Trafalgar Tavern Wedding Photos – Greenwich Wedding Photographer – London: Clare & Ryan

Trafalgar Tavern Wedding Photos  Greenwich Wedding Photographer – London. When Clare contacted me about her wedding I was very excited to hear that she was having her reception at the Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich. Despite over the years having been the London Wedding Photographer at the Old Royal Naval College next door, I had yet to shoot at The Trafalgar Tavern. The Tavern was built on the site of the Old George Inn in 1837, so has plenty of history of it’s own. This lovely Regency building is situated by the riverside with a picturesque view along the Thames from the large floor to ceiling bay windows and balconies. Elegant chandeliers, rich wooden floors and floor to ceiling windows are just some of the striking features of this venue – Trafalgar Tavern Wedding Photos.

Clare and Ryan had decided to have a String Trio as part of their day. I do like the air of sophistication that a Classical Music String Ensemble brings to any event. If you are looking for a Classical Music element that also has a really modern and contemporary twist (with arrangements of everything from John Legend to Ed Sheeran in their String Quartet Repertoire List) you should take a look at the London String Quartet – Piacere.

Groom / Bridal Preparations – London Wedding Photographer

There was no bride or groom prep for me that day, so it was pretty much straight into Wedding Photographer mode for the Ceremony, barring a few images of the set up and Ryan and the boys before everyone else turned up. Usual high jinks from the boys, as you can see.

The Ceremony – Trafalgar Tavern Wedding Photos

When Clare arrived with her dad, she looked simply stunning in her dress from Hayley Elizabeth Bridal and her Dad John was in the kind of dream state I expect I will be when I eventually have to do this job for my daughter (she’s almost 4). No flowergirls today, but one adorable little pageboy Jack (nephew). He received his orders from Mum and after lots of smiling, laughter and a quick chat with the Registrars we were on. After seeing his bride, Ryan couldn’t help but shed a tear – another cause for laughter as they turned to face the registrar. They had fun with the “objections” moment, but that was typical of their fun loving approach to the day. The exchange of rings brought some beautiful moments, none more so than Ryan’s mum bursting with joy, pride and happiness as you can again see below (clearly where Ryan gets it from). A couple of “I Do’s” and a few kisses later (I lost count) and it was done – Man & Wife or Wife & Man, as you prefer.

Confetti on the stairs? Not many venues would allow this, but they encourage it and thankfully they have a lovely symmetrical staircase with a wrap around balcony above it which lends itself beautifully to the task at hand.

Bridal Portraits – Quick Session

It was at this moment that we took the opportunity to go and get the formal shots done before heading off for a brief couples portrait session. I prefer to do this for 5-10 minutes several times across the day for multiple reasons, top of which is to make the best of the light at different times of day (you’ll see why further down). As far as I am concerned, an important part of a wedding photographers job is making sure my couples get the best possible range of photos across the whole day, rather than just the bright and sunny parts.

The Reception / Wedding Breakfast at Trafalgar Tavern

One of the joys of doing everything in one venue is that you don’t lose any time travelling, in a day that already passes far too quickly (another reason to have a good photographer to tell the story of your day). This can be especially important in London Wedding Venues where it is easy to lose 30 minutes in traffic for a 10 minute journey. So drinks and canapes, before a sit down meal and a small selection of the reportage photos from this can be seen below.

The speeches had plenty of emotion and the Best Man behaved himself though did manage to make Ryan and Clare laugh hard – good job! The staff at The Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich were helpful and polite throughout the day and the food was delicious – personal recommendation, as we were served the main course.

Lots of fun, as I would expect of this couple, and you can see another selection of the documentary photography that Wedding Photographers such as myself just love.

Clare & Ryan were not big on formalities in general and thus the cake cut was quickly over and done and their attention was onto the party side of the day. After….

A Sunset Shoot for the Bride and Groom

Another short shoot was all that it took to get these lovely images of Ryan & Clare savouring the moment, as I encourage my couples to do (they don’t get much time alone on their wedding day). I take my inspiration for creative photography from the day, location, weather, the couple themselves and lastly try to be led by what we have already captured that day. We had some lovely natural light couples images already, including some Fashion Inspired flash photography and so, with the sunset being partly masked behind cloud I decided to give them something entirely different, with lots of silhouettes. Until Jack decided he’d waited long enough and it was back to the party – led by Jack.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank Clare and Ryan for choosing me above all the Wedding Photographers in London. Thank you.

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Trafalgar Tavern Wedding Photos taken by John Erskine