I don’t know if there is a more glorious place to get married than The Tower of London, but I do know there are not too many couples as glorious as Cajsa and Ed. Good-looking, great sense of humour, and, crucially, with fantastic friends and family, they pulled off a day with two awesome historic venues without hitch and with terrific style.
Cajsa looked absolutely gorgeous in a fabulous Stella York dress, bought at a shop in North Wales called Fern Hart Bridal and altered by bridal seamstress Suzie Maire Wedding Dress Alterations. Buttonholes and bouquets were by Brigitte Flowers (https://brigitteflowers.co.uk)
It goes without saying that The Tower of London - official name, Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London - is replete with history, having been founded in 1066 by William The Conqueror, making The White Tower over a thousand years old! The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a zoo, and, of course, as the home of the Crown Jewels, and has been described as "the most complete eleventh-century palace in Europe."
Courtesy of Ed’s old regiment, the ceremony was held in The Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula, which is the former parish church of the Tower of London. It is situated within the Tower's Inner Ward, and the current building dates from 1520, although the church was established several centuries earlier. Like Westminster Abbey, it is a royal peculiar, and under the jurisdiction of the monarch. Filming and photography is limited to shooting from the back of the chapel, from the doorway; thankfully we brought our long telephoto lenses, and thankfully - despite being best known as the burial place of some of the most famous prisoners executed at the Tower, including Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Sir Thomas More - is a place of joy, celebration and light.
It’s also somewhere where you can combine your wedding with a christening, as Cajsa and Ed did, bringing their beautiful little boy William in for this most joyous addition to their day.
After a whistle-stop tour of the grounds of the Tower for formals and couple portrait wedding photography, Ed and Cajsa slipped into the same horse and carriage that had brought them, to head for their reception venue, The Honourable Artillery Company.
The HAC is one of those London Curiosities that few know about, but many have noticed. As you pass down the City Road from Old Street, there is it is, a curious Eighteenth Century Castle nestling amidst the glass and steel of the Northern end of our capital’s huge modern financial district. It was incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, and it is a now registered charity whose purpose is to attend to the "better defence of the realm". This is primarily achieved by supporting the HAC regiment and a detachment of City of London Special Constabulary.The HAC has occupied Artillery Garden since 1641 and Armoury House, its Headquarters and Mess, was built in 1734.
You can also, as you can see, play a game of cricket there, or have a wild ceilidh at your wedding reception, as Cajsa and Ed did. Congratulations, guys, and all the best for the future.
FILM