A Jewish Wedding at the Phoenix Cinema & St John Smithfield, London

Grace and George’s creative London wedding is a great example of only keeping the traditions you love and having lots of personal touches! There were no traditional bridesmaids or groomsmen, Grace had her mum and sister by her side during morning prep and George’s sister took on the role of the best person, with a great speech in the evening. It took place at two great alternative London wedding venues. First up was the Phoenix Cinema, an awesome classic cinema, built in the early 1900’s. Before the ceremony, they met on the balcony of the cinema for a first look, which was beautiful and emotional (lots of happy tears were shed). The Phoenix isn’t actually licensed for weddings so they did the legal bit during the week and honoured Graces Jewish heritage with a more traditional Jewish ceremony on the cinema stage, as their friends and family looked on from the seats! During their engagement session, they made sure we included few ‘classic rom-com’ poses, which they later turned into movie posters and used to decorate the cinema lobby! It looked amazing!!
After providing the guests with buckets of popcorn, the sent them on to St John, a former smokehouse transformed into a modern restaurant (known for its meaty menu). It was the second time I had the pleasure of photographing a wedding at St John and it didn’t disappoint. Grace and George kept the decor minimal and adorned the walls with single flowers and greenery, simple but beautiful. They were met with an enthusiastic welcome by their guests before going straight into some Israeli dancing. Grace’s gorgeous Two-piece Charlie Brear was absolutely perfect for dancing. It was my first time photographing this tradition and it was just incredible! High energy, fun and full of joy! If you’ve never experienced this before then you’re missing out.
Later that evening we took a stroll through Smithfield and came across an awesome Morag Myerscough art installation which we used as the backdrop for some creative couples portraits. We headed back to St John to get the party started! The DJ was playing all of my favourite 90/00’s songs and guests were dancing like no one’s watching so I was in my element!
Grace and Georges cinema wedding was one of my absolute faves last year, partly because of the mixture of traditions and personal touches but mostly because it was a tonne of fun and overflowing with love and happiness!

Thanks to Megan Elle Photography for second shooting

Getting married in a cinema or planning your own unique wedding with loads of personality? Then get in touch! I’d love to hear your plans!