“Wedding in the mews” engagement session ♥ Competition Finalist 1 ♥

Lucy and Joe agatha christie style engagement portraits, clerkewell portrait photographer, smithfield portrait photographer, clerkenwell wedding photographer, smithfield wedding photographer, newhaven mansion portraits, film noir portraits, engagement session, destillers wedding photographer

The first couple to be photographed as finalists for the competition is Lucy and Joe from London.

(Scroll down on the right to see their images)

When Lucy and Joe first met, they soon found out that they had one very strong thing in common. Agatha Christie. Spending the early days in their relationship curled up in front of Poirot on Sunday afternoons, soon became something to crack jokes about amongst their friends. So now with the wedding bells ringing, it just seems so right to set their wedding against a Poirot theme – since actually, he kind of united them to start with!

After their ceremony which is to be held in Notting Hill, they are to have all their guests taken by Route Masters (old school London Double decker buses), to Smithfield. Not only is Smithfield part of the older London, so often a backdrop in Poirot and old English mystery movies, it also houses the actual building which is used as Poirot’s headquarter Whitehaven Mansions in the TV series! (In reality called Florin Court) Their reception venue, a large pub with a majestic staircase and second floor balcony situated within an older London building, is only a 2 mins walk from  the Chaterhouse square where Poirot’s Whitehaven Mansion stands tall – they will be able to head over to the mansion with ease, for portraits on their wedding day.

Further, their very suitable reception venue will also carry the Agata Christie theme in the details of the decorations. The tables will be named after famous Agatha Christie novels, the seating arrangements for each table will carry the style and look of old movie cast lists, and there are plans to include Poirot and Miss Marple props for their guests to play around with and to be used for portrait shots.

I met with Lucy and Joe for an evening engagement shoot in Smithfield, Clerkenwell. We started off in a pub – and Lucy and Joe where really good sports to fool around with their old Agatha Christie books – in front of a buck load of city workers who where grabbing an “after work beer”. Then we headed out to continue the shoot in the surrounding area: Looking for spots that would go in line with the “traditional London look” – and of course we made a stop on the steps in front of Poirot’s Whitehaven Mansion, just in time for the setting evening sun to create long shadows – giving us a shadow effect onto the Mansion’s wall, reminiscent of the lighting  in old English mystery movies!

Lucy and Joe was a really dynamic couple to photograph, they where up for a laugh and they both had a kind of cheekiness which came through in many of the shots. I found Lucy to be a natural at modeling with a streak of old school actress about her… which quite fits their theme!