Wedding at The Compleat Angler – Alex & Steph, A Sneak Peek

A couple of weeks ago I photographed the wedding of Alex & Steph at The Compleat Angler in Marlow. Now, over the years I’ve done a fair few weddings there but it did look lovely in the low September sunlight with the river flowing past.Both Alex & Steph got ready at The Compleat Angler so, as always, Kiti & I went our separate ways – Kiti with the groom & I with the bridal party to capture them both getting their glad rags on.After getting ready Alex & his Best Man made the short journey from the hotel in a bright red MG to the church at Bisham.

It was then time for me to hot foot it to the church ready to get some shots of Steph, her Dad & the bridesmaids arriving & making their way into the church.

After a lovely service Alex & Steph made their way out of the church to be greeted by a flurry of bubbles.

We did some shots with their friends & family before they departed in style to make their way back to The Compleat Angler. I dashed back & ran back to the bridge so I could get a shot of them on the iconic bridge! It was now time for the group shot of everyone at the wedding testing my physical fitness as in my time I have climbed a church tower & hung out of many a window to capture the shot. At The Compleat Angler, with weather permitting, I gather the guests on the lawn by the river & make a quick dash around & up onto the bridge to get the shot from a vantage point.The river & bridge always seems to play an important part in a Compleat Angler wedding. I try to do some stylish bride & groom shots as they walk across the bridge. This is when I employ the skills of the Best Man or bridesmaids, Ushers & my assistant to stop traffic. The guys at Alex & Steph’s wedding did a sterling job & everyone smiled & waved as they drove past!

Alex & Steph also fitted a boat trip into their day & I got some great photos of them onboard as they sailed away into the sunshine! This is a lovely part of a wedding at The Compleat Angler giving the happy couple time to reflect on their special day.After they returned to a flurry of confetti it was time for guests to make their way to the wedding breakfast. Alex & Steph’s Toastmaster did a fabulous job throughout the day & announced them into the room. Toastmasters can be a great addition to your wedding helping with all the details of your day & keeping things on time!After some great speeches it was time for Alex & Steph to cut the cake & hit the dancefloor for their first dance as husband & wife.It was then time for everyone to hit the dancefloor & we left them all dancing the night away!

Wishing you both every happiness. Hope you enjoy your sneak peek!

Nichola & Matthew – A Sneak Peek

Recently I photographed the wedding of Nichola & Matthew at Oakley Court.

Its always lovely to be booked through recommendation & even better when its by one of my previous brides & grooms. Several years ago I photographed the wedding of Matthew’s sister Suzanne & it was lovely to see her & her husband Kirk with their family celebrating her brother’s wedding.

Now back to Nichola & Matthew’s day. It was a really lovely family day & they had some very important people in their wedding party. Matthew was ably assisted by his pageboy, their son Chase & Nichola was attended to by their daughter Daisy as bridesmaid. Having their children take part in their day was lovely & offered some fantastic photo opportunities. I particularly love this shot of Matthew & Chase looking cool in their special socks taken by Kiti.

The whole wedding party got ready at Oakley Court, near Windsor before taking the short stroll to The Windsor Suite for the ceremony.

Oakley Court is a magnificent Victorian Gothic mansion, which is set amidst 33 acres of landscaped gardens, which go down to the banks of the River Thames. So after the ceremony & formal, & not so formal, group shots I took the bride & groom away to get some shots of the two of them together. I love the stylish shots of them on the pontoon.

We then left the river & we used the architecture of the historic building. I loved it when the Bride offered to climb into a trolley basket!

It was then time for the bride & groom to return to their guests for the wedding breakfast & speeches.

When photographing little ones it is always good to catch them when they are in the mood & during dinner I got some lovely shots of them as pageboy & bridesmaid.

After dinner, it was time for the evening guests to arrive & as always Kiti & l Ieft everyone on the dancefloor.

Nichola, Matthew, Daisy & Chase – we hope you love your sneak peek. Wishing you all a very happy future together…

Stéphanie & Tim – Henley On Thames – Sneak Peek!

