A #Ramsbury #Wedding #Wiltshire

A few weeks ago Jack and I were back in Jack’s home village of Ramsbury, Wiltshire. It’s a place very close to my wife & I as that is where we kindled our relationship; over a few coca-colas in the local pub,The Bell. Still that’s another story for another day. In the meantime, a mutual friend of ours and the bride and groom’s recommended me for their wedding photography.

Laurie and Chis are local to Ramsbury and got married in Ramsbury’s Holy Cross Church with a reception at a nearby barn called Wick Bottom Barn near Barbury Castle, Marlborough. The barn is a great venue if you are looking for a blank canvas to put your own stamp on and Laurie and Chris really made it their own. Typically for August we had a few heavy showers but this did not dampen proceedings too much. We managed to do the few group photographs outside of the church and a picture of everyone at the barn, in between showers!! Then the rain stopped for a good half an hour and we nipped off into the nearby Wiltshire countryside to get some pictures of Laurie and Chris together. The barn is well positioned for Marlborough and Swindon and the M4 yet is set in an idyllic location with absolutely nothing surrounding it except rolling countryside!

With speeches before the meal we stayed to capture them before leaving everyone to enjoy the rest of the day. Laurie and Chris also had the great idea of asking those with tents to camp over in the grounds surrounding the barn. There was a great selection of tents there but none as cool as the tent Laurie and Chris had for the night, a bell tent lent to them, complete with chandelier, by my sister-in-law.

Laurie and Chris are now on their honeymoon in Venice but here is a sneaky peek of some of the images from their big day.

Laura and James’s #wedding @stokeplace

It’s been a while since I have worked at Stoke Place but it’s certainly one of my favourite Buckinghamshire wedding venues and only a stones throw from London. It was a real pleasure to work there again as it’s a great location to have a wedding reception. The grounds are wonderful with established parkland and a lake for the guests to enjoy the reception and pretty splendid for great wedding photography too!

The interior of this Queen Anne Manor House retains all of its old charms and features, updated with handpicked modern designer pieces giving you great backdrops for your wedding photography should the weather turn.

Laura and James’s wedding was great fun with a few moments that still make me chuckle…. Those that were there will know what I mean!

I have just posted a selection of images onto my Facebook page here so Laura and James can have a sneaky peek whilst on their honeymoon.

Here are a few of my favourite images from the day…..

Gaynes Park Wedding Photography, #Essex

Last month Jack and I photographed the wedding of Jane and Ben at Gaynes Park in Essex. Jane’s sister Rachel and I used to work together and have kept in touch ever since and in fact I photographed Rachel’s wedding a few years ago too so I know the family fairly well now!

Ben and Jane choose to have a vintage handmade style of wedding and they chose a great venue to hold their big day. Gaynes Park is a stylish and contemporary barn wedding venue set in the grounds of a historic country estate in Epping, Essex which has been in the Chisenhale-Marsh family for generations. There is a collection of various barns, one of which offers the chance to have an outside wedding ceremony if good weather. Should the weather not be favourable there is a large south facing orangery that can accommodate the civil ceremony too!

After the ceremony there is large walled garden for the drinks reception and lots of great locations for fabulous wedding photography.

It really is a smashing venue if you are looking for something rustic, rural and yet fairly close to London! In the evening you can even see Canary Wharf and the skyline of London in the distance!

Jane and Ben choose one of my Stylish wedding albums with a magazine layout and metal cover which is now all designed and with my lab for printing. Here are a few pictures from their big day!

A great opportunity to meet HRH Prince Charles….

I’ve had an eventful few weeks but the highlight must have been meeting royalty! It had been mentioned to me that I would receive an invitation in the post but it wasn’t until a large cream envelope dropped onto the doormat from Buckingham Palace that the reality of fulfilling one of my ambitions came true.

In the last 12 months I have been a proud supporter of The Prince’s Countryside Fund & have photographed several projects across the country for them along with charitable events. The Prince of Wales has long been passionate about the countryside & set up the fund to give grants to projects that help support the people who care for the countryside.

So it was a very excited photographer that traveled up to the big smoke & across London to Clarence House for a garden party to mingle with other supporters & meet the great man himself. The party was attended by some of the projects that I photographed including Hampshire Fare who help pig farmers diversify & some of the farm apprentices from the Yorkshire moors. There also were some of the celebrity ambassadors who help to raise the profile of the fund including Jimmy Doherty, Phil Vickery, JB from JLS, and Alex James ex member of Blur along with a few other familiar faces from television. We mingled in the garden with some of my images on easels as a backdrop showing the various projects the fund support. The Prince of Wales arrived & was introduced to each group in turn. It was finally my turn to meet His Highness & what can I say? It all went by in a flash! I shook his hand & we had a brief chat about photography & the work I have done for the fund before he had to move on.

It was a memorable moment in my profession and I hope I will have the opportunity of meeting Prince Charles again, maybe building a dry stone wall somewhere!

Here are a few pictures taken by the official photographer of the day Alistair Fyfe.

Some of the images I have taken for The Princes Countryside Fund can be seen on my Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/MarkLordPhotography

Heidi and Brendan’s sneaky peek of their #wedding in lovely #Cornwall!

Last weekend Jack and I travelled to Cornwall to shoot the wedding of Heidi and Brendan in the village of Budock Water, near Falmouth where I grew up. I have known Heidi for many years and it was a pleasure to be part of their big day.

Their day was a perfect mix of coastline and countryside and we even managed to pop down to the local beach where the two of them got engaged for some pictures. Heidi and Brendan got married in St. Budock Church where I got married last year.

The reception was held at the family stables with tea and cake served to the guests on arrival before the champagne reception later in the day. The stables were all cleaned out and bunting hung from the doors and rafters giving it a vintage charm. During the tea and cake Heidi and Brendan had organised a Bucking Bronco and even had a go themselves. Guests were also entertained by a bouncy castle, sumo wrestling suits for those who fancied a wrestle and a magician who wowed the guests with his balloon swallowing!

So without further ado here are a few pictures of Heidi and Brendan’s big day…..

Love a hairy dog? You have not seen anything yet!

Recently I was at a farmers market and saw a lady I knew struggling with her bags. Being a gentleman I though I would ask if she wanted a lift home with her groceries. On taking me up on the offer of a lift I was greeted by this hound of a dog bounding towards me to lick me to death in her driveway. Well, anyone who knows me knows how much I love to photograph animals, namely dogs, so I could see a great opportunity wagging its tail in front of me.

‘What type of dog is this?’ I asked whist negotiating how to protect the eggs in the top of one of the bags.

‘It’s a Lagotta Romagnolo’ I was told, ‘an Italian breed of dog with her winter coat still on’

I said I would love to take some photographs of the dog and the lady said that was fine as long as it was soon as she was soon to be clipped now the weather has finally warmed up.

So last week I met up with the lady and her dog. I shot a few daylight images in the window as the dog sat in an armchair then we popped to a local field for a few pictures.

Here’s a couple of my favourites…..

Yesterday’s #Chilly Shoot with Brendan and Heidi

Here’s a little gallery of some of my favourite images from Heidi and Brendan’s Wintery pre wedding shoot shot in April!

Roll on better weather for my first wedding of the year tomorrow!

Really looking forward to their big day next month in Sunny Cornwall!

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#MerryChristmas to you all

Sherston Old School – My First Prince’s Countryside Fund Project

A couple of weeks ago I photographed my first commission for the Princes Countryside Fund, a Victorian School in Sherston, Wiltshire. The school had closed in 2005 when a new school was built for the children of the area. The old school sat empty with the fear of it being converted into flats until it was acquired by the village by Sherston Old School Community Interest Company (SOSCIC) and Wiltshire Council gave planning permission that allowed the building to be used to provide a range of goods, services and activities for the good of the community. With the help of grants including one from the Princes Countryside Fund the school is now open with a bustling community spirit and includes a fabulous Post Office and general stores, office space for IT and marketing companies, a wine seller and a group of hair dressers soon to move in.

To find out more about Sherston Old School project please click here.

It’s a beautiful baby boy…

Recently some wedding clients of ours got in touch to say that they were having a baby and would like some new born pictures of him to remember his early days by.

So a session was booked and I met up with them to photograph the new addition to the family. It was lovely to see them again as I had not seen them for a couple of years and it was a pleasure to be asked to photograph their baby boy. It was lovely session and I am thrilled with the results. The baby’s Mum knitted the wool nest and his Dad supplied the furs to provide some great backgrounds for him to lay on.

Special thank to my clients for allowing me to use these images on my blog and I look forward to seeing the 3 of them again in the future.

I wish to expand my new born baby portfolio and would love to hear from anyone who has a new born on the way or has had a baby very recently! Please contact me for more information if you would like a complimentary session.

Mark Lord Photography

Oxfordshire based photographer specialising in people and our rich landscape

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