Shoreditch Town Hall Wedding Photographer

Shoreditch Town Hall at 380 Old Street opened in 1866 as the vestry hall for Shoreditch, and is now a Grade II listed arts and events venue run by the Shoreditch Town Hall Trust, a charity. It offers two kinds of wedding: ceremony-only packages in the Large Committee Room on the first floor, and ceremony and reception packages using the Assembly Hall, the Council Chamber and the Committee Rooms, run with an outside planner. Registrars come from the London Borough of Hackney and are booked separately.

Our studio is at 21 Joel St, Northwood Hills HA6 1NU, photographing weddings since 2001 and rated 4.8 out of 5 from 580+ Google reviews. We are glad to photograph at Shoreditch Town Hall, and coverage starts from £750. Below is what the venue publishes, and what it does not.

Shoreditch Town Hall at a glance: rooms, licence and access

Address	Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London EC1V 9LT
Operator	Shoreditch Town Hall Trust (a charity); events team info@shoreditchtownhall.com, 020 7739 6176
Building	Grade II listed former vestry hall, opened 1866
Ceremony room	Large Committee Room, first floor: up to 70 guests, 12.4m by 6.4m with a 7m ceiling
Ceremony packages	Full day £1,300 + VAT (9am to 5pm) or half day £800 + VAT (four hours), both for the three Committee Rooms, per the 2022 wedding guide
Assembly Hall	500 reception or theatre, 770 theatre with the balcony; dinner 300 and dinner dance 250 on its own page (350 and 300 on other pages)
Council Chamber	200 reception, 120 theatre, 100 dinner, 80 dinner dance
Registrars	London Borough of Hackney, booked separately; fees from £635 on a weekday in 2026 to 2027
Access	External and internal passenger lifts to the first floor; no goods lift to the Committee Rooms
Nearest stations	Old Street (Underground) and Shoreditch High Street (Overground)
Parking	None published at the venue; nearest NCP car park at Finsbury Square
From our studio	About 15.2 miles in a straight line from the studio at 21 Joel St, Northwood HA6 1NU (road distance is longer)

Figures are as published by the venue or its licensing authority. Where a venue's own pages disagree, both are shown. Confirm anything you are planning around.

Sources

What a Shoreditch Town Hall ceremony costs

The venue's wedding guide, dated 2022 and still linked from its weddings page in 2025, sets out two ceremony packages for the three interconnecting Committee Rooms (wedding guide PDF):

Full day hire, £1,300 + VAT: the Large, Medium and Small Committee Rooms from 9am to 5pm, a PA system set up and cleared, use of the furniture, an on-site duty manager and cleaning. You may bring in and store your own furniture or add a drinks reception.
Half day hire, £800 + VAT: the same three rooms for four hours, with the same inclusions.

Post-ceremony drinks are priced per head including VAT: one glass of Prosecco or rosé Prosecco is £8, Crémant d'Alsace £9 and Champagne £10.50; two glasses are £12, £14 and £16.50. Drinks are chilled and pre-poured, with one member of staff topping up glasses, and non-alcoholic alternatives are available.

The registrars are paid separately to Hackney Council. For an approved venue the fee is £635 Monday to Friday, £695 on a Saturday and £785 on a Sunday or bank holiday from April 2026 to March 2027, then £655, £715 and £805 from April 2027 (registrars' fees). Prices for the ceremony and reception packages with the Assembly Hall are not published. Because the package prices date from 2022, ask the events team for the current figures before you budget.

Ceremonies in the Large Committee Room, receptions in the Assembly Hall

Hackney Council lists Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, among the other approved premises in the borough, which must hold a valid licence on the ceremony date; you check availability with the venue, book provisionally, then ask the council whether registrars can attend (approved premises). The venue's guide gives the Hackney Register Office number as 020 8356 3000.

The Large Committee Room is the largest and brightest of the three Committee Rooms, with a high buttressed ceiling, large windows along its full length and an original Edwardian fireplace. The three rooms sit on their own corridor on the first floor, which gives a ceremony some privacy from the rest of the building (weddings page).

The wedding licence terms in the guide set three rules (wedding guide PDF):

No food or drink, including water or soft drinks, in the ceremony space for one hour before and during the ceremony.
No religious content in the ceremony, including religious readings or any form of worship.
The couple must meet the registrars before the ceremony for an interview, together or separately.