There are some days as a wedding photographer that you particularly hope for great weather due to something on the day that depends on sunshine or at least no rain. My own wedding included a boat trip & walk up from the quayside, which wouldn’t have been possible in gale force 9!

Tim & Stéphanie’s wedding included a planned walk across the bridge in Henley from ceremony to reception venue so it was disappointing to wake to heavy rain on the morning of their wedding. But one thing for the British weather is that it is pretty changeable! By the time Stéphanie left the house to travel to Henley the sun had come out & the weather just got better & better as the day went by. And yes, we even made the walk across the bridge!

Stéphanie & Tim’s wedding was at St Mary’s the Virgin in Henley on Thames followed by a marquee reception in a friends garden on the banks of the river Thames. It really was a beautiful day & the gardens, house & bridge provided a great variety of backdrops for some fantastic shots. Guest of honour was Stéphanie & Tim’s dog, Hugo, who even made an appearance at the church!

Hope you love your sneak peek Stéphanie & Tim. Wishing you every happiness in your future lives together.

Sarah & Ben #sneekypeek #Bisham #Danesfield

Before any wedding I always ‘recce’ the venues to run through the journey for the day & check for any ‘issues’ that may arise; such a parking at the church etc. I went to Bisham Church, near Marlow for my usual look around a week prior to Sarah & Ben’s wedding & my wife Becky was baffled to see a No Fishing sign on the lychgate on entering the churchyard. All became clear to her a few moments later as we walked round the church to be welcomed by the sight of the River Thames in all its glory meandering its way past the churchyard.

The River Thames played a part throughout Sarah & Ben’s day. Sarah prepared for the wedding at the famous Marlow hotel The Compleat Angler where I have photographed many a wedding before she travelled the short distance to Bisham Church to meet her groom. After the service the bride, groom & guests (plus photographer & his assistant Kiti!) travelled to the renowned hotel Danesfield House for a drinks reception & dinner.

This wedding was truly to the adage ‘small but perfectly formed’ with only 14 guests but with all the lovely trimmings of a larger wedding.

Sarah looked absolutely beautiful in her lace dress & her ‘look’ inspired me with some new image styles. Inspired by everything vintage it gives the images an almost ‘milky’ quality rather than the standard black & white. These are applied post-production & whilst they will never be applied to every image add another variety to the styles that I offer. I am really pleased with the range of images in their sneaky peek, I hope Sarah & Ben love them as much I do!

Last Saturday, what a day.

Firstly I awoke to lovely weather. The 1st June – ‘Is this the start of Summer’ I asked myself?

On Saturday Sarah (one of my assistants) and I photographed the wedding of Kathryn and David at Christ Church, Henley on Thames and then onto one of my favourite Buckinghamshire wedding venues, the magnificent Hedsor House. When I initially got an enquiry from Kathryn for wedding photography and was told it was a Hedsor House I was thrilled. You only have to look at the Hedsor House website to realise how fabulous it is with all of the awards and accolades awarded within the wedding industry.

“Vogue’s Dream Wedding Venue”

VOGUE

“Wedding Venue of the Year”

The Wedding Industry Awards Shortlist

“UK’s Prettiest Summer Wedding Venue”

Wedding Day Venues

“Top 100 Wedding Venues in the UK”

Brides Magazine

“No.2. Royal Wedding Venue in the UK”

The Times

“No.1 Top Venue”

TATLER

“No.1 Wedding Venue in Buckinghamshire”

Brides Magazine

“Marie Claire’s Top Wedding Venue”

MARIE CLAIRE

“Top 10 UK Film Locations”

The Telegraph

“Event Venue of the Year”

Eventia Awards

If you have got this far then you may wish to take a closer look at what Hedsor can offer for your wedding day.

Kathryn got ready at Hotel Du Vin in Henley on Thames with her bridesmaids whilst David travelled up to Henley from Winchester on the morning of the big day. The service was a very special occasion at Christ Church, Henley on Thames as the church was very personal to Kathryn’s family. Her parents got married in the church and her grandfather was very involved in the church and even made the weather vane that adorns the church spire!

After a lovely service, the bride and groom went in a beautiful Bentley supplied by Christophers whilst the guests were all taken to the venue by coach.

On arrival at Hedsor House I heard comments such as ‘Its like something from a fairytale’ as the entrance to Hedsor House is so grand, long sweeping driveway, through the beautiful gardens and parkland before passing the highland cattle and finally seeing this magnificent house in front of you. With a beautiful blue sky it really was like something from a fairytale.

Entertainment was provided for the guests in the form of a Dixieland Jazz band playing in front of the house and a very popular Ice cream trike on the terrace provided by Benecci Ice Cream Bikes The beautiful flowers were all supplied by Hot Flowers and Art at nearby Wooburn Green, and the sensationally delicious catering by Caper and Berry.

The whole operation was meticulously organised by Kathryn with the help of Rachael from Serendipity Wedding Planning who did a fantastic job at keeping proceedings going as well as organising some gigantic balloons!

So without further ado here is Kathryn and David’s sneeky peek. I will be working on their images over the next few weeks and hope to show you all some more soon.

Ohh…. and the dress…… A beautiful Ian Stewart – one of my favourite wedding dress designers.

What a day – hey?

A busy weekend coming up for weddings…..

I’m currently busy designing a lovely album for Danielle and David who’s wedding took place last weekend at Great Fosters, Egham. Keep a look out for a sneaky peek once they are back from their honeymoon – there are lots of great pictures!

Tomorrow I will be photographing a wedding at the wonderful Silchester House in Hampshire and then Sunday I will be at the Compleat Angler Wedding Fair in Marlow.

So if you are looking for a photographer for your wedding day please come along and see me and a wonderful lady photographer called Maria who will also be attending. There will also be an array of other wedding suppliers all recommended by The Compleat Angler.

Doors open 11am until 3pm. Come along and see one of Marlow’s best wedding venues on the river River Thames.

Here are a few images from Gemma and Paul’s wedding from a few years ago at the Compleat Angler.

Elizabeth and Eric’s sneaky peek of their #Henley #Wedding

Last Saturday Jack and I photographed the wedding of Elizabeth and Eric at the Phyllis Court Club, Henley on Thames. Elizabeth and Eric live in New York City and met when Elizabeth moved to the USA for work. They decided to get married in old blighty and wanted somewhere quintessentially English for their wedding. Where could be better than a riverside venue in Henley on Thames famed for its annual rowing regatta the world over. Phyllis Court is a members only club situated by the finish line of the regatta with beautiful views of the river Thames. With croquet being played on the lawns of Phyllis Court on a glorious spring day you know you are somewhere very English and very special.

Elizabeth and Eric booked me over the internet after seeing my website and we met up a few months ago on one of their brief visits to the UK. Their wedding day was truly fabulous and the sun shone all day for them and their guests who were there from all over the world.

With a short honeymoon to the Cotswolds cut short by Eric having to return to NYC for work, I though I would put some pictures online for the two of them to share with their friends across the pond! So here they are guys just a small selection of some of the wonderful pictures Jack and I captured of your big day.

There will soon be a CD strapped to a racing pigeons leg heading your way too…….

Wedding Photography Henley on Thames-0580

Once Elizabeth and Eric receive the CD they will also have the access code to the online gallery to share the pictures with their family and friends by visiting my client area here http://www.marklordphotography-clientarea.com

Thank you.

#Henley on Thames Pre-Wedding Shoot

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting up with Kathryn and David who are getting married later this year in Henley with a reception at Hedsor House. With their love of Henley where better a place to have their pre-wedding shoot than by the river Thames. I’m sure when they booked their pre wedding shoot for the end of March they were imagining drifts of golden daffodils and signs of spring all around. However, due to the weather in recent weeks the daffodils were a bit sparse . I still managed to get some fantastic shots of the two of them using some of my favourite locations in and around Henley.

I’m so looking forward to their big day!

Here are a few of the pictures from their shoot…..

Spot the #Olympic Torch as it comes to Henