Thong Yen & Ludwig: A First Look at St Pancras and a Camden Town Hall Wedding

Thong Yen and Ludwig married on a Saturday afternoon in October, in the Heath Suite at Camden Town Hall. They had two hours of coverage, and they wanted to use every minute of it. So we built the day as a short walk: a first look under the roof of St Pancras, five minutes across the road to the Town Hall, then portraits on the way south through Bloomsbury to lunch on High Holborn.

A first look at the Meeting Place

Ludwig waited at the Meeting Place statue on the upper concourse of St Pancras, the nine-metre bronze of a couple embracing beneath the station clock. A friend let me know when Thong Yen was on her way, I walked her over, and from that point there was no script. Saturday afternoon at St Pancras is busy, so I worked low and close in the arcades along the red-brick wall, where the crowd falls away behind the columns. If you are thinking of doing the same, I've written up how a first look at St Pancras works, including the timings.

Waiting

The first look

The Meeting Place

The ceremony in the Heath Suite

From the station it is a short walk across Euston Road to the Judd Street entrance of the Town Hall, with the gothic front of the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel behind you. Camden asks couples to arrive fifteen minutes before the ceremony for a quick private interview with the registrar, so we left the station with time to spare.

The Heath Suite is one of the brighter rooms in the building: tall windows along one wall, pale walls and rows of white chairs, so the light stays soft and even all the way through. Camden allows photography throughout the ceremony as long as it isn't disruptive, so I worked quietly from the edges, without flash. The moments that came out best were the ones nobody planned: the room laughing together, and Thong Yen looking up at Ludwig while she signed the register.

Signing

Confetti, then the Marble Staircase

Confetti at Camden happens outside, on Judd Street, and it has to be biodegradable, so petals are the safe choice. Group photographs followed straight away while everyone was still together. Then we went back inside for a few minutes on the Town Hall's marble staircase, which is the best indoor portrait spot in the building and doubles as the rain plan. It is shared with other couples marrying that afternoon, so we used it the moment it was free.

The walk to lunch

Thong Yen and Ludwig had booked lunch at No. 10 on High Holborn, about a twenty minute walk away, and they liked the idea of walking it. That turned the end of the coverage into a portrait session that went somewhere. We headed south down the tree-lined streets below the Town Hall, stopped at a red telephone box, crossed a few quiet zebra crossings and finished among the big plane trees of the garden squares further south. The full route, with the spots worth stopping at, is in my guide to a wedding photo walk from Camden Town Hall through Bloomsbury.

The Marble Staircase

On the way to lunch

What two hours can hold

This was our Ceremony collection: two hours of coverage and more than fifty hand-edited photographs in a private online gallery. Two hours sounds short, but with a plan it covers a first look, the ceremony, confetti, family photographs and a proper set of portraits. The trick is keeping everything within walking distance, and Camden Town Hall, with St Pancras across the road and Bloomsbury on its doorstep, makes that easy.