Jess & Adam's Winter Wedding at Bath Abbey

The first wedding of this season fell very early this year - on January 14th in fact, only one day after I returned from my yoga retreat in Morocco.  But it was from one winter sunshine to another as Bath was bathed in gorgeous frosty sunlight on the morning of the wedding.  The early drive there was quite spectacular with the sun rising up over the bare trees and a white covering across the hills.  It took my breath away and had me smiling in anticipation of what I knew was going to be a beautiful wedding at the majestic Bath Abbey.

I remembered Jess from the wedding of my friends' Tom and Emily - she had sung so beautifully for them, and now, two years later she contacted me to photograph her wedding after seeing some shots I had taken at their wedding.  Singing would prove to be a highlight of her wedding as she had the full choir with whom she performs with on hand to sing during the ceremony - an unexpected but moving performance for the guests.

Jess wore the most exquisitely elegant lace dress by Allure and looked stunning with flowers by Classic Flower Designs.

Her entrance was inadvertently intimidating as a large crowd had gathered around the abbey door to see the bride, and an even larger crowd was waiting as the wedding party departed the abbey and Jess and Adam led their guests, crocodile fashion, across the roads and down the slope into the gardens.

Jess had always planned for a winter wedding and the setting was to be Bath Abbey with the reception a short way across the road to Parade Gardens where she had chosen to host the party in a Kata teepee style tent from Papakata dressed in candle light, fairy lights and heated with central open fires.  Long bench style tables seated the guests who enjoyed beef bourguigon followed by pot luck fruit crumble served at the table from caterers Tu Mangetout.

As I prepared to creep away into the night the dressing up box had just come out and one of my favourite pictures from the end of the evening is Jess and Adam in their oversized comedy glasses, dancing and singing the night away and having the best day of their lives.

If you were a guest at Jess and Adam's wedding, you can view the full gallery and purchase prints here.  The password is Adam's surname.

Kate + Alex's Wedding at Great Fosters, Surrey

I have to confess; covering a wedding for a friend is quite possibly the most stressful assignment out there for a photographer.  I feel the pressure even more than usual to ensure that the photos are absolutely knock-out good (they know where I live), but this wedding actually turned out to be one of the most relaxed and calm I've been to all year.  The whole day from start to finish just flowed smoothly.  The team at Great Fosters were outstanding, with fabulous attention to detail and service.  And Kate and Alex simply radiated happiness and charm throughout. Kate got ready at her parents house, with make up by her friend Christina Panzini and then it was a short hop to the very lovely chapel upon a hill; St Edward the Confessor in Sutton Park.  It was pretty tight inside which meant I had to try and make myself even more discrete during the ceremony (at nearly 6 ft this is something I sometimes struggle with!).  Kate's composure dropped and her emotion came through as she entered the church on her dad's arm wearing a stunning gown designed for her by Forget Me Not Designs.  At the top of the aisle, Alex was tense in anticipation before he turned to see her walking down the aisle.  Oh, I'm welling up just writing about it! As everyone piled out of the church the sun broke through, accompanied by the pealing of church bells courtesy of one of the ushers, Mark, my brother (such wide ranging skills, who knew?!) and I pulled the couple away for a quick stroll up to the end of the church lawn and a few pictures. Back at Great Fosters we took a walk around the gardens where we had been a few weeks earlier for their engagement shoot.  Except for 30 seconds of rain (literally) it stayed bright and lovely.  I could have shot for hours with them, they are such a beautiful couple, but got them back to the Tythe Barn in good time for their grand entrance.   Usually at a wedding I will take a break during the meal (photos of people eating are never flattering), collapse in a corner, call my boyfriend and drink a LOT of water and when lucky be provided with the wedding meal.  Kate and Alex kindly squeezed me onto a table and I was sandwiched between newly weds Gemma (my brother's wife - wedding pics from Ibiza here) and Hayley.  Unfortunately for them I probably wasn't great company as I was hopping up and down every 5 minutes for shots but it was nice to grab snippets of conversation between mouthfuls.

The meal was delicious, salmon roulade, lamb and plum crumble and ice cream.  Cheese came in the form of a cheese 'cake' instead of the traditional wedding cake (made by The Lavender Hill Company who also did all the beautiful flowers).  After the first dance the awesome Ska band, Oomphf from Brighton kicked in, and parked outside was a photobooth taxi providing instant prints for guests.  Here is me and Dan the fantastic videographer from From the Hip trying it out:

If you were a guest at Kate and Alex's wedding you can view the full album here.  The password is their surname.