REID ROOMS WEDDING ON NEW YEARS EVE

This was my second visit to The Reid Rooms to photograph a wedding. As an Essex based wedding photographer I get to visit venues all over the county. The Reid Rooms is high on the list as another favourite. There is a large beautiful cottage on site for the bride and groom to get ready without bumping into each other. In addition the cottage contains a handful of rooms for guests to stay overnight. Dan and Allison got married on New Years Eve and we were blessed with a few beautiful sunny spells. Being New Years Eve, there was still a little festive spirit in the air and Christmas decorations around the venue too! Congratulations once again Allison and Dan!

2015 ESSEX WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER - A YEAR IN PHOTOGRAPHS

Here we have it! A round up of all my 2015 weddings!

It was an incredible year. I met some amazing people. Visited many stunning venues. Photographed my first wedding abroad. Worked with some of the best wedding suppliers in the industry. Been supported by assistants who always go above and beyond because they understand how important our job is. And teamed up with the talented Teresa C Photography to cover more weddings across the country than we ever thought was possible.

Thank you to all the lovely couples who had me along for their wedding journey. Another gracious thank you to all the people who voted for me in The 2016 Wedding Industry Awards. I was extremely chuffed to make it as a regional finalist.

Picking one favourite photograph from every wedding was rather tricky. Without fail, I always have a long list of favourites from every wedding. So I have decided, this year, to choose one photo from every wedding that made me smile, laugh, cry or made me thankful that I am a wedding photographer. From the big moments to the little gestures, the belly laughter or the tears. I get to see them all. I work hard to capture emotion during weddings, so it makes sense the photographs that I am most drawn to are emotive. Especially ones that show laughter, I love laughter. So here they are, my favourite wedding moments of 2015.

Sarah & Darrol - Prince Regent London

Allison & Dan - The Reid Rooms Essex

Liam & Carrie - Essex Golf Club Earls Colne

Rebecca & Richard - Crondon Park Essex

kate & liam - tHE MONASTERY MANCHESTER

STE & VICKY - BELMONT HALL CUMBRIA

Natalie & Mark - Crondon Park Essex

CHRIS & SARAH - ASHFIELD HOUSE WIGAN

Helen & Rob - Islington Town Hall London

Chris & Laura - Ellingham Hall Northumberland

mark & amy - cragwood country house cumbria

keith & andrea - langtons essex

LAUREN & ADAM - ROOKERY HALL CHESHIRE

eva & richard - langtons essex

Sasha & Peter - Blake Hall Essex

Lisa & Sean - South Essex Golf Club

jody & mark - Titantic Rum Warehouse Liverpool

Laura & Nick - langtons essex

RACHEL & MATT - NETHERWOOD HOTEL CUMBRIA

Gary & SIOBHAN - THORNTON MANOR CHESHIRE

MADELINE & GEORGE - MARKS HALL ESSEX

dionne & ade - woolston manor essex

SARAH & JOHN - LANGTONS ESSEX

mike & claire - houghwood golf club wigan

LESHA & JORDAN - LONDON

tom & jo - askham hall cumbria

PAOLO & ROSS - PORTUGAL

nancy & andrew - langtons essex

helen & nick - fennes essex

Claire & mark - LION QUAYS HOTEL WALES

KIRSTY & JASON - ORSETT HALL ESSEX

martin & julia - the racquet club hotel liverpool

NORMAN & VANESSA - LANGTONS ESSEX

leanne & mark - chester zoo

faye & glenn - the lawn essex

LISA & LEE - BARTLE HALL preston

RICHARD & MICHELLE - MAIDENS BARN ESSEX

CRONDON PARK ESSEX WEDDING

Today's blog feature is a fifties inspired wedding at Crondon Park, one of my favourite Essex barn wedding venues. Earlier this year, I met up with Richard and Rebecca in London's quirky Borough Market for their pre-wedding shoot after they won my Spring wedding photography competition.

From our first meeting, I knew I was in for a treat! From the tiny details to the groom's suit and bride's dress, this couple had a stunning vision of how to make their wedding day stylish and personal! Richard's suit was made by Hackett and Rebecca's exquisite fifties style tea-length wedding dress was made by Fairy Gothmother.

Richard and Rebecca got married at St Edwards the Confessor Church in Romford and after a beautiful ceremony, they headed to Crondon Park for their reception.  It was a beautiful day and thankfully it remained bright and dry, enabling us to capture shots outdoors as the sun came down.  I loved all the reception venue details, especially the mini cricket bats used for table names which tied in with Richard's love for cricket. The stunning bouquets and florals were made by Lily & May. Congratulations once again to a smashing couple. 

