Left Bank Leeds wedding // Ellie & Joe

Of all the Leeds wedding venues I’d been hoping to shoot at, Left Bank was top of the list. It’s a multidisciplinary arts venue set in an amazing Grade II listed former church building in Headingley and makes for a unique and impressive event space and a pretty epic setting for a wedding. Understandably I was made up when I was asked to photograph Ellie and Joe’s Left Bank Leeds wedding and was pretty darn flattered to boot as Joe is an extremely talented wedding photographer himself. I’ve also got to give the man a shout out for his ‘urbex’ photography which I always love seeing. Urbex = urban exploration but put in layman’s terms he and his friends visit abandoned industrial spaces all around Europe and photograph them. Check out his captivating, evocative and at times quite haunting collections here: https://www.joestenson.com/

Joe and Ellie started proceeding with an intimate civil ceremony at Leeds Town Hall before moving the show over to Left Bank for a touching and personal humanist ceremony for all their guests. Whilst the official job had already been done it was clear that this was the ceremony that mattered and it showed – I’m not sure there was a dry eye in the house!

After a cracking feed and more tears through the speeches we witnessed a pretty special, sparkler-lit first dance. I managed to scramble up to the dusty upper eaves to capture that and show off the venue in all its splendour. The guests then jived and bopped the night away to the 50s rock n roll sounds of one of my favourite local bands: Hails Bails.

What a day!!

// Left Bank Leeds wedding photos by John Hope