Set in leafy Kent, surrounded by acres of green countryside is Combe Bank School. It’s a really beautiful place, perfectly kept and seriously impressive to boot. Perfect for a wedding you might think and, well, you’d be right. Normally a public girls school, Amy and Justin put their creative talents to good use and transformed the place with everything from love hearts to a picture frame table layout.
By a strange coincidence (well OK not all that strange) Amy’s Dad is also the site manager, quite handy when you’re trying to find places to take photos: he quite literally opens all sorts of doors (oh and gives a damn fine speech)!
I first met Amy and Justin at St Pancras station in London (a common meeting place for me with out of town couples) where we shared a few drinks and talked things over. Justin’s also quite into his photography and I later heard rumours that he has a team of photographers and retouchers working under him at Sky. I have to admit to being a touch scared in advance but I think we pulled off some really great images and it really helps working with somebody who knows where I’m going with the photos. Amy was an amazing sport putting up with all my wackball ideas and allowing me to take her into a dark, dark, smoke-filled forest (just after the first dance…)
More photos after the jump…
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If there’s one cardinal rule of wedding photography it’s got to be “don’t get the bride wet”. At most weddings the bride is up at the crack of dawn and spends literally hours perfecting hair, makeup and everything else to make herself look stunning on the wedding day. Jennie was no exception: she got up early, had a great morning laughing and giggling getting ready with the bridesmaids, she made sure her wedding photographer got covered in glitter and above all else looked really fab for the wedding. I knew the rule, I’ve always stuck by the rule, except this time I failed.
We went out for a nice wander just as the weather had cleared from earlier rain and found some awesome locations around Cambridge. Just as we stopped by the side entrance to Kings College I felt a raindrop hit my cheek. I thought nothing of it, we were getting some really great pictures… but then it happened, the heavens opened. I have to say I must be the luckiest wedding photographer in the world: I got soaked, my gear got drenched, both Jennie and James looked like they’d been for a swim in the river, the only comment I got though was “ah I really needed to cool down”. Wow, thanks guys you are some seriously cool customers!
So there we go, I came clean. I have to say despite the rain ‘incident’ I had a real blast and I think everybody else did as well. Had one of the funnest CrazyBooth’s to date with lots of people rocking it out. Don’t think I can say any more than thanks guys, from the moment we shot your engagement shoot earlier in the year I knew it was going to be fun and, well, it lived up to expectations. So much so that instead of my normal photo blog post I thought I’d start with a video slideshow. Enjoy!
More adventures soon (hopefully without the rain)
Alex 
Wow, nobody warned me the Canadians could get so crazy. In hindsight with nine groomsmen and five bridesmaids I should have known I’d be in for some stick! All great fun though, who could have asked for a more fun and beautiful wedding to photograph.
So Hannah and George got married in Childerley Hall Gardens; made famous (as we later found out during Hannah’s Dad’s speech) as the location in which Charles I was imprisoned by Cromwell . They chose to be married in the gardens on the croquet lawn. Mother Nature did her bit and we ended up with a perfect day for a wedding. Couldn’t ask for a more natural and beautiful place for a ceremony, surrounded by leafy trees and loved ones (even if the wind did attempt to blow out a few candles…)
Hannah and George had to jet off straight after the wedding to do it all again in Canada with George’s family. Hope it all went well guys and I hope you like the photos from this side of the pond!
More after the jump…
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Remember Emily and John from their engagement shoot around Cambridge earlier this year? Well a couple of Saturdays ago I finally got to shoot their wedding at Hotel Felix. I’d actually taken a look around while photographing Unnada and Graham’s wedding there a month ago and came in with some ideas of things I wanted to try. Until, that is, the weather put paid to those and we had to find some new options. Emily had told me she wanted some drama in some of the photos. Not being your average wedding photographer I decided to take that idea and run with it – smoke time. Really works for the first photo I think, creating a whole load of atmosphere.
More photos after the jump…
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Love prevails.
I’ve known Alan and Sarah for quite a long time: Alan used to be my Gun No. 1 when we were in the Officers Training Corps together and, well, those were some really fun times. I don’t normally photograph friends’ weddings but I was proud as punch when they asked me to be part of theirs (well Alan asked me since Sarah was in Afghanistan at the time). Was one hell of a day in quite possibly one of the most beautiful locations I’ve ever shot and with the craziest crazy booth to date. Oh and I also got to stay in the Castle keep, how awesome is that?
For this first shot we actually snuck off after dinner to Durham Cathedral, an amazing place (a little aside: it’s also where they filmed Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. Cool hey?) If anybody reading this is planning a wedding up there and needs a photographer please do get in touch!
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Those of you who follow the blog regularly might remember Al and Graham from their fab engagement session around Cambridge earlier in the year. Was great to get back together with them for their wedding at Hotel Felix in Cambridge. Sun shined on us and it was really nice to be able to get out into the garden for the ceremony. It was a really special day with tonnes of emotion (including a few tears from the Scotts) flowing. I have to say though I’m always jealous of just well Scottish men manage to scrub up, us Brits really don’t stand a chance! Saying that though Al *with her four dresses* did manage to outshine everybody else around.
I’m actually going to start the photos with one from the end of the day. Between courses (and yes the food at Hotel Felix is amongst the best I’ve had – I even liked the fish!) I spotted this little corridor and grabbed the pair away for a little alone time and some fun photos.
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Right sorry about the delay all, I’m just about getting my head back above water. Turns out four weddings and a move in a week isn’t such a good plan!
This was a bit of a strange wedding for me, I actually only came along for a few portraits and a crazybooth. Jo and James were both at Rosie and Chris’s wedding last month (James is Rosie’s brother) and they loved the photographs so much they asked me to come along for theirs. They already had a photographer there for the day but they really wanted a crazybooth and some portraits of them in the evening. Not something I would normally do but since they’re such a great couple I thought “what the hell”.
Anyway really glad I accepted, it turned out to be a blast. We started off with some photos in a nearby cornfield, then set up the crazybooth for some fun, pausing in the middle for a quick sunset shot. Oh and these guys really know how to book a sunset!
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Just a quick video from Eloise and Justin’s wedding at Anstey Hall, Cambridge. Enjoy!
More adventures soon,
Alex
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