For a full celebration, the 2025 weddings page describes all-inclusive ceremony and reception packages in partnership with Cherelle Joseph, founder of Perfectly Planned 4 You, with exclusive use of a selection of spaces including the Assembly Hall, the Council Chamber and the Committee Rooms. The venue does not publish caterers, finish times, or whether it hosts Asian wedding receptions, a mandap or a nikah. Because the licence bars religious content in the civil ceremony, any religious ceremony would need to be separate; ask the events team what the reception spaces allow.

No food before the vows, no religious content: the licence terms

Shoreditch Town Hall does not publish a photography policy for weddings. Its own 2021 article recommends photographs in the Large Committee Room, on the Committee Room staircase and on the stone front steps (five reasons article), so photography is clearly expected. The licence rules above affect the ceremony itself.

Photography during the ceremony	Not published; ask the registrars on the day
Own photographer	Not restricted in anything published; no approved photographer list
Flash	Not published
Drones	Not published
Confetti	Not published; ask before planning a confetti exit on the front steps
Food and drink	None in the ceremony room for one hour before and during the ceremony
Religious content	None in the civil ceremony, including readings
Decorations	Your own decorations are welcome; they must be carried up the stairs as there is no goods lift to the Committee Rooms

Where a rule is shown as not published, ask the venue in writing before the day.

Getting ready for an Old Street ceremony

No getting-ready room is published. With the full-day package you have the Large, Medium and Small Committee Rooms from 9am to 5pm (wedding guide PDF), so one of the smaller interconnecting rooms could serve as a room to dress in or store things, but confirm this with the events team. The Medium Committee Room connects to the Large Committee Room by a door (Large Committee Room). On a half-day hire, it is simpler to get ready at home or a hotel nearby and arrive ready.

A half-day or full-day hire in outline

When	What happens
Suggestion: morning	Getting ready at home, a nearby hotel or, on a full-day hire, one of the smaller Committee Rooms if the venue agrees.
One hour before	No food or drink in the ceremony room from this point; you meet the registrars for the interview.
Ceremony	Civil ceremony in the Large Committee Room for up to 70 guests.
After the ceremony	Pre-poured drinks if you booked a package; group photographs on the Committee Room staircase and the stone front steps.
Suggestion: afternoon	Couple portraits around the building, then on to a reception, or into the Assembly Hall or Council Chamber on a full package.
By 5pm	End of the full-day package hire of the Committee Rooms.

An outline for planning, not a schedule. Times are shown only where the venue publishes them; everything else is a stage to time with you and confirm with the venue.

Light on Old Street, month by month

Month	Sunrise	Sunset	Golden hour from	Clock
January	08:00	16:20	15:23	GMT
February	07:15	17:15	16:27	GMT
March	06:15	18:04	17:20	GMT
April	06:05	19:57	19:11	BST
May	05:09	20:45	19:56	BST
June	04:42	21:19	20:25	BST
July	05:00	21:12	20:20	BST
August	05:45	20:23	19:37	BST
September	06:35	19:16	18:32	BST
October	07:24	18:08	17:22	BST
November	07:18	16:11	15:18	GMT
December	07:59	15:51	14:50	GMT

Computed for the 15th of each month of 2027 at the venue's postcode centroid with the NOAA solar equations. Evening golden hour starts when the sun drops to 6 degrees; trees and buildings shorten it. Times are UK clock time.

The front steps, the staircase and the Large Committee Room

The Large Committee Room has large windows along its full length and a 7m buttressed ceiling (Large Committee Room), so daylight is good for the ceremony itself.
The venue calls the stone front steps the most popular spot for wedding photographs, and also recommends the Committee Room staircase (five reasons article).
The Council Chamber, the original vestry hall, has a highly ornate moulded ceiling, floor-to-ceiling columns and stained glass windows (Council Chamber).
The Assembly Hall has Italian marble panelled walls, a Matcham-style balcony and a 15m ceiling (Assembly Hall); the balcony gives a high view of a reception or first dance.
Look for the motto "More Light, More Power" under the Shoreditch crest and the statue of Progress on the tower: both make good detail pictures.
Old Street is busy, so group photographs on the front steps need planning so they move quickly, with a list of family groups ready.

A vestry hall from 1866: More Light, More Power

Shoreditch Town Hall opened in 1866 as a vestry hall and was the centre of local government in Shoreditch until the 1960s. The motto "More Light, More Power" and the statue of Progress on the tower recall the borough's 1897 Refuse Destructor, which generated electricity for street lighting. The building was a music hall in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and a boxing venue from 1955 to 1975, survived a large fire in 1904 and two world wars, and fell onto English Heritage's Buildings at Risk register in the 1980s and 1990s. The Shoreditch Town Hall Trust took over the lease in 2002, and since 2012 £2.3 million of investment has turned it into an arts, events and community space (history).

