Yvanna and Con’s glamorous Greek wedding at The Savoy, London, was an unforgettable day filled with family, love, luxurious touches and a whole lot of dancing!

The Savoy wedding venue in London 

When it comes to iconic London hotels, it’s hard to beat The Savoy. Sat next to the River Thames, on The Strand in the heart of the capital city, it’s the epitome of classic luxury. Where better to celebrate the wedding of our incredibly glamorous couple Yvanna and Con? From the instantly recognisable entrance to the elegant reception rooms, The Savoy delivered the most stunning backdrop for this stylish couple’s wedding photographs.

The epic Greek wedding was on a huge scale and planned to perfection by Poppy Sienna Events. As you’d expect for a multi-location wedding this size, I used a second photographer – Andy Holdsworth – to make sure we captured every second of this beautiful day. It was also fantastic to see a familiar face, videographer Gary from Gorgeous Films, who I recommended to Yvanna and Con, as he’s always so discreet and unobtrusive.

The stylish London bride and groom

Yvanna, the bride, got ready with her parents and her friends at her London home. It was such a fun, bustling morning to shoot, especially  thanks to the duo who provided some live Greek music – the first of many dancing opportunities!

The bride’s dress was an absolutely drop-dead-gorgeous couture gown, handmade in Paris by Tony Ward. The strapless dress, complete with dramatic tulle princess skirt, was covered in the most intricate embroidery and applique embellishment. Yvanna looked sensational with her elegant up-do and flawless make-up. 

I shot some photos of Yvanna writing the names of her closest friends on the sole of her Manolo Blahnik shoes. Greek tradition has it that the names that are worn off by the end of the reception are the ones who will get married soon. Yvanna and her father then left for the ceremony in a gorgeous vintage Rolls Royce convertible. What a car!

Con had all his groomsmen around him to get ready on the morning of the wedding, with Andy, my second photographer, capturing these cool shots while I was with Yvanna. Con looked super-sharp in his white tuxedo, complete with black bow tie.

The Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony

The ceremony was held at the breath-taking Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Divine Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in London. Everything from the heady scent of incense to the glorious gold leaf lighting up the space came together to create a truly atmospheric and stunning setting for Yvanna and Con’s wedding ceremony. And it was a total joy to shoot there – a photographer’s dream! 

The ceremony involved several Greek traditions, centred around the number 3. The rings were exchanged by the best man 3 times, the couple had to walk around the altar table 3 times and each took 3 sips of wine from the goblet.

Yvanna and Con exited the cathedral as bride and groom, to an awesome confetti toss, then headed off to The Savoy in the open-top Rolls. The couple had also booked cool red double-decker London buses to transport their guests to The Savoy wedding.

The Savoy wedding photographs

The Savoy is such an incredible venue to shoot a wedding, but it did come with its challenges. I only had a couple of minutes to get the iconic shots in front of the hotel before the musical Pretty Woman ended, and the foyer was flooded with theatre goers. No pressure there then!

We had also planned to have some photos taken of the bride and groom in the luxurious, black and gold Beauford bar, but when we arrived it was closed. Thankfully, Poppy, the excellent wedding planner, worked her magic and managed to get it open just for us. With literally 3 minutes to get the shots, I used a Rotolight continuous lighting source to light the couple and preserve the cool ambient lighting of the bar.

For our outdoor photographs we headed to the small park behind The Savoy. It was Sunday 1st May, and the park was full of tourists, making it a little tricky. But, with some clever shooting and a bit of post-production to remove some of the people in the background, we got some excellent shots.

Of course, we had to make the most of this central London location, so I took some lovely shots of Yvanna and Con by the Thames, with the famous bridges and London Eye in the background. Such a cool city vibe to these photographs.

The Savoy wedding party

After a champagne reception Yvanna and Con held the wedding breakfast for their guests in The River Room at The Savoy. Wow – what a room! Grand, opulent and with that inimitable old-school glamour feel, I was totally bowled over.

Dancing was a major part of the evening celebrations, starting with Yvanna dancing with her father. There was plenty of traditional Greek dancing and the couple’s first dance at 10pm. After that, the partying continued until midnight, and what a party it was!

After the wedding I received this lovely Google Review from the couple

‘When I first started looking at wedding photographers I thought I would never be able to pick someone, but then I met David. Because this was during Covid we had an online meeting and he immediately put us at ease. After seeing his amazing candid pictures I knew I wanted him to be our wedding photographer. He was able to provide us with a second photographer who was able to be with my husband as he was getting ready as well. On the day itself David was incredible. He managed to capture all of the pictures we had spoken about and so many more.

Additionally he was very discrete both at my house, the church and at the reception area. All of my guests spoke about how wonderful our pictures came out and we are thrilled with the result. We are currently trying to pick the pictures for our album, but as there are so many great ones to choose from, David has made it especially difficult. We went to his studio a few weeks ago to see the different album options which are all stunning, and we are looking forward to seeing the end result of our one of a kind album when we finally manage to choose our pictures. I would highly recommend David as wedding photographer, and generally as a photographer. He is an amazing person and puts everyone he’s shooting straight at ease.

Thank you so much David for all of your work, we look forward to working with you again soon.‘

Little Black Book of Suppliers for The Savoy Wedding London

Planning and Coordination by @poppysiennaevents
Venue @thesavoylondon
Photography @davidbostock
Second photography by Andy Holdsworth Photography
Videography @gorgeousfilms
Band – The Greek Collective
DJ @avgoustinosg
Florals @wildaboutflower
Cake @byyevnig
Makeup @emilyclaremakeup
Hair @stormemakeupartist
On the day stationery @millie_stone_uk
Invites @polinaperri
Limo @limotek.co.uk
Rolls Royce – Vale Wedding Cars
Buses – Traditional Travel
Favour wrapping @letsgetitwrapped
Flower letters @platinum_florals
Linen – Linen for Hire

The Savoy wedding photo gallery