Mayfair wedding photographer
Claridge's, The Dorchester, The Connaught, Grosvenor House and the Oriental Club. The Mayfair venues I have photographed, where to take portraits between them, and what it costs.
Mayfair is small, roughly the streets between Park Lane, Oxford Street, Regent Street and Piccadilly, but it packs in a remarkable number of wedding hotels.
I have photographed weddings at Claridge's, The Dorchester, The Connaught, Grosvenor House and the Oriental Club. This guide covers those, a few others couples ask about, where to take portraits, and what it costs. If you are looking further afield, I am a London wedding photographer and my wedding venues page has the rest of the city.
Mayfair wedding venues
Five Mayfair venues I have worked in, with links to the weddings and guides.
Claridge's
The London hotel I would put first for a wedding. Art Deco that was never modernised away, a staircase worth ten minutes of anyone's day, and the black-and-white chequered floor in the foyer. The foyer and staircase are shared with hotel guests, so portraits there are quick.
Claridge's guide
The Dorchester
Opened in 1931 and facing straight onto Hyde Park, so there is a green portrait location a few minutes from the door. The Penthouse and Harlequin Suites have big windows and park views, good rooms for getting ready. Some parts of the hotel are off limits for photographs, so ask the events team what you can use.
David and Sarah's wedding
The Oriental Club
A members' club in an 18th-century townhouse a couple of minutes from Bond Street station. Grand rooms, but a more private feel than a hotel. Kasia and Kireth married here three days before Christmas.
Kasia and Kireth's weddingThe Connaught
On the corner of Carlos Place and Mount Street. The building dates from 1897 and took the Connaught name in 1917. It is quieter and more discreet than Claridge's or The Dorchester, which suits smaller weddings. Outside, Tadao Ando's Silence water feature on Carlos Place makes a calm spot for a portrait, and Mount Street Gardens is round the corner.
Grosvenor House
On Park Lane. Its Great Room was built as an ice rink when the hotel opened in 1929 and became a banquet hall in the 1930s. It is the Mayfair venue for a very big wedding. See a Nigerian wedding at Grosvenor House.
Henry and Charlotte, Claridge's
One of the Claridge's weddings I have photographed, if you want to see a whole day there. See Henry and Charlotte's wedding.
Other venues couples ask about
I have kept to the facts for the ones I have not photographed. Check the details with each venue directly.
Mandarin Oriental Mayfair
One of the newest luxury hotels in London, on Hanover Square, a few minutes from Regent Street.
Mandarin Oriental Mayfair guide
Spencer House
Just across Piccadilly on the edge of Green Park, so it often comes up alongside the Mayfair hotels.
Spencer House guideSt George's, Hanover Square
Mayfair's Georgian parish church, where Theodore Roosevelt married Edith Carow in 1886 and Benjamin Disraeli married in 1839.
Brown's Hotel
Founded by James and Sarah Brown, and one of the oldest hotels in London, on Albemarle Street.
The Beaumont
Built in 1926 as a garage and opened as a hotel in 2014, next to Brown Hart Gardens.
Where to take portraits in Mayfair
Most of it is walkable, so fifteen or twenty minutes between the ceremony and dinner is enough to get somewhere good.
- Mount Street GardensSmall, walled and usually quiet. Round the corner from The Connaught.
- Berkeley Square and Grosvenor SquareBigger and more open, with plenty of trees.
- The mewsBehind the main streets there are cobbled mews like Adams Row and Mount Row, with brick, painted doors and very little traffic.
- The streetsGeorgian terraces on Mount Street and Charles Street, hotel façades on Brook Street and Carlos Place. Early on a weekend they are empty.
- Hyde ParkA few minutes from Park Lane, for something green in the middle of the city.
If you would like to get used to the camera first, a pre-wedding shoot in London works well in these streets.
A Mayfair wedding, start to finish
Documentary for most of the day, with time set aside for portraits.
Mostly documentary
Two cameras, one wide and one long, no barked instructions and no forty-minute group list. Most of the time I photograph what happens.
Portraits when the light is right
I take you away for fifteen or twenty minutes, to a garden square, a mews or the hotel staircase, depending on the day and the weather.
More than one venue
Multi-venue days are common here: getting ready at one hotel, the ceremony at a church, dinner somewhere else. Because most of it is walkable the timings are easy if they are planned.
More on how I approach days like this on my luxury wedding photography page.
What Mayfair wedding photography costs
The same collections I offer for every London wedding, priced by the hours you actually need.
Ceremony through to the speeches.
- For smaller weddings and daytime receptions
- Ceremony and drinks
- Portraits nearby
- Family groups kept short
- Dinner details and speeches
Preparations through to the first dance.
- The standard full London wedding day
- Getting ready
- Ceremony, drinks and portraits
- Dinner and speeches
- The first dance
Preparations through to the last dance.
- For big celebrations where nothing gets missed
- Everything in Classic
- Church ceremony and hotel reception
- The evening party
- An unhurried pace all day
A register office ceremony is from £350, a second photographer is £1,250, and albums are quoted separately. The full breakdown is on my London wedding photography prices page. Plenty of Mayfair couples marry first at Old Marylebone Town Hall, ten minutes north of Oxford Street, then come back to the hotel for the reception. I photograph that combination often.
What couples say
We had Barrie come by and photograph our civil ceremony / wedding registration at Old Marylebone Town Hall. We wanted it shot in an elopement style as it was just one of the many pre- weddings events …
Barrie was fab! He knew Old Marylebone Town Hall really well (even the registrars knew him). He made us feel comfortable and took us to really cute places to get some special shots. Would highly recom…
Barrie was the photographer for our civil wedding ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall and he was great! Professional, friendly and creative throughout the day. The photos are amazing, stylish and ple…
Barrie is incredible! He is a total pro and the best in the business! We love our photos so much. We got married at trading boundaries and he was the perfect photographer. So special. Thank you Barrie
Barrie was such a great photographer for our wedding from start to finish. He was so friendly and make us feel so calm and relaxed on our big day. The photos he took were amazing and we loved all of t…
Mayfair wedding photography questions
Which Mayfair venues have you photographed?
Weddings at Claridge's, The Dorchester, The Connaught, Grosvenor House and the Oriental Club. If your venue is somewhere else in Mayfair, ask, and I will tell you honestly whether I have worked there.
How much does a Mayfair wedding photographer cost?
My London collections are £1,350 for five hours, £1,800 for eight and £2,200 for eleven. A register office ceremony is from £350, and a second photographer is £1,250.
Where can we take wedding portraits in Mayfair?
Mount Street Gardens, Berkeley Square and Grosvenor Square are all close, the mews streets behind Mount Street are quiet, and Hyde Park is a few minutes' walk from Park Lane.
Can we have the ceremony and reception at different Mayfair venues?
Yes, and most of them are within walking distance of each other. Allow time for the walk and for portraits on the way.
Do you charge travel for Mayfair?
No. There are no travel fees anywhere in London.
When will we get our photographs?
Within a week, in a private online gallery.
Getting married in Mayfair?
Send me your date and venue and I will let you know straight away whether I am free. I read every enquiry myself.
Rather use the longer form? Head to the contact page
Planning a wedding nearby? See Westminster, Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Kensington and all my London wedding venues.
Barrie was the photographer for our late November wedding at the Old Marylebone Town Hall and we are absolutely delighted with the photographs. He was able to capture all the crucial moments before, d…