So we have been trying to think of ways of using all these lovely engagement images. My wonderful clients Olivia and Mark who are getting married in the Cotswolds in a few weeks mentioned that they were thinking of getting postcards for guests to sign instead of a book as they have a big passion for travel. Lovely, vintagey looking postcards, I LOVE that idea, so this is what we have come up with. Each design needs a minimum of 10 copies but I think they will be a gorgeous keepsake, wrapped up in some lovely ribbon. Get in touch if you want to know more about these for your Vintage Wedding.
Archive for the ‘Vintage weddings’ Category
Vintage Wedding / New Products
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010Brighton Wedding Photographer / Marnie & Bevan
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010These are Marnie’s thoughts on her Brighton Beach Wedding and the story of that beautiful vintage wedding dress.
“I can honestly say that our wedding day was the best day in my life. We wanted a joyful, intimate, classy day for us and our 50 guests…and that’s exactly what we got. So many of the guests at our wedding have said to us that it was the loveliest wedding they’ve ever attended, which is wonderful to know. And I’m also really pleased that we decided to ask guests to donate to Oxfam, rather than buy gifts that we didn’t need….people were really generous.
For my wedding dress I definitely knew that I didn’t want anything new and meringue-like. That’s really not me at all. Having said that, I didn’t have a definite style in mind…I just wanted to find something that I fell in love with. I searched high and low for several months in specialist vintage clothing shops in London, but nothing had that “je ne sais quoi” and I was beginning to panic somewhat as we now had only had 8 weeks to go before the wedding. When I did eventually find the dress, it was virtually on my own doorstep, at Andrew Fionda’s vintage bride shop in Kemptown in Brighton. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the one. It took my breath away…and because it was vintage, I knew it was a one-off and totally unique. Just like my husband in fact…a one-off, totally unique and with all the je ne sais quoi I could wish for!”
Other special aspects for me included:
The little white Morris Minor that we hired for our wedding car
Having our wedding photos taken on Brighton beach
Having our little dog Woody at our wedding ceremony – and a model of him with us on our wedding cake!
Showing the pop video my girlfriends & I shot as part of my hen party
Due South, the gorgeous little restaurant on Brighton beach that we hired for our reception
The wonderful registrars and the beautiful wedding room at Brighton town hall
Brighton Wedding / Sarah & Andrew
Sunday, May 30th, 2010Sarah readily admits that she ‘Has a thing for Gingers!’ Not only is the groom a redhead, but so were each of the four bridesmaids. Their colouring looked gorgeous against the soft blue fabric of their dresses. Since they first met just over a year ago, the couple has kept every cork from the bottles of champagne that they have drunk and this set the theme for the wedding day. They used the corks for place names and named the tables after brands of champagne, with the kids sitting on the Babycham table! The ceremony was in the very beautiful St Mary de Haura which is just around the corner from their flat. Despite a mix up with the wedding cars causing a delay to the proceedings, it was a very lovely service with an amazing rendition of Ave Maria by bridesmaid Kay. We had just enough time to make the most of the sunshine and go to the beach for some photos before the reception at the Royal York in Brighton.
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A Tale of Two Weddings, Part 2 …..
Thursday, May 27th, 2010Two best friends, two weddings. This time the roles were reversed with Clare as chief bridesmaid to Leanne for her gorgeous wedding to the lovely Simon. The ceremony was at St Marys in the grounds of Buxted Park but we traveled to the utterly incredible High Rocks near Tunbridge Wells for the reception. This is one crazy place but very inspiring for a shoot. It is a bit like a little piece of Australia in the middle of the English countryside with a steam train running past every now and then. As Clare had been up there a couple of months before for a wedding, she already knew that there was no way a bride could get up to the top in bridal shoes so Leanne had sourced some very cute pink wellies which became a feature of the photos but didn’t affect how elegant she looked in her wedding dress.
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A Tale of Two Weddings, Part One……
Thursday, May 13th, 2010Shooting a wedding photographer’s wedding is quite a challenge but luckily Clare, my second photographer was very laid back and of course I was thrilled to be part of her big day. I hadn’t realised that Clare was a secret glamour-puss and her fantastic dress from Blessings in Brighton was very sparkly and slinky. She seemed very calm but I think it all felt a bit surreal for her after helping so many other brides get ready. She looked truly beautiful and I was incredibly proud of her. She had three very sweet little flower girls and the morning seemed to whizz by. Suddenly Susanna, one of our other photographers was there to drive them to the Seattle in her very funky, very decorative soft top Beetle. The flowers by the talented Mr Casey from Pollen were gorgeous posies of old fashioned garden roses, wild orchids and fresh flowering herbs. They looked and smelled sensational. The Maid of Honour, Leanne’s dress was from Monsoon and looked fabulous. Clare had a theme of English Eccentric meets the Orient which was inspired by the ceremony venue, the Royal Pavilion and was great for the wedding photography. The reception was at Bartholomew’s Barn in the Sussex countryside and looked splendid. We had fish and chip canapes and fortune cookie favours. At dusk they released some fire lanterns which went off for miles. Such a very lovely day.
Sussex Wedding Photographer / Hazel & James at Ashdown Park Hotel
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010There might have been quite a few rain showers but there was still a great atmosphere at Hazel and James’s wedding in the beautiful Ashdown Park Hotel in Sussex and it had little impact on the wedding photography. The dress from Browns Bridal collection was incredibly elegant as was Hazel’s specially commissioned pearl jewellery. Apart from the veil, she may well have been preparing for the Oscars as the look was 1930s screen siren meets modern laid back beauty. Hazel choose a pair of gorgeous Christian Laboutin sky high heels for the daytime and had a killer sparkly pair for the evening. Gemma, the bridesmaid was extremely lucky as she got to wear a stunning couture gown from the amazing Brighton designer Joanne Flemming
As the rain simply would not leave us alone, we used the grand covered entrance to the hotel for all the group shots and had a well timed dry spell for portraits of the bride and groom. For some unknown reason, their meal was brought forward by an hour so we had to work quickly but managed to squeeze in some elegant shots in a window seat. Their gorgeous cake was by the very talented Zoe Clark and there was a Beatles theme to the table decor. This is one of my favourite vintage inspired weddings to date.
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Brighton Wedding / Rachel & James at The Royal Pavilion
Monday, April 19th, 2010Rachel and James first got in touch through the enquiry form on my site but it turned out that they were my neighbours. So I had the easiest ever journey to work, I just had to stroll over the road! When Rachel opened the door she was looking great in full make-up and rollers but confessed that she had barely slept all week. She then showed us the dress and veil which had been stashed in the spare room away from James and their two cats. Rachel’s dress from Pronovias was very classic and elegant but the veil was amazing. It was the longest one I have ever seen and was covered in tiny polka dots and edged in lace. I immediately thought that it would make a great silhouette shot against the windows in the Pavilion Music Room. I caught a great shot of James just as Rachel walked in, looking very overawed.
Their theme was mint and chocolate. When they suggested to The Talented Mr Casey from Pollen that they needed brown and green flowers they thought he might be stumped but he came up with chocolate cosmos and flowering mint. Their flowers looked great and smelled yummy, the man is a genius which is why I rave about him. After the ceremony and family groups, I thought it would be a grand idea to take the bridal party to the front of the pavilion for some wedding photography in what I think of as my “Vanity Fair” style. After a short time lots of officials appeared telling us that we were not supposed to be there as the scaffolding was being taken down above our heads and it was dangerous. However the shots we did get look great so although I was in a little bit of trouble, it was worth it.
As the reception was at Due South we also took some portraits of the Bride and Groom on the beach, making the most of the glorious sunshine. We took some very cute pictures in the deck chairs and of Rachel throwing her bouquet. We left as they began eating what looked like a very delicious meal while the sun set over the West Pier.
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Wedding Photography Sussex / Walled Garden at Cowdray
Thursday, April 15th, 2010Jill and John’s very pretty wedding was at the beautiful Walled Garden at Cowdray. This historic garden is set in the estate of Cowdray Park next to the castle ruins at the entrance to Midhurst. Jill’s look on the day was modern and chic which sharply contrasted with the ancient surroundings. I loved the juxtaposition as she got ready at the antique stuffed Spread Eagle Hotel, though the floor is so uneven we were feeling a bit disconcerted. The room smelled fabulous, thanks to the bouquets from The Real Flower Company that were stuffed full of fragrant herbs and scented garden roses. After the very lovely ceremony, we took the Bride and Groom to the castle for portraits in the ruins. It was very sunny but the light amongst the old walls and stone windows was stunning. I got Jill to climb onto a wall, which she wisely did barefoot to take these beautiful shots, making the most of the location. The food by local firm Jacaranda looked delicious and as we left the guests were tucking in under the giant white round balloons that decorated the dining room. I love this wedding as it was extremely modern in an ancient location.
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Vintage Wedding Album
Saturday, April 10th, 2010I know the sun is shining and little daffodils are bobbing in the breeze but today I am working on Maddie and Nick’s gorgeous winter wedding. They were lucky to have chosen a perfect day where the snow was sparkling on the ground but the sky was blue and the light was beautiful. They have chosen around 170 images to go in a Photobook and have opted for the Vintage finish. Maddie’s look on the day was classic vintage bridal and their stunning venue of Ashdown Park Hotel in Sussex looked like a perfect winter wonderland. I loved the flowers by Pollen as the berries gave them a winter feel but very luscious looking. One tip, if you are planning your winter wedding – don’t get married any later than 2pm. Maddie and Nick called me as they were thinking of a 4pm ceremony with candles, imagine if we had missed all this lovely light for the photography!
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Sussex Wedding / Nicola & Daniel’s Buxted Park Wedding
Thursday, April 1st, 2010On Tuesday (I Know!) Amy and I headed to the glorious Buxted Park in Sussex for the wedding of Nicola and Daniel. Nicola owns Florian Flowers, so we knew this would be an inspirational wedding and as we discussed it on the way, I came up with the idea that we would treat it as if we had never shot at Buxted before. I wanted to see it fresh and discover some new bits and places to shoot. The suites are huge so even with lots of people coming and going, there was still space to do some detail shots and I loved her “I DO” shoes. The ceremony was one of the most emotional we have ever seen as there were quite a few tears from Daniel and his twin brother. Their film, shot by the lovely Jo at Padgham Productions is going to be outstanding.
There was some rain but I had brought our floral umbrellas and was keen to do lots of interior shots anyway. Recently, I have been obsessing about shooting into the light and I knew we could get some strong shots into the windows and doorways. Of course, the flowers were utterly gorgeous, girlie with a vintage edge and it was great to see the first peonies of the season. Everything had a laid back elegance to it, with a classic vintage wedding twist. Throughout the drinks, Adam Chandler sang songs from the Rat Pack and sounded amazing. As we left, the sun finally came out but I don’t think a little bit of rain bothered anyone at the wedding or affected how strong their photography is.
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