Weddings at Trinity Buoy Wharf

Weddings at Trinity Buoy Wharf

Today I’m going to talk about weddings at Trinity Buoy Wharf. It’s one of my favourite London warehouse wedding venues and I’m lucky to shoot there fairly regularly. In fact, you’ll find quite a lot of my shots on the venue website from the various weddings I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of there.

I thought I’d give you an overview of what it’s like as a wedding location and what you might want to consider when getting married there. If you’re looking for one of London’s best blank canvas spaces, keep reading!

About Trinity Buoy Wharf

Located in the heart of London’s Docklands, Trinity Buoy Wharf is an iconic area with a fascinating history. As well as having London’s only Lighthouse, it was also the location of Michael Faraday’s workshop. The area now is charmingly eclectic, with artists studios, sustainable workspaces, boats, and even a 50s style diner. There’s no coherent architectural style on site but that’s one of the things I love about it. Shipping containers sit beside boats and cafes and you can watch boats sail past on the Thames. There’s even a sound installation featuring Tibetan Singing Bowls that’s been playing continuously for 20 years!

Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding ceremony options

There are two ceremony spaces at Trinity Buoy Wharf, The Chain Store and The Electricians Shop. Many people choose to get married in The Electricians Shop and then move to The Chain Store for their reception.

The Electricians Shop is one of the darkest venues I’ve ever shot at. You can work the layout so that you’re lit from by lights. This is great while you say your vows. What you won’t get is lots of pictures of your guests, as many of them will be sitting in the darker area of the room.

The huge benefit of choosing The Electricians Shop is that The Chain Store can be set up ready for your wedding reception, whereas if you have your ceremony in the Chainstore it’s usually partitioned for the ceremony and then turned around afterwards.

Offsite wedding ceremony options

A number of my couples decide to get married somewhere up the Thames and then get a boat down to Trinity Buoy Wharf for their reception. This is a really fun way of entertaining your guests. It’s also a great compromise if there’s somewhere meaningful you’d like to hold your ceremony.

Abi and Euan were married at St Paul’s Cathedral and then jump on a boat from The Tate Modern. This gave us an opportunity to take some fun shots walking over The Millenium Bridge. They gave out a bunch of red balloons to guests, so they wouldn’t lose members of their party in the crowds!

Fran and Tom held their ceremony locally to them in Chelsea, before hitting the river for a boat ride to their reception at The Chain Store. They also had a fun walk through the streets of London and they handed out high vis jackets to their ushers, so they could keep everyone together.

Styling the space at The Chain Store

The Chain Store is basically a blank canvas, so the world is your oyster. I’ve had couples with styling featuring everything from bright colours to an industrial feel. Here are a few mood boards featuring styling from weddings I’ve photographed at Trinity Buoy Wharf in the last couple of years.

Lianne and Mark went for a warm, industrial feel, with wooden tables, touches of concrete and copper table installations with fans of greenery. They had cooper wire placenames made for all of their guests and their wedding featured a doughnut wall of epic proportions. The styling was put together by The Capston Second and I’m sure you’ll agree that it looked fab! I’ll be sharing this full wedding on the blog very soon.

Abi and Euan went for a riot of colour and it was magnificent. From their collaborative installation from Bubblegum Balloons, Early Hours LTD and Vowed and Amazed to the rainbow napkins, pops of colourful florals and splashes of neon. This styling worked perfectly to make the space feel cosy and fun. Abi and Euan’s wedding was styled by Charlotte Elise.

Tom and Fran focussed on florals with pops of pink, with neon accents and fairy lights. I loved the addition of the sore feet station with comfy clogs for guests to pop on, reflecting Fran’s Dutch roots.

Michaela and Luke opted for rustic opulence, with cream and green florals, fairy lights, brown bottles and touches of metallics. The trees you can see lining the edge of the room were used to partition off their ceremony space.

As you can see, it’s easy to put your own spin on the styling of the space. The possibilities are endless.

Entertainment for your Trinity Buoy Wharf wedding

There are so many options for entertainment at Trinity Buoy Wharf. Hopefully, you’ll luck out on the weather and your guests can hang out outside, by the river. Aside from the aforementioned boat ride on the Thames, my couples have provided all sorts of entertainment for their guests including games, hula hoops, live music, a cigar bar and even mini-golf.

Some final logistical suggestions

Streetfood works really well at Trinity Buoy Wharf. I’ve seen couples have everything from Paella to Pie and Mash and pizza. Lots of couples also have more formal catering. Streetfood does work really well with the feel of the venue, though.

As Trinity Buoy Wharf is a popular venue, they often have more than one wedding in a weekend. This means you’ll only be able to set up on the day of the wedding. You’ll also need to clear everything out of the venue at the end of the night. This is an excellent reason to hire an on the day coordinator. The last thing you’ll want to do at the end of your wedding is pack everything away.

The location is a bit of a walk from the nearest station but it is well serviced by taxies. You might want to give people details for a local company so they can prebook. Taxi apps are great but not everyone has them!