We go ga-ga for pretty things here so were very excited to work with Holdenby House on this photo shoot which is featured in the current issue of Image Magazine.

The thing that strikes us most about Holdenby House is its history so a concept with a period feel seemed fitting. Vintage is still a big trend in weddings but to put a fresh approach on it we decided to go back further in time to the Regency era; the time of Jane Austen’s famous novels.

No other era is as romantic as the Regency period which, in literature at least, was all about romance, refinement, lace, rosebuds, fine floral china, afternoon tea and strolls in the gardens of grand country houses. So very Holdenby.

We didn’t want to recreate the past in the styling; it was more about celebrating the era in a modern way. So we took elements of the period such as soft, feminine dresses; the use of traditional wild flowers and lots of romantic dusky pink.

The writing desk and all the old books in the Library were perfect to bring a literary feel to these pictures of George.

We had a bit of fun with a genuine period equestrian outfit which was loaned from a private collection. Very Mr Darcy! The suit in the second image is from Panters.

All the stationery was created by Edward and Emma. The text of the invitation is written as if it were a section from a novel. The envelope lining is designed as the pages of a book. And a personalised wax seal sets the period drama tone perfectly.

Holdenby House isn’t your typical commercial country-house venue; it’s a much loved family home and so has a very warm, friendly and relaxed atmosphere. We’ve enjoyed some lovely chats on this comfy sofa…

Abby is wearing ‘Callie’ by Jenny Packham, from Fairytale Weddings. The cap sleeves are very ‘Regency’ and the fabric and sequin detail are delicate but sooo stylish.

No self-respecting lady of the Regency era would be seen at an important event without a bonnet and tightly pinned curls. So curls were a must but hair and make-up maestro Toni Creative styled Abby’s hair with a more modern edge by keeping the curls loose and pinning them off Abby’s face. Then we brought back a traditional element with delicate fresh flowers pinned into the hair.

The Dining Room, which is licensed for civil wedding ceremonies, photographs very dramatically with the rich wood panelling, warm lighting, paintings and silk wall covering…

This dress is ‘Flora’ by Enzoani from Fairytale Weddings. The look is very fitting of the time but without being old-fashioned. The tulle layers on the dress have a very soft, romantic feel and the jacket adds a more modern edge.

A Regency themed wedding breakfast will be right at home in the Ballroom, which is used for  dinner and evening entertainment. The light just floods in through those big windows which look out to miles of countryside.

Abby is wearing ‘Jewel’ by Suzanne Neville from The Bridal Gallery Finedon. It has lots of gorgeous sparkle on the bodice and layer upon layer of tulle.

Small delicate posies have become popular since the Royal Wedding of William and Catherine. Julie Anna Flowers gave this one a romantic, just picked from the garden feel by using a variety of traditional, wild flowers and foliage such as roses, lavender, rosemary and wax flower.

The Regency era was a very glamorous period in the history of food so Portfolio Events styled the desserts with that in mind; both in the design and the presentation on vintage crockery. These scrummy looking desserts use ingredients that would have been available back in the early 1800s, such as lavender shortbread, strawberries, rhubarb and trifle. Even the colours fitted with our theme!

We went understated but glamorous for the table centres. A more polished, elegant version of vintage. Romantic candlelight is a must!

Edward & Emma proved that table stationery can be beautiful as well as practical. The bookmark placenames use an excerpt from an Austen novel and would double as a lovely keepsake for your guests. And then the table names have been presented in classic cream frames for a pretty alternative to the more often seen metal holders.

I love how gentlemanly this photo of George in the Entrance Hall feels. A tall top hat is a must and perfect for mysterious Mr Darcy style portraits!

As always you can see more photos from this shoot on my facebook page

Thank you to Abby and to George, my wonderful and patient models, who look utterly beautiful. They’re not pros by the way. And to everyone credited below who worked so so SO hard to make this shoot happen.

