Archive for September, 2011
Pipewell Hall wedding photos | Mark & Emily
It was always going to be hard to choose which photos to blog from Mark and Emily’s wedding; there was just so much to photograph. So promise you”ll do me a favour by checking out the fuller set on my facebook fanpage and you can revel in the love and pretty just like I did on the day!
Torrential rain doesn’t begin to describe the weather we had, which didn’t let up until well after dinner. But you can’t have a rainbow without the rain – and how beautiful does Pipewell Hall look in that last photo? I think the rain really made their photos. I can’t imagine the shot of all the guests walking through the Rutland countryside being anywhere near as much fun without the umbrellas.
Emily looked absolutely stunning in a Jesus Peiro gown with a really unusual tulle wrap across the front. Her tiara (worn back to front) was original vintage and those gorgeous teal shoes are Rachel Simpson. Her hair and make-up, by Liza Smith, was beautiful yet loose and informal. Emily and her Bridesmaids, in a dusky pink, carried rustic country style bouquets by The Traditional Flower Company. Mark looked very dapper in a grey lounge suit and I love that he wore his cravat in the more relaxed vintage style.
The ceremony was held at Normanton Church, now a museum and civil wedding ceremony venue, on the shore of Rutland Water. Mark set the tone for the ceremony with a few tears as Emily walked down the aisle. I think just about everyone joined him!
It was still pouring with rain as we came out of the ceremony but we found a sheltered area at one end of the church for some photos. We used the very cool Campervan for cover too. I on the other hand was mastering the art of holding an umbrella in my armpit to keep my hands free for taking photos. Not easy!
We then headed back to Pipewell Hall for the reception. Mark and Emily wanted to keep the formal photos to an absolute minimum, which gave me plenty of time to capture what their wedding was all about – family, friends, love and oh my, beautiful vintage details.
Vintage was more than a theme for Mark and Emily. It’s very much their personal style. And with Emily’s creative flair and attention to detail they pulled off something really quite special. But the best thing is that all the decor was done at very little expense, with most things being items that Mark and Emily already had at home or were able to make themselves.
The guests’ faces lit up as they entered the marquee, took in the scent of lavender (hand-tied on the chair backs) and looked around. Metres (maybe miles?) of bunting decorated the ceiling and as every good interior design would have there was a feature wall, with photos and large ‘LOVE’ letters, as well as paper lanterns brightening the corners.
Each table was arranged with mis-matched glassware, bottles and vintage china which Emily filled with old-fashioned wild flowers. There were sweet notes on wooden picks such as ‘i do’ and ‘love is sweet’ and a little white dove nestled amongst it all. Each person’s place was set with a hand-sewn lavender pomander, finished with buttons and ribbon, and a luggage tag place-name and badge. Each one was completely different but perfectly colour co-ordinated.
The pretty extended to the practical too. The table plan was fashioned from an old suitcase, using luggage labels for each list of names pegged onto lace. There were also hand-painted embellished pegs for hats and flip-flops, customised with buttons and ribbon, for dancing.
The cake table was rather lovely too. They’d brought in an old dresser from home which was laiden with sweet treats, all baked by Emily’s sister and Aunt.
The weather finally dried up in the evening so everyone was able to enjoy the beautiful grounds and views from Pipewell Hall. There was lots of fun and games on the lawn with bowling, cricket and croquet.
My day finished with the first dance. That, and going home to dry out!
♥ Ceremony: Normanton Church Museum
♥ Reception & marquee: Pipewell Hall
♥ Dress: Jesus Peiro, at Grace Couture
♥ Shoes: Rachel Simpson
♥ Bridesmaids dresses: Saint Tropez, at Sugarbird Boutique
♥ Hair and make-up: Liza Smith
♥ Groom/Groomsmen suits: Bhanu (48 Queens Square, Corby, Northants NN17 1PD | 01536 267 433)
♥ Flowers: The Traditional Flower Company (bouquets, button-holes and cut stems for dressing the marquee)
♥ Campervan: I love vdub Wedding Hire
♥ Catering: Lemon Zest
♥ Stylist: Emily, with help from family and friends
♥ Cake & truffles: Bride’s sister, Charlotte’s Pantry (charliemorris2000@hotmail.com). Cupcakes: Emily’s Aunt
♥ Bunting, favours, Dresser, table plan, Gallery, flip-flops: Emily
♥ Stationery: Emily’s Mum
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Kelmarsh Hall wedding | Mitesh & Ranjit
Mitesh and Ranjit’s wedding was full of my favourite things: Kelmarsh Hall, sunshine, good music, scrummy food and the colour pink!
I started the day with Ranj and her bridesmaids getting ready. I had so much fun creating photographs using reflections in the mirrors in the Yellow Room! Meanwhile Georgi, my second photographer for the day, was capturing photographs with Mit and the guests arriving.
The civil ceremony was held in the Saloon which has beautiful natural lighting from the tall windows which overlook the lake. Both Mit and Ranj were shy, nervous and a little teary. It was so beautiful to witness those emotions and share the moments as they exchanged vows and rings.
After the ceremony all the guests spilled onto the Tea Terrace for the reception. The sound of a violin and the delicious scent of spices filled the air, so I had my work cut out to concentrate on the group photos! It was lovely to see all the friends and family greeting Mit and Ranj so warmly as they joined them for photographs.
