Happy anniversary to Richard and Sarah whose gorgeous wedding at St Elizabeth’s House Hotel was a year ago. A stunning setting for a beautiful wedding day.

To read all about their wedding and see lots more photographs  click here

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Clearwell Castle has been one of our favourite wedding venues for years, and the best time of year to get married at Clearwell – in our opinion – just has to be Autumn. The colours of the trees are just gorgeous. New England in the fall? Forget that – The Forest of Dean beats that hands down. Is there a more perfect setting for a wedding?  Alicia and Marcus have a simple rule when it comes to wedding planning – Minimum Fuss =Maximum Fun, and you can’t argue with that.  Alicia just wanted a few photos to show off her fabulous dress, and with just a few minutes snatched from the celebrations we came away with a set of shots that wouldn’t be out of place on the front cover of Vogue.  In a few weeks the leaves will have fallen and the snow will start to fall, but at this time of year Clearwell Castle is just about picture perfect.

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We are often asked “where’s the most romantic wedding venue?”. Well, the Haldon Belvedere, high in the hills overlooking Exeter really takes some beating. If it’s romance you’re after this setting has it in spades.
The views are simply sensational and you feel as if you are on the edge of the world. Just reach out and you can touch the stars….

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Clare and Ben had just about the most perfect day  imaginable for an Autumn wedding in November, and with a lovely little English country church at the  romantically named Lydiard Tregoze, you almost expect to see Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot mingling among the guests.

When Clare and Ben had met  8 years ago  it was love at first sight.  The only problem was that Clare was just about to leave to travel around the world. The bags were packed, the tickets bought, milk cancelled….It was  3 weeks  later, and Clare’s first stop on her trip in South America  that they each realised they had found “the one”, which meant 6 months of expensive phone calls while Clare carried on her voyage of discovery. Ben got his own back back by keeping Clare guessing with hints of proposals until in 2011 he finally got down on one knee on a hill overlooking the town during the annual firework display. What a guy!

As wedding planning season is currently in  full swing we asked Clare and Ben for their top tips  Clare says “Delegate, delegate, delegate!”.   “I was lucky that Ben was very active in planning the wedding and my parents were amazing! I couldn’t have done it without them. I would also like to pass on a piece of advice given to us by our Vicar. He advised us to book a weekend away 2 weeks before the wedding. It was the best thing we did. It was the first time for months we had managed to spend some quality time together and just enjoy being together. We banned any wedding talk and turned off our phones so no-one could contact us. It was the time we needed to re-focus on why we were getting married – it is easy to get distracted by all the planning!”  And Ben – apart from make sure you on the cheapest mobile phone tariff  while the love of your life disappears to the other side of the world  - “Arrange a surprise gift for their bride on the morning of the wedding – something small and thoughtful. Also include a note expressing how you feel about your bride. Clare said it really helped calm her nerves on the morning of the wedding. Insist and try to do as many things as you can to help your bride to be! A stressed bride to be is no fun! Occasionally put your foot down when things that are not pressing can wait a couple of days. Otherwise if your bride to be is anything like Clare she will just keep on and on and on and on……”  

I want that wedding : Clare’s dress, the   bridesmaids dresses and Ben’s suit  all came from the amazing  Bridal Boutique Swindon   Flowers and Cars  I.V Flowers Shrivenham

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What’s the secret of a great wedding?  A lovely venue for the reception is a good starting point.  A country church for the nuptials often helps.  Should it be in Winter when there’s a chance of some snow?  Spring with it’s burst of flowers?  Or Summer – perfect for a garden party, with it’s ever lasting evenings?  Or how about Autumn when the trees have turned to gold, and there’s a rich carpet of colour?  Warm enough to venture outside, but inside is oh so inviting.  Close friends whose company you love to share and a few you haven’t seen for years – a chance to catch up.  Grandparents with a twinkle in their eye and  tales of when you were a weeny baby. Children running around not caring a jot what all the fuss is about.  Proud parents.  Dad’s speech.  All those things you thought he’d forgotten or not even noticed.  A mum who can’t believe her little girl is all grown up and wow! – just look at you now.  Those come-over-here-and-give-me-a-cuddle-because-I-love-you-to-bits-moments.  The best weddings are invariably about people coming together, enjoying one another’s company and sharing one very special day. And at the heart of it all two people in love. Joy and James’ wedding had all this and was as close to perfection as you could wish for. Dreams can come true.

I want that wedding.  Venue  Homewood Park Bath Joy’s Dress Nina Furness Couture Cheltenham  Shoes  Schuh  Make-up Beau Papillon Bath  Flowers  Young Blooms Bath  Bridesmaids Dresses Simply Bridal Cheltenham  James’s Suit Moss Bros   Rolls-Royce 1948 Silver Wraith Hooper Teviot Limousine  De Gournay Wedding Cars Bristol

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If ever a wedding theme, venue, bride and groom came together in perfect harmony it was Claire and Russel’s gothic wedding at Eastnor Castle – it had everything you would want in an episode of Twilight except for swirling mists and thunder claps in the distance. There was no doubt that Claire and Russel had a vision for their wedding, but there was never any danger that the theme would take over the day and you would feel you had accidentally walked into an Addams Family  convention. And that is the secret of success with any themed wedding – use the theme as a pointer and a source of ideas, but don’t become a slave to it. Wedding themes aren’t a new idea – we photographed a “murder mystery” wedding back in 2000 where the only people who were expecting a dead body or two at dinner were us and the bride and groom – but they are definitely gaining in popularity. So if you’re toying with the idea of a themed wedding we can only say go boldly where no man has gone before - the world is your lobster, may the force be with you and if you get it right you’ll have a lot of fun planning it, your guests will have great fun, and when you look back at the photos you might just be saying “fangs for the memory” – ouch - sorry for that - I don’t know what came over me I must have a case of bad scriptwriters syndrome.

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We had two lovely weddings at the close of the year in December 2012. We can’t wait to share the photographs on our blog, but for now here’s a very quick pick from one – Emma and Andrew at Hunton Park.

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We watched Sleepless in Seattle the other night. We’ve seen it countless times before, and we’ve got it on DVD, but when it popped up in the programme guide the remote control clicked on it almost of its’ own free will.  Just what is it that makes that makes this film so perfect?  It’s a romantic film, but the two leads don’t even get to meet properly until the last few frames and,  when they do  they just look at one another,  and  hold hands. But if it was on again tonight we’d watch it,  all the way through,  hanging on every word, catching every single sigh,  and probably reach for the tissues in exactly the same places. Lovely.

Birtsmorton Court is the same.  It’s perfect from every angle.  A little bit of old fashioned romance nestling at the foot of the Malvern Hills, and it gets you everytime.  Andy and Natali’s wedding was intimate, perfectly formed, romantic and defintely on the mellow side.  They had a few close friends and family along to share the day with them. The sun shone, the wine flowed and the food was good.  And it was just about perfect.

I want that wedding.   Venue: Birtsmorton Court.  Natali’s Dress: Lace Wings.   Flowers : Hunts of Malvern. Andy’s Suit Cox of Malvern

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Photographing Lauren and Karl’s wedding at Clearwell Castle was definitely about capturing a love story. Sometimes it’s forgotten that weddings are about two people who met, fell in love, and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Amongst all the table decorating, theme matching, colour co-ordinating, who’s sitting next to who at what table, weddings are about love. The rain came again, but that was hardly a surprise in the wettest year on record, but Clearwell Castle showed once again what a fabulous wedding venue it is, especially if the weather isn’t playing ball. There’s plenty of room for everyone, and great spots for photographs all over the place – inside and out – so no matter what the weather does, you’ll have  a great day.  For the most part Lauren and Karl just wanted to share their special day with their nearest and dearest, so it was always going to be a very short photo session, so a brisk walk under the umbrella to the gates and back was just about perfect.

I want that wedding  Venue: Clearwell Castle.  Lauren’s Dress:Watters and Co  from Morgan Davies of Islington  Shoes: Rachel Simpson  Make Up: Kate Kelvin  Karl’s Suit: Moss Bros  Flowers: Emma Webster . Cake Marks and Spencers.  Flower Girls Dresses: Monsoon

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