♥ Location: Holdenby House
♥ Dresses & accessories: Fairytale Weddings and The Bridal Gallery Finedon
♥ Groomsmen’s outfits: Suit from Panters and the equestrian items from a private collection
♥ Hair and make-up: Toni Creative
♥ Flowers: Julie Anna Flowers
♥ Catering: Portfolio Events
♥ Stationery: Edward & Emma

On a long car journey a photographer friend and I cooked up a plan to do a photo shoot at a vintage train station. It was just something we wanted to do. After all, play time is important – to develop your work and for the soul.

So between us we organised a model, dresses, a hair and make-up artist and of course a fabulous location. Some other photography nuts joined us for the shoot. There’s nothing that makes you think more than the friendly rivalry of a group of other photographers shooting alongside you!

We had a great day. Model Gabby was just brilliant. Sweet sixteen and as composed as a highly composed thing. Even when a steam train went thundering past billowing smoke, encasing her in steam and covering us all with soot! The driver, obviously put out that she wasn’t paying any attention to the train’s arrival, then pipped the whistle so hard we all jumped. Cue child-like giggles all round.

Here are some favourites. It’s not normally my thing to put a vintage toning on my pictures but it seemed to suit the occasion, so a few of these have a different look.

♥ Model: Gabrielle Bryan
♥ Hair & make-up: Rachel Liney
♥ Vintage dresses: Dana Bolton, Once Upon a Time
♥ Flowers: Eve Lily

I wanted something elegant and classical but with a fun, quirky twist. So off I toddled with model Alice Murray to Stowe Gardens with union jacks, bunting, paper chains and ‘Jack’ the dog door stop.

Dresses were a mixture of designer and high street. And check out the cute union jack shoes!

My brief for hair and make-up was ‘make it bold and make it British’. How I would have described British hair I don’t know but Toni’s contemporary interpretation of vintage rolls was most definitely it! And I’m more than a little bit in love with the plait too.

The vintage style bouquet is by Love Bouquets and made from red, white and blue beads and brooches.

Loving the union jack maxi dress from online boutique  Traffic People

‘France’ by Pronovias, from The Wedding Club

‘Rosala’ in red by Tobi Hannah, also from The Wedding Club

‘Darcey’ by Ellis Bridals, from Fairytale Weddings worn with ‘Patty’ union jack shoes by Irregular Choice

More photos from this Britannia inspired photo shoot can be seen on my facebook fanpage

I was totally out of my comfort zone as the venue had no natural light at all. Zilch. Zero. Nada. And the ambient lighting effects were, how shall I put it? … Atmospheric! So flash it had to be. Don’t get me wrong, I like using flash on occasion. I just wouldn’t normally choose it for a bridal shoot. I was a little apprehensive but also excited to push my skills.

Working in the cold was a challenge in itself. Not so much for me, I was ‘glowing’! But my team were standing around more and despite the thermal capes felt just a *little* chilly. But they were all fired up and didn’t want to miss a moment! My model Lilly was a complete trooper throughout. Obvious shivering doesn’t begin to describe it. In fact I had to retouch the goosebumps out in post-production as they were so big. But she didn’t complain once.

Because of the cold I had to work really fast and keep the pace up for the entire hour we were in there. Being able to work quickly is a prerequisite for a wedding photographer but weddings were no match for this.

Technically the shoot was fairly easy. I experienced slightly slower reactions from my camera (which surprised me) and fast battery drain (expected) but the biggest problem was my viewfinder & preview screen steaming up from my breath. I was composing and directing on the basis of blurred shapes much of the time! It was only when we came out of the cold and into the warm at the end of the shoot that condensation became an issue.

In terms of styling I wanted bridal but not overtly bridal, something with a little edge to it; so chose a short dress & feather cape from Monsoon Bridal and a faux fur jacket from Topshop. The stunning tiaras are ‘Snow Queen’ (available May 2011) and ‘Snowflakes’ from the winter collection by Tiararama.

