Orchardleigh House Wedding Somerset, Victoria and Jon

Orchardleigh House was the Somerset wedding venue chosen by Victoria and Jon, the wedding ceremony itself was at All Saints Church in Lullington as the church within Orchardleigh Estate itself was not big enough for all the wedding guests!

The weather for the day started with clear sky, a small amount of rain just before the ceremony and the rest of the day was dry. Umbrellas at a wedding can make for some fun shots and the grooms party waiting outside the church for the bride and bridesmaids to arrive was one such image from the day.

It was a pleasure to photograph Victoria and Jon's wedding, many of the guests had flown in from South Africa and were able to stay at the stables accommodation within the estate.

Teri and I wish Victoria and Jon all the best for their married life! :)

Compton Acres Pre Wedding Photography, Tina and Dave

The first part of Dave and Tina's pre-wedding engagement session was at Compton Acres Italian Villa near Sandbanks. It was a good chance to look round and get their ideas on places within the wedding venue to use for their wedding in April this year.

We have photographed weddings at Dorset's Compton Acres many times and are one of their recommended wedding vendors so it's always a pleasure to visit there and photograph. The gardens and the flower borders at the Italian Villa are very well maintained, no matter what time of year there's always something in bloom and the venue always looks beautiful.

The second location we included as part of the engagement session was along the beach from Bournemouth, it's near to where Dave and Tina had their very first date and a special place for them.

The purple heather in the ornamental garden was in full bloom and made for a beautiful backdrop for some of the pre-wedding images, that was the image choosen by Dave and Tina for the signing image at their wedding reception.

Teri and I are looking forward to the wedding in April and hoping the cherry blossoms will be in full bloom for some of the more romantic wedding photographs!


Update: Tina and Dave's wedding photographs are now on the blog, click Wedding Photography at Compton Acres :)

Bournemouth Beach and Gardens, Pre-Wedding Sherri-Louise and Geoff

February is not everyones ideal time of year for a beach portrait session but that's what we did with Sherri-Louise and Geoff! Geoff proposed to Sherri-Louise near Swanage, in fact half way up the hill walking towards Old Harry Rocks! We knew we had to include Old Harry in the pre-wedding engagement session somehow :)

The session started off just across from Sandbanks near the Poole harbour chain ferry, that side of the harbour are sand dunes and one of our favourite places for beach photography sessions. Though much of the dunes are fenched off to protect them from erosion we found a section that was open to add a soft sea grass foreground with Old Harry Rocks behind.

The second location is also special to Sherri-Louise and Geoff, Bournemouth Gardens and Bournemouth Beach, after a quick game of Pooh Sticks (a tradition whenever they visit the gardens!) we made full use of the Chinese Lanterns they had up in the gardens to add some winter colour.

Teri and I are really looking forward to the wedding in April with wedding reception at the Royal Bath Hotel, Sherri-Louise and Geoff have requested wedding images on Bournemouth beach with the full wedding party! :)


UPDATE: Sherri-Louise and Geoff's Wedding photography at the Royal Bath and Bournemouth Beach :)

Rhinefield House New Forest Winter Wedding

Rhinefield House in the New Forest was the wedding venue Emma and Mark chose for their magical winter wedding. There's something special about Christmas even for big kids, so having a winter Christmas themed wedding worked perfectly within the setting of the oak panelled Grand Hall at Rhinefield Hotel in Hampshire.

Even though we have photographed many times at Rhinefield House, we always like to scope out wedding venues a little ahead of time if we are able. About 2 weeks before the wedding I popped down to see the wedding co-ordinator and have a good look round. At that time the large curtains were closed behind the Christmas tree in the Grand Hall and I asked if on the day they could be opened. This worked out perfectly for the ceremony images as from the back the Christmas tree was illuminated against the large window and from the front there was beautiful soft natural light for the couple throughout the wedding service.

We love photographing weddings and environmental portraits in the New Forest, Rhinefield Hotel is known as the "Jewel in the Forest" and though there are other great wedding venues in the New Forest the tree lined approach and romantic Gothic facade makes a beautiful backdrop for wedding images.

Emma and Mark picked the shortest day of the year for their wedding, the winter solstice (December 21st) the weather on the day could not have been better. Based on the rain through the summer we would recommend a lot more winter weddings! I think Mark was secretly wishing for a bit of snow but in the end it was very mild and we were able to use the outside for both the romantic alone shots and the semi-formal family images.

After the first dance we went outside with Emma and Mark to take some evening images with the hotel in the background and even then it didn't feel cold! A perfect finish to a magical day in the New Forest :)