Katrina and Alistair are good friends of mine and I was honoured to be the photographer at their Vintage inspired wedding at Brighton’s Pub du Vin. When I arrived at their house, Katrina already looked gorgeous having been made up by Alison Smith and was keeping her nerves in check by doing chores and getting ready with her two sisters. It was going to be an emotional day as sadly Katrina’s lovely Mum had been ill and passed away last year. Before she died she had planted a rose bush in Katrina’s front garden which hadn’t yet bloomed. A couple of days before the wedding, a delicate rose budded and blossomed despite the November frost. The girls knew it was their Mum’s way of being at the wedding so they added it to Katrina’s lovely bouquet of hand-tied roses and herbs from the amazing Miss Mole’s Flower Emporium. It fitted in perfectly and Katrina kept calm by looking at her flowers as she walked by herself down the aisle. I absolutely loved the wedding dress from the amazing Joanne Fleming and the whole day was just so perfect. There were a few tears but really it was a happy and fun celebration of the love between a couple who started as friends and ended up as a family.
Posts Tagged ‘vintage wedding’
Vintage Brighton Wedding / Katrina & Alistair
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
Wedding Photographer Of The Year
Thursday, November 4th, 2010Its been a crazy week at Devlin Towers but as we are taking December off from wedding photography, there is an end of term feeling too. This has been a big year and a very busy one with lots of seven day weeks, time spent on motorways, some frustrating times but also some amazing times. As well as Amy and Clare shooting weddings with me and working on post production and album design, new girl Jayne is also proving to be just our cup of tea (from a vintage tea-pot!!!) At the start of this year, I set some goals. Number one was to get a feature on the gorgeous wedding blog Rock n Roll Bride. Kat had just been named the most influential person in the industry and the photography on her site is incredibly inspirational. To my amazement she picked up a great civil partnership that I had shot even though it had no bride! Since then I have been lucky to have had several more weddings featured on there including my current favourite Sophie & Barney’s recent North London vintage wedding. This has also led to my work being picked up by other great UK wedding blogs and now some US ones. It has also sent me some fabulous clients. Number two has yet to happen but fingers crossed and I will keep you posted. Three was to be Wedding Photographer of the Year, somewhere! Having been a wedding photographer for ten years, I wanted some recognition. That week, a fellow photographer showed me the current issue of the much revered British Journal of Photography which for the first time ever was doing a Wedding Photographer of the Year Award along with Wedding magazine. Perfect.
When it came to submitting an entry, we all agreed that Lauri and Stuart’s DIY vintage wedding was the one. Its a set of images that reflect a day filled with love, warmth and romance.
On Monday, I was on my own in the office. I was having an email conversation with a bride who was considering moving the date of her French Chateau wedding just so I could shoot it. Wow! Then another potential client phoned to book for his wedding at a very beautiful venue. Happy days! Then a very lovely lady from the BJP called to check through my entry. ‘Great’ I thought, ‘I must have made it quite far’ So far, a great morning. ‘Well’ the very lovely lady said ‘Everything seems to be in order so in that case I’m delighted to tell you that you are our winner’ For all of about 20 seconds I was actually silent. Wowzers! Then I screamed so loudly the cat ran for cover and proceeded to babble at the very lovely lady who must now be thinking ‘What a lunatic!’ When I eventually let her get off the phone, I screamed some more and then rang my Mum and then had a little cry. There are so many brilliant photographers shooting weddings in the UK now, at a time that seems to be more creative that ever for us and the clients. I am completely blown away to have achieved this award and I owe a lot to the other girls who shoot with me as they are also a constant source of inspiration to me and just great company. I am off to plan a little celebration for the four of us and then we can talk about what our ambitions are for next year 
Romantic Sussex Wedding / Sally & Rob
Monday, October 11th, 2010Sally and Rob chose Horsted Place in Sussex for their wedding venue. This beautiful country estate oozes old fashioned charm and vintage elegance which suited this couple very well. When Clare and I arrived, Sally was busy checking the tables before finishing her getting ready in one of the suites. At this point the rain was pretty heavy but Sally’s Mum was pretty sure that this meant good luck for a wedding day! The Caroline Castigliano gown looked amazing on the hanger but even more sensational on Sally and we loved the deep navy blue that the bridesmaids wore. Luckily that rain eased off and we were able to go out into the grounds for some photography. The little bit of rain that we did get, just added to the romantic look of this day. This bride and groom may be two of the best looking people on the planet but they are also very, very lovely and it was great to be involved in their wedding.
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Country Vintage Wedding / Nina & Patrick
Sunday, August 8th, 2010Want a vintage style, shabby chic wedding in the English Countryside? Then you need a lovely Aunt and Uncle like Nina’s who own a beautiful sprawling manor house with plenty of room for a marquee and some quirky ramshackle outbuildings. As Nina and Patrick live in Germany, they left most of their wedding planning to the fabulous Savoir Weddings who also did an amazing job decorating the venue. Our approach to Bramble Park was slightly hairy as we encountered a vintage motorbike rally in a country lane. Once there, things were looking pretty magical as the Marquee was filled with country flowers in old bottles, floral lampshades and vintage lace tablecloths. The ceremony was over at the Archbishop’s palace in Maidstone and we stopped off on the way back in a stunning poppy field with a great view of the Kent countryside. We also had fun in the grounds, which provided an amazing backdrop for the photography. Afternoon tea was followed by an acoustic set by the Groom’s Dad who had fronted sixties band The Flowerpot Men. It was a great wedding and Nina and Patrick who are childhood sweethearts, made us very welcome.
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Vintage Wedding Sussex / Lauri & Stuart
Thursday, July 29th, 2010I love it if a bride shows me her dress before the wedding as it gives me a sense of what the day will be like and their style. Most will have it on their phone or in a wedding file but Lauri’s amazingly pretty vintage dress was in a shoe box in the boot of their car! She had picked it up in a retro shop in Brighton not long after they had first got together but it took Stuart a few years to get around to the proposal. This was a DIY wedding done with lots of style but not a big budget, though they did stretch on the photographer as they realised how important it is to have a great record of your day. After the Town Hall ceremony, they had a champagne picnic in Southover Gardens in Lewes where we had been for their cherry blossom e-shoot. The meal was in the super funky Needlemakers cafe in the middle of a vintage market. There was a Morris Minor, balloons, floral mismatched bridesmaids’ dresses, Victoria sponges, vintage crockery and meadow flowers. Just my cup of tea and I had been really looking forward to this one, not least because I knew that Lauri and Stuart would look gorgeous. The best man finished up his speech by leading everyone in a rendition of ‘All You Need is Love’ complete with gazoos. When I left, Stuart and Lauri were taking turns to DJ and dance. This couple are seriously cool and seriously in love.
Oh and before anyone asks me where they got the beautiful bunting from, Lauri’s Nan made it.
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Wedding Photo Booth
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010We’ve been planning this for a while at Devlin Towers and had a lot of fun rummaging round the flea markets for comedy hats. The Husband put his many power tools to good use and made the speech bubbles and stick props. We set the photo booth up while Olivia & Mark had dinner with their guests at their Barnsley House wedding and of course Amy and I had to have a go, just to check the lighting (!) There was so many funny moments, even if it did get a bit chaotic but its safe to say that the photo booth is a big hit and will be appearing at another wedding soon.
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Wedding Photography in The Cotswolds / Olivia & Mark
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010Last week we traveled to The Cotswolds for Olivia and Mark’s wedding at the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Barnsley House. We woke to the sound of rain, really really heavy rain and thought that would be the end of the outdoor ceremony but when we got to the venue, Mark was positive that it was going to happy. We were thinking ‘Crazy Americans!’ but it did clear up and the sun appeared in time for Olivia sweeping across the lawn in her amazing Winnie Couture dress. The ceremony in front of the Gothic Summerhouse was one of the most beautiful I have seen. I just loved everything about this day, especially the flowers which are all grown by the florist the Real Cut Flower Garden. They had a vintage typewriter for a guest book, Mark & Olivia badges, kilner jars and milk bottles, I could rave on and on but I am going to let the pictures do the talking. Oh but there will be a second post featuring our photo booth pictures with all the very fabulous friends and family. Thanks to Amy who did a great job as second photographer and Josh, the best bridesmaid I have met in a long time!
Vintage Wedding Album / Queensberry
Thursday, July 8th, 2010The new vintage wedding album that we designed and had made by Queensberry is proving very popular and they do look great. Here is the latest one featuring photography from Charlotte and Tristan’s beautiful Spring wedding at Combe Bank School.
Charlotte&TristanSlide
Vintage Wedding / New Products
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010So 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.
Stanmer Park Sussex Wedding / Sian & Richard
Monday, June 21st, 2010What a treat! I am forever thinking that it must be so lovely to be a guest at a wedding so for only the second time ever, on Saturday I was. So me and the husband donned our bestest outfits (a new maxi dress for me and his wedding suit for him) and set off for the glory that is Brighton’s Stanmer park. My gorgeous sister-in-law Sian and her intended Richard are lucky enough to live in the old farm house and the ceremony was in the orchard behind it. Theirs truly was a backyard, bring a dish wedding that was joyous and magical. A natural aisle had been created through the apple trees that were decorated with white bunting and little ceramic hearts. Sian looked so beautiful, it took my breath away as she walked in with Uncle Hugh V and her bridesmaids carrying pretty posies of wildflowers. The ceremony was all about friends, love, life and family in whatever form that takes. It was so heartfelt and beautiful that even the husband shed a tear. We then had a wedding parade through the park led by fantastic musicians and the kids just loved it. I did, of course bring a camera but without the pressure of work I just took a few shots as memories of a truly amazing day. It reminded me that wedding days are about filling a place with the people you love and celebrating the best that life brings us. We laughed, we cried, we ate a very delicious dinner, we caught up with family old and new, we danced, we drank far too much and we loved it all. Thanks to my magnificent sister and her soul mate Richard. x
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