Busy wedding photographer catches up at last

You’d never think that I love writing almost as much as I love taking pictures when I’ve fallen so far behind with my blog.

Of course I could blame my workload. It was a very busy autumn and I guess taking at holiday at the end of November didn’t help. I could rattle through string of reasons but here I am about to bring things up to date.

January is a good time to look back on the previous year and I have no complaints about 2011. I shot thirty one weddings, several family photo shoots and lots of other things including the celebration in my village for the Royal Wedding.

I joined with a group of colleagues to form The Cotswold Wedding Photographer’s Ring. We’re nine like-minded people, all damn good photographers and as well as bouncing ideas around I know I could call on anyone of them if I needed help. www.weddingphotographersring.co.uk 

I organised and chaired two meetings for local photographers. These are very informal get-togethers and gives colleagues the opportunity to network. It’s four years since I set up this Discussion Group and we meet twice a year. At the last meeting there were twenty of us, can you imagine how much talking went on! Wedding photographers just love to talk!

2012 promises to be an exciting year too. I like the sound of two thousand and twelve; it’s a leap year, it’s the year the Olympics come to the UK, I’m ignoring as much as I can all the negative stuff the media keeps pumping out about the economy and just yesterday I became a grandma. What a fantastic start to the year! Baby photography here we come! 

There are weddings I shot in the autumn that haven’t featured on my Blog and so as well as taking this opportunity to apologise to those couples, I shall put that right. Here is a selection of pictures from those weddings.

 

Silver award for Alex & Johnie’s picture on the Grand Staircase at Woodchester Mansion

One of the pictures I submitted to my professional body The Guild of Wedding Photographers has been awarded a silver bar. It’s not easy to get one so I was thrilled to hear the news. Apparently I was only a few points short of a gold award but as they’re as rare as rocking horse manure I was well pleased with a silver. This means the picture in the opinion of the judges is of a ‘Very High Standard (very difficult to achieve)’. I’m pretty pleased with that particularly as Alex & Johny’s celebration was full of photo opportunities and a very stylistic day.

This is the picture of Alex & Johny taken  on the Grand Staircase at Woodchester Mansion near Stroud. http://www.woodchestermansion.org.uk

The Best Man trips up over the rings!

Natalie & Sonny’s wedding at Stanton House hotel was a  delight to photograph. I hadn’t worked at the venue before so I was pleased to see that the Ceremony Room was very light and airy. Makes our job easier!          http://www.stantonhouse.co.uk/

Even though we were in Wiltshire the Registrar was very flexible about photography during the Ceremony and let me stand at the front and Simon who was working with me, take pictures from the back. There wasn’t a lot of room at the front so as I was quite close I was able to get some lovely pictures during the Ceremony. Sonny’s friend Jason who was  the best man obviously hadn’t had to cope with rings on a cushion before …instead of untying the ribbon and handing each ring over at the appropriate time, he passed the whole cushion over to Sonny! There was a little camera wobble for a moment whilst I along with everyone else burst out laughing.

Simon and I thoroughly enjoyed photographing the wedding which was split into three parts. There were the celebrations after the Ceremony followed by the wedding breakfast, the couple’s extended families arrived later  for tea and cake and then a while later the evening guests arrived for the disco and pig roast. As an added bonus the light that evening was beautiful, golden glows all round. A perfect ending to a perfect day for Natalie & Sonny. Thank you!

Just in time for Kirsty & Neal’s wedding!

Now you know how much we wedding photographers like shoes and boy do I love photographing them so it wasn’t long before I was taking pictures of  Kirsty’s – they were so pretty! There were lots more opportunities for ‘getting-ready’ shots too with four pretty bridesmaids and a gorgeous bride who just couldn’t stop smiling.

As usual I left the bride’s house in plenty of time to get to the church in Gloucester but I hadn’t banked on a huge traffic jam going into the city. Fortunately Chris was working with me that day and was ready and waiting for not only me but the bridal group to arrive. Thankfully she didn’t take a picture of me as I pelted out of the yellow peril (my car) into the church. Even the vicar suggested I slow down a little! With just seconds to spare I was in place ready to photograph the bridal party processing down the aisle. Yes Kirsty’s chauffeur had arrived just before me having taken a short cut to the church!

No problem in getting from Gloucester to the reception venue, thank goodness, I arrived at The Frogmill Hotel at Andoversford in plenty of time and got some lovely shots of the bride & groom by their rather splendid car.

For the evening entertainment there was a photo booth plus a box of dressing up clothes. Another great opportunity for photographs. I particularly like the one of the little girl featured here and the three boys sat outside who refused to take part in this dressing up business!

Thank you Kirsty & Neal, I loved photographing your wedding, it was such a fun day. 

A mix of Cotswold charm with a dash of Norwegian.

Cotswolds 88 hotel is full of wonderful artefacts and stunning themed decors in each room  – I loved it  from the moment I met Jean & Alex there at our pre-meeting.  The Ceremony Room is delightful, you could almost be on a film set for ‘ Poirot’!

On the day of the wedding I was thrilled to see the men wearing black tie & dinner jackets (OK a little more than that but you know what I mean …), all very stylish. Jean and her daughter had both chosen 30′s style dresses to complement the theme and they looked lovely. I must mention Regen who is Norwegian and didn’t wear black tie etc because he had promised Alex & Jean that he would wear his country’s traditional costume …of course I took quite a few pictures of him too!

There may not have been champers on the terrace due to several August downpours but there was no shortage of fizz everywhere else. A great wedding, definitely one of the most stylish themed weddings this year. www.cotswolds88hotel.com

The Colour Purple for Tracey & Simon

As soon as I arrived at Tracey’s Mum’s house I spotted Tracey’s amazing shoes.  I took several shots of these fabulous shoes with their very high heels. Tracey’s colour scheme for the day was never in question -she loves purple! Simon and the boys looked great in their purple cravats too.

Happily when Tracey walked down the aisle with her dad she managed to avoid the grating running down the middle and arrived safely to stand alongside Simon. It was a lovely Ceremony, very nice vicar who let me take pictures from the front whilst Shane set up his camera at the back of the church. This way we got lots of lovely shots of the Ceremony.

When Tracey & Simon arrived at The Four Pillar at South Cerney http://www.cotswoldwaterparkhotel.co.uk one of the first things they wanted was a shot of them sitting in a golf buggy. We were happy to oblige. Tracey threw her bouquet a little later from the steps of the fire escape, I’ve never seen so many guests chasing a bouquet before, that’s the girls, I didn’t spot any guys lunging for it but maybe one or two did, it was quite a tussle for a moment though.

I’m so glad everything went perfectly for this lovely couple who have become great friends of mine. One of my favourite shots is of the two of them on three dance floor completely engrossed in each other oblivious to everyone. Thank you Tracey & Simon for giving me the opportunity to photograph your Big Day.

‘Jerusalem’ with gusto at Hannah & Sam’s wedding!

I love photographing weddings in Methodist churches. There’s a feeling of warmth and togetherness  and most of all a real family atmosphere.  The church was full and gosh there were a lot of very good singers there. 

All my assistants know I love to sign along to the hymns and especially when it’s my favourite, ‘Jerusalem’. It’s a popular choice for weddings but the singing on this occasion was amazing. I was shooting the wedding from the front and if I wasn’t in full view of everyone  I would have been jumping up and down with excitement – it was just fantastic!. The whole ceremony was lovely, the Minister  who every one knew made it very special for Hannah & Sam but ‘Jerusalem’ was the highlight for me!

Hannah & Sam’s reception was at the Frogmill Hotel near Cheltenham. http://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-venues/the-frogmill-hotel_915.htm They arrived in style in a vintage car which was a good photo opportunity – a handsome couple, a lovely car and the stunning backdrop of this Cotswold hotel. The sun shone and we were able to get lots of shots of the guests enjoying themselves in the rare summer sunshine. I took Hannah & Sam off for a while to take those special shots of the two of them. They were great to photograph and very good sports especially when I positioned them quite near to the edge of the brook.  Thank you very much both of you, it was a lovely day.

A wonderful day at the Castle

Jen & Jon were married  in the beautiful church of St Gregory’s in Cheltenham which although there is little space to take photographs outside, the beautifully decorated interior more than makes up for it. The Priest was very friendly towards photographers so Simon set up his tripod at the back of the church and I shot from the front. If you click on Jon & Jen’s on line album you’ll see we got some great shots of the Ceremony.

Driving to Berkeley Castle for the reception was interesting as the heavens opened and the car park was awash when we arrived. Unloading my camera equipment from the car I was sure  the drinks reception wouldn’t be in the terraced garden and said a few choice words under my breath! The function manager assured me though that it was a passing shower and do you know he was right! Just as the bridal car swept through the first stone archway the rain stopped and the sun came out.  From then on the weather for the whole afternoon and evening was fantastic.

The gardens at the Castle are beautiful and of course I took full advantage of them. http://www.berkeley-castle.com/index.php One of the shots of Jen in the white rose garden is in my top ten of favourite pictures taken this year. I’ve used it for the front of my folder which is part of the information pack that I send out, it’s a cracker! Thanks Jen & Jon , you’re a lovely couple, Simon & I had a great time photographing your wedding.

Bryony’s Mum is a star!

As you can imagine, I see a huge variety of styles in wedding dresses and occasionally one made by the bride herself or a member of the family. In the last eight years there has just been one that perhaps didn’t quite work out … sometimes a ‘home made’ dress can lack that professional finish but not Bryony’s dress – it was fabulous! Mum, Yvonne had done an amazing job, what a talented lady! I just wanted to take lots of pictures of Bryony in her dress.

Of course the boys looked good too. (Mustn’t forget them)!Nick, the groom couldn’t wait to take off his jacket, (it was a very hot day), but he was under orders to keep it on for the group shots. When we went to the Common for pictures I noticed he was ‘sans’  jacket. Bryony was very happy to sit down in her dress but maybe if Yvonne was with us it might have been different.

The Bear of Rodborough Hotel on the Common is a lovely venue , I always enjoy working there. http://www.cotswold-inns-hotels.co.uk/property/the_bear_of_rodborough?/bear  Rosie, the Events Manager is extremely helpful as is  the Manager, Ricardo. The hotel has been refurbished recently and has a fresh,  contemporary feel, lovely for photography and a perfect place for Bryony & Nick’s wedding.

A touch of Thomas Hardy, Agnes the scarecrow & Morris Dancers.

The pretty historic church of St John the Baptist in France Lynch was the perfect setting for Debbie & Glenn’s country-style wedding.

The church was full to overflowing as Debbie walked down the aisle and thanks to the lovely vicar I was able to take shots from the choir stalls whilst Josie my assistant photographed from the back. Together we got some super intimate shots of the Ceremony.

Rob & Steve, the ushers did a great job organising the guests so they stood either side of the winding path from the porch to the lych gate whilst I was taking pictures of Debbie & Glenn beside their special tree in the churchyard. The confetti really flew that day but what a long walk for the bride & groom …

The reception was held at the WI Village Hall in Bisley which is a wooden clad building straight out of a Thomas Hardy novel. The bunting everywhere just added to the scene. Agnes the scarecrow was lauding it on the front porch, she was made by Debbie & Glenn for the Chalford village garden trail. Don’t know if Agnes won Agnes a prize, but she deserved to.

The guests were quite surprised when a group of Morris Dancers appeared in the lane (it was a well-kept secret and a first for me at a wedding). They were fun to photograph especially when the bride & groom and several of the guests joined in for the final dance. I came away from the wedding feeling as though I’d stepped back in time and I loved the whole atmosphere.