A wedding at islington town hall & the barbican
Wedding at The Barbican, London
I was absolutely delighted to be invited to film this wedding at the Barbican in London.
With it’s mix of brutalist concrete architecture and luscious conservatory gardens, it very much appealed to me on a photographic level.
When I first spoke with Tom and he told me the history of his & Jiaqi’s relationship, it then appealed to me on a more emotional level and I immediately became invested in telling their story.
At the point of us talking, their relationship had mainly been long distance.
Tom was living in London and Jiaqi was at home in China.
They had initially met in the U.K, but Jiaqi had return home and became stranded there due to the pandemic.
They set about making it work no matter what, and the relationship blossomed dispite the geography involved.
Tom had told me that he was in the middle of setting up home for him & Jiaqi, and had secured them a flat in the Barbican centre.
Jiaqi was due to travel back to the U.K and they would set up home together in the weeks running up to the wedding.
Once they were married, they would finally be able to live a life together that did’nt involve oceans of distance and many heartbraking goodbyes.
On the wedding day itself, they spent the morning getting ready together in their new home, giving myself and their photographer unprecedented access to a series of beautiful moments as they readied themselves for the ceremony.
The ceremony itself took place at Islington Town Hall, and was witnessed by select group of friends and family.
We all then moved on to Tom & Jiaqi’s favourite place to eat and drink, where we were treated to some of the most emotional, heartfelt and genuine speeches that I’ve had the pleasure to capture.
It was only then that I realised the true extent of their love for each other, as they told their heart warming story and expressed their full feelings in front of their guests.
Finally, we moved back to the Barbican centre for a walk around it’s grounds and conservatory, before meeting their guests again for some relaxed drinks.
Tom & Jiaqi wanted to take full advantage of the surroundings that the Barbican provided and share it all with their friends, since this was to be where they began their lives together.
Being around such warm and inviting people who exuded such love for each other was nothing short of nourishing.
I invite you to watch their film and hear their story.
THE STORY OF TOM & JIAQI
01.
02.
Was there a proposal? Did they see it coming? Tell me a little bit about how it all happened.
Tell me a bit about you guys. What do you each do for a living? What do you like to do when you're not at work? What's important to you in life?
I proposed to JIaqi during her visit in London last autumn. After spending 9 months apart from eachother we were finally reunited and every day we spent during her visit was so perfect and wonderful. We want to live life like this forever and one day after a rainy walk up in to highgate - after returning home and during a make shift relaxing footbath; I proposed to Jiaqi there and then. Through our marriage we are finally able to be together and after spending such a wonderful time together in the autumn we knew this is all that we wanted.
Jiaqi and I are very adventurous and free spirits. We love doing so much of the same things, independently and together such as: Traveling and exploring new cities/countries, we love music, seeing live performances and discovering new artists, and we are deeply in to films and cinema (we watched so many films during our long distance!). I work as a store manager for a Menswear clothing brand and I also like to create my own clothing and bags in my spare time. Jiaqi is an English language teacher and loves to meet different and interesting people through her lesson. I think what is important in both of our lives together is to not be grounded by things that dont make you happy such as career, material possessions and what is expected from society. We do things for us and for the people that we love around us first and are never bogged down by the day to day pressures of life and the status quo.
03.
04.
The Venue. Why did you choose it above anywhere else?
What experience do you want to give your guest
The Islington Town hall is small and sweet and fits nicely in to our intimate wedding idea. We love Angel and the surrounding area and have always seen many happy marriages at the Town Hall. We live just down the road in the Barbican and it is very near the canal too which we love. Therefore it is the ideal epicentre for our wedding day.
We want to show them how in love we are and we want to display that in a way that is personal and unique to us. We want them to feel comfortable and to dress in a way that helps them to feel comfortable. Ultimately we want them to celebrate with us and have a lovely time.
