Industrial and stylish – Asylum Chapel and 100 Barrington wedding photography

100 Barrington had been on my bucket list of unique London wedding venues for ages! It is a dry hire venue in converted railway arches in the heart of Brixton. The best in South London, 100 Barrington is a warehouse style wedding venue with its brick walls, high ceilings, and exposed wooden beams, but it also has lots of pretty features like festoon and fairy lights, optional chesterfield sofas, bard etc that create a cozy and intimate atmosphere. You can dress it further to your liking and style, of course; I hope my take on 100 Barrington Road wedding photography will inspire you too.

You can have your whole wedding day in 100 Barrington Road venue or have a ceremony elsewhere. Lexi and Tom chose an equally unique and stylish venue for their ceremony – the Asylum Chapel. The day was coordinated by a superstar of wedding coordinators – Laura aka Devine Bride, who is great at dry hire wedding planning in venues like 100 Barrington and making sure that you can actually enjoy your day as opposed to managing suppliers!

I started the day with Lexi and her family for some getting ready photography, and my fabulous second photographer, Aggie, met with Tom and his friends in The Victoria Inn in Peckham – quite close to the Asylum.

The ceremony was so beautiful yet relaxed – Lexi came with both of her parents down the aisle, and Ricardo from Southwark Registry team married them with a few jokes and light notes – see the photos!

After the ceremony, we headed out for the confetti, followed by Campari drinks and some semi-formal photos on the steps and inside. The guests boarded a Red Bus to travel to 100 Barrington while the couple and myself jumped in a cab to do a little detour for a cocktail at the Shrub & Shutter bar!

”Tom’s favourite part of the day was the Shrub and Shutter date and the random people saying congrats as we were in there and as we walked back to Barrington!”

It was not a random bar- the couple went to this bar for their first date, and, as it is literally around the corner from 100 Barrington venue, they had this idea to spend a few minutes away from the bustle of the wedding day and celebrate being newly-weds with a drink! I recommend more couples to do it! Grab a few minutes breather to enjoy that special moment.

 

While we were away, the guests enjoyed drinks and canapés in the courtyard. After saying hello to the guests, Lexi and Tom snuck in to see how the 100 Barrington looks in its full, dressed up glory. And OMG, it was impressive! The bare wood tables, gorgeous crockery, colourful stick candles, delicate seasonal flowers and foliage and fairy lights – it all worked together so well! I snapped a few photos of this moment – it was lovely and hopefully inspiring to others to see the venue decorated.

”We tried to make everything as personal and special to us as possible. That’s why we went for dry hire venues so we could put all of our touches into it.
The vintage plates we used are actually the same type we had at my parents’ hotel when we were growing up that they sold a few years ago when they retired. The crystal glasses were chosen because my grandad had these, that my parents now use. Claire’s illustrations are just dreamy, and I loved our table names with special places and memories woven into the drawings. She helped us make all of our stationary so personalised and with a touch of humour.”

The thing that impressed me a lot were napkins! I then learnt there was a story of ‘ Napkins of Hatred’ – it was about a wedding gift list for Lexi’s older sister that had £5 napkins. Lexi considered it as ‘the worst’ gift ever, but in mischief, and as the youngest sibling at that time, she actually bought all the napkins available and handed them to the couple as her gift! Despite that, the couple cherished the napkins a lot and actually use them for all family reunions. That led Lexi and Tom to come up with personalised napkins as a gift to all the guests.

”Sew Bella made the napkins and we honestly had the best time deciding what to put for everyone. I think my favourite was Rory’s which was him doing a naked rolly polly. He did this the first time we met which was hilarious and we’ve been great friends ever since.”

Before the dinner, the couple surprised everyone by exchanging their own personal vows. The initial plan was to do it during the ceremony in the Asylum, but plans had to change. I absolutely love that the couple put a neon sign ‘Better Together’ above their seats in 100 Barrington and it was a perfect backdrop for that moment!

 

Sustainability was a big part of the wedding planning.

