Why choose the London rowing club wedding venue
I’ve photographed at various rowing club venues along the River Thames in London. Notably a Wes Anderson themed Lea Rowing Club wedding. Having a rowing club as your wedding venue is perfect if you want somewhere with the River Thames as a backdrop but you don’t need the larger warehouse sized venue like Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding venue. They always have beautiful light with big windows and the London Rowing Club has classic, rowing themed decor spread across their various rooms. I started the day getting ready at a nearby airbnb in Putney with both the bride and groom. Many of my modern engaged couples choose to get ready together which creates a great opportunity to have photos of both the bride and groom, and an intimate first look photo.
The bride wore a dress from Brides Do Good which is an incredible charity that gives a third of profits to the cause of ending child marriage. Her hair and make up was done by Tracey Baden.
Wedding decor for a Putney London wedding
The London Rowing Club is very beautiful in itself, but you can choose to decorate it for some extra personalisation. This couple chose to have gorgeous light pastel flowers from Dovers Flowers, and the best man who is a professional artist created an AMAZING painting of the couple on a boat on the River Thames. During the ceremony this couple had a large TV screen up to play videos from friends and family who couldn’t attend the wedding. They had their friend as a celebrant to conduct the ceremony, and joined sand from each family home into one keepsake jar to symbolise their union.
Confetti at a London Rowing Club wedding
At this riverside London wedding venue you can choose to throw biodegradable confetti either on the public street. If you don’t want to make your guests go down the staircase, the outdoor balcony. That’s what this couple chose to do, when they exit they can turn right out of the ceremony room and wait in the lobby, whilst the guests turn left straight out to the balcony. I recommend asking some of your wedding party to hold the basket or packets of confetti so guests can grab their handful as they pass through the doors. Then, when everyone is ready I called the couple through to be showered with their gorgeous pink confetti. The best confetti for weddings in my personal opinion is the cut paper circles because they float down slowly and reliably fill the photo!
After the confetti, 3 Gents Events Catering brought out the canapés and drinks. At the London Rowing Club you’re allowed to bring in your own caterer of choice.
Wedding dinner reception at London Rowing Club
Whilst the guests are outside on the balcony, the venue staff turned the ceremony room into the dinner room. Dovers Flowers based locally in Putney produced GORGEOUS decorations for the table. The table numbers were elegantly drawn by the best man
Personalised letters to guests as wedding favours
I’ve seen this done twice at weddings now. It’s hopefully set to be a wonderful 2025/2026 wedding trend. When guests collect their name card, it has a mini envelope with a little personalised note!
After the drinks reception the guests took their notes and their seats. In between courses they were free to come back to the lobby to complete their lego guest book entry. This was another unique wedding guest book idea. The boxes contained each of the pieces, the guests could customise their little figure the way they wanted. I believe the couple plan to display all the lego figures in their home. They also hired a live artist, Kirsty Marshall to provide a sketch of each guest as a wonderful memento.
Both the groom and bride gave speeches, as did their best man. Following the lovely dinner the guests went out for tea and coffee in the lobby. Some guests enjoyed some table tennis competition. They then came back into the main ceremony room for the cake cutting and the first dance. The music was provided by DJ Miss Velocity.
