Avenue House Wedding Finchley: I was recommended to Natasha and Paolo by Natasha’s cousin, a friend of mine whose wedding I shot at the gorgeous Italian Church in Clerkenwell in London over two years ago.
Two years on and Natasha and I met up about a month ago at Avenue House to discuss her wedding plans for here, as well as for her evening’s celebrations at The Sebright Arms, her cherished local pub in Barnet. Avenue House is a delightful Victorian mansion in Finchley with its own landscaped grounds and we were shown around by its very helpful facilities manager, Dave. We then pushed on for a final chat and quick look at her ‘local’ before saying our goodbye’s.
On the day of the wedding, the weather wasn’t playing ball as the forecast was for sun and we definitely weren’t getting any, quite the opposite as I hurriedly got pictures of guests arriving and running for shelter from the rain! Once inside, I took pictures while saying hello to many people I’d met before at my friend’s wedding and waited for Natasha and her Mum (who was giving her away) to arrive. Natasha looked beautiful in her ivory dress while her Mum looked on proudly and then it was time to get ready for the ceremony.
Avenue House has a small but delightful room where its marriage ceremonies take place and the abundant natural light really helped to show Natasha at her radiant best. She had already expressed how important the ceremony was to both of them and that she didn’t want me to be too obtrusive which I fully understood, especially given the intimacy of the place. I’m not someone who rattles off hundreds of frames on the basis some will be fine instead I’m very much of the ‘quality not quantity’ approach, certainly during the ceremony itself.
Ceremony over and it was straight in to the chaos that is the group shots – Natasha and Paola had a big family presence so we had a few pictures to get but we managed it, I think! I was very keen to get both of them outside for 20 minutes or so so they would have some pictures of just the two of them in front of the house and in the grounds. It is sometimes so easy for a bride and groom to get so caught up in their day that they forget about their own pictures together: it is an important role of the wedding photographer to make sure that come rain or shine, they get them which I did and for which they were both very thankful for!
Before we knew it, we were heading off to The Sebright for further celebrations and where Natasha and Paolo could finally let their hair down. This was a lovely, intimate wedding and I certainly look forward to my next occasion shared with their wonderful family.
Some pictures from their wedding day…