So much to blog, so little time!  I shall be extremely disciplined and do them in strict order though…

Back at the end of March I photographed Catherine and Mark’s delightful day at Phyllis Court in Henley upon Thames.  The forecast was not favourable and unfortunately some of the further-flung guests were unable to make it due to the road conditions.  I, on the other hand, was filled with glee at the prospect of a snowy wedding – the world’s biggest soft box was at my disposal!

Upon arriving at the home of Catherine’s father the scenery was a sight to behold and the snow was still falling…

Surprisingly, when I reached the venue, which is on the river, there was no snow on the ground at all!  It was still falling quite heavily, but with no signs of sticking.

I love the moments between the arrival of the bridesmaids and that of the bride – so full of excitement and anticipation.

Then the bride arrives – you can see how heavily the snow is falling behind the car.

The canopy at the front entrance is just a gift, especially on days like this

I love this relaxed portrait of Mark – I asked him to stand here so that I could check the light before asking Catherine to move.  The result is a really chilled pose, because he didn’t think I was really taking a picture that I would use.  A trick I might be using again!

The staircase in the main bar area provided us with a great backdrop for the small group shots.  It also allowed me to get this image of Catherine’s stunning hairdo.

Catherine had obviously spent a lot of time planning all the little details of their day – I adore this mail sack for the guests to deposit their cards.  I also love the fact that they really are Mr & Mrs Smith!

I am always delighted when a chef lets me in the kitchen to shoot the food as it is ready to go out.  The vibrance of this soup really sings, don’t you think?

As for these wedding favours – what can I say?

I hope that you enjoyed these images, please let me know which is your favourite so that I know you popped by.

On Saturday I had the honour of being the photographer for Nichola and Richard’s wonderful wedding at The Vineyard near Newbury.  Having had such fun with them on their pre-wedding shoot I knew that there would be lots of laughter, lots of love and a fair bit of craziness from their two gorgeous boys.

The intimate ceremony and wedding breakfast for close family and friends gave way to a fantastic party in the evening complete with sweetie cart and stunning buffet.  The Vineyard is a beautiful venue and all the staff did everything possible to make the day completely perfect.

Here is a little sneaky peek – hope you enjoy them.

On Saturday I shot my first wedding of the season, with the lovely Catherine and Mark and their beautiful twins.  When I opened the curtains to snow I was rather excited, but there wasn’t much on the ground in Henley (much to the relief of everyone else!)  Phyllis Court really is a beautiful location – right on the river within sight of the Henley bridge.  Here are a few sneaky peeks of their stunning day.

Huge congratulations to you both

Earlier this month I met up with Nichola and Richard and their two gorgeous boys for a pre-wedding shoot.  I always like to go somewhere that has some meaning to the couple and that is completely different to their wedding day, but when Nichola suggested Donnington Castle I was over the moon! Two small boys and a castle on top of a hill – what more could I ask for?.  The day dawned dry and cloudy but really cold.  We managed to stay out of the wind mostly, and once the boys started running around the layers started coming off.

When I suggested piggy backs, this wasn’t quite what I had in mind!

Now that’s better….

Richard proposed to Nichola on the beach at St Ives whilst holidaying there last year.  She assures me that the clothing choice for the shoot wasn’t planned, but I have my suspicions….

By this time the boys were getting cold, so we sent them off with Auntie to get warm and we spent some time doing couple shots.  There was a lot of giggling, as you will see, particularly when “practising” kissing shots!

This next photograph was the favourite among Nichola’s friends on Facebook – what do you think?

We had such fun taking these shots, I am so looking forward to the big day next month – it is going to be a hoot

I recently met up with Catherine and Mark for a chat and a little shoot prior to their wedding later this month.  It was a cold day, but we headed out into Dinton Pastures country park.  The heavens did open on us at one point, but we managed to find some shelter and in the end the sun came out for the final few shots.

We left the gorgeous Juliette and Matt trying to keep warm on a beautiful October day (it may have been sunny, but boy was it cold)  Let’s rejoin them as we end the group shots and prepare to head indoors for the wedding breakfast.  I love this first shot, as I think it really sums up the love and laughter of the day and captures Matt and Juliette’s wonderful relationship.

Girls just wanna have fun…….

I absolutely adored the menu cards that Juliette and Matt made for all of the tables (I think they are now officially pros at these!) Judging from the reactions, I think their guests enjoyed them too!

Although the day was mostly dry, there was a bit of a downpour while the guests were eating, which gave me this most beautiful photo opportunity…..

Juliette asked her Uncle Simon to act as toastmaster for the day.  He was an absolute legend – every wedding should have a Simon!

During the course of the speeches I noticed (and photographed) no less than 6 people crying!  This is something of a personal record for me, thought I would just share a couple with you though…

Of course there were plenty of laughs as well…..

Juliette is a lady after my own heart – she couldn’t chose just one wedding cake, so they settled for 3!  A croquembouche, a lemon cheesecake and a chocolate fudge cake, all beautifully executed by the fabulous Kooky Cake Parlour.  Caketastic!

I love a good action shot and you can usually rely on children to provide them….

I love that Juliette and Matt chose “When I’m 64″ as their first dance – it says it all…..

I usually try to get the bride and groom outside to do a few shots around sunset, think beautiful cloud formations and fabulous skies.  However, this was an October wedding, so by the time speeches were done it was already dark!  When I saw the full moon rising over the granary alongside the castle barn I knew I had found my evening shot….

