Relaxed Urban Wedding Peckham and East Dulwich

So this was the second Poulter wedding I’d shot, but somehow it felt like the third or fourth.  I shot Polly’s sister’s wedding in Endsleigh, Devon about four years ago but the whole family is so warm and funny that in itself felt like last year or so.  I genuinely felt like I’d known everyone for years without any gaps along the way.  This made shooting this wedding an absolute blast.   The other thing that made shooting this wedding an absolute blast is Polly’s face.  Polly’s face is gold.  A brilliantly expressive face where every thought and emotion is writ large and amplified (I’m now, randomly, thinking of that old Mooney Suzuki song Alive and Amplified, if any of you know it).  I remembered her as being a warm, raucous presence from Scarlet’s wedding and since then she’s met Steve, who is funny and grounded and instantly likeable.  

This was every inch a relaxed urban wedding, starting at their home in Sydenham before moving on to The Asylum in Peckham which is always one of the most atmospheric wedding venues in London whatever the time of year.  To quote Louis Armstrong’s St. James Infirmary ‘drinks were served as usual, and the usual crowd was there.’  Less usual though were the epic doughnuts served as afternoon canapés in the grounds of The Asylum.  Sugary doesn’t come close.  I probably upped my risk of Type 2 Diabetes just by photographing them. From there everyone took a Clapham Omnibus to The East Dulwich Tavern, which rattled along to the strains of clinking bottles and bawdy Irish singing.  The mood was warm, happy and easygoing at The EDT.  The speeches were in turn, heartfelt, tender and funny and the dancefloor was lively.  Family really danced together which is something I remembered fondly from Scarlet and Tom’s wedding and I know I shot the whole day with a smile on my face.  Oh and Polly’s dress was amazing.  I should probably find out more about that.  But even more than the dress her face was just GOLD.