Beckenham Place Mansion

Ash and Katy held their celebrant-led lesbian wedding at the historic Beckenham Place Mansion in Beckenham Place Park, a stunning Georgian building with pastel tones, characterful rooms and elegant plastered ceilings. The couple filled the ceremony space with a whimsical, gothic floral installation from Bleak House flowers, creating a wild, garden-like pathway leading down the aisle. This venue has original Georgian features, including a grand columned facade, and its period charm feels like something straight out of a novel. From the venue there are views across the park, and there is a perfect little coffee shop two minutes away, where the brides stopped off on route to their ceremony. There is something lovely about London weddings that happen right in the mix of everyday life; I love the chance encounters with well-wishing strangers that these celebrations invite. The brides were married in the Drawing Room, which floods with natural light from the French windows that look out onto the woodland beyond. We also made use of the Dining Room for couple portraits while guests gathered in The Atrium waiting for the ceremony to begin. This venue can lend itself to intimate wedding ceremonies and, for larger celebrations, you’re able to book out the entire building. It feels like a space that would lend itself to a long day and night of celebrations, with guests moving between spaces and spilling out into the grounds outside.

Celebrant-Led Wedding Ceremonies

After getting ready - just the two of them - at a local hotel, the couple travelled by vintage car and then were married by the iconic Nat Raybould, who always holds utterly perfect, meaningful ceremonies. Nat will always make every person in the room feel present and a part of something special. Ash and Katy laughed, cried, and literally tied the knot in front of their closest friends and family. They read personal vows to one another and exited to the most spectacular explosion of confetti outside Beckenham Place Mansion. Happily, a spooky fairground was set up just opposite the mansion, making for some interesting couple photos which were perfectly suited to the theme of the day. After this we then hopped on a London bus for a short journey over to The Greyhound in Sydenham, which I’ve written about before in my round-up of intimate London wedding venues. The deep blue tones of the pub’s dining room, the wonderful natural light and a perfect cake from Lily Vanilli were all spectacular. Read on for Ash and Katy’s genius concept for memorable wedding favours.

Unique wedding favour idea: bookshop tokens

For their wedding favours, Ash and Katy opened a tab at the local queer bookshop, the gorgeous Kirkdale Books. Guests were delighted to pop in and out of the pub reception to browse the shelves and choose a book to take home with them. The two brides selected their choice of books for guests, which was a lovely touch. The bookshop had created a display of their choices, with a message of congratulations. Guests popped in and out of the bookshop, taking their time to choose a book to remind them of the wedding day. The bookshop tokens was a most wonderful idea and gave introverted guests the opportunity to take a break from socialising to bury themselves in books for a moment. We took some portraits at the front of the bookshop and inside amongst the books. This was such a meaningful way for the couple to support a local queer business as part of their wedding celebrations.