”A big thing for us was thinking of the environment and trying to have everything as sustainable, and as local as possible. The flowers were all English flowers in season. We spent months doing wine tastings for English wines that we could use and that’s why we had a veggie feast , which was also using everything in season and as local as possible ingredients.
We also used a caterer who lives in Peckham (Salt and Honey) and a florist (Stems Wilder) in Brixton village, all trying to work with smaller suppliers who were local.”

Brixton is also super close to my heart. Having lived there for 9 years, every time I go back, I feel instantly home- luckily I am only 20 min away! I know the area pretty well, but I have to say that I got so surprised when I found this massive rainbow mural behind the venue! I think it is possibly part of the venue and definitely a great spot for photos.

After the dinner and emotional speeches, there was the Espresso martini time while the room was cleared for the party. And what a party it was!

 

And a few inspo words on the couple’s outfits. I do not shout enough about it but I should – POCKETS, COMFORT, OWN STYLE, DO IT YOUR WAY!

Lexi said: ” I had pinned a picture on pinterest with the Jurgita skirt on it before Tom and I even got engaged…. haha!
I just loved the idea of wearing a top and skirt, and of not being 100% traditional with a dress. The skirt was only available online but amazingly they had a trunk show at Hearts aFlutter, so I went and tried it on there. After shopping around I came back to it, it really was my fave… I mean it has pockets, what is not to love! Then I needed a top and I googled separates and stumbled across Catherine Deane. I loved the idea of having two tops and of being able to have a change for the evening, but it not being too extra and having a different dress. Then we needed a tailor and Catherine Deane recommended Nicola Donati and mum and I had the best time with him and his partner. They made the veil that was really boring, become so beautiful that I didn’t want to take it off.
I wore Tom’s mum’s charm bracelet as I lost my grandma’s charm bracelet that I had wanted to wear on our wedding day. But I did have my grandma’s gold coin necklace to wear.

Oh and the shoes, how could I forget! I knew I wanted a coloured shoe as they would be showing and Manolo’s are just iconic. Mum and I went to Selfridges to get those so we could make it another girly trip. I chose the blue to match my engagement ring.
I then wore some axel Ariagto’s later when my feet hated me for dancing. To be frank, I actually hadn’t meant to change into them so early but the bride squad saw how much pain I was in and stepped in and enforced the trainers!
Tom’s story is much more simple, haha. He went suit shopping with his dad and best man, found the suit in Ted Baker and bought it… he opted for no tie and a casual open top button.”

Finally, a few words of wisdom from the couple on wedding planning:

”Make it as personal to you both as possible, the personal details and touches are what will make it so special to you and also to your family and friends.
Planning a wedding at the moment is not easy, we know that first hand, if it gets too much, have a wedmin free weekend, go for a walk and be chilled together.
We’d say do not try and plan for every eventuality, planning for one wedding is hard enough, just focus on Plan A and deal with any changes as they come. ”

Fabulous advice, and if you are looking for a relaxed, yet creative100 Barrington wedding photographer who knows the venue and the area pretty well, do get in touch! I’d love to chat and tell you all about my approach. Here is what Lexi and Tom said about my 100 Barrington wedding photography!

”THE BEST PICTURES EVER, and you were such a dream on the day. Chilled, and totally in control. You made the process so fun and you made us not hate having our photo taken (which normally we do!)”

I was privileged to work with a wonderful team of suppliers mentioned above and some more that made this day so special!

Big thanks to my second photographer who was invaluable that day – from alternative photos at the ceremony, covering the drinks with groomsmen, capturing the fun the guests had while we went out for photos, some super cool frames included in this post, and wonderful support during the day – Aggie, you were fab

The rest of the dream team:

Anthology– tables chairs, furniture hire
Sadler & pen– illustrations
Harriets table– crystal glassware and cutlery, plates
bs.k1tchen – Beths kitchen- cake with Harry Potter style toppers!
photobot – photobooth
Wedding Smashers – dj
Solo Sounds Hire- lights and PA at asylum chapel
London Bus Company – transport
Rewritten– bridesmaid dresses
Portraits Bridal– hair and make up