A St James’s Palace and Thames wedding: Natalia & Amir

Wedding preparations at The Stafford London

I joined Natalia at The Stafford London, where she and her bridesmaids were getting ready together. It was a beautiful, noisy morning—the kind where there is always something happening and the preparations are as much a part of the celebration as everything that follows.

Between photographing the bridal preparations, I also slipped out to capture Amir having drinks with his friends at the pub. Being able to photograph both sides of the morning added so much to the story, showing how each of them spent those final hours before the ceremony.

I loved that the story began with both of them among their friends. Natalia’s busy bridal morning at The Stafford and Amir’s drinks at the pub gave us two views of the hours before the ceremony. They were part of the same wedding, but each had its own energy and the people who made it personal.

Photographing both meant that their finished gallery could show each of them something of the other’s morning. Those parallel beginnings add so much to a wedding story before the couple come together for the ceremony.

A wedding ceremony at St James’s Palace

Their ceremony took place in the extraordinarily beautiful private chapel at St James’s Palace. Afterwards, we made photographs around the chapel and the surrounding central London setting before continuing to Kensington Palace Gardens for the wedding breakfast.

The chapel at St James’s Palace brought a striking change of atmosphere after the bustle of the preparations. This was the central moment of a wedding that would move through several London settings, and I wanted the photographs to give the ceremony room within that larger adventure.

Making pictures around the chapel afterwards connected their newlywed portraits to the place where they had just married. It gave this chapter an ending before we moved on to the wedding breakfast.

A wedding breakfast in Kensington Palace Gardens

There, the day opened into a different kind of celebration, with lawn games and speeches bringing everyone together. It was a lovely contrast to the ceremony and another distinct chapter in a day full of changing settings.

The garden celebration allowed another side of the wedding to unfold. Lawn games and speeches gave everyone something to share, and the photographs could turn towards the wider gathering after the focus of the ceremony. Natalia and Amir’s plans had brought several different kinds of celebration into the same day.

That variety made it a joy to photograph. The important thing was to keep the people connecting those chapters, so that the change of location helped tell the story rather than taking over from it.

Golden-hour wedding portraits in London

Later, we headed out for golden-hour portraits at some of London’s iconic locations. With so much happening throughout the wedding, this was also a chance to bring the focus back to Natalia and Amir together.

The golden-hour portraits brought us back to Natalia and Amir as a couple. With preparations, a palace ceremony and the wedding breakfast already behind them, this was a chance for a different pace before the evening party. London gave us its setting, and their time together gave the photographs their focus.

A wedding party on the River Thames

And then came the finale: a party on a boat on the Thames. The evening finished with music and dancing, with London all around us.

Ending on the Thames gave their wedding one final change of scene. From the bridal morning at The Stafford to dancing on a boat, the photographs could follow a day that kept opening into something new. The party was a wonderful closing chapter to a story with so much life in it.

What made photographing Natalia and Amir special was that combination of a grand London setting and a celebration full of their people. Friends in the morning, guests gathered for the ceremony, games and speeches, then music on the river: each part added something worth remembering.

From the bustle of the bridal morning to the beauty of the chapel, the garden celebrations and the boat party, Natalia and Amir’s wedding gave me so much to photograph. It was a joy to tell a story with that much movement and variety, while keeping the two of them at its heart.