Searcys at the Gherkin Wedding Photography London

30 St. Mary Axe, otherwise known as the Gherkin, is one of its most instantly recognisable and iconic landmarks on the London skyline. Lesser well-known is its also a rather phenomenal wedding venue under the expert management of the team at Searcys.

On a dark and wintery February morning under steely skies I joined Emily to document her preparations at the Andaz Hotel by Liverpool Street Station. It’s quite a venue in it’s own right – with a huge central spiral staircase and porthole windows in the suites.

At the Gherkin, Emily & Ibby inverted the normal layout by having their ceremony on the top floor and it looked fantastic, with a 360 degree panorama of London. Emily’s elegant and stylish dress, and the black-tie theme worked brilliantly set against the Gherkin’s striking steel & glass architecture.

I’d normally wait a while after the ceremony before stealing my couples for portraits. The temperamental weather and short daylight hours meant we made an early dash for the lift for a quick but relaxed portrait session around the streets and concourse outside.

The one slight downside to the incredible amount of glass at the Gherkin is that it’s technically demanding to photograph at night using flash photography. And with much of the reception, and all of the wedding breakfast, the brilliant speeches and evening party, there was a lot of the wedding to photograph at night. But when executed properly the results are incredible.

Anyway enough from me. Scroll down to see some very kind words from Emily, and just a fraction of the images from a fantastic day.

“Getting the right photographer was really important to me as I work with images daily in my career and I am very fussy! Richard’s images drew me in, they showed emotion, not staged and I loved the documentary feel but with the images being strong and fantastic. I loved that his edited pictures were not over worked and represented the day and style of my wedding. We then met Richard before the wedding for a chat and he totally put us at ease. On the day he blended in and didn’t distract us from the special moments we were experiencing. He was smart and professional, but still had looked like he was having fun with the guests which I think shows in the pictures he captured of people. He also took interest in our venues, I imagine to pre-plan and generate ideas for shots beforehand, and we got to see the preview pictures really quickly after the wedding. I still love my pictures 2 years on! Thank you!”

ABOUT RICHARD MURGATROYD

Richard Murgatroyd is a Brighton-based London, UK and destination wedding photographer bringing a natural, documentary approach to telling the story of your special day. You can see a wider selection of Richard’s wedding portfolio here.

Searcys at the Gherkin Wedding Photography by City of London Wedding Photographer Richard Murgatroyd