Brympton house hosted the stunning winter wedding of Claire and Martin set in amazing Somerset countryside.

Started the day in the bridal suite with Claire and her five bridesmaids for fun, follocks, and of course Prosecco. Hair was by Studio CCK in Ilchester and Make up was completed by the lovely Another little World in Yeovil. The bridesmaid wore dressed Little Mistress.

It was a day of all weathers from bright sunshine to fluffy snow which unfortunately didn’t settle, much to Claire’s Joy.  An emotional ceremony in the chapel lit by candles, followed a guard of honour into a flurry of confetti.

The Great Hall held the guests for drinks and canapés while some formal pictures took place on South Terrace with the house as a back drop. The guests took the wedding breakfast in the dinning hall accompanied by soon gorgeous music from Adam Tuffrey. Amazing food by Dine with Style, followed some quality and very funny speeches from the Bestmen.

I took Claire and Martin away for some intimate portraits showing off her dress from Sassi Holford’s in Taunton, on the amazing wooden staircase.

The party then moved into the Stables ,where food and drink was served from Wellies and Garlic. A romance First Dance for the happy couple surrounded by their friends and family, was a joy to capture. The band White Station and DJ – Lee Dewsbury rocked the guests for the rest of the night.

The whole day was very professionally captured on video by Daisy Daisy films.

Recently I attended the wedding of Ilaria and James at Kingscote Barn, Tetbury.

The day started with preparations for Ilaria at her parents house, and James at their house across the road. Myself and my 2nd photographer Sophie of Sophie Mitchell Photography captured the morning full of coffee, Prosecco, and happy children.

It was then on to Kingscote Barn situated just outside of Bristol, offering exclusive use in scenic surroundings. This is where I met up again with the nervous James and his Groomsmen. After busily setting up the ceremony room, they shared a brandy, ready for the day, looking very dapper in their suits from Tux and Tails

The beautiful barn, with its oak framed balcony, fairy lights and high ceilings was the romantic setting for the ceremony. Ilaria carried wonderful flowers from Jacaranda florist. Tears of joy, and the handsome little best man made it very special.

Following some family pictures on the lawn, we took the couple away for a few intimate pictures by themselves.

The day continued to the wedding breakfast supplied by McBaile, followed by a great speech by the little best man, which left myself and my second photographer in tears!

Tony’s Disco provided the music for everyone to dance the night away.

Lisa & Kashif Wedding took place at Bristol Registry Office then following at the PBA Club.

I started the day with Lisa and her mum at Sairaz Beauty Salon, where they both had their hair and make up done, a great opportunity to get some natural pictures of them both.

We moved on to the Premier Inn, for Lisa to get in to her stunning dress by The Bridal Room. Her cheeky littles one made for some great pictures. Kashif and the boys worn suits from Next.

The ceremony took place at the grand Bristol Registry office, decorated with Flowers from Pet-Alls Florist, Lisa and her Bridesmaid carried a unique and personal Bouquet handmade by a family member Kristina Zahara Kashif. The bridemaid’s dress was also from Next.

After the emotion ceremony, we organised some family pictures outside on the steps.

After a surprise quick change from Lisa, to a different dress from Memsaabonline.com, we started the night at the PBA Club. We managed to capture some gorgeous sunset portraits before the light faded for the day. The venue was decorated by themselves, in pom pom and flowers. A gorgeous cake by Lahoma Cakes, DJ and Ceremonial Drummer Supplied by Xtreme Soundz. To keep everyone dancing food by Top 1 Restaurant,Stapleton Road, Bristol.

 

Kerry and James’ Wedding was set in the glorious Worcester guildhall. An effortlessly elegant wedding with gorgeous flowers framed in the historic Assembly Room with its high ceilings and chandeliers for their ceremony.

A lovely personal ceremony with family and friends, but most importantly, their children played a big role.

Kerry and James had a Mexican theme for there reception, with gorgeous tropical flowers, and food and props to match.

We managed some time away from family and friends to capture some lovely photos of them together.

Venue – Worcester Guildhall

The caterers – Four all Seasons Catering

The Bar – The Baiting house.

Flowers – Sweet lavender blue

Dress – (Rebecca Chester)

James suit – Ted baker

Rachel and Matt started their wedding day in a quaint little church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Kingston St Mary for lovely family ceremony.

Meeting both of them separately, they both had an air of nervous excitement, ready for the day ahead.

