Wedding of Colin & Selina at The Grand Hotel, Folkestone.

Saturday 4th June at the Grand Hotel in Folkestone saw me covering the wedding of Colin & Selina.

This was a small family wedding with a select number of close relatives, which made for a very quant celebration of the marriage for Colin & Selina.

The whole service was held at The Grand, a large hotel situated along the Leas high up on the cliffs on the South Kent coast in Folkestone.

The weather was blisteringly hot with only a hint of a sea breeze, as a result it was forecast as the warmest day of the year so far.  Great for the guests, but when working with two cameras and sweat pouring down your face visibility became difficult at times.

I decided to take the newly wedded couple for their portraits later into the evening to make the most of the early evening light, something you can only pray for as a wedding photographer – no ugly flash needed!

They were a great and fun couple willing to try some out of the ordinary poses, this was discussed on my pre wedding shoot with them both.

Please enjoy viewing a handful of images from the days events.

Wedding of John Peter & Sarah at Chilston Park, Kent.

The sun was shining on the church at Great Chart on the outskirts of Ashford  on Friday 29th July 2011.

I spent the preparation time with the boy’s then over to the girls across town.  All timings were adhered to in true perfect fashion with the Jaguar picking up the gorgeous bride @ 13:45 sharp!!!

The service was held at the church at the top of the hill in Great Chart, with more than 50 guests in attendance.

It was a lovely service, with a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace sung by Sarah’s close friend Zara, which managed to provoke a few teary eye’s.

The evening reception moved onto Chilston Park on the outskirts of Lenham near Maidstone, a huge country mansion with it’s own lake.

I was lucky enough to be invited to the table for dinner as a number of guests failed to make the day - always nice to be offered.

JP & Sarah were a fun couple to shoot and really want to try a few poses out for me, even playing with the giant chess set on the lawn.  The evening sun was magical, giving the images a warm glow.

When the light is this good is makes my life as a wedding photographer so much easier.

Wedding of Richard & Sonya at The Boys Hall, Ashford.

Saturday 18th Aug will probably go down as the hottest day of 2012 for some, and for the newly weds Richard & Sonya Offen this must of been a delight…. But for me as a photographer it was very very hot, lugging cameras and running two steps in front of the wedding party all day – I had to throw in at least one shirt change each, and drink copious amounts of water. For this wedding I stayed with the boys first then went with the girls to cover all of those important preparations, capturing every tiny detail from the dress to shoes, to make up to hair to gifts to suit carriers to bridesmaids to best man to rings to cars to speeches to pre drinks to the journey to the arrival – why having an assistant can be handy at times. The wedding ceremony itself was held at St Mildred’s, a medieval church in the centre of Tenterden. Most of the building dates back to the 13th – 14th centuries. Interior light that day was still a battle, as the sun was on the wrong side for me so shooting at 3200iso was still needed.  As normal I worked either end of the church, as not to cause any undue disturbance to the proceedings, this time I had my new x100 in tow and 3200 iso didn’t cause it any problems whatsoever. However the extreme hit me once the newly weds ventured outside as the new Mr & Mrs Offen – the sun could not of been any brighter!!! switching straight back to 200 iso and f11 things were soon brought back in check ( and thank you Nikon for NEF) to help bring those high lights back to print. The reception was held at The Boys Hall in Ashford, a 30 min drive North East, the Hall was originally built in 1616 by the Boys family who had previously been known as De Bois, having originally landed in England from France at the time of the Norman Conquest. Over time their name was Anglicised through Boyce to Boys as we know it today. Once the sun finally decided to start heading West for the evening and lowering as the hour hand ticked by the light fell like putty into our hands, creating some of the best portrait light we have had this year. It was still blisteringly warm but a joy to work in, a warm orange hue with long but soft shadows graced the stage which allowed me to create some wonderful images. Location wise at Boys Hall you are spoilt for choice, but trying to come up with something original is always key for me – I always look at the wedding albums left in reception then step it up a notch and do something they haven’t.  This is also why I always insist on a recce of the venue two weeks prior at the exact same time I plan to shoot. ( something many amateurs simply over look) and one that a lot of commercial photographers also seem to overlook. As normal I stayed well into the evening, covering both the cake cutting and the obligatory “first dance” – where I then fade away into the night allowing the celebrations to go on, without the fear of a camera catching a silly dance or a drunken faux pas. Unless of course you would like to book me for an extension then I am more than happy to extend my presence. Congratulations to you both Richard & Sonya for a magnificent days shooting.

Wedding of Timo & Kate at Great Maythem Hall, Kent.

Great Maytham Hall sits in the heart of the beautiful Kent countryside just outside the picturesque village of Rolvenden. The house was designed in 1909 by Sir Edwin Lutyens, one of the most remarkable English residential architects and a key exponent of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Great Maytham was home to Frances Hodgson Burnett, who wrote “Little Lord Fauntleroy” and, inspired by the characteristic mellow brick walls and wrought iron gate of the old walled rose garden, “The Secret Garden”. Her garden is still a prominent feature of the formally designed gardens and 17 acres of grounds.

The above was the location for the wedding service of Timo & Kate Kosig on September 1st 2012.

I again covered preparations of the boys at the Ashford International hotel and then onto Kate (Bride).

A large coach arrived in Ashford to collect guests from both the UK and Europe that were staying at the hotel, this was the coach I must not lose sight of as it contained the Groom!

Onto Great Maythem Hall and all was running like clock work, a small and private ceremony took place – bright and airy, with natural light pouring in through the windows that stretched the length of the room.

Again I put my x100 to good use, this little gem allows me to get up very close and personal with guests without them ever feeling intimidated or even really realising I am the official photographer. Sometimes you only have one chance to get “that moment” and more often than not a D3 can sometimes be to “in your face”.

A fairly quick service led us outside onto the immaculately kept lawn for canape’s, here we were quietly preparing for the large group shot as well as grabbing some candid shots of the guests and newly wed Mr & Mrs Kosig

Also at Great Maythem Hall is beautiful “Secret Garden” which we exploited for the more private couple shots, some posed and some natural – light was great, with a thin layering of soft diffused cloud.

Both Timo & Kate made it very clear to us on the pre communications that they prefer the no intrusive type of wedding photography, but would still like some posed shorts for history sake.

Once finished and packed up from Great Maythem Hall we headed over to Kate’s parents house on the outskirts of Tenterden overlooking the railway track at the bottom of the field ( where we did have our own steam train pass twice during the reception)

A large marquee in the garden, fully fitted and catered for with food, disco and German beer on draught!

Some hilarious speeches ensued, even if the microphone played havoc with the proceedings! it didn’t thwart the situation.

A rope swing hanging from the big tree was the centre of attention as the guests mingled and drank way into the sunset outside in the evening air.

Onto the cake cutting, the final arrival and “toot” from the steam train at 8:37pm sharp!!!!! and the first dance and we were done for……..apart from one final image of the marquee in the night time glow under the stars.

Another successful and happy wedding for me, and my best wishes go out to the lovely Timo & Kate