckingham Palace five mins down that way, Churchill’s bunker and war rooms across the road, Horse Guard’s Parade behind that - all with Big Ben and London Eye watching over the scene. Amazing.
This day just flowed. Everything gelled happily and, departing mid-evening, I felt I’d seen a wedding exactly as it should be done. As little fuss as you can make it and as much enjoyment as you can pack in. Good for them.
Below, as usual, are only a few from the overall commission. Click any thumbnail to enlarge...
