Monday 23 September 2013

Jo & Paul's Wedding

 
 

A great ending to a great season

 

Well, It's that time of year again where we say goodbye to the sun and embrace the Autumn for the wedding of Jo & Paul, And what a great wedding it turned out to be.
 
 
Set in one of my favourite locations, christchurch harbour Hotel http://www.christchurch-harbour-hotel.co.uk/ for the prep, Then the stunning christchurch Priory http://www.christchurchpriory.org/ for the service then down to the Boat House http://www.boathouse.co.uk/ for the reception.
 
 
Now..Dave and I usually shoot together all the time but on occasions we do split up when the prep shots involve large groups of people, so Today Dave scooted over to the grooms house while I get to shoot the girls at the Harbour Hotel.
 
 
The one thing I love is shooting the prep shots, you can always bank on getting great images  especially when there's a large crowd and plenty of alcohol involved, in this case black sambuca..Ive never seen it before but I'm sure it contributed to my enlightenment of the wedding party's special Magic Pants ..long story....
 
So with the girls nicely merry and a few shots on the roof of the hotel (via a window) we all headed off to the Priory where a great ceremony took place (The Vicar was a star permitting us to photograph anyware we wanted) We love that. And the Bride & Groom looked fabulous.
 
Then a quick walk up to the castle for a few shots, carefully co ordinated by the bridesmaid (giving us the odd concerned look) maybe thinking it was a trash the dress shoot .. No fear its just Dave and I getting enthusiastic...as usual.
 
 
Then off to the Boathouse for the reception, a few bonkers shots on the quay and finishing with the first dance made a fab day for the married couple, leaving us thinking "We are incredibly lucky to do this job for a living"
 
Here's to the next season
 
Seb & Dave X
 


Tuesday 17 September 2013

Johnny & Elizabeth's Wedding


 
 

A day at Chettle house

So its nearing the end of our wedding season for another year, and the rain and wind managed to keep away for the wedding of Johnny and Elizabeth at the ultra-stunning location of Chettle House just on the outskirts of Blandford, Dorset http://www.chettlehouse.co.uk/
A lovely group of people who didn’t mind having their photograph taken made for an excellent wedding day
As most people who work in the wedding photography business know, certain things can pop up and change the course of plans for the day, today’s challenge being the church and ceremony shots.
Now its pretty rare that this happens but its always a good plan to be ready for if or when the vicar decides not to let you take photographs in his church.
Today was such a day,
So what do you do?
Be nice stay positive and reason with him. And after some reluctance we were allowed to shoot from the back of the church. This is not the ideal place but with experience you can get some great long shots and still document the ceremony from a distance.
So then we headed off to Chettle house for the reception.
The one thing the house has that immediately struck us was the fabulous gallery in the main hall which was crying out for us to use for the group shot.
So after a relatively painless 10mins of corralling the guests upstairs and several flash heads strategically placed around the hall, we finally got the group shot of around 40 family and guests.
A short time later we met the owner of the house, (who I have to say was a really nice lady and had no problems with Dave and I sprawling our camera gear around the hall) it dawned on us that the gallery can only hold up to 8 people (GULP)...smile, and look innocent... then smugly think... we got the shot. Happy days. (I think the owner saw the lighter side of it).
As a special surprise to Elizabeth Johnny had brought their dog to the reception which made for an emotional bond between the 3 and of course another photo opportunity for us.
The speeches were carried out under military precision by the father of the bride and the best man, with a bottle of WORM Tequila taking the limelight.. No one daring to give it a go.
Then the first dance sealing an end to another damn fine wedding. 
Here’s to the bride & Groom
Seb & Dave