Old Street, Shoreditch High Street and the buses

The nearest Underground station is Old Street and the nearest Overground station is Shoreditch High Street. Buses 26, 35, 47, 48, 55, 67, 78, 135, 149, 242 and 243 stop nearby. The main entrance is up steps (what3words ///voices.honest.plus), with a ramped entrance at ///under.bulb.stir (contact and map). Inside, an external lift runs from the street to the ground-floor lobby and an internal lift to the first floor, outside the ceremony rooms (wedding guide PDF). We travel to Shoreditch from our Northwood Hills studio; any travel cost is set out in your written quote.

Parking near Shoreditch Town Hall

Shoreditch Town Hall does not publish any parking of its own. The nearest NCP car park it names is at Finsbury Square (contact and map). Most guests will arrive by Underground, Overground or bus. Ask the events team about unloading for florists and decorators, since everything for the Committee Rooms has to be carried up the stairs.

Shoreditch Town Hall wedding photography, frequently asked questions

How much is a wedding at Shoreditch Town Hall?

The venue's wedding guide, dated 2022, prices a full-day package at £1,300 + VAT, covering the three Committee Rooms from 9am to 5pm with PA, furniture, a duty manager and cleaning, and a half-day package of four hours at £800 + VAT. Drinks after the ceremony start at £8 a head for one glass of Prosecco. Hackney registrars cost £635 on a weekday and £695 on a Saturday in 2026 to 2027. Ask for current package prices, as the guide is from 2022.

How many guests can you have at Shoreditch Town Hall?

The Large Committee Room, where ceremonies are held, takes up to 70. For receptions, the Council Chamber takes 200 standing, 100 for dinner or 80 for dinner and dancing. The Assembly Hall takes 500 standing, or 770 theatre style with the balcony; its dinner capacity is given as 300 on its own page and 350 elsewhere on the site, so confirm the figure for your layout.

Can we have a religious ceremony at Shoreditch Town Hall?

Not as part of the civil ceremony. The wedding licence terms in the venue's guide say there must be no religious content, including religious readings or any form of worship. The venue does not publish whether a separate religious ceremony can be held in its other rooms, so ask the events team.

Is Shoreditch Town Hall licensed for weddings?

Yes. Hackney Council lists Shoreditch Town Hall at 380 Old Street among its approved premises for civil marriages and partnerships. You check availability with the venue first, then contact Hackney's Registration Service to book the registrars, who are paid separately.

Where do you take wedding photos at Shoreditch Town Hall?

The venue itself recommends three places: the bright Large Committee Room, the Committee Room staircase, and the stone front steps, which it calls the most popular. The Council Chamber, with its moulded ceiling, columns and stained glass, and the marble-panelled Assembly Hall are options if they are part of your hire.

Is Shoreditch Town Hall accessible?

Yes for guests. An external lift takes guests from the street to the ground-floor lobby and an internal lift goes to the first floor, opening just outside the ceremony rooms, and there is a ramped entrance. There is no goods lift to the Committee Rooms, so furniture and decorations must be carried up the stairs.

How do you get to Shoreditch Town Hall?

Old Street Underground station and Shoreditch High Street Overground station are both nearby, and buses 26, 35, 47, 48, 55, 67, 78, 135, 149, 242 and 243 stop close by. The venue has no published parking; the nearest NCP car park is at Finsbury Square.

Our work

Asian wedding photography

Groom in a red and white turban and bride in gold, foreheads touching

Bride and groom in a park, groom in a turban and kalgi

Close-up of bridal bangles, mehndi and a ring

Bride and groom walking beneath a carved sandstone archway with a spired stone building behind

Bride lifting her dupatta, mehndi on her hands

Haldi ceremony, family gathered around the couple

Other wedding venues we cover

Related pages

Enquiries for this venue are handled by Kaushik Bathia, FBIPP and FMPA, who has photographed more than a thousand weddings since 2001 and holds five European Kodak Gold Awards.

Civil · Church · Hindu · Sikh · Muslim · Tamil

Planning a wedding at Shoreditch Town Hall?

Tell us the date and the venue and we will come back with availability and a price. Coverage starts from £750.

Wedding Photography at Shoreditch Town Hall, Shoreditch