Countryside Weddings with Mark Lord Photography

Mark is based in rural Oxfordshire & specialises in country weddings. He works regularly across the Chilterns, beautiful Berkshire downs & into the Cotswold countryside.

This area offers so many quintessentially English landscapes & Mark has a few favourite rural venues across his region that offer fantastic & fabulous country wedding locations for those who love the countryside.

Mark has always worked very closely with The Tythe Barn, Launton & would highly recommend it as a venue for your country wedding. Will & Emma have lovingly restored the barn to a very high standard & they put this same level of dedication into every wedding. The barn is beautifully rustic with some wonderful design touches. Mark has photographed weddings in Summer when the bride walks up an aisle which is an arbour of Wisteria in flower & Winter weddings when the barn is decked with twinkling white fairy lights. Other barns of note that Mark loves photographing weddings at are Luxters, Lains Barn, Notley Tythe Barn & Ufton Court Tythe Barn.

Early last summer Mark took part in a wedding photo shoot at the stunning Merriscourt between Burford & Chipping Norton. Merriscourt is a fantastic venue in a beautiful rural setting. It combines traditional Cotswold stone with bright stylish interiors. There are two fantastic barns that can be decorated completely to your taste, you can go for full blown vintage with bunting & floral china ware, shabby chic or go modern vintage with art deco glass & illuminated letters from Vowed & Amazed.

If you are looking for a rural venue you can, of course, choose a stately home across this beautiful region & one of Mark’s favourites is the beautiful Hedsor House. Hedsor House is set within its own parkland above the river Thames & is only 25 miles from London. With beautiful, opulent décor it enables you to style your wedding your way. You can have your drinks reception in the stunning Centre Hall with its glazed dome & your reception in the oak panelled ballroom with beautiful views across the parkland. Hedsor House gives Mark an endless array of backdrops for stylish Bride & Groom images. In particular he loves photographing the Bride & Groom with their wedding party on the steps.

There are now so many beautiful country venues & wherever you choose to hold your country wedding Mark is simply the best photographer you could choose.

Clare & Conor – A Sneaky Peek

Recently I photographed the winter wedding of Clare & Conor on a seasonably wintry Friday afternoon.

My day started with Clare at the beautiful Long Crendon Manor to capture some shots of her, her Mum & bridesmaids getting ready. The manor is a luxury bed & breakfast in a beautiful historical house. The house provided a picturesque setting for some stylish shots with the bride before she made the brief journey with her Dad to meet her groom….

Clare & Conor held their wedding & reception at another historical building in Long Crendon; Notley Tythe Barn. Last time I was at the barn it was in the middle of the summer & it was lovely to see the barn decorated for the season.

After the service I always take my bride & groom away for some shots of the two of them. I always strive for relaxed, stylish portraits of the happy couple that really capture the personality of the bride & groom. Clare & Conor are country lovers & were happy to pull on the wellies. So off we went into the countryside surrounding the barn & got some great images of the two of them….and a horse or two!

Not sure the horse was as happy to have his photograph taken as Clare & Conor!

Here is your sneaky peek Clare & Conor, many more great shots to come! Hope you enjoy your sneaky peek, it really was a pleasure to photograph your happy day. Wishing you all the best for a wonderful life together.

Winter Weddings

Weddings aren’t just in the Summer! I love a Winter wedding they can provide some fantastic photo opportunities, think bridesmaids wrapped up in faux fur, roaring log fires & twinkling fairy lights

Georgie & Maarten – A Sneak Peek

There is nothing better for a photographer than to be booked to photograph a wedding through recommendation & today’s bride & groom found me through word of mouth. Georgie & Maarten were married at Holy Trinity, Penn & their reception was held at the stunning Hedsor House.

Kiti, my assistant, started the day at the beautiful Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. Maarten, the groom, stayed there the night before the wedding with his family who had travelled over from Holland for the wedding. The gardens at Le Manoir were a great backdrop for some great family shots & photos of Maarten & his Best-Men.

Meanwhile, I was at the brides family home where she got ready with her family & bridesmaids. I love the shots of Georgie walking down the stairs towards her proud Mum & Dad & bridesmaids.

I then popped into the car with the bridesmaids to travel to the church & found myself on the other side of the camera when Father-of-the-Bride filmed us as we drove away!

After a beautiful service Georgie & Maarten greeted their guests in the churchyard & came out of the church door in a flurry of confetti.

We then travelled to Hedsor House for the reception. Hedsor House is a fantastic venue for a photographer providing some fabulous architecture & gardens for some stylish Bride & Groom shots.

And some great opportunities for some dynamic shots with your bridal party!

Georgie & Maarten had their speeches spaced throughout the wedding breakfast which included a noise off – who could be the noisiest table & the table who won had to do shots or nominate another table and some very interesting videos including the Bride & Groom’s fathers & a slideshow. It was a really fun reception with lots of laughter that shows in the photos.

After the speeches there was a fantastic firework display. Fireworks aren’t always the easiest thing to photograph but I was really pleased with the images I got on the night.

Then it was time for everyone to hit the dancefloor & have fun. I left as they were dancing the night away……

Hope you love your sneaky peek Georgie & Maarten. Wishing you long & happy lives together.

Mark & Aurelija – A Sneak Peek

I recently photographed the wedding of Mark & Aurelija in Marlow. This really was another international wedding, Mark is from New Zealand & Aurelija is from Lithuania

68-MAP-DL-DLOW4541-32 They had their service at the beautiful riverside church in Bisham and I took the opportunity to their group shots with picturesque river winding its way behind them.

After a few photos of Mark & Aurelija using the architecture & textures of the church. The happy couple then took a boat trip along the river Thames to The Compleat Angler in Marlow for their reception.

The weather was a little mixed but was fine enough for them to have their drinks reception on the lawn next to the river & I got a great group photo of the whole wedding party from the bridge.

I then stopped traffic in Marlow again for my favourite photo opportunity at weddings at The Compleat Angler & got some great shots of the two of them & some lovely portraits of Aurelija on the bridge.

I hope you enjoy your sneaky peek, wishing you every happiness!

A Cotswold Wedding….

Emily & Phil had a romantic outside ceremony at Friars Court on one of the loveliest summers days. Friars Court is a privately owned family home & has been in the same family since 1917. Since it is a private venue you have exclusive use, which is lovely – no running into another bride on your wedding day!

Emily & Phil are both creative & had some fantastic touches to the styling of their day. I love the jam jars on the ‘pew’ ends with gypsophila & dhalias & the tissue paper fans hanging from the trees.

Flowers were by the always wonderful Charlie from The Flower Fairies. Charlie specialises in beautiful, stylish & unique flowers & are always immaculate.

Emily arrived with her dad in a vintage Morris Minor driven by one of the ushers, Tris & the happy couple travelled in style in the same car – with a few attachments! – to their reception venue Great Barrington Village Hall in the picturesque Cotswold village of Great Barrington.

Again, Emily & Phil showed their creative sides with a stylish spin on the traditional table plan with bottles & balloons, origami place card holders & a fab BAR sign!

After the wedding breakfast dessert was in the form of ice cream served up from Daisy the vintage ice cream van. I have been at a few weddings with Daisy & would highly recommend having her at your wedding or party. Daisy has a fabulous selection of handmade ice creams in delicious flavours & retro lollies like Fabs, Rockets & Screwballs.

Entertainment, apart from the dancing, came in the form of Sam Strange. I have mentioned Sam on my blog before as I a big fan! Sam is the coolest magican I have come across & am always astounded by his tricks.

It really was a great wedding full of love & happiness & I left them boogying the night away……

Another happy customer…..

Lovely Sunday morning despite the rain, just had a visit from one of my bride & grooms from earlier in the summer when they came to collect their wedding album. They gave me a lovely card which I’m sure they won’t mind sharing with my Facebook friends ‘Dear Mark, Just a little note to say a BIG Thank You to you for helping to make our wedding day such a special day. You have managed to capture the most wonderful moments & memories that we will cherish forever. We hope to keep in touch & hopefully use you for many more shoots to come. With lots of love Steph, Tim & Hugo’
Here’s a few of shots with the gorgeous Hugo, the cutest Parson Terrier ever & a lovely photo of Steph & Tim on Henley bridge.

Sara & Colin – A Sneak Peek

Sarah & Colin’s wedding took place in Didcot & Wittenham Clumps & involved a surprise. I love a wedding when I am in on the secret!

Now, this was a surprise for the bride from her groom & was weather dependant so it was very disappointing when we set off for the wedding in heavy rain. One thing you can count on is the British weather being changeable so we still held out hope…..

It was really raining by the time Sarah arrived at the church but on their happiest of days a bit of the wet stuff didn’t dampen their smiles.

That being said we were all thrilled when we came out of the church to blue skies & sunshine.

After the service in Didcot, we travelled the short distance to Fison Barn at Wittenham Clumps a great barn venue that I hadn’t photographed a wedding at before.

Now for that surprise, by the time the speeches were over the weather had really cleared up so we all made our way outside. Colin, the groom, had arranged a special fly past for Sarah of a 1940’s Spitfire. I concentrated on the shots of the plane whilst Kiti kept her lense trained on the Bride, Groom & wedding guests for the all important reactions shots. I love the expression on Colin’s face of pure relief & exhilaration – a man who has organised a surprise that worked out & his lady loved it!!

After the flight we walked up to Wittenham Clumps, a place very special to Sarah & Colin. I am really pleased with the shots of them with Oxfordshire countryside stretching off to the distance.

Congratulations Sarah & Colin. Hope you enjoy your sneak peek, wishing you every happiness.

Max & Ceci – A Sneak Peek!!

It amazes me that however many weddings I do that each & every one is different. All weddings feature the same core things but each bride & groom brings their own personality to the wedding in their own special way. I am always excited to arrive at the wedding to see what kind of wedding it’s going to be. Nowadays there are so many choices out there from venues, dresses to flowers.

A couple of weeks ago I photographed the wedding of Max & Ceci in Cheltenham. On the journey there Kiti, my assistant for the day, & Becky, who helped out with transport, & I were remarking on how many multi–cultural weddings we’ve had this year – we’ve had French, Croatian, American & Norwegian to name but a few. Max & Ceci were no exception, Ceci has Mexican heritage & Max has family in Switzerland.

We started the day with them in their family homes to get some getting ready shots. Kiti was with the groom & I with the bride & bridal party.

Transport for the day was a vintage coach such a great idea rather than the traditional fleet of wedding cars & room for all!

It was a beautiful sunny day so Ceci & her dad travelled to the church in Max’s dad’s car Derek The Daimler. It was a beautiful moment for them to share before joining the rest of the wedding party.

After the service we took the short hop in the vintage bus to The Pittville Pump Room for the reception. It’s a great venue that provides beautiful regency architecture & parkland for some fabulous bride & groom shots. Max & Ceci are a young couple who met at school & they were one of the happiest couples I’ve ever seen. I am thrilled with the shots I took of them around their venue.

I took the group shots on the colonnade, which was great, with fabulous light but without the dreaded sun in everyone’s eyes on such a sunny day.

It really was such a fantastic day & it was an honour to photograph Max & Ceci on their wedding day. I hope you enjoy your sneak peek & wish you every happiness in your married lives together.

Laura & Andy – A Sneak Peek

I was at The Compleat Angler in Marlow again recently for the wedding of Laura & Andy. It was a great day & I was pleased the forecasted downpours passed us by.

I started the day at Laura’s parents home to get some coverage of the bride & bridal party getting ready. I always love being part of the day from the very start & this wedding was no exception. There is an almost ceremonial feeling to the process of preparing a bride to meet her groom.

Laura had a lovely lady Carol, who came to help her into her dress. A great idea as Carol was experienced in all the buttons & laces & completed the task calmly in double quick time. I always have a crochet hook in my camera bag which often comes in useful for the uninitiated but no need for it at this wedding!

Laura & Andy were married at St Margaret’s Church in Tylers Green. It’s a great church with fantastic natural light & a lovely vicar Derek. We did the group shots outside the church, which provided a lovely backdrop. We also got some great shots of the couple under a shower of confetti!

We then set off by car to The Compleat Angler & I was really pleased to catch up with the bride & groom in their wedding car. Kiti got a quick shot or two as we overtook them. Great one Kiti!

Unbeknown to their guests Laura & Andy took a slight detour on their way & rocked up at the venue by…..boat. I love the shot of Laura disembarking with the crowd of quests all taking their own shots. She looks like a film star arriving at a premiere!

It really was a great day. As Kiti & I left them on the dance floor I thought how lucky I was to be part of their special day, to capture the laughs, the tears & the love. Hope you like your sneak peek Laura & Andy. Wishing you every happiness in your lives together.