Getting Married at Old Marylebone Town Hall: A Photographer’s Guide

The Old Marylebone Town Hall on Marylebone Road might be the most famous place to get married in London. Paul McCartney married here. So did Ringo Starr. The white Portland stone, the fluted columns and that sweep of front steps have been the backdrop to thousands of weddings for a century, and since its restoration the building manages a rare trick: grand enough for a hundred guests, warm enough for two witnesses on a Tuesday morning. This is a photographer's guide to the building, the light, and what Marylebone gives you once the register is signed.

Seven rooms, every size of wedding

Westminster's registrars marry couples here in seven ceremony rooms, each named for a corner of the city. At one end sits the Soho Room, an intimate space made for elopements and tiny weekday ceremonies. In the middle, rooms like the Mayfair Room hold the classic close-family wedding without a spare seat going cold. And at the top, the Westminster Room seats around a hundred beneath high ceilings, for a register office wedding at full scale. Whatever the size, the ceremonies themselves run short, usually twenty to thirty minutes, which concentrates the feeling wonderfully: the walk in, the vows, the kiss, the signing, all in one breath.

How the building photographs

Three things make this venue a gift on camera. The front steps and columns are the most photographed register office exit in Britain, and they earn it: broad stone stairs, rhythm in the columns, and room for every guest to line up with confetti. The interiors pair panelling and parquet with big sash windows, so even winter ceremonies sit in soft, directional daylight, the kind that flatters everyone and needs no flash. And the Marylebone Road frontage means red buses and black cabs pass every few seconds; stand still for one minute and London decorates the frame for you. My approach is documentary: I let the half hour happen and catch it honestly.

The photographs in this guide are from our register office and town hall weddings across London, each captioned with where it was taken.

Afterwards: Marylebone on foot

Few venues sit in a better neighbourhood for portraits. Marylebone High Street is five minutes away: bookshop windows, flower stalls, red phone boxes and long terraces of brick. The quiet mews streets either side of it feel private even on a Saturday. Regent's Park is a ten minute walk for green space, roses in summer and long avenues of trees, and if you want the classic London finish, the steps themselves plus one passing bus deliver it before you have even left the building.

Marrying here

Old Marylebone Town Hall gives you the grandest front door in London registry weddings and a building that flatters every guest count. The Ceremony collection covers weddings like this from £300, with Essentials and Signature for fuller days; this page shows exactly what each includes. For more London venues, read my guides to Camden Town Hall, Islington Town Hall and registry office weddings in London generally. I would love to photograph your day here.