Lisa and I started in manic fashion at Brighton station and bolted up to London on the train... beginning at Bethnal Green in East London where Sophie would be getting ready. As we wandered up the road piling out of a taxi was Sophie and her 6 bridesmaids with hair pinned up and loads of bags flying around - we knew this was going to be a fun one. As it turned out the apartment they were getting ready in actually overlooked the flat that Sophie used to live in - she'd seen it being worked on for years. I spent half an hour there ogling all the gorgeous bits and pieces, vintage brooches and head bands, nude shoes for all the bridesmaids and lots of beautiful fur coats! Sophie had borrowed her mum's fur coat for the day and learned that it had been a gift from her father to her mother on the day Sophie was born! Her dress was really a very special vintage find, bought from a vintage shop who had bought it at an auction at the V&A!
So I left Lisa to the gorgeous girly-ness and headed off to Sophie and Barney's flat where Barney and his mates were getting ready. I was blown away by what I found there, the most amazing studio flat with cool quirky furnishings everywhere, I could barely put my camera down... Barney and his 6 groomsmen were a brilliant laugh and after a ton of hair spray, some on-table ironing and some seriously dodgy tie-tying! the boys were ready to go and we dashed off to Islington town hall.
And what a great place for a ceremony with a stunning marble staircase and fabulous circular room with oak panels and deep red carpet (but a great high white ceiling so there was still lots of light!!) Lisa's pic of Sophie walking up the stairs is one of the most elegant I've ever seen. Group shots took a bit of time as both Sophie and Barney had tonnes of family and friends, we loved the London bus drivers beeping their horns as they drove past! (below is Sophie waving to them!!). Luckily it was a great day weather wise, well... no rain, so we walked to the Metal Works where the reception was taking place and did some portraits on the way. Me and Lisa loved Islington with all its cute little cobbled streets and quirky shops (so much so that I went back there yesterday!) - it provided a great backdrop for the couple.
The metal works is a truly unique venue, with a tube carriage converted into a bar inside! We loved the "Til' Death Do Us Part" cake Sophie and Barney had got from Choccywoccydodahcomplete with Skull and their seasonal table decorations of pumpkins. After a little reportage and some great fun shooting the bridemaids and groomsmen in animal masks in the street (!) it was time to head home. Me and Lisa were so excited with everything we'd shot we wanted to go through it there and then, we had a little look and spent some time squealing and then decided we'd better calm down and put the cameras away!
It certainly was an entertaining journey home... we attempted to freak out the steely London tube users by putting cow masks on for the journey to Victoria! The long day had clearly sent us a little loopy! I think this is a wedding Lisa and I will be talking about for some time, it definitely goes down as one of my favourites. Loads more pics are on Lisa's bloghere AND on the fabulous Rock n' Roll Bride.
