A Pink Wedding Gown and a Star Wars Lightsabre

Darrell and Claire's wedding at Lillibrooke Manor in Berkshire, was one of the most heartwarming wedding celebrations of the summer.

We knew that Claire and Darrell's wedding was going to be a blast when we first met them, due to the fun pre wedding engagement session with did with them in April. The idea of featuring their dogs Flo and Mavis, and the Star Wars recreation image was a big clue.

I don't know who was more excited and anxious for this wedding day to arrive, Claire or myself. It's always amazing when a Bride chooses a dress that is out of the ordinary, but Claire took it to another level with a gorgeous Maggie Sottero gown in a rich dusky pink with beaded corseted bodice. On the laces of the bodice, Claire laced in two rings you will see in the photos below, one was her grandmother's wedding band, the other was a little toy ring Darrell gave her when he proposed. A very unique and sweet touch. But that dress! She was breathtakingly beautiful in it.

The inside story about the Pink Wedding Dress, is that Claire loves anything Pink. Anything. Seriously. So much so that Darrell teased her weeks before the wedding saying "You didn't get a pink dress now did you?" Kudos to Claire for keeping that secret as well as she did, LOL. That wasn't the only secret Claire kept from Darrell however, more about that later ;)

The day of the wedding, was one of the rare Saturday's in August 2008 that didn't get rain. There was a strange orb in the sky that glowed bright and warm. We arrived at Claire's house as the Best Man, David, had just finished styling Claire's hair. Yep, the Best Man. Even before I did Claire's make up, she looked incredible. Claire and her Stepfather Chris waved the bridesmaids off as they zoomed away in the skyblue VW 1960's Camper Van that Darrell arranged as the wedding car from Dubs & Bugs. Then David and I followed them to Lillibrooke Manor where the wedding was to take place.

There was so much excitement in the air, as we all waited outside the venue for the van with Claire to arrive. When the music was cued for the bridesmaids (The Prime Minister's song from Love Actually), the guests thought it was to be a nice, subdued ceremony. But once the bridesmaids were in place, The Theme from Star Wars started, and that set the tone for the rest of the day, joy, fun and happiness for two very special people. So much laughter, it was very infectious.

There were just too many wonderful moments to write about them all here, but a few favorites for me were the speeches, When Chris (Claire's Stepfather) finished his, I don't think there was a dry eye anywhere, including myself, Darrell's speech really showed the deep love and playfulness he has for his new wife, and David (the best man aka hairstylist extraordinaire) killed us all with his speech, which included all of Darrell's former partners/lovers/romantic interests turning in their key's, raised eyebrows as a couple of dudes turned theirs in reluctantly, lol.

Another great moment was the cake cutting with Darrell's light saber, that was a first for us, and it was great!

David and I love to capture images of all the little details that went into the day, from the flowers, the table settings, favours, place cards, etc. But as we were photographing the interior of the Barn where the wedding breakfast and reception was to be held, we noticed that a female guest had laid her black hat on the bar. It made for a fun photo we thought. Later we found out that it didn't belong to anyone there and no one at the venue knew where it came from, it actually ended up vanishing by the end of the evening, so this is the 'haunted' wedding hat below, lol.

Both Claire and Darrell have families that were just amazing, especially Darrell's grandad (who is nearly 100 years old), who was one of the youngest at heart on the day. I lost count of how many sweet young things I caught him flirting with! I was so pleased that there were 5 generations represented at the wedding on Darrell's side.

Lillibrooke Manor in Berkshire was such a wonderful venue, the owners of the manor, Joseph and Mary (yep, for real), were the sweetest people ever, and so welcoming. Just lovely people.

Congratulations again to Claire and Darrell, can't wait to see you when we Trash Claire's gorgeous pink wedding dress!!!

*Update* More Stunning Pink Wedding Dress Images :)

Much Love Xx
Teri (+David)
Murakami Photography, Award Winning Wedding Photography






































































































If you are planning an amazing wedding and would like beautiful romantic wedding photography, perhaps we can help, get in touch via our new website at Murakami Photography :)

Bournemouth Winter Wedding at the Miramar Hotel, Jenny and Darren

The first of our December weddings from this year (2008!).

Both the ceremony and reception were at the Miramar Hotel in Bournemouth, there was a festive Christmas theme with candles which worked really well with the colours Jenny and Darren had chosen.

Normally the weather is the weather and everyone has a great time no matter, winter weddings are often dry but this was a warm day as well as having a blue sky in December, perfect! :)

Morning was spent with Teri going over to visit with the bridal party at Salon 1336 in Parkstone while I met up with the guys at the hotel.

We knew Jenny and Darren definitely wanted to use the beach for some of the wedding images so we all jumped into the wedding car directly after the ceremony. Daylight is always at a premium for winter weddings so we didn't spent long at the beach just enough to get some cool pics then back to the hotel to warm up.

Music was a large part of the day, Jenny herself plays in a Dorset based string quartet Bravado String Quartet and 3 members of her quartet (plus a stand in!) played throughout the wedding day. The musical theme went right through to Jenny's dads band playing at the reception, we loved the live music and the fact that everyone playing was a friend of Jenny and Darrens made it even more special.

Quick shout also to Alex and Paula the videographers at Jenny and Darren's Miramar Beach Wedding in Bournemouth, they were a pleasure to work with Wedding Videographers in Bournemouth :)

Portland Castle Dorset Medieval Wedding Mel and Lee

We wanted to go back and blog a few more weddings from this summer, it's been an amazing year and we'd like to thank all our couples for letting us be part of their wedding days, it is special to us and a privilege, thank you :)

Mel and Lee's Wedding at Portland Castle in Dorset was the most unusual 2008 wedding and one of the most fun and relaxed, both Teri and I dressed in medieval costume for the occasion (I'm sure we would have felt out of place if we hadn't!).

Mel's medieval wedding dress was custom made by The Costume Company who also supplied Lee's suit of armour and the majority of the wedding guests costumes, they did a great job and the craftmanship on all the costumes was top notch.

Everyone looked amazing and really entered into the spirit of the day, Portland Castle was perfect as a Medieval Wedding venue. Built in 1539 by Henry VIII to defend the harbour against possible French and Spanish invasion, it's later history includes Civil war sieges and use a prison by Oliver Cromwell.

Anna and William, Beach Pre-Wedding Shoot

Hengistbury Head nature reserve and beach provides a lot of neat areas for engagement images and Anna and Will were up for a ride on the land train and didn't mind going off the beaten track a little :)

Umbrellas have become a mini theme during 2008, being featured in quite a few weddings and pre-wedding shoots!