St Pauls's Cathedral, only a few people can get married there. In fact, only about 30 couples a year get to marry inside the walls of St Paul's.
The weddings at St Pauls actually take place in the "Chapel of The Order of the British Empire". Which is in the crypt of St Paul's. and you need permission from the Archbishop of Canterbury to have your wedding on the grounds of the cathedral.
The bad news is that your licence application will only be considered if you fall into the following categories:
- Be a Member of "The Order of St Michael and St George"
- Be a Member of "The Order of the British Empire"
- Be a Holder of "The British Empire Medal"
- Be a member of "The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor"
Or you can be Children (but not grandchildren) of the above like Laura is. Her dad has an MBE, and well when given the chance to get married at St Paul's... wouldn't you?!
Laura and Olly first got in touch asking me to document their wedding day at the start of 2020, jsut before all of the COVID lockdowns. Needless to say, dates came and went with each lockdown but we finally manged to make it all work for August 2022. There was one small hitch though... I had a wedding the next day back home in Carlisle a mere 309 miles away.
Thankfully we had a solution! I would travel down to kent near the family's home. Travel into London with the family the day before as planned and stay with this awesome family for a little bit, photograph the wedding ceremony and wedding reception. Then that night, my cousin who lives in Kent would come to pick me up and my car, with all my kit, and drive me home to Carlisle. all the while my camera batteries were on charge on the back seats and my photos were backed up to my laptop. A little snooze in the car and when we got home before getting up the next day to photograph another amazing wedding!
It was a whirlwind of a few days in peak wedding season but totally worth it!
I also want to make a huge shout-out to my friend Del over at davince.net for his insane editing skills. St Pauls doesn't shut for weddings (Unless you're royal..) and so in the small time that we were permotted portraits inside and in the coned-off area there were hundreds of tourists around... Del through magic managed to remove them all.
If you would like to contact me about your upcoming wedding day or Elopement, then please do Contact me, as Ild love to hear your story and document your wedding.