My favourite moment of the day, was Matt’s reaction to seeing Rachel for the first time – utter disbelief!

Following some formal pictures at the Church, the party made their way to reception at the Anchor Inn, Hillfarrance.

Rachel is an example to us all, that weddings on a budget, do not need to look like they are on a budget.

All of the venue decoration, flowers, hair and makeup were done by Rachel and family.

Their amazing travel themed wedding, meant a lot to them, symbolising their family “travelling” together in to the future, to new and exciting places.

The theme was expressed by the bride and bridesmaids having gorgeous paper flowers made out of maps in their bouquets.

At the reception a vintage suitcase for cards and letters. A globe for people to sign rather than a guestbook, as Matt explained ” it will live on the mantelpiece, not tucked away like a book would be”. A world map for the table plan, with all there favourite places as the names.

Her attention to detail was amazing with small paper planes flying out of gypsophila for the centrepieces.

A gorgeous cake matched the theme perfectly from Helen the Cake Lady.

We managed to get some time with the couple on a bridge and in a corn field nearby, producing some great back-lit intimate images.

Church: Church of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Kingston St Mary

Venue : The Anchor Inn, Hillfarrance

Decoration : Rachel & Family

Bridesmaids dresses  – Chi Chi

Suits – Moss Bros

Cake – Helen the Cake Lady 

Bride

Hair – Carla Davies

Makeup – Rachel

Dress – Exmoor Brides – https://www.facebook.com/Exmoor-Brides-246704755487289/

Flowers – Rachel

Recently I had the privilege of capturing the wedding of Gemma & James at Woolhanger Manor. I had never been to the venue before, but was bowled over by the views, and sheer scale of the Music Room. A magnificent room with its high ceilings and fireplaces made a wonderful setting for the ceremony.

There is no getting around it, it rained, heavily, all day. This did not dampen the mood of the day at all. Capturing the fun and frolics of the preparations with both the bride and groom, and witnessing the army of Bridesmaids and Groomsmen getting ready, in the separate cottages on site.

It was nice to have a quiet moment with Gemma before the ceremony, reflecting on times past with James, and both of us hoping the rain would blow over.

After the emotion filled ceremony, myself and the new Mr & Mrs Smith sought shelter from the crowds in the Red Room, a quiet space, where Gemma & James could spend some time together, while I captured some relaxed pictures of them.

What followed was a yummy Afternoon Tea supplied by Happycakes St Giles – a gorgeous 3 tier cake by Ladies Cakes.

The ceremony room decorated by Gemma and Dream Makers, with music from Sorelli Strings.

Keeping everyone watered with their fantastic wooden bar Fly Bar , Great music from the same company DJ Fly Base

Both sides of the families made me feel extremely welcome, and provided endless laughs throughout the day. An impromptu Karaoke session during a family picture was my personal favourite.

After a long day carrying the camera what could be better than Fish and Chips from Whiddon Valley Fryery- Whiddon Wagon 

Bride

Hair – Talented Dannie Fuller 

Makeup – Gemma did her own

Dress – by Frilly Frocks 

Flowers – by To love and to cherish 

A little more about the venue

Woolhanger Manor itself is located in the middle of the countryside on Exmoor, private would be an understatement, you have to drive over a mile along a half dirt, half tarmac track to even get to a B road which will then take you to the main route between Lynton, Barnstaple and Illfracome, and onwards to Woolacombe and Braunton. Weddings at Woolhanger Manor are therefore exclusive and very private in nature, two huge on site cottages allow for bride and groom accommodation and some immediate family.

Weddings at Woolhanger Manor, in North Devon, can either take place fully on site in one of there three refurnished rooms, the grandest of which would be the Music Room, or alternatively Woolhanger can be used exclusively for the reception venue, as was the case on my last visit to Woolhanger Manor, as well as taking full use of the cottages in the morning for bridal preparations and evening accommodation.

I met the lovely Indy and Dan at the stunning Glastonbury Tor.  The weather was good for us, and we only got a little wet on the long walk down the hill.

Indy and Dan were brilliant, and so fun to work with, definitely worth the walk up the hill. I  would love to shoot the Tor again, the scenery is amazing.

I had the pleasure of meeting Kate & Scott in Bath for their engagement shoot. The weather was brilliant, so after a quick coffee we headed out to Parade Gardens with the background of Pulteney Bridge.

Kate and Scott let me know they needed more practice posing for their up and coming wedding, and after a few different poses they were clearly naturals!