After some photographs in and around the Hall it was time for the party to really start. As Asian weddings go this was an untraditional day in many ways but it wasn’t without some hallmarks. Mit and Ranj were escorted into dinner by a traditional drummer. You can really feel the atmosphere once that beat starts. And it was an atmosphere that continued through the evening with Bhangra dancers, non-stop dancing and an impromtu Conga around the front lawn at sunset. A sight that will definitely be one of my most memorable moments of this year!
I had the absolute pleasure of working with cinematographers Rich and Aaron from Reel Vision for this wedding. Their films are simply stunning and they were great to work with on the day (I should also say that I don’t praise film or video suppliers very often!). If you’re looking for a film of your day then I’d definitely recommend them.
♥ Wedding Planner: Tania Tapel
♥ Marquee: T&L Marquee Hire
♥ Venue: Kelmarsh Hall
♥ Dress: Bradgate Brides
♥ Flowers: A family friend
♥ Catering: Paprika
♥ Cake: Cakesmiles
♥ Film: Reel Vision
♥ DJ/Drummer/Bhangra Dancers: Calibar
♥ Pianist/Violinist: David Ramsay
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Holdenby House wedding photos | Brett & Katie
Oh my. Where to start? Brett and Katie’s wedding was epic. There was just so much to photograph. And just what a wedding should be – full of smiles and lots of fun and laughter.
I arrived at Katie’s parents’ house whilst Katie was having her hair done. I’d asked Katie to leave her dress uncovered, shoes out etc so that I could start on photographing the details until she got back from the salon. That was 30 minutes of pure fun! Katie is a keen horse-rider, well a bit good actually, so I wanted to use the little rocking horse on the staircase in some way. Too cute! Katie had left me little notes so that I knew what everything was. One of which was her something blue – dried bluebells from her grandparents’ garden in a beautiful locket, which she tied to her bouquet. Such a lovely touch.
Meanwhile David, my second photographer for the day, was with the boys as they settled their nerves with a cheeky pint at The Red Lion in East Haddon before heading to church. And sorting through those pictures afterwards I can tell that they had a lot of fun!
The ceremony was just perfect. But sadly we were only allowed to photograph during the hymns. It’s hard to get good expressions when people are singing but luckily Katie and Brett couldn’t even stop smiling then! And as luck would have it there was a mechanical wind-up toy in the children’s area at the back of the church, so we stole a couple of shots during the rather noisy play-time!
Brett and Katie left church in timeless elegance, in a rather rare Lagonda (just check out that car), with Katie holding on to her veil and guests waving their top hats as they drove off.
Then we were off to Holdenby House for the reception. It’s one of Northamptonshire’s finest wedding venues – a family home with lots of history. And I just love it.
Katie and Brett had a marquee on the back lawn which looked stunning with gorgeous tall flower centre-pieces and Katie’s handiwork for the place settings (you can find similar at Cox and Cox). I loved Katie’s unusual idea to have a wedding dress competition. Guests were asked to draw, before the wedding, what they thought Katie’s dress would look like. The entries were displayed in the marquee, some of which were really quite accurate!
I have some really lovely memories of photographing this wedding. Full of fun from beginning to end. Thank you so much Katie and Brett for choosing me to photograph and share your day with you! I had a ball x
♥ Ceremony: St Mary the Virgin, East Haddon, Northamptonshire
♥ Reception: Holdenby House
♥ Marquee: Intents Marquees
♥ Dress: Brides of Market Harborough
♥ Bridesmaids dresses: Brides of Wellingborough
♥ Flowers: Julie Anna Flowers
♥ Catering: Portfolio Events
♥ Cake: Goodys Cake Company
♥ Band: Ocasan
You can see more photos from this wedding on my facebook page
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Northampton marquee wedding photos | Martin & Fiona
Martin and Fiona’s village wedding was both elegant and relaxed. It’s very hard to pull off both but they managed it fabulously.
I arrived to much excitement as the Bridesmaids were having their hair done. And what a beautiful entourage they were. The sight of Fiona in her gorgeous Sassi Holford dress, walking to church with her young bridesmaids in tow to carry her train, was delightful. Carrying the train was a role that the Bridesmaids took very seriously and they pretty much carried it all day. As Fiona turned, they would turn too!
I made good friends with the Vicar when I arrived at the church and he relaxed his usual no photography rule a little for me which was great. Martin’s words to me when he and Fiona came to see their photos were that he would never actually see the sight of Fiona walking down the aisle (some consider it bad luck to turn around and sometimes the church asks the Groom not to look back) but thanks to the photographs now he could. Those are photographs that will be treasured and so I’m thrilled that I was able to capture that important moment for them.
There were stunning flowers at every turn; in soft pinks, lilac and a splash of blue. The marquee looked really pretty all laid-up for dinner with glass bowls of flowers and lilac decor.
The speeches were a lot of fun. Fun which continued into the night as Fiona, an accomplished singer, joined her band on stage for a few tracks. She started by saying that it had always been a dream to sing in her wedding dress. And now it was real. And she rocked it too.
♥ Ceremony: St Mary the Virgin, Little Houghton, Northamptonshire
♥ Flowers: The Green Room
♥ Dress: Sassi Holford from The Bridal Gallery Finedon
You can see more photos from this wedding on my facebook page
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Client review | A thank you from Bradley & Jenni
I was really touched to receive this delightful thank you note from Bradley and Jenni on the day of their wedding at Notley Abbey earlier this month. What a lovely thing to do, really thoughtful and kind of them to say. I’m thrilled that they’re so happy even before seeing their wedding photographs.
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