The day before Valentine’s Day I waited in a quiet park over looking the Thames. It was cold but hazy, sunny and beautiful so I was thrilled for KoKo that he had picked this day. There were definitely some sympathy butterflies as I thought how he must have been feeling walking with Erica to the place he knew he was going to propose. Thankfully she said a very confident ‘yes!’ and after taking a stroll alone to let it all sink in we started upon capturing some bright sunshiny images together. A heartfelt congratulations to you both on your engagement and I’m so pleased that you swapped the warm Californian sun for a very chilly London for this precious moment in your lives.

Hannah and I have been planning to do a shoot of our own creation since July 2014.  This same shoot was postponed and rearranged perhaps two or three times due to one setback after another. So these images after three rounds of planning have morphed into something quite different all together.  In these two years a lot has changed for us both and for many reasons we feel we’re starting afresh. Essentially this shoot was about us stepping back and experimenting with a team we trust and I want to thank the following who helped us create something a little different. We sense a new direction emerging…

De Beers – for loaning us the most exquisite & expensive diamonds (and letting us try them on) 

Our long time friend & collaborator, make up & hair artist Elbie Van Eeden  for her deft hands, creative eye & colourful hair.

Mandi at Charlie Brear  & Clinton Lotter for the loan of their beautifully made dresses of the highest quality fabrics.  

Emmy for designing and loaning us those most coveted Victoria shoes.

Another long time friend & collaborator Lindsay Sharrier – for saving the day with her beautiful flowers.

The sweet and well travelled Circe De La Rosa at MOT Models 

And Hannah Gooch – for the use of her beautiful summerhouse

A shoot commissioned by De Beers to create some beautiful storytelling imagery focusing on six of their exquisite engagement rings. Each set of images was to illustrate the infinite love between two people. For the global ‘A Moment to Last Forever’ campaign.

Films: Rainstar Boutique / Flowers: Indeco / Dresses: Temperley, Jesus Piero / Hair and Make-up: Jeni Dodson and team / Cake: Victoria Made / Stationery and calligraphy: Gemma Milly / Silk Ribbon: Kate Cullen

Mary & James loved the idea that years ago organising a wedding was much more straight forward affair; that weddings took place in a town hall or church local to the couple. The simplicity of this tradition really appealed to them so when they came across the Town Hall Hotel – which happened to be on their doorstep and in fact is the old Bethnal Green town hall they booked it right away.

Their elegant London wedding took place on a sunny day last September. Mary’s Marchesa gown fitted her so beautifully and seemed to echo the Art Deco / Edwardian style of the old town hall so much so that I became convinced it was made for her alone. James wore a dark navy Ralph Lauren tux which also seemed so fitting for the venue, I don’t think they could have looked more perfect together.

They wanted the day to be a fusion of their two cultures, Greek and English, so Olive and Rose became an important theme. This was woven through the florals by lovely Benjamina of Indeco Flowers. Being quite intimate and thoughtful individuals it was important to Mary and James that they should feel comfortable in expressing emotions and spend quality time with their friends and family so they opted for an small wedding of around 50/60 guests. The day felt just that, intimate and full of emotion. Mary & James, thank you for having me along on this beautiful ride, I loved working with you!

Special thanks as always to my assistant Ella Brown.

Ceremony venue –  Town Hall Hotel | Hair – Rita Ferraro at Pimps & Pinups Salon  | Makeup – Inga at Kristina Gasperas | Bride’s dress – Marchcesa, Brown’s Bride | Bride’s shoes – Serena Whitehead | Accessories Earrings and Bracelet – Anoushka Fine Jewellery Head Pin – Jennifer Behr | Groom’s suit – Ralph Lauren | Groom’s shoes – Paul Smith | Groom’s bow tie – Burberry | Bridesmaids dresses – Reiss | Groomsmen suits – their own | Groomsmen ties – Burberry | Stationery – Antonis Karides | Flowers – Indeco Flowers | Cake – Little Bear Cakery | Music, painist – Sarah Kershaw

Thanks you to Susie of Knot & Pop for making Marga & Bikash’s wedding so beautiful and to the team at You & Your Wedding who’ve splashed it beautifully over 4 pages of their March/April 2016 issue. See the full blog post here.

Kary & Ben’s elegant Oxford Wedding took place last February. The couple met whilst studying at Oxford when they were sweetly match-made by a professor. It rained all day long which created a fine atmospheric mist over the old city, this paired with the romance of the wedding and a speech from Ben that was nothing short of genius meant that it lingered in my mind like a brilliant book for days after. Happy Valentines!

Having recently been in email communication with the couple on completion of their wedding album I include a touching excerpt that made me happy to my core;

“And as the first anniversary approaches.. I have reflected that I really don’t think we could have asked for a photographer who could have done a better, more skilful, more exquisite, more beautiful, job than you did… thank you, profoundly.”

Wedding venue – Bodleian Library | Hair & makeup – Claire Nicole  | Bride’s dress – Atelier by Pronovias | Bride’s shoes – LK Bennett | Accessories – Vintage jewellery and Pronovias veil | Groom’s suit – Buckleigh of London | Bridesmaids dresses – Talbot Runhof | Stationery – Oscar de la Renta for Crane & Co, paper by Paperless Post | Flowers – FabulousFlowers | Cake – Cake by Rachel | Music – Harpist- Sarah Goss, Piano, vocals and band Lily Davies Band

Thank you team You & Your Wedding for Emily & Simon’s feature!

A blustery Sunday morning in November I met with Sammy and Anaël at their home in Islington. Sammy Aki is the talent behind The Groom Style Consultant, she specialises in “putting together exceptional, outfits for men on their wedding day.” We collaborated on this shoot at Eltham Palace a few years back so it was great to catch up. It being a winter engagement session it was all about the outerwear, Sammy wore a black suede vintage (family heirloom) coat and Anaël wore a beautiful blue coat by Richard James (plus Sammy tells me knitwear by Anderson and Sheppard and shoes by G J Cleverley).  Sammy & Anaël are to marry next year in France – Congratulations on your engagement, this was a joy to photograph for you xx

Many thanks to Wedding Venues Magazine for this sweet mood board feature of Liat and Ed‘s Aynhoe Park wedding.

One cold Sunday in October a small team of creatives met in a studio in Shoreditch to create images for Clinton Lotter’s 2016 Bridal collection. I’ve always been a fan of Clinton’s work, his beautiful dresses have featured in many of Gooch & Gawler shoots and after photographing his collection for 2012/13 was thrilled to be working together again.

Clinton’s inspiration for this collection emerged initially from his love of Sade,   “Her lyrics, the way she sings. I just love that fusion of island life and Britishness”. The collection however remained nameless until shortly after this shoot, “Although Sade was the inspiration for the dresses, when coming up with a name for the collection itself it would have been all too easy for it to sound overly romantic if inspired by her lyrics. A couple of days after the shoot I heard “The Girl From Ipanema” on the radio and this song seemed to encapsulate the collection; our Brazilian model, midriff showing, a girl from a beautiful beach paradise here in London to inspire us all”.

Special thanks to Shoreditch Studios and 123 Lighting for all their help amongst The X Factor madness!

Shoot Credits:

Designer : Clinton Lotter London

London Stockist : Blackburn Bridal

Photographer : Sarah Gawler

Assistant : Ella Brown

Model : Rafaelly Xavier

Make-up Artist & Hair Stylist : Darren Evans