I have been looking forward to blogging this wedding ever since I shot it back in October.  Wasing Park is such a wonderful venue and with details provided by the wonderful Paula at Paula Rooney weddings, the day promised to be something really special.  The only thing that could put a dampener on it was the weather, so when it was cold and dry with the most amazing clouds I was positively chuckling with glee on the drive across!

Juliette and her bridesmaids got ready in the magnificent honeymoon suite at Wasing Park, which is such a fantastic room with a bathroom as big as an average bedroom (I kid you not!)

I love a good reaction when the girls see the bride in her dress for the first time, and this one did not disappoint….

Juliette kept it together beautifully until her Dad saw her for the first time.  Dad on the other hand assured me that he would be grinning like a Cheshire cat all day and he was true to his word.

One of the delights of Wasing Park is that the church is on site, so the bridal party can walk from their preparations to the ceremony then on to the reception.

And what a beautiful little church it is and remember I mentioned those clouds……

Those last few moments before the bride and her father enter the church are often very precious ones

I love the way that Juliette and Matt stood for the readings.  They had been instructed to face the lectern, but the embrace is entirely their own…

FIrst kiss shots are always special, but even more so when Dad is in the background, still grinning like a Cheshire cat!

Paula Rooney creates the most amazing floral displays and wedding decor, I really love working with her because I know there is going to be plenty of stunning detail for me to capture….

Flowers in a marmite jar – guess you either love it or hate it….

What I really loved was that Juliette personalised every place setting with a description of their guests…

and every table was named after a favourite band, with a suitably embarrassing photo of the bride or groom to keep the guests chuckling (and in some cases guessing who it actually was)

I leave you for now with this shot of Matt and Juliette enjoying the first few moments of married life, and trying to stay warm!

Let me know what you think – flowers in a marmite jar, love it or hate it?  Which is your favourite image?  Come back soon for part 2 of this stunningly beautiful day…

Happy New Year to you all, today I want to banish some January blues by sharing some pictures from a fantastic Christmas party.  Early in December I was over at Sindlesham Court for a big corporate event.  The theme this year was Winter Tea Party, but it felt like Alice in Winterland to me……

During the course of the meal there was a cake decorating contest and boy was the competition fierce……

and the winner was….

Following the meal tradition dictates the judging of the fancy dress then a barn dance.

When the disco started the photo booth also opened.  What a photo booth!  I was so excited when I saw this, what photographer would not want to have this to play with all night?

There was a huge range of costumes around the tea party theme…..

Some people found the deck chairs a little difficult to get out of!

While others preferred to perch on the sheep…

I just love this photo….

The evening ended with a casino.

It was a fantastic evening, I can’t wait for the 2013 event……

On Saturday I was at Wasing Park to photograph the wedding of the gorgeous Juliette and Matt.  When I was driving to the venue for the bridal preparations in the morning, I was really excited about the weather – the sky was blue with fluffy white clouds, the sun was shining, the autumn colours were at their best. But it wasn’t the weather that stole the show – Juliette looked stunning, Matt was terribly smart, everyone was full of joy (and plenty of tears, but more about that next time….) and the attention to detail that Juliette had lavished on the day with the help of the wonderful Paula of Paula Rooney weddings was just breathtaking.  So here is a little sneaky peek to whet your appetite.  Matt and Juliette it truly was a joy to record your beautiful day.  I wish you a wonderful honeymoon and every happiness as Mr and Mrs Harris…

I always watch the bride and groom after the groom’s speech, as the bride will often give the groom a kiss upon resuming his seat.  This was so spontaneous and heartfelt that it is probably my all-time favourite post-speech shot.

In August I photographed a slightly more unusual wedding.  I thought it was fantastic in so many ways – not least for me because the bride and groom met through Scouting and the groom’s old cub leader was at the wedding and actually camped in the grounds of the venue with her children!  There was a lovely story behind the day, as Kirsty and Dave had actually got married last year, because Dave was going to work in America and in order for Kirsty to go too they needed to be married.  They held a quick, small wedding and decided that they would return exactly one year on for a renewal of vows ceremony and a big party with all the people they wanted to invite in the first place.

So much about the day was personal, even down to the choice of wine –  American and English.  But let’s allow the story to unfold…..

Although Kirsty and Dave were only in the country for just over a week before the wedding they managed to make time to visit a pick-your-own flower farm.  All of the flowers were picked by themselves and Dave’s Mum and along with Dave’s sister they created beautiful arrangements for all the tables, buttonholes for the men, posies for the bridesmaids and even Kirsty’s own bouquet.

Unfortunately the British summer did let us down on the day, and we had some really heavy downpours…..

Happily we were able to move the ceremony inside the barn and it was just beautiful.

A Pimms reception in the garden was looking optimistic, but the sun came out for us and although thunder storms rumbled past to the north and the south of us (at the same time – it really was very strange!) we managed to enjoy the garden and get plenty of group shots before the rain sent us scuttling inside for the wedding breakfast.

I always love family members who are happy to pose for me as well

I just had to include some more of those fantastic flowers

Did I mention just how personal this whole day was?  Just another little touch that Kirsty included was the gifts that she put in the bouquets for the Mums to say thank you – glass that she had blown herself and brought across from Seattle!

The farm where the wedding was held is also an equestrian centre, so there are plenty of horses around and the owner offered the loan of one should Kirsty and Dave want to get some photographs with one.  They are not really horsey people, but I will leave you for now with this chap as he was stabled at the back of the barn and had an awful lot to say during the speeches!