Shireen+Zack // Cecil Sharp House Wedding

Cecil Sharp House Wedding Photographer

I met Shireen in the morning of her wedding, getting ready at her parents house in north London. Her dad is from Bangladesh and they wanted to get a few photographs of themselves all dressed up in traditional clothing before they set off for Islington Town Hall. They then changed back into ordinary clothing, which was a bit of a shame, as they looked amazing. It was lovely to be there for the morning of fairly relaxed preparation, apart from some last minute sewing of the dress.

Shireen and Zack’s day was one of the few times I’ve ever worked with a videographer. I’m not sure why more people don’t opt for some moving images as well as stills, especially for the ceremony and speeches. I clearly love the power still images have to bring back memories but I think there’s a place for both. The videographer I was working with was called Ben Foster and I thought he was great. It was nice to have someone else, not involved in the wedding, to chat to and work around. I’m sure I got in the way of quite a lot of his shots though!

Shireen and Zack got married at Islington Town Hall, it wasn’t my first wedding at this venue but it was my first in the big courtroom. The light was particularly good on their day, pouring through the high windows in the big circular room. I got quite a lot of pictures that look like the back of peoples heads were on fire… the majority just look like lovely halos though.

Zack’s dad had sadly passed away a few years previously from cancer and in order to commemorate him they’d made a small donation on behalf of each of their guests to Marie Curie and the daffodil was a significant theme throughout their day. Each guest was given a little brooch to signify the support of the charity, which helps so many people with terminal illnesses. They also had daffodils on the tables and decorating the cake, he was clearly there in spirit if not in person.

Their reception was held at the home of English folk dance in London, Cecil Sharp House. It was an incredible building full of dancing history and a great setting for a good ‘ceilidh. There is a massive hall upstairs with a mural covering an entire wall, staggered seating all the way around for guests to sit about, a great stage for the band and great space to have a good dance/run around like loons. I also accidentally lined someone up with a stag head on the wall and they immediately looked like they had sprouted antlers. I then couldn’t stop myself from repeating this with several unwitting guests. I hope they appreciated the fun I was having and the fun I was capturing.