Belfast City Hall wedding

30th July 2024

Belfast City Hall

My first elopement!

This was such a special job for me, because it was my lovely cousin who was getting married! After spending the day photographing the lovely A&F on Monday 29th July, I had to whizz home and secretly pack all my kit to head to Belfast very early on Tuesday morning… this was a top secret mission that wasn't being announced until I had completed the photos!

Because I had to keep this whole thing a secret, I passed it off as just a spontaneous trip with my partner. This was a close call when my dad lifted my hand luggage bag in the car and asked what on earth I had in there… I blamed it on me overpacking (not unusual haha).

A failed nap on the plane later, we landed and made our way to our hotel where I managed to sweet talk my way into getting an extremely early check in without paying (so that I could nap). I was a tad exhausted from working around 11/12 hours the day before, and only getting about 3 hours sleep...

We headed over to Belfast City Hall - wow! What a stunning building! I had a quick look around, and watched some other couples walking in and out from their ceremonies. I loved seeing how intimate their day was, with just a small group of friends/family with them to celebrate. I waited in anticipation for my cousin and her partner to turn up, and when they did, they looked absolutely incredible!!

The ceremony felt super special, and I was able to freely move around the room capturing all those moments - it was nice to not worry about being in anyones way! It was also the first time I've been asked to be a witness, which was super cool!

After the ceremony we took many photos in and around the city hall, and even sweet talked the security guard to let us on the roped off staircase! Check out a small selection of the photos below!

It was such a beautiful day, and I'm very honoured I was asked to be there. We had a great evening afterwards celebrating over dinner, and being shown a part of Ireland!

I never thought I would photograph an elopement, but after photographing this one, it's definitely something I will be doing more. So if you're reading this and you're planning on eloping, I would love to come along and capture that special day!

Belfast City Hall wedding photography by Shannon Parker.

Photography by Essex & Suffolk wedding photographer Shannon Parker.

Elopement photography by Shannon Parker.