The Narnia-esque hair and make-up was designed by Toni Creative. Colours were muted and cool to create an elegant, almost doll-like, look to contrast with the extreme structure of the ice. Hair was seriously BIG, with a mixture of woven hair and braids, that added a stronger, fiercer element.

This shoot was organised by Northamptonshire’s R-Magazine for the bridal fashion feature in their September wedding special. One of my favourite local wedding venues, Rushton Hall, was the location for the shoot and it never fails to inspire me; there’s always something new to be found.

You can see more photos from this shoot including some behind the scenes on my facebook fanpage.

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The venue for the shoot was Chicheley Hall, a new wedding venue in Newport Pagnell, near Milton Keynes, who I’ve recently started working with. Its great architecture, plentiful natural window light and beautiful grounds made it the perfect setting for the shoot.

After much deliberation; well, topping Alice in Wonderland was never going to be easy; I decided on a ‘vintage’ theme to celebrate the current love of vintage inspired weddings. I didn’t want anything too literal or dated looking so the brief to Toni, my hair & make-up artist and Lauren at The Bridal Gallery who loaned the dresses, was for a contemporary, wearable version of vintage. As part of my research for the shoot I’d studied vintage portraits and seen that very careful placement of hands was a big thing so we went all out for trying some new poses. Hands are always tricky to pose so this was a really good exercise. I had the usual fun finding some props and nabbed some bargains on ebay with the birdcage veil, pearls and lace parasol.

♥ Hair and Make-up artist ∼ Toni Perryman
♥ Models ∼ Sasha Wilford and Beth Norman (not professional models)
♥ Venue ∼ Chicheley Hall (a new venue which opened in June 2010)
♥ Vintage china ∼ Vintage Teas and RSVPs
♥ Dresses and jewellery ∼ The Bridal Gallery, Finedon

Here are my faves from the day; some with a vintage look to the processing. You can see more photographs from this shoot on my facebook fanpage.

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As a photographer you can’t fail to fall in love with Clara. She was so much fun to work with and a complete natural in front of the camera. She’s naturally very elegant and her movement between poses and locations captured my imagination big time. I kept shouting ‘hold it, don’t move’ each time we thought we were done with a location and started to move on. I think everyone thought I was a crazy woman!

The Harmony II luxury yacht was our base for the day. Oh to have a life like that! I was on welcoming duties for the first part of the day – over 30 photographers attended and with 8 models, 4 make-up artists and an army of suppliers it was full on!  Then when everyone had arrived, we split into groups and went off excitedly to shoot different models through the day. It was amazing to see how other photographers can capture the same model and scene in so many different ways. A true lesson in using your eyes.

The photographs featured here are of  Natalie who I really enjoyed working with. Her outfit was fabulous and I loved the railway enviroment and building work hoardings.

It’s all too easy to rush photos of the Bride on a wedding day when everyone is up against the clock and rushing to get ready; but it really is the best time of day to take bridal portraits because hair, make-up and flowers are at their freshest. So I wanted to take the time at this shoot to think of some poses that will work in most situations and that can be created quickly.

Credits

• Venue: Kelmarsh Hall
• Dresses: Bellevue and Seville by Ian Stuart. Papillon and Rosalind by Jenny Packham. All from Fairytale Weddings
• Headbands: Flo & Percy 2011 collection (available from October)
• Hats: Ilda Di Vico
• Flowers: Julie Anna Flowers
• Hair and make-up: Toni Creative

I love photographing all the little details at a wedding. And so I was in my element with all the gorgeous flowers, scrumptious cakes and pretty vintage china which created the tea party table for my ‘Alice in Wonderland’ bridal fashion shoot. I just loved how the colours came together – so pretty and spring-like.

Flowers & props: Julie Anna Flowers

Cakes: The Funky Cake Co

Vintage china: My Vintage Party