Sadia & Damian's Wedding - Bristol & Cadbury House

I mentioned in a recent post that I had a two-day wedding to cover up in Bristol, well, here it is! Sadia & Damian's celebrations started on the Thursday with a registry office service in Bristol followed by a family meal at the Glassboat restaurant. Sadia wore traditional Asian clothing for the day and looked amazing! Even more amazing was that she'd never had one fitting for her dress - her mother and sisters had picked out the fabric in Dubai and had the outfit made using Sadia's basic measurements - but it fit perfectly! Many of Sadia's family had henna symbols drawn on their hands too which were really pretty.

The celebrations continued on the Friday at Cadbury House. This time Sadia wore a stunning western-style dress and looked even more amazing! Not to be outdone, Damian had a different outfit for today as well! After a civil ceremony in the hotel's Great Room everyone enjoyed themselves at the bar.

Here are some of my favourite images from their two days:

Kate & William's Pre-Wedding Portrait Session

My second shoot at Ashton Court Mansion last week was with Kate & William who are also getting married in June. They brought a couple of friends with them...their dogs! It made for a rather distracting photo shoot but it was good fun trying to involve the dogs in the pictures but also to still try and capture some lovely moments between Kate & William. The last image below is one of my all time favourites!

Becky & Jon's Pre-Wedding Portrait Session

Last week I was up in Bristol for a two-day wedding (more about that in a future post!) so I decided to fit in a couple of pre-wedding portrait sessions at Ashton Court Mansion - another favourite portrait location of mine!

First up was Becky and Jon...a really great couple who were an absolutely blast to photograph! Despite the wind whipping up a gale and blowing Becky's hair all over the place we still managed to get some fantastic photographs and I had a hard time deciding which ones to post here. I can't wait for their wedding in June as I know it's going to be just as much fun!

Beth & Nigel's Wedding - Holbrook House

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of photographing Beth & Nigel's wedding at St Mary's Church in Templecombe. It was a lovely spring day with the daffodils out and despite some ominous looking clouds it remained dry! Flowers were obviously an important aspect of the day for the couple and Cynthia's Florist, based in Bruton, had done a wonderful job on Beth and the bridesmaid's bouquets as well the flowers at the church and Holbrook House, where the wedding reception was held.

Here are some of my favourite images from their day:

Catherine & Steve's Pre-Wedding Portrait Session

My final shoot on Saturday was with Catherine & Luke who are getting married in July. It can be quite tough doing several shoots in a row and often I find myself beginning to flag, however there was no chance of that with these two as they were so much fun! Catherine was full of energy and chattered away throughout the shoot trying to put Steve's nerves to rest! Here are a few of my favourites from the last session of the day:

Clare & Paul's Pre-Wedding Portrait Session

My second pre-wedding portrait shoot on Saturday was with Clare and Paul who are getting married in June. Clare and I used to be work colleagues (in my previous life!) so we've known each other for a while now. Despite the hail storm interrupting us mid way through the session, we had a good time and they were game to try any of the ideas I put to them! Here are a few of my favourites from the shoot:

Katherine & Luke's Pre-Wedding Portrait Session

On Saturday I was kept busy all day with THREE pre-wedding portrait sessions for some of this summer's couples! The shoots took place at Hestercombe Gardens, near Taunton, one of my favourite places for pre-wedding sessions because there is so much variety.

First up was Katherine & Luke. I think they were both a bit nervous to start with but I managed to put them at ease (I hope!) and got some great shots of them. Here are a few of my favourites:

NEW! Photo Guestbooks

As you may well know I do pre-wedding portrait sessions with nearly all of my wedding couples. These sessions are great for getting rid of any nerves they might have about having their photograph taken and it also lets us get to know each other a bit before the wedding.

My couples are often unsure what to do with the images I create during this session so I have decided to start offering a range of new products that showcase these sort of images. And the most exciting product is....ta da....the photo guestbook! With up to 17 images over a range of 30 pages - leaving lots of white space for guests to sign their messages - these silk-covered books come in a variety of colours.

Much more exciting and personal than a standard guestbook, this is one that you'll have double the reason to look through regularly - lots of lovely comments as well as fabulous pictures of yourselves!

Wedding Traditions

Well, I was reading the latest copy of Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding magazine the other day and they had a great article about the history of wedding traditions...so I thought I'd share a few of them with you!

Colour Code - Contrary to popular belief, the white wedding dress is a relatively new tradition. It was first made fashionable by Queen Victoria who broke the royal tradition of wearing silver when she married Prince Albert in 1840. Victoria wannabes soon followed suit, deeming it proper for a bride to be clothed in the colour of purity. Before this brides would happily marry in a variety of colours. However, green has long been considered the most unlucky of colours; a bride's green dress was said to be sign of her unfaithfulness, grass-stained from rolling around in the fields with a mystery lover!

Just Married - The tradition of tying tin cans to the back of the couple's car as they leave for their honeymoon has an interesting history. The cans have actually replaced old boots, a practice which is thought to have originated during the Anglo-Saxon era, when the groom would ritually strike his new bride with a shoe to demonstrate his authority!

Bridal Shower - Traditionally, rice, nuts and seeds were thrown over the bride and groom as they left the ceremony to promote fertility; the life-giving kernels were believed to rub off onto the couple. A more romantic substitute of sweets soon grew popular (the word 'confetti' derives from the Italian for 'confectionery') and nowadays of course, we opt for a somewhat safer sprinkling of petals.

Under Cover - The veil pre-dates the wedding dress by centuries, and there are a few possible explanations for its initial use. The first harks back to the days of arranged marriages; the groom would not be allowed to view his bride before the wedding day, just in case he didn't like what he saw and ran for the hills! The veil would conceal the bride's face, and thus save her from this horrific rejection. Another explanation is that the veil would protect the bride from evil spirits; once married she was able to lift the veil in favour of a new protector - her husband.

Something Old, Something New - This is the most popular of all wedding rhymes, but what does each element stand for? Something old, traditionally a garter, represents a continuation of the bride's virtuous past; something new stands for future prosperity; something borrowed embodies the importance of friends in times of need; and something blue, a custom carried over from ancient Israel, represents purity.

The little-known fifth element to the rhyme, a silver sixpence in her shoe, signifies future wealth. Although this line was dropped when the coins fell out of existence, enthusiasts still buy reproductions especially for their wedding day!