Morden Park House & Home community Cafe - London wedding (an ode to flutter darlings confetti canons)
getting ready together at home
My absolute favourite kind of ‘getting ready’ wedding photography is you, together at home. Being amongst your belongings gives us an immediate insight into who you are and what fires you up. From your record collection to your books displayed by colour. Hannah (she/her) and Rosie (she/her) live not far from Morden Park House so it made sense that would get ready together in their London flat. A mate did their make up and they spent the last hour before leaving for the ceremony writing the last of their guest cards (each of the 100+ guests had a unique hand written card on the table for them!) and trying to find Rosie’s reeboks, before hopping in an uber to the ceremony.
Morden park house ceremony (merton register office)
Morden Park House aka Merton Register Office is one of my favourite West London legal venues. Each room is filled with light so no matter the weather it’s a dream to capture ceremonies in. H&R paused to pop on Han’s incredible cape before greeting eager guests and heading off to have their interview. The ceremony was held in the Lord Nelson room with 50 of their friends and family and included readings from mates: The Orange by Wendy Cope and an extract from their favourite book that made Tristan and I immediately want to read it:
“There are moments in life, so monumental and still, that the memory can never be retrieved without a catch to the throat or an interruption to the beat of the heart. Can never be retrieved without the rumbling disquiet of how close that moment came to not having happened at all.”
― Sarah Winman, Still Life
The highlight of the ceremony was stolen by a baby on the front row who timed his hiccups perfectly to the moment of ‘any lawful reasons why these two may not wed?’ - cue mortified parents and cackles all round.
Home community Cafe SW18
Just a few minutes walk from H&R’s flat is Home Community Cafe. This space is not only beautiful, but a true community:
“We are a not for profit cafe and COMMUNITY hub, that allows people from all different walks of life to engage with each other and SOCIAL action, connecting resources in our community to the needs of our community.”
It was the only choice for their wedding celebrations and as soon as we entered the space we could see why. Guests had gone ahead of us so we could spend a few minutes in the ground of Morden Park, and we entered the reception to a tornado of Flutter Darlings confetti - a signal that the rest of the day was going to be about colour and joy. Being primary school teachers is was only natural that guests were encouraged to draw their faces for a wedding teatowel, and in ode to Rosie’s love of journalism newspapers were handed round that also served as a tool for the introverts in the room. Banana bread (a staple of the community cafe) and drinks were on hand and Hannah’s carefully curated playlist (with transitions) meant the vibes were lush.
Personalised cards for every guests
When guests sat down for dinner (delicious family style, vaguely Mediterranean food with sharing plates in the middle of tables) they found they each had a card waiting for them, handwritten and totally unique. So cute! This is something I’ve seen increasingly so at weddings in the last few years and I think it is such a personal touch that makes guests feel amazing. It’s very hard to say everything you want to say to 100+ people on your wedding day, so having taken the time to write it down, just in case you can’t find that moment to say it in person, makes everyone there feel valued. It’s often my favourite bit of the video edit and you’ll find Tristan and I darting about like hummingbirds in trying to capture as many reactions as we can!
The low light of spring poured in for their speeches from mums, sisters and gal pals (more women speaking at weddings always!) and after a couple of hours it was desert pies and cocktails time whilst the cafe team cleared tables and the brass band arrived.
The confetti canon moment to end all confetti canon moments
Rosie and Han were exceptional clients in that they listened to my ethos of ‘it’s flutter darlings, or nothing’ and ‘go big (with confetti) or go home’. They mentioned they had bought some canons for their dance floor, so whilst guests were enjoying their pies I went to get the canons ready. I absolutely cackled when I saw the size of them. I had no idea they made them this big! Six JUMBO Danny canons were ready to rock and so after chatting to the band and giving a couple of guests a secret mission of finding four more reliable canon exploders it was time to kick off the party with an explosion that gave me actual goosebumps. There was no formal first dance which made it even more amazing. I love the chaos and magic of this moment and was so chuffed I managed to get them both in focus and in frame through the thick sea of paper circles!
a nightmare to clear up? yes. A broken hoover? yes. Worth it? HELlllllll yeah!
At 9pm pizzas were flown in from across the street (always a hit) and just before 10pm the community choir that Rosie and Han met through gathered up to sing a few glorious songs signalling the end of the cafe stint. The night wasn’t over though, we left (after being showered with bubbles for a champagne spray shot) as the last ones standing headed to the pub down the road to continue shenanigans. We’d been with R&H for twelve hours but left feeling like we’d become part of the fam. I loved every second of this wedding and was truly in awe of how ‘them’ every single part of it was. No tradition they didn’t want stayed, everything that felt good remained. Bliss.
The suppliers that made it magic:
@sisiano (outfits)
@homecafesw18 (venue + food)
@flutterdarlings (confetti)
@blueapple.pie (pies for dessert)
@apollobrassband (band)
@wellkneadedfood (pizzas for end of dancing)
@newspaperclub (newspapers)
@halfwayhousesw18 (pub for after 10pm)
@monumentalbalham (choir at the end of the night)
Wanna see more? Course ya do:
