We had photographed Natalie before as she was bridesmaid at the wedding of the very lovely Hannah and Ray back in July 2004. I was expecting her to be photogenic as she has great skin and colouring plus a modern glamour. Clare and I were also excited to see her gorgeous dress from Chlöe Mai hanging from the dress hook in the cottage at Upwaltham. It seems that the big dress has officially made a comeback as we have seen a few already this year. I love the fantasy and girlie dressing up aspect to them. 
The cottage can be a little dark for portraits so when Natalie was ready, we moved a salon sofa nearer the window and photographed her seated. She looked amazing and it reminded me of the photos taken of Carrie in the Viviene Westwood dress in Sex and the City. The ceremony was slightly delayed thanks to a slight dress malfunction on one of the bridesmaids. Luckily the owner, Nicola was on hand with a needle and thread. Upwaltham in Sussex is a great venue for a relaxed country wedding and as the weather was glorious we took advantage of the beautiful gardens for portraits of Ed and Natalie. There is a cute love seat that has appeared in the cottage garden since our last visit so we used it and also the very graphic barn door in the not very glamorous car park. They were a fun couple to work with as they are quite confident and animated and as usual I managed to rattle through a lot of film.
Archive for June, 2009
Commercial Photography / Opening of flagship H&M store in Brighton
Thursday, June 25th, 2009We were thrilled to be photographing the opening of the new H&M flagship store in Brighton’s Western Road. On Wednesday, Clare and I started by photographing the empty shop, which is enormous and houses their entire range in children, men’s and womenswear. The space has been designed beautifully and has lots of visual interest and quirkiness. We took some shots of their very funky staff and then it was time for the party to begin. Due South did a magnificent job of catering the event with unique canapés and locally inspired cocktails. Local indie band The Maccabees did a DJ set and over 1000 invited guests took advantage of 20% off shopping. Before we left, we put the cameras away and indulged in a spot of shopping. Sometimes this job is such a strain! The official opening was today at midday and there was a very long queue all hoping to get a goody bag and voucher worth up to £100. I met a lovely group of girls who has £270 worth between them, that they were sharing and having a lot of fun spending. It is great to have a retail outlet in town with a slick, spacious interior with reasonably priced clothes that are not piled up like a jumble sale. It is definitely my new favourite shop.
devlinphotos
Brighton Wedding / Jo & David’s Brighton Wedding
Monday, June 22nd, 2009We started the wedding photography at the gorgeous Hotel du Vin in Brighton, where the bride, Jo was getting ready. She seemed very calm and as there was quite a few of us in the room, it was good that it was the largest suite. The day was being filmed by Digital Magic www.digi-magic.co.uk who were great to work with. As she got ready, Jo told us the story of her wedding dress which she had seen over two years ago in Pronuptia but had hesitated to buy it so early. Later she set her heart on buying it and had quite a time trying to track it down. She then had a secret pocket sewn into it to hold family mementos and some crystals.
Transport for the day was tuk tuks which were lots of fun, if a bit bumpy especially for my pregnant second photographer, Clare! During their intimate ceremony in the Royal Pavilion, Jo and David recited vows that they had written themselves and their harpist, Fiona Hosford, played beautifully. As the weather was glorious, we all walked to the restaurant, The Coach House, for champagne and mini fish and chips. From there we got back in the tuk tuks with the film crew for some photos on the palace pier. Frank has posted some film on his blog http://dmweddingvideos.co.uk/blog/?p=109
Jo and David are a lovely couple who made aure that their wedding day was fun and a bit of an adventure for all those involved. We have a great set of photos that I am looking forward to showing them tomorrow.
Sussex Wedding / Claire & Lee’s Wedding at the Ravenswood
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009It was a glorious day when we arrived at the Ravenswood in Sussex for Claire and Lee’s wedding. We started with some shots of the house against a perfect blue sky and then met the groom with all of his Ushers and the Best Man. They were only slightly nervous and happy to pose for some pre-wedding photos. It was busy in Claire’s room with three bridesmaids and the Mums but we managed to get some great images of Claire getting into her fairytale dress which was from Chloe Mai in Steyning. I wanted to take the Bride and Groom down to some lovely old ruins in the grounds for their portraits, which turned out to be quite hard to locate. But Claire was a great sport even though we had to navigate some muddy woods. It turned out to be a stunning location with perfect light and the pictures are very beautiful. Their humorous cake, featuring a groom kneeling at a bride’s feet while she stood with hands on hips, was made by Choccywoccydoodah in Brighton.
Sussex Wedding / Fiona & Arthur’s Wedding at Buxted Park Hotel
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009Fiona and Arthur had a strong colour theme of purple and yellow which carried from the bride’s purple dress from Alfred Angelo through to the beautiful sunflowers that featured everywhere. The florist was a friend of Fiona’s and she did a great job of bringing the hotel to life. The corridor to the orangery was lined with pots of lavender and all the chairs had a sunflower tied on the back. The ceremony was held in the library, the drinks were on the lawn and the meal was in the orangery, all great for wedding photos. As it was a Thursday, Buxted was quiet and it felt exclusive. The couple own the Patisserie Valentin in Heathfield so Arthur had made the wedding cake, which I imagine tasted divine.
We took most of the portraits in the herb garden, which is a less obvious location than the house and went well with their theme of lavender. It was a very relaxed day and just felt so lovely to have some sunshine!