BLAKE HALL WEDDING

Earlier this year, Sasha and Pete got in touch about their Blake Hall wedding. It's another of my favourite Essex barn wedding venues. The grounds are beautiful. The barn has a warm atmosphere with plenty of quirky details. There is even a small amount of accommodation on site for guests to stay overnight. One of the most precious joys about Blake Hall is the attentive staff team. In particular, special praise must go to Austin who was there to oversee the day and truly understands the importance of making every day special for each and every couple. 

Sasha and Pete both got ready at Blake Hall. This made logistics a little easier when it came to photographing the bridal and final groom preparations. Their ceremony was held at St Germain Bobbingworth church, a short walk away from Blake Hall. Sasha and Pete made an extraordinary effort to fill their day with personal touches, especially notable in Blake Hall Barn which looked stunning. I particularly like loved the teapots used as table centre pieces. Giving personalised tea cups to all the guests as favours was an original and thoughtful gesture (which also doubled up nicely for the champagne toasts during their reception). Congratulations Sasha and Pete! And thank you to Jay Anderson for assisting me throughout the day.

MARKS HALL ESTATE WEDDING

Today's feature is a wedding at Marks Hall in Coggeshall. Another one of Essex's hidden gems, it is a beautiful wedding venue surrounded by acres of manicured gardens and rich woodland. I can see why Madeline and George chose it. It was a brilliant day. There was a pool table, wild peacocks, confetti and a Morris Minor ice cream van. Congratulations once again to Madeline and George. Enjoy some of the highlights from their day.

WEDDING ALBUMS - BEAUTIFUL, CREATIVE AND MODERN ALBUMS

I love to see couples ordering wedding albums from me, as it still remains my favourite way of showcasing photographs.  I enjoy designing albums that are unique to every couple. I work with two professional album makers who only work with professional photographers. You won't find their albums on any high street.   This blog post is about one of the album choices that I offer - digital albums.

Digital album

My most popular album is a digital album, also sometimes known as a layflat or storybook album. These albums are made in the UK. All albums have a leather or leatherette cover, the pages are thick and lay flat enabling images to be printed across the spine from one edge of the page to the other so no image is obscured.

12x12 Green leather cover with names and date debossed

Professionally printed album with thick pages

Album pages lay flat enabling images to be printed unbroken across the spine

Album design

All albums are packaged in a presentation box and delivered direct to your home.  There are a few choices for you to make at the start of the process:

• First choose your album size, either square 12x12 or landscape 12x16.
• Choose the colour of your cover.
• Decide on the style of cover you would like. Choose from 4 different options - Plain with your names embossed, photo cover, a metallic cover or acrylic glass front cover.
• Choose matt, gloss or metallic printed paper
• Choose between 60-100 images from your gallery for your album design. 

From here I will be able to design your album layout and send you a draft to approve, before sending the design to print. Orders generally take 4-5 to arrive from the date of ordering.

Duplicate 6x6 parent albums can be ordered at the same time as your main album. which make perfect gifts for family members.

12x12 Black leather cover album with photo and METALLIC cover

10x14 Navy Leather album with names debossed on the cover

Album pages lay flat enabling images to be printed unbroken across the spine

MAIDENS BARN WEDDING

Today's feature is a wedding at Maidens Barn in Essex. I first met Michelle and Richard last autumn at a wedding where Michelle was a bridesmaid. I was thrilled when Michelle and Richard asked me to photograph their own wedding. Maidens Barn is a venue nestled in the Essex countryside in High Easter near Chelmsford. The venue is exclusive to its couple on their wedding day. It's a beautiful venue and the staff team are fantastic to work with. Whilst Michelle got ready with her bridesmaids in Chelmsford, Richard got ready at the Saracens Head Hotel in Great Dunmow. It was a pleasure to once again work with professional makeup artist Olivia Sandy who I highly recommend to all my brides. Thanks again to Louise James who came to assist me during the day.

CRONDON PARK WEDDING

This year, May has been my busiest month for weddings. I returned to a few of my favourite wedding venues as well as visited a handful of new places too. One of my favourite wedding venues is Crondon Park in Stock Essex, so I was thrilled to be back there in May for Natalie & Mark's wedding. The day started with bridal and groom preparations in Chelmsford in the company of their family and friends. After a beautiful ceremony at St Nicholas Church in Ingrave, we headed to Crondon Park for their wedding reception. Hats off to Reverend Canon Paul Hamilton for expertly doing something that no other Reverend has done in my company before - a post-ceremony selfie with the bride and groom! As one would expect for May, the day was scattered with sunshine and showers. But is didn't dampen the spirits of the day. Congratulations Mark and Natalie, and thanks for having me along for your day!

