Two 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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Posts Tagged ‘sussex wedding photographer’
A Tale of Two Weddings, Part 2 …..
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
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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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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Brighton Wedding / Liz and Chris’s New Year’s Eve wedding at Pangdean Barn
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Liz and Chris finally got married on New Year’s Eve after a few changes to previous plans thanks to the arrival of their beautiful baby son Wilbur. We joined Liz at her friend’s fabulous mews house in Hove where she was getting ready. Everything was going well until we spotted a clamp going on one of the wedding cars, which luckily could be removed after payment of a hefty fine. Liz looked gorgeous in a gown from Ian Stuart that she bought from the Ozone in Brighton. Although we left quite late, we managed to grab a couple of shots in the cobbled street before rushing to Ditchling Church. After abandoning our car in a muddy lane, Amy and I ran uphill and got there just before the bride walked in but it was one of the closest near misses for me as a wedding photographer! The ceremony included a baptism for Wilbur who must be the most chilled out baby ever. He smiled all day and didn’t even mind the water on his head.
The reception was held at the very lovely Pangdean Barn, 
just outside Brighton which is a great Sussex winter venue. It felt very festive and cosy and the food was amazing. Nicky and her staff are very warm and relaxed which helps to create a friendly atmosphere. We used our lights to do all the formal photography by the huge Christmas tree, finishing with five month old Wilbur posing with his many Godparents! After the speeches, the couple cut their stunning wedding cake which had been made by the Groom’s very talented Dad. www.devlinphotos.co.uk
Brighton Wedding / Joanne & Mark’s Wedding at Pub du Vin, Brighton
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Joanne started her wedding day by getting ready in the glamorous surroundings of the Hotel du Vin in Brighton. It was good to see Claire Wallace again doing the hair and make-up. The suite was very busy with bridesmaids and the gorgeous little flowergirl all running around so we took Joanne’s shoes and flowers to the hotel courtyard for photos. This was our first time doing wedding photography at the their venue, the Pub du Vin and it looks great in there. The ballroom is bright and quirky with a massive chandelier made from crystal wine glasses. After the ceremony at Brighton Town Hall, we walked with the wedding guests to the pub and picked up some champagne. We then took Joanne and Mark to the beach with their bridesmaids and the best man for some fun photos on the carousel. 
As usual when the sun shines in Brighton, the beach was very busy but we used the doughnut statue by the Pier for some shade. We also went back to the beach for some night shots of the carousel which was still lit and looked amazing. I think the pub is going to be very busy with weddings, especially as it also has the civil license. With the fireplaces it is going to make a fantastic winter venue too.
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Sussex Wedding / Natalie & Ed’s wedding at Upwaltham Barns
Monday, June 29th, 2009We 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.
Sussex Wedding / Sara & Gary’s Wedding at Buxted Park
Thursday, December 18th, 2008Initially Sara and Gary had been planning a beach wedding in Mauritius but as the ceremony would not have been legal here, they opted for the beautiful, though less tropical location of Buxted park in Sussex. Sara got ready in the opulent Winston Churchill suite and we made use of the enormous bathroom for some photos as she was getting ready. The bridesmaids all wore white and carried little bouquets of Lily of the Valley and before we knew it everyone was ready to go downstairs for the ceremony in the library. Despite things running slightly late, I managed to sneak a gorgeous shot of Sara on the stairs.
The ceremony room was filled with vintage candlesticks hired from Pollen and would have looked great if someone had remembered to light them! The couple had also hired big lanterns to line the corridor to the Orangery where we took some lovely portraits as by then it was dark outside. Having been the photographer at quite a few big summer weddings at Buxted Park, it is good to know that there are still some good indoor options for the photos when we can’t rely on the light or the weather.
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