London Sunrise Pre-Wedding Photography
Charlotte & Liam’s London Sunrise Pre-Wedding Photography on a sunny morning in May.
Charlotte & Liam are getting married at Shrigley Hall in August, but live in London. I suggested we do their pre-wedding shoot in London, and they loved the idea! We agreed to meet on Westminster Bridge at sunrise, and we all hoped for a sunny day with no rain & a clear blue sky!
A hire car & driver was to whisk us around London’s landmarks so that we could visit as many of them as possible before breakfast. I wanted to get a silhouette shot of the couple with the sun rising behind Tower Bridge. We also wanted to get to Buckingham Palace before it got busy, so the timing had to be perfect.
Sunrise on the day was 4:50 am, so we agreed to meet on Westminster Bridge at 5 am. The photo above was taken at 4:54 am, as we’d all arrived early. We only had to wait a couple of minutes for this shot of the iconic London red bus, despite the early hour.
From Westminster Bridge, we headed along The Queens Walk, towards The London Eye. The location was bathed in soft, pastel light, as the sun was still low.
Sunrise at Tower Bridge
The light soon changes, and as the sun rose, the Palace of Westminster was transformed by sunlight. The race was now on to get to Tower Bridge in time for a sunrise silhouette photo. Our car was ready and waiting, so we headed over to Potters Fields Park, the location for the next portrait.
Our timing was perfect, and I was able to capture the above portrait of Charlotte & Liam. For the photo below, I went for a more informal feel with the couple walking, and a different look.
We had time for a quick photo in Potters Fields Park before we headed north to Buckingham Palace. As we approached the palace, our hearts sank. It looked as if the area around it was closed to the public. We made our way along The Mall, hopeful that we could get some portraits closer to the Palace. It turns out the road closures and barriers worked in our favour! We discovered an access point that had not yet been closed off, and we had the area to ourselves!
Buckingham Palace Couple Portraits
The sun was now well and truly out, and blindingly bright! I decided to keep my shadow in the shot below.
I’ve never seen the front of Buckingham Palace this quiet! We did contemplate moving the piece of metal fencing you see on the right, but we were behind the cordon and I did not want to risk us being asked to leave by security… so I kept shooting.
The sun was so bright! I didn’t shoot many of Charlotte and Liam looking at the camera due to the harsh sun. We were not complaining about the weather though! It felt like a warm summer morning!
If you’d like to add London Sunrise Pre-Wedding Photography to your wedding photography package, head over to the prices page to find out the cost.
After a few portraits outside Buckingham Palace, we headed south to Parliament Square Gardens for some portraits around the Palace of Westminster.
Our final destination was The Vaults, for a portrait with a gritty urban feel. After this, we headed to Cafe Nero for drinks and enjoyed them whilst sitting in the sun on the steps at Victoria Embankment.
Check out our other selection of pre-wedding shoots over on the engagement shoot page.
