As an alternative London wedding photographer I often find myself shooting at the popular London Town Halls and their low key venues nearby. A lot of modern couples are planning a London Town Hall wedding followed by a meal or drinks at a restaurant or bar. I even did this myself! Having photographed over 400 weddings I chose to do a low key London Town Hall wedding, with a restaurant meal after in walking distance. We are then going to have a huge festival wedding in a field.
I loved my own Islington Town Hall and Frederick’s wedding so much that I decided to help out couples planning their relaxed London weddings by showing you the venue options near each of the most popular registry offices! If you want a more updated and comprehensive guide to planning your London wedding click here. But if you want to just quickly get some ideas for quick restaurant and relaxed venue recommendations for your London wedding keep reading below! If you click each of the venue names you’ll see a fuller blog post of a real wedding photographed there.
Reception venues for an Islington Town Hall wedding ceremony
I have previously been a listed supplier at Islington Town Hall and they’re popular because they have both small rooms for wedding ceremonies like the Mayor’s Office, and also the main large council chamber which can hold over 100 people including seats in a top balcony overlooking the round room. I have written a more detailed post on to Islington Town Hall weddings here with helpful tips and photos about each room. Also I have written a newer guide to the best London pubs and restaurants within walking distance of Islington Town Hall.
So if you’re getting married there some options for you are:
Frederick’s restaurant // 0.5 miles
Frederick’s is a modern restaurant serving great food and wine that can hold a surprisingly large number of guests in their glass greenhouse space, with an outdoor garden section and 4 indoor spaces. This is where I had my own wedding dinner so I can really vouch for it! Click here for a wedding at Frederick’s restaurant.
The Islington Metalworks Wedding Venue // 0.8 miles
This is a fantastic venue that I’ve used multiple times for both shoots and my own wedding photography workshops. It’s the event space attached to a live music venue, the staff are fabulously on it, it’s a colourful cool looking space that doesn’t even need too much decor as it already contains a tube carriage for a bar atop with a skull and you can also ask the venue staff to decorate it with some of the working metal yard props
The Peasant Pub // 1.1 miles
This is a really popular punky pub where you hire the whole space, they do fab food and they have an upstairs space for the dinner with the dancing taking place downstairs. PLEASE NOTE THE PEASANT IS NOW CLOSED.
Artisan of Clerkenwell // 1.5 miles
This is a more modern space with a lot of iron and concrete. It works best as a party space but I’ve seen them host wedding dinners for smaller wedding sizes
The Zetter Townhouse // 1.5 miles
The Zetter Townhouse is a really quirky decorated hotel with private dining rooms right next door to the Artisan of Clerkenwell, so it’s possible to split your reception across the two! Click here to see a full gallery of a stunning wedding at the Zetter Townhouse.
The Depot // 1.6 miles
The Depot is a fab wooden and brick industrial style venue with an outdoor courtyard decorated with fairy lights. It’s open plan and sits across two levels around a large round bar. It’s very popular, and it can hold a larger London wedding. Click here for a full wedding at The Depot.
The Singer Tavern // 1.8 miles
The Singer Tavern is a beautiful restaurant with wooden floors, stunning natural light through the restaurant windows, and a downstairs bar which retains some of the original charm of the Singer Sewing machine shop. Click here for a full wedding at the Singer Tavern.
Reception venues for a Stoke Newington Town Hall wedding ceremony
The Stoke Newington Town Hall is another popular registry office because it can also hold a lot of guests and it’s placed right next to the stunning Clissold Park. It’s a very warm wooden ceremony space with a balcony. You can easily use the park for your group photos after.
Abney Public Hall // 0.3 miles
Abney Public Hall is a large urban white walled village hall style venue very close to Stoke Newington Town Hall that can fit long trestle tables for large wedding receptions.
Clissold House // 0.3 miles
Clissold House is very unique in the sense that the rooms are a light sweet pastel colour, it holds a small number of guests and is situated in the stunning Clissold Park where it’s easy to take your group and couple photos when the weather is nice. Click here to see a full example of a wedding ceremony at Clissold House.
Londesborough Pub // 0.3 miles
The Londesborough pub is within walking distance from Stoke Newington Town Hall and is a cool red walled punky pub that is also owned by same team who run The Peasant. It has a very similar vibe- nice food, a cool modern pub. Click here to see an example of a wedding reception at the Londesborough.
Woodberry Wetlands // 0.9 miles
If you’re a Londoner who prefers a bit of an outdoors vibe, the Woodberry Wetlands is a small venue with one room and an outdoor marquee attached to the side. Click here to see a full wedding at Woodberry Wetlands.
Where to hold your reception after a Hackney Town Hall wedding ceremony
Hackney Town Hall is an iconic cool London wedding venue with its large statement steps and set right on a bustling East London high street. The ceremony space has unique metal grid walls and lovely high ceiling light.
The Round Chapel // 0.6 miles
The Round Chapel is a fab historical venue in a big open plan horse shoe shape that’s one large room with a gorgeous church organ back drop. You can have both the ceremony and reception here whilst going outside as they change the room over. Click here to see a full wedding at the Round Chapel.
Village Underground // 2 miles
The Village Underground is a very quirky East London venue that is very large with high ceilings, brick work and it’s used to hosting music gigs. It is nearby a lot of the Shoreditch graffiti, and sits under the famous two tube carriages. Click here to see a full wedding at The Village Underground.
Jones & Sons // 1.2 miles
Jones & Sons is a hip industrial bar in Dalston with a large courtyard. They can cater for your whole wedding party with long tables and a separate dance floor space complete with disco ball! Click here to see a full Jones & Sons wedding.
Old Marylebone Town Hall wedding
Marylebone Town Hall is probably the second most frequently photographed at London Town Hall for me following Islington. I have photographed in several of the rooms, but I am usually in the largest dark brown panelled ceremony room. It’s a stunning wedding ceremony venue that was renovated a few years ago, they have iconic marble steps and both light and dark ceremony rooms. Interestingly there are not tons of pub and restaurant wedding venues within walking distance of Marylebone Town Hall. Almost all the weddings I have photographed there have jumped on red double decker London buses. However, there are a few within a couple of miles…
The Amadeus // 1.5 miles
The Amadeus is a cool hidden gem in the heart of London. It boasts a gorgeous fairy lit main room and basement rooms for your wedding party. When I photographed a wedding here they actually had the ceremony at The Asylum Chapel in Peckham, but The Amadeus is close to the Old Marylebone Town Hall. Click here for a full look at a wedding at The Amadeus.
Heist Bank // 0.8 miles
Heist Bank is a very cool industrial brick and art poster style venue. It is right on the Paddington Basin so you also have great opportunity to take stunning couple and group photos. Click here for a closer look at a Heist Bank wedding in Paddington.
I hope this helps you plan your London wedding! For more information on Islington Town Hall wedding photos check out my more recent post. I also give advice on how to plan a cool low key London Town Hall wedding in this updated post. Get in touch if you need an alternative London wedding photographer.
