London’s Top 5 Places to Visit

Good Morning Lovelies, having just had the most amazing weather for a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, we thought we would share London's Top 5 Places to Visit. We simply adore London and have created many fabulous weddings in our beloved capital. But today, we are thinking more of sight-seeing, and even if you are familiar with London, you must not miss out on these top London attractions.

Big Ben

The striking clock tower in Westminster is arguably the most famous clock in the world, a British cultural icon. Big Ben is a nick name for the Great Bell of the striking clock. It sits in what used to known as the Clock Tower but was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth the second, the Queen of England.

The bell is currently silent due to the renovation of the clock dials, but work is due to be completed in 2022.

Parliament Houses – The Palace of Westminster

Staying in Westminster, if you cross the Thames, you can get some amazing photos of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. The Palace of Westminster if the meeting place for the House of Commons and the House of Lords, informally known as the Houses of Parliament after its occupants.

The building was bombed on fourteen separate occasions during the second world war, and the clock tower was hit at the eaves of the roof suffering much damage. All the glass on the south dial was blown out, but the hands were not affected, and the Great Clock continued to keep time accurately.

The Tower of London

There are lots of thing synonymous with the Tower of London, another fantastic piece of British history recognised the world over. Not least the Crown Jewels, the Ravens, and the Yeoman Warders.

I am particularly fascinated by the ravens, legend has it that if the 6 resident ravens leave ‘The Kingdom and the Tower will fall’. There are currently 7 ravens in residence, 6 plus a spare! They are exceptionally intelligent and can learn and mimic, and they are each named. The Ravenmaster is the only one who they will respond to. If you are lucky enough to encounter them, beware as they can bite if they feel their territory is under threat.

The Pavilion, at the Tower of London is now an exciting place to hold events and weddings as well!

Buckingham Palace

We couldn’t not mention our Monarchs residence in the list! A place that brings the nation together in times of mourning and indeed celebrations. The iconic balcony kisses we have witnessed over the years! The palace has 775 rooms, and the garden is the largest private garden in London. The state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September and on some days in winter and spring.

The gardens are where the Queen hosts her garden parties every summer, it’s 40 acres, and boasts a helicopter landing area, a lake, and a tennis court.

The palace and the gardens were used for the debutante’s presentation parties until 1958 when the Queen abolished them. This was replaced by the garden parties for up to 8000 invitees.

Tower Bridge

Another one of London’s defining sights, Tower Bridge, is rather spectacular. Tower Bridge was built between 1886 and 1894 – 8 years to build! It was built to ease road traffic while maintaining river access to the busy London docks. Even to this day, it is considered an engineering marvel and it instantly recognisable as one of London’s iconic buildings.

You may remember the Queens stunt double flying through the bridge for the opening of the Summer Olympics in 2012 in the middle of two helicopters? But there was another accidental stunt which took place on 30th December 1952.

Albert Gunter was driving the number 78 bus over the bridge when the road Infront seemingly dropped away. He realised that the bridge was opening! Back in the 1950’s a watchman was meant to ring a warning bell and close the gates, but on this day, he somehow forgot!

Gunter put his foot down, getting up to a grand speed of 12 mph, he managed to jump the rising bascule, getting all 20 passengers’ safety across. He suffered the only injury of a broken leg, but he was rewarded with a day off work and £10 – about £290 in today’s money.

We thoroughly enjoy seeing what London has to offer and like to keep our knowledge of the area up-to-date. If you require Luxury London Weddings Planners, then you can always contact us to see if we can help with your wedding vision.

Photo Credits | Photo 1 - Kristin La Voie Photography | Photo 2 - Paul Rogers Photography | Photo 3 - Sena Photography | Photo 4 - Karen Julia Photography | Photo 5 - Alexa Kidd-May Photography |