We headed to the Abbey, and Outside the Roman Baths for a few slow shutter “kiss in the moment” shots.

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I had a wonderful time meeting Gemma & James at Wistlandpound Reservoir, near Kentisbury Grange.

It was a bright, but overcast day, but this did nothing to diminish the beauty of the reservoir. I really enjoyed the long walk around the reservoir, with Gemma and James recounting the story of how they got engaged.

Only a few months left before their wedding day at Woolhanger Manor, Parracombe, which by all accounts is going to be an amazing day.

 

 

It’s Not Fayre

One chilly November morning I was awoken by my fiancé, to go to a wedding fayre at the Bristol Marriott Hotel.

I was not happy, not even a bacon sandwich could raise me from my grump. I was under prepared to shuffle around the stalls, looking at various bits of sparky wedding plastic, ribbons, chair covers and other “boring things”. My chirpy fiancé bounced from the car with all the excitement of a puppy released on to the lawn, “come on, first 50 couples get a goodie bag!” great, something to carry all the way round with me.

After waiting in line with 3 other guys and 20 thousand women, I was greeted by a smiling host offering me a glass of champagne, things were looking up.

Goodie bag received and already full to the brim of leaflets for everything from cakes to jugglers. We made our way round the stalls, sampling cakes, watching demonstrations, and talking to suppliers.

I learnt it is not the products you see in front of you, it is the people behind those businesses, on the other side of the table that really make the difference. Why go with a supplier that doesn’t care about you, only your wallet?

One job I had been given by the fiancé was to find a wedding photographer. Being a photographer myself it was always going to be difficult to find someone that works in the same business, and has the same work ethic and high standards as I do. We came across the stall of a very tall gentleman (not difficult being my size) he was about 50 years old and had massive smile on its face. He was a Bristol Wedding Photographer, and I loved his pictures. They had a relaxed candid style and were hung professionally around his stand, with series of coffee table photo books on the table. What I remember most was the laid back approach to talking to us, not the hard sell I was expecting.

If he was available on our day I would have probably gone with him.

Talking to him made me feel at ease, and I realised there are lots of technically great photographers out there. I just needed to find the ones that care about us and not whether we go for more expensive package or not. Too often I come across pictures from other photographers that clearly don’t meet the general feeling of the wedding or couple getting married. High contrast dramatic photography for an English Country wedding, doesn’t work.

I started to see as a Groom why wedding fayres were useful to visit for any stage of planning your wedding. Ideas I hadn’t thought of, services we hadn’t considered were all on offer.

My now Wife found her wedding dress at that fayre; she promptly made an appointment, and tried it on and fell in love with it. From me thinking it would be a waste of time, to her finding the “precious” the most important purchase of a wedding, definitely goes to show wedding fayres are wonderful places.

Fayre Play

Now I’m on the other side of the table. When I nervously booked my first wedding fayre, it was hosted by The Milky Way Adventure Park, in Higher Clovelly, Bideford. A small event to give me the start I needed, in the right area for my business. Speaking to people has always been something I have had confidence in, especially about my photography, but now I needed to sell it. I did loads of research about what I should bring, how to talk to prospective customers about my wedding packages. I had leaflets, Photographs and Photobooks designed and printed, and started to build my stand.

I used what I had learnt from my past experiences as a customer to my advantage, too many black boring corporate stands. I wanted mine to be different, informal, and make people feel comfortable; this is it 

I built it myself and went for a vintage country feel, the same style of frames to tie it all together. It made my stand, well “Stand Out” from the crowd.

The day went really well, I had a brilliant time chatting the day away to lots of lovely couples, getting excited with them about their plans and ideas. It was a perfect reminder of how much I love my job and capturing that excitement. At end of the day, I was buzzing, and couldn’t wait to get home to contact those couples who had given me their details.

Bride and Grooms go to Wedding Fayres, at your venue if possible. Go to meet suppliers, talk to them and gather ideas. Ask those questions you’ve always wanted to ask. Not all discussions need to be had by email or Facebook. You might find something you really like, or grab a bargain. Some suppliers put on special wedding fayre only deals, which offer real value for money.

I have 3 Wedding fayres this year, why not pop down and have chat to me, click the venue below for more details.

Aston Gate Stadium Wedding Fayre, Bristol – 24th July 2016
Huntsham Court Wedding Fayre, Tiverton – 10th July 2016
Fleet Air Arm Museum Wedding Fayre, Somerset – 18th September 2016

 

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