Winter Asylum Chapel + Friendly Place Wedding

09/02/2020

 

Creative alternative wedding photography at Asylum Chapel

+ Friendly Place reception – two unique London wedding venues


Natasha + Simon

 

If you are getting married in London you are definitely spoilt for choice in regards to wedding venues. There are some super cool and quirky venues like Asylum Chapel that are worth the wait (they get booked up pretty fast!).

Natasha and Simon opted for a winter wedding, just before Christmas, to fit around busy work life and to get all their close ones together. They chose two of the best wedding venues in South London for sure!

The Asylum Chapel, famous now for their unique, decaying and absolutely beautiful interiors and Friendly Place – a converted warehouse full of quirkiness, colour (check that green wall with Queen E’s portrait) and a variety of rooms to host both reception and party. As Natasha put it: ”I saw the Asylum on Pinterest and fell in love with it. We were so lucky that we live close to the venue. After that, I found Friendly Place on a wedding blog of a couple who had got married at the Asylum and then had the reception at Friendly Place. Both places were perfect for us.”

 

I had the pleasure to photograph at the Asylum Chapel before and now I have summer, autumn and winter weddings under my belt there. You can check previous weddings here and here. I love shooting there as I can get uber creative each time and the light is so different making every wedding to stand out. Natasha loved my artistic approach to wedding photography and I am so pleased she found me:

”I knew I didn’t want typical posed photos. I booked you as soon as we’d met you as you made us feel so relaxed about the whole thing”.

 

Natasha looked like a million dollar (that dress may surprise you!) and Simon was very dapper too. Together with bridesmaids in wine red and navy mismatched dresses, two gorgeous princesses, I mean flowers girls, two page boys (one who run the aisle in style) and best woman they looked stunning! I adored winter feel to this wedding with this colour palette and simple but perfect styling. These two wedding venues offer so much already!

 

Here is my selection of highlights from the day. You can read more about this wedding and get suppliers info at the bottom.

 

Number 18 

We met on E-harmony. Simon proposed on my birthday when we had been together 18 months. He cooked my favourite breakfast and we had champagne on our balcony. We got married 18 months after he proposed.

You can see what we got up for their engagement photos here.

 

Those stylish outfits

I thought I wanted a mermaid style wedding dress but when I tried them on they just didn’t suit me so I ended up with something completely different but loved so much. My late Nan actually chose the dress, it was customised as it was slightly to low cut for me. The veil was handmade for me as I knew exactly what I wanted but couldn’t find it anywhere. I knew it would look amazing at the Asylum!

 

Wedding styling

I used Pinterest a lot but we ended up doing most things ourselves using Etsy. The choice of venues meant we didn’t need loads of decoration as we wanted them to speak for themselves.

 

Winter tones flowers

My mum’s work friend, Sally, who did my sister’s wedding flowers also did mine. I knew the style I wanted (wild bunch like someone had just picked them from a field) with dark red and lots of greenery. I also wanted thistles as Simon always makes sure the flowers he buys me have them in. My late Nan’s charm bracelet was wrapped around it to in memory of her on my wedding day.

 

Ceremony with a celebrant

We had a reading from ‘Nightmare before Christmas’, ‘Yes I’ll Marry You’ by Pam Ayres (I struggle with soppy stuff so thought this was apt) and a Shakespeare sonnet that Simon’s Grandad chose. We didn’t tailor our vows but we opted to have a celebrant so she personalised the whole ceremony which was so much better than just having a registrar.

 

First dance and song compromise

Our choice was a song by Panic Room – Start the sound. Simon and I don’t like the same music but he played me this band not long after we met and I loved it. 

 

Evening entertainment

We had a band- Pixie and the Gypsies. Pixie played at my 30th party and I’ve known her for years so as soon as we got engaged I knew we had to have them. After their set we just played a spotify playlist on shuffle which really worked well. The dance floor always had people on it. I also changed my stilettos to trainers at this point. I knew I wanted to feel comfy on the day so got matching glitter ones from Carvela.

 

Favourite moment?

I can’t pick really. The meal was great (Simon is a chef so you can imagine how important it was to ensure fabulous food was on the tables!) and I loved the evening party with all our loved ones. And obviously getting married!

 

Wedding planning advice

Make sure you track where every bit on money is going and money coming in, we had a spread sheet so we knew exactly where we were with budget at all times. And everyone says it but the day really does go so fast and is a complete blur. I wouldn’t do anything differently though!

 

Suppliers board

Photography: Joasis Photography

Ceremony venue: The Asylum Chapel

Reception venue: Friendly Place

Celebrant: Holly Smith

Dress: Wed2be Ferne

Shoes and trainers: Carvela – heels Alison, trainers Jasper

Suit and shoes: Burton

Catering: Warburtons 

Cake of cheese: Neals Yard Dairy

Band: Pixie and the Gypsies

Hair and Make up: Make up Blend

Accessories and jewellery: Hair vine, Cinnamon-Rose Veil hand made by 31WBridal

Mum’s pearls earrings presents from 21st birthday

Favours – home made sloe gin

Bridesmaid dresses -Lipsy, Little Mistress, Chi Chi and Godiva

 

I cannot wait to go back to photograph at the Asylum Chapel and Friendly Place again this year!

 

 

In this set of photos you could also see a bunch of pics of my second photographer Raf and Ellie Gillard who helped at reception.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Joasis Photography is Asylum wedding photographer offering creative modern wedding photography with an alternative edge.

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HELLO

Hey, you’ve come this far, may as well drop me a line. If you’ve got a date in mind, do get in touch swiftly. I only book in around 25 weddings a year and the popular dates (May - October) go FAST. So the sooner we get you booked in, the better! 

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