On the 1st of June, I was given a gloriously sunny day to shoot the wedding of Ashley & Kyle.  I started off in Abergavenny, meeting the very calm & collected Ashley with her mum and sister at a lovely hairdressers called Feodora.  When we went back to their family home for the bridal party to get ready, I was so taken with the beautiful cottage that stood in front of me.  The gardens were bursting with flowers and the hum of bumblebees- I felt like I was walking into the secret garden!

Anyhoo, moving on- We travelled down to Ross-on-wye to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovahs witnesses for the ceremony, where they were married by her Grandpa!  After the big group shots we travelled back to have photos taken at the stunning Raglan Castle in Usk.  What a backdrop for the photos!  It was rather funny to go up to the tallest tower for the groomsmen shots, to then find out at the top that a number of them were quite scared of heights! Oops.

It was a real pleasure for me to take photos of Ashley & Kyle.  We got to walk around and find lots of beautiful little nooks & crannies of the castle on a previous trip to Raglan, so we knew where we wanted to go on the day.  It was a very relaxed and chilled out atmosphere- especially as my darling Husband went and got us all a fanta to sip on as we went round!

Once we got back to the reception at Dingestow Village Hall, we were met by a team of Ashley’s friends who volunteered to waiter and they even dressed up with quaint little victorian head-dresses!  High tea was being served, which me and Danny were kindly invited to have.  It was a-ma-zing! So much effort had gone into the decor.  The flowers were particularly gorgeous- but then Ashley, being a florist by trade, knew what she was doing!

All in all, it was a very successful and very beautiful wedding day and I’m glad I got to capture that.

I hope you guys have had an amazing honeymoon and are now settling into being a Mr & Mrs!  Congratulations to you both.

Tom and Sophie are genuinely one of the most lovely and well suited couples I have had the pleasure of meeting and working for.  So their coming together in marriage on the 25th of May was a truly joyous day! A very sad occurrence was the last minute hospitalisation of the mother of the bride, Ronnie. At least, through the wonders of modern technology, she was able to see the ceremony from her hospital bed, I just hope the pictures give her a window into what happened for the rest of the day as she had such a great part in making it as pretty as it was! (The funky bouquets and bunting and various other details were made by Mummy R! She’s back on her feet now, happily.)

Despite all of the emotional set backs, the weather was glorious, and everyone was in the mood for some serious posing and a right ol’ laugh! (Note in particular the dicey-looking usher’s shot on the ladder- luckily, no-one was hurt!) So many great shots… Thanks to everyone for being such good fun, and for letting me sample the delicious ice-cream!

Sophie, you looked so amazing and it was about time a groomsman sported a dicky-bow- very cool!  Well done guys for making such a beautiful wedding day and being so strong despite difficulties.  I really look forward to doing the family photo shoot with you all!

On the 1st of September I got to photograph the wedding of the beautiful Hannah and her lovely man Tim.  I started off at the Family home of ‘E George & Son’ at Pontdolgoch Mill in Caersws, Powys.  I know I have said this about a lot of my brides but Hannah truly was the most laid back bride I’ve ever worked with!  Her bridesmaids were so sweet and supportive…and very diligent with the champagne!

So after a rather relaxed morning of all the girls getting ready, we went to Tregynon Church for the ceremony.  I was received by the eccentric, very chatty but very adorable vicar who got to be a part of the whole day, being a good friend of Tim’s.  It was a lovely ceremony that included two readings.  One by Hannah’s brother, Dan and another by their friend, Anwyn, who read ‘These are the Hands’.  I nearly choked up because I read this poem at my sisters wedding-where I did actually blub (not pretty)!  Durning the signing of the register, an amazing performance was given by a local choir.  I thought this was such a wonderful idea.  Again, this was very emotional!

Afterwards, we got to take some photos around Tim’s family farm.  I really enjoyed this bit, getting to embrace the rustic and unique setting that holds a lot of meaning to the couple.  Backdrops that are realistically gritty always make for great photos; amazing colours and textures with such contrast between the location and the bride & groom in all their finery!  It also lends opportunity to some very humorous shots (Look to the Groomsmen photos!).

The evening reception was beautiful.  A marquee constructed in the field next to Hannah & Tim’s house (how convenient?!) was filled with these lovely young trees and a long stream of paper lanterns that glowed above the heads of the guests.  I learned that the families who make up our farming community really know how to look after their own and I was made to feel a part of that at this wedding.  Everyone treated each other like family! Hannah and Tim were so hospitable and made sure we were all cared for, which was very kind, thank you!

You guys are such a lovely and well matched couple.  It was a pleasure to capture your wedding day and I wish you all the best together with your beautiful little Florence.