I am soon due back at one of my favourites (if not my actual top favourite) venue for large scale awards dinners and any large dinner event. As a London Awards Photographer and as a London Event Photographer the JW Marriott Grosvenor House London is the place that you will keep coming back if you are a truly professional Awards Photographer as it is The Great Room can host up to 2,000 guest in banquet style, so there is no room for amateurs as this place means business!
The Great Room – Awards Photographer
It was first launched as an Art Deco skating rink, The Great Room is one of the Europe’s largest and most impressive event spaces and its charm lies not only in its scale but in its sweeping staircase and fairytale chandeliers.
London Awards Photographer – Drinks Reception
The impressive entrance for The Great Room is in Park Lane where you will be welcomed by a top hat doorman, which really sets the tone of the evening!
The mezzanine level is the perfect space for the drinks reception which extends to the Rink Bar where guest can get a glass of bubbly and warm up ahead of a night of entertainment and celebration.
Waiters with trays full of Champagne glasses circulate in every direction while people chat away. My aim at this point is to make sure that I capture everything: those trays full of champagne, the space looking really busy, wide shots, close ups, people interacting and having fun and of course the glamour as everyone is in their best frocks! My favourite thing is to capture people in full laughter, so I will stop in this very busy moment and try to listen for the loudest laughter, and that’s where you will find me!
London Awards Photographer – Dinner is served
The Voice in the Sky will call the guest for dinner which is a great photographic opportunity to capture the evening guest descending the staircase to The Greater Room.
Guest will find their immaculate laid out tables, where everything is set above perfection! And this venue has real candles on their candelabras which adds that extra touch of sophistication!
London Awards Photographer – The presenter
Once guest are wined and dined is time for the evening entertainment to start with the host for the evening. Over 20 years working as a professional photographer I have photographed everyone who’s anyone! Royalty politicians, sports celebrities, tv presenters, comedias and so on taken on this duty!
My focus in this part of the evening is to capture the host as animated as possible and the guest looking engaged but also the guest reactions, I love this pictures as they represent truly natural reactions, and they happen in an instant, they are all those special moments that make the evening unique!
London Awards Photographer – The Awards
Now we are off to the main part of the evening, The Awards! The format often here is that The Host will present the awards but often will invite to the stage one of the Award Sponsors or one of the judge’s to present the award to the winner and I will capture all of this elements.
The winner will be announced and here is another of my favourite moments to capture, the celebration as the winner is revealed! The hugs, the arms up in the air, the surprise!
The winner will come to collect their award and I will very quickly make sure that they are in the right spot and in the right order, Host-Winner-Sponsor and the branding of the Awards visible in the background of the photograph (all this is done very swiftly and quickly as I am extremely experience managing this) and off they go to bring their award back to their table to celebrate their achievement!
Of course here there is also room to capture all those spontaneous moments too!
London Awards Photographer – Time to party!
Once the Awards Ceremony is over is time to celebrate! Often there is a dj or a band, where guest can dance the night away and makes really fun spontaneous pictures!
Sometimes there can be some other elements of entertainment, such a photobooth, a games arcade or even a Casino! The possibilities are endless
Are you planning an Awards Dinner or a Gala Dinner at The JW Marriott Grosvenor House London and need a photographer?
Look no further! I absolutely love photographing in this London Venue and I have been there in so many occasions as an Awards Photographer that even the security recognises me! (Not sure if thats good! Promise, I am not a troublemaker!)
Also click here to access a link to a full gallery of one of the many Awards Dinners that I photographed at this particular venue
As I explained above I am really familiar with the venue and the format, but just a little recap:
- I will arrive a touch before the evening starts so we can run through things quickly.
- I will photograph the room, the details on the tables, the trophies and all the relevant branding
- Guest arriving, the drinks reception, guest sitting at their tables, the room looking busy
- The host, the awards been presented, the winners, the sponsors, the joy and the celebration
- The group picture of all winners on stage
- The party fun!
As a very experienced Awards Photographer with over 20 years working as a professional photographer with me you are in very safe hands, so you can get on with all your event planning and I will capture it all for you! If you like the sounds of it just get in touch here