ESSEX GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB WEDDING

Back in May, I photographed Liam and Carrie's wedding at The Essex Golf and Country Club in Earls Colne in Colchester.

I started the day photographing the bridal preparations in Clacton-on-Sea and then headed to St Michael's Church in Colchester for the ceremony. There were tears, plenty of laughter, beautiful florals designed by Delicate Daisy, vintage details and a vintage ice cream van from Molly Moos Ices! Congratulations once again Liam and Carrie.

PORTUGAL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

This was an incredibly beautiful wedding in the hilltops of Portugal. On my 2015 wishlist has been to venture abroad for a wedding. Imagine my excitement when I was asked to second shoot Ross and Paola's wedding in Portugal earlier this year. So thank you to Ayojedi Johnson for taking me along for the adventure.

My job was to shadow Ross in the morning to cover the groom preparations as well as capture an alternative view of the day. I started the day in Lisbon with the groom and his welcoming friends and then we all headed north to their wedding venue. Casa de Reguengos is tucked up in the hills of Portugal, within a stunning rural and intimate location. It was a beautiful setting for Ross and Paola to celebrate with their close friends and family, many of whom had travelled across the world to attend.

Thank you to Ross and Paola for your generosity and making me feel so welcome. Congratulations once again.

VALENTINES GARDENS WEDDING

Today's feature is the intimate wedding of Vincent and Faye at Ilford Registry Office and from here we headed to Valentines Gardens on the London/Essex border for a few couple portraits in the midday sunshine.

OLD BROOK BARN WEDDING

Today I have chosen to feature Sarah and Jodi’s Old Brook Barn wedding.

It was great to return to Brentwood Cathedral as it brought back memories from childhood having spent many school hours in there. However, this time I returned to photograph Sarah and Jodi’s wedding. After the service we headed to Old Brook Barn in Navestock which is a relatively new venue set in the Essex countryside.

Set in rural Essex countryside, Old Brook Barn is a beautiful converted barn split across two levels with a great elevated decking area. Admittedly, I have been looking forward to photographing a summer wedding at this venue.

Their wedding was full of personal touches and beautiful floral details.  The elegant bridesmaids dresses were made by Two Birds who have become known for their versatile wrap dresses.  The pretty sweet cart was provided by Chic Candy Boutique. Here’s a preview of Sarah and Jodi’s day. Check out the sparkly dance floor courtesy of Lovelight Entertainment. Thank you to Jay Anderson for second shooting.

Old Brook Barn Wedding

Brentwood Cathedral Wedding - Essex Wedding Photographer

Brentwood Cathedral Wedding - Wedding Photographer Essex

Brentwood Cathedral Wedding - Essex Wedding Photographer

Brentwood Cathedral Wedding - Essex Wedding Photographer

Brentwood Cathedral Wedding - Essex Wedding Photographer

Brentwood Cathedral Wedding Photographer

Brentwood Cathedral Wedding Photographer

Old Brook Barn Wedding - Essex Wedding Photographer

Old Brook Barn Wedding - Essex Wedding Photographer

Wedding at Old Brook Barn - Anesta Broad Photography

Old Brook Barn Wedding - Essex Wedding Photographer

Old Brook Barn Wedding - Wedding Photographer Essex

Wedding at Old Brook Barn Navestock Essex

Wedding at Old Brook Barn Essex

Wedding at Old Brook Barn Navestock Essex

Wedding at Old Brook Barn - Anesta Broad Photography

Wedding at Old Brook Barn Essex

Wedding at Old Brook Barn - Anesta Broad Photography

Wedding at Old Brook Barn - Cake Cutting

Wedding at Old Brook Barn - First Dance

Wedding at Old Brook Barn - First Dance and Confetti

Wedding at Old Brook Barn - Dancefloor

Wedding at Old Brook Barn - Guests on the Dancefloor

Wedding at Old Brook Barn - Portraits at Sunset

RYE SUSSEX WEDDING

On the blog today is the Rye Sussex Wedding of Catherine and Gareth featuring beautiful vintage pastels and rustic florals. We started the day in a local pub before strolling to Rye Town Hall for their ceremony. Afterwards we headed over to the family farm in Beckley East Sussex for their reception. Look out for the town crier who announced their marriage. 

CAMBERWELL LONDON WEDDING

Today's blog feature is a preview of a Camberwell London Wedding.  Peter & Charlotte’s had an intimate wedding at Southwark Register Office followed by their wedding reception at The Crooked Well in Camberwell London. Informal, intimate, relaxed and fun was the theme of the day. Congratulations once again.