Wedding at Great Fosters

This wedding started with a ceremony in West London and then moved on to a reception in leafy Surrey.



Rachel and Mark were married at St Pauls church in Chiswick at 2.30pm. We were expecting the forecasted rain to be with us that point but, thankfully, it held off until later in the day. The wedding ceremomy was enlivened by the Elysian Choir who sang beautifully throughout but really sent shivers down the spine with a rendition of Handel's Zadock the Priest whilst the marriage register was being signed.


After the ceremony the Bride and Groom were whisked away in a Rolls Royce Phantom with the guests enjoying a glass of Champagne on there journey aboard a red Routemaster bus.



The wedding reception was held at the 16th century Great Fosters Hotel near Egham. As refreshements were served I managed to get some time to photograph the newley-weds around the grounds. Rachel was wearing a stunning dress designed by Caroline Castigliano and it was complimented by a beautiful bouquet from the very creative team at Euphoric Flowers.


Euphoric also supplied all the floristry inside the Tithe Barn which is where the wedding breakfast was served. The room looked amazing and no little credit should go to Kelly and her team at the Bespoke Wedding Company who coordinated the whole day.

Wedding at the St Stephens Club, London

Kate and Guillaume held their wedding ceremony and the wedding reception at the St Stephens Club in London. Tucked away behind Bird Cage Walk and within a few hundred yards of Buckingham Palace this intimate venue was a perfect backdrop for the Bride and Grooms Anglo French celebrations.






The Bride arrived with her Father at 4pm wearing a beautiful dress made for her by designer Ritva Westenius. After the ceremony the Groom and his new wife went across the road to St James Park for a stroll to the delight of the amazed tourists.






The wedding Breakfast was held in the Club's dining room amongst some fabulous floral decorations created by Mark Walker and at the end of the meal the couple cut their cake which had been made by Pat-a-Cake Pat-a-Cake.






The whole day was organised by Wedding Planner Siobhan Craven-Robins. Siobhan and I have been trying to work together for a long time so it was nice to finally be available to photograph one of her weddings.




The newlyweds are now off on honeymoon to Greece with their daughter Alice.

Wedding in Essendon, Hertfordshire

Music, fun and flowers seemed to sum up this wedding. Sian and John named their tables after various music festivals and had signs and invites to match.



The wedding ceremony was held at the Bride's local family church, St Mary the Virgin in Essendon and as well as the church choir the congregation were entertained by the Christian Meleke Choir who sang 'Amazing Grace' as the Bride arrived, 'Oh Happy Day' as the couple left the church and during the ceremony a number of songs one of which was 'River Deep Mountain High'.



The reception was held at Sian's parent's farm where one of the fields was set up as a camp site; fortunately we didnt get any of the traditional 'Glastonbury weather' and the day was sunny and dry.




As part of the evening entertainment there were two live bands one of which was a Samba band who played for an hour and had everybody dancing along.


The happy couple are now on honeymoon in Cornwall.

Wedding in Rome

A June wedding in Rome sounds idyllic and this one pretty much was. We started the day with the Bride in her amazing suite at the Hotel Russie where her parents watched on as she prepared for her wedding day.





Rubia and Andreas held their wedding ceremony in the Basilica of Santa Sabina at the top of the Abentine Hill in Rome and, at 11am, the Bride made her entrance looking beautiful in a stunning dress designed for her by Bruce Oldfield.






Once the ceremony was over we were driven through the streets of the Italy's capital City to the Villa Aurelia for an afternoon reception for the Bride and Groom and their two hundred guests. The Villa is set within a private park and enjoys spectacular views of Rome and the Vatican City.
Champagne was served throughout and, as well as canapés, there was a 'Risotto' bar serving a variety of different interpretations of the dish including asparagus, porcini mushrooms and saffron. Before the guests departed for their hotels for a break there was a cake cutting ceremony and ice cream was served from a traditional Italian cart.



There was time for a shower and a change of clothes before we resumed the wedding celebrations at the Villa Miani. Built high up on the slopes of Monte Mario in the early 1900s, the Villa is an even better vantage point to see the city than the Villa Aurelia.
Despite a forecast of 'light showers' the sun had shone all day but only an hour before the newly weds were too arrive we could see a very large cloud and the thunder storm it contained heading towards us! Incredibly, however, the storm went to the east and west of Villa Miani and we stayed dry. It also meant that we enjoyed a spectacular view of Rome, illuminated by the evening sun with a dark brooding sky and flashes of lightning as a backdrop.




After an evening of open air dining there was dancing in the purpose built night club upstairs in the Villa which went on until 6am.





The wedding was organised and planned by Linda Cooper Weddings who, as always, made sure that the event was run with military precision. This included transporting my team from one venue to another at high speed through the Roman streets which was all great fun and very exciting!