Five Best Luxury London Hotel Wedding Venues

Choosing a Fabulous London Hotel for your Wedding

Hi all, here’s a little London Wedding Hotel Guide written from the perspective of me, the wedding photographer. Its also a perfect opportunity to share some of my photography from last years fab wedding season. I’m taking booking for weddings this year and next and would love to hear from you. You can use my Contact Page to drop me a line and check my availability. I’m looking forward to meeting you. In the mean time, enjoy the Journal.

Central London Exclusive Hotels for Weddings

London has a mammoth amount of amazing wedding and reception venues, many of which I’m familiar with. It can be tricksy to find the Hotel venue that best suits your own wedding plans. Therefore I’ve chosen five of my fave Central London Luxury Wedding Hotels that I have photographed weddings at previously and jotted down a few of my thoughts on each. Your welcome! Down the line I’m going to put together another fun Journal post on some of my other fave London wedding venues including the ever popular London Town Halls.

Why are London Town Hall Weddings so popular.

London Town Hall Wedding Photographer

Firstly, they are often stunning buildings, Islington, Old Marylebone and Hackney Town Halls all being a case in point. Secondly, weddings in a London Town Hall are often substantially cheaper than a Hotel wedding venue but often the saving is then spent on a separate reception venue. But enough of that…first, a little bit about me, your London Documentary Wedding Photographer

Award Winning East London Documentary Wedding Photographer

I’ve been photographing weddings in London and UK wide for over a decade. Stoke Newington in Hackney, East London is home. In my twenties I bounced all over the shop, renting in Camden, Bethnal Green, Tufnell Park and Kentish Town. I was a young photographer shooting bands and lifestyle features for magazines when I met my journalist wife and together we finally settled in N16. We made some babies, bought a cat and a volvo and now its 2024! I have an About Page that throws a little light onto what makes me tick and what fuels my love of wedding photography. In this Journal I’m going to run through my some of the amazing London Hotel wedding venues that I regularly photograph wedding at and why there’re so popular.

Why choose a Luxury London Hotel as a wedding venue?

Getting married in a gorgeous central London Hotel doesn’t need a hard sell right?! Logistically (logistics, always such a romantic subject) it makes perfect sense. You get ready there, you get married and celebrate your wedding there and you crawl into a huge kingsize bed there, bloomin’ marvelllous right? Its hard to put a price on being able to stagger upstairs after a wedding party and flop into bed rather than struggling with cabs at one in the morning. That said, of course you can put a price on staying at a luxury hotel in London, its mega bucks! But, for this one night of your life I’d say it’s definitely worth it! Convenience is a large part of hiring a London hotel wedding venue and that comes at a premium worth paying.

What does a Wedding Photographer look for in a high end Central London Hotel?

The London Hotel wedding venues that I’m choosing are based on my knowledge as a wedding photographer not as a foodie btw. All the London Hotel Wedding Venues I’ve listed guarantee amazing food and wine pairing etc, so you take that as a given. As a documentary wedding photographer I am more interested in the lighting at a Hotel, this is super important. First and foremost I love natural light, daylight. Stylish hotels give much thought to lighting. The very best Hotels (some of which I will talk about in a moment) give their lighting a ton of thought and provide warm pools of light rather than green conference lighting. I’ve shot some weddings where it looks like the lighting has been styled on a hospital ward. Another key element that all the hotels on. my lst have is a jumble of different and differently styled rooms and spaces. I think having areas for a wedding party to drift through makes a big difference rather than one large ball room for example. So, I will stop waffling on and get into my fave London Wedding Hotels. Enjoy.

A Photographers Choice of Favourite London Hotels for Weddings

#1 The Town Hall Hotel. Patriot Square. Bethnal Green. London. E2 9NF Instagram: @townhallhotel

I have had the great pleasure of photographing a number of weddings at The Town Hall Hotel. All the hotels on my list of the best London Wedding Hotels have amazing interiors, staff, food and lighting etc but only The Town Hall Hotel has its own Council Chamber in which to get married. The Council Chamber at The Town Hall Hotel is very similar to Islington Town Hall or Hackney Town Hall’s civic council chambers. There is gorgeous fixed wooden seating and a raised dais, it was a functioning law court back in the day. The Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotels’s Council Chamber has huge South facing windows that flood the room with natural light. In the winter the room is illuminated by attractive (and flattering) chandeliers. I tend to stay to the periphery of a wedding ceremony in order to stay out of eye-lines, this beautiful and historic room enables me to move easily around to get loads of fab angles without getting in anyones way and with the minimum of fuss.

Town Hall Hotel Bethnal Green Documentary Wedding Photographer

I love photographing weddings at this East London luxury Hotel. The De Montfort Suite works beautifully for drinks and the Bethnal Hall is perfect for dining. The Town Hall Hotel is in Bethnal Green and has a stunning exterior with ornate steps, great for confetti and family groups. I often take a bride and groom for a little stroll around the area after confetti for some portraits. This gritty East London area provides a fantastic back drop, a total reversal of the grandeur of the hotel, very cool for alternative portraits.

#2 The Rosewood Hotel. 252, High Holborn London, WC1V 7EN. Instagram: @RosewoodLondon

Central London Hotel with Ball Room for Weddings

The Rosewood Hotel in Holborn is slap bang in the middle of London. This amazing hotel is at the top of tree on so many catagories, its super stylish, mega luxurious and has a ton of excellent locations within for portraits. The Director of Romance (real title – promise!) at this 5 star mega luxury Hotel is is able to help with all the details. There is a huge ball room at The Rosewood with a separate ceremony room. There is a huge marble staircase that dominates the hotel. I have been privileged to capture emotional scenes of brides and their fathers walking down these stairs and also used them for Mr & Mrs portraits. The mirror corridor at The Rosewood Hotel is stunning. The surrounding streets of Holborn are cute, perfect for a little wander for natural and unposed portraits. The Scarfes Bar serves up cocktails and old school charm, lots of Chesterfield arm chairs and open fires. This awesome bar is a welcome meeting point for a pre wedding drink.

#3 The Goring Hotel. 15 Beeston Place, London, SW1W 0JW Instagram: @thegoring

A wedding at The Goring Hotel is like stepping back in time. The hotel is full of old school charm and even has a Royal seal of approval. Its where Princess Diana got ready before her Royal Wedding and also where Kate Middleton prepared before marrying Will. The Goring doesn’t try to be coolest hotel in London and it isn’t. What this hotel is though is a charming 5 star luxury venue with smiling doorman, a wonderful bar and decades of history. There’s a beautiful function room with adjoining bar for a self contained wedding space. The Goring Hotel has a lovely manicured garden and terrace, open throughout the year for drinks receptions. I always photographing a Goring Hotel wedding, the team there really know their stuff.

#4 The Chesterfield Hotel. 35, Charles Street, Mayfair, London. W1J 5EB Instagram: @chesterfieldmayfair

The Chesterfield Hotel in Mayfair is beautiful and quintessentially British. The interior is super stylish and above all elegant. This area of London is expensive and exclusive. The last wedding I shot at The Chesterfield Hotel started in Green Park with 20 kilted Groomsmen. I left that particular wedding with the same 20 kilted scotsmen filling the dance-floor but a little less stable, excellent fun all round. Next door to the Chestfield Hotel is the Dartmouth House.

Dartmouth House. 37, Charles Street, Mayfair, London. W1J 5ED Instagram: @dartmouthhousemayfair

I am going to add Dartmouth House wedding venue to Chesterfields description as they are next door to each other! Dartmouth House is a private members club with stunning rooms, high ceilings and exposed wooden floor-boards. There is a huge central staircase and a gorgeous exterior drinks area, amazing in the summer. The outside space is perfect for speeches and can be set up for an alfresco wedding ceremony. Well worth a look.

#5 One Hundred Shoreditch. 100, Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JQ. Instagram: @onehundredshoreditch

The One Hundred Shoreditch Hotel was the starting point of a wonderful Shoreditch Studios wedding from last year. I’m slightly cheating in that I didn’t actually photograph a wedding at this super cool East London Hotel. That said, I did spend a lot of time there and totally fell for its wicked cool vibes! Shoreditch is a stylish area of East London, and the One Hundred Shoreditch Hotel is bang in the middle. The hotel is close to The Tea Building where Shoreditch House made its home. Brick Lane is just around the corner and the area is chocca block with cafes and trainer shops, my kinda area! If you are after a cool central hotel to either get married at or use for pre wedding/wedding night then I recommend a little recce. The bride and groom and I went on a lovely walk post wedding using some of the grafitti’ed walls as back drops.

Low Key and Natural London Wedding Photographer

If you are planning your own London Hotel wedding and would like to check my availability then Drop me a Line. My Portfolio has plenty of examples full weddings I’ve shot over the last few years. My Journal is also a useful resource if your checking out venues. Good luck with your planning, I’m looking forward to meeting you.