Kajal looked stunning in her traditional wedding dress, wearing symbolic jewellery and beautiful Menhdi designs on her hands. A fun tradition is to steal the grooms shoes, often with a financial arrangement to secure their return! There are seven vows including prayers for prosperity, wealth, and health, and to be blessed with healthy children. Both bride and groom promise to honour and look after each other, and pray for their love to grow and blossom over their many years of happiness together.

One of the most significant moments in the wedding ceremony is the seven Pheras. Kajal and Myles walk around the holy fire with the priest chanting mantras as they turn. Each Phera around the holy fire represents a vow. The couple exchange their marriage vows in presence of family and demi-gods bless them. After the vows, the groom fills the bride’s hair parting with a red powder called Sindoor which signifies that she is now a married woman. There is a lot of laughter during the ceremony, and one great moment is when the couple stand in front of their chairs, and on a signal the one that sits down first will have the upper hand in the marriage. In every Indian wedding I have attended, it has always been the bride who won!

As always, my photographic coverage of weddings is almost entirely documenting moments as they happen, with some relaxed portraits created with the couple during the afternoon. If you’d like to discuss your wedding day photography, please call me on 01727 865873 or contact me here.

After a break for drinks and an afternoon snack, Kajal and Myles were lead into their wedding breakfast by two vigorous dhol drummers, and after cutting their cake, the drummers set off the dancing with fabulous Bhangra music, with everyone joining in.

We drove to the nearby lake to start the session, then went on to Eynsford Castle, the old flint remains making a great backdrop for pictures, especially for a black and white treatment in post-production. Even in colour, the soft light gave everything a neutral palette, perfect for emphasising a feeling rather than a place.

I love shooting these pre-wedding portraits – there is no agenda, so we can just play, get comfortable with each other, and produce some very personal and meaningful images. I recommend having a session to all my couples, and without exception they say it is well worth doing. Here is Chris’ comment – “We are absolutely delighted with how the pictures turned out! Thank you!”

Here are a few favourites from our session together. I’m really looking forward to Kelly and Chris’ wedding day later this year.

There is some more info on pre-wedding portraits here.

Please get in touch to discuss booking me for pre-wedding portraits or wedding day photography.

And thirdly, I had no idea until two days before the wedding, that Katherine Jenkins, that’s THE Katherine Jenkins, was Laura’s sister. AND – she would be singing at the wedding. Me, excited? Oh yes.

Bridal prep was at the splendid Marriott County Hall Hotel, which is a lot smarter than it sounds. Just on Westminster Bridge, it is a big and luxurious hotel, and perfect for Laura’s team of hair and make-up artists. We all piled into wedding cabs for the short trip to One Great George Street, where we were greeted rather unceremoniously by the paparazzi, who had, despite the utmost secrecy, tracked down Katherine. For Katherine, it’s another day at the office. For me, it was a bit scary – they don’t hold back.

We got safely into One Great George Street, calmness regained, the ceremony began, and Laura was given away by her lovely mum. After Laura and Gavin had spoken their promises to each other, Katherine sung, and it was soooo moving, in that place, with those people, for her sister at that ceremony. Beautiful.

Here are some of my favourite images from the day. Your thoughts are always welcome, please feel free to leave a comment or two below.

Here are a few kind words from Laura after she saw their images: “Wow – thanks Steve – they are amazing!  We absolutely love them – thanks so much.  We got back from honeymoon this morning so it’s been nice looking over these when we got home.”

And after seeing their Photofilm:  “We’ve just watched it together and I was in tears again… it’s lovely – thank you so much.”

One Great George Street, London

Laura’s stunning gown is by Suzanne Neville

Laura’s Hair and Make-up is by:

Charlotte Reid at One Represents

Cathy at cathymakeup2@gmail.com

Anna Gibson at annagibsonmakeup.co.uk

The Toastmaster is Paul Craycraft at toastmaster-paul.com

Live music supplied by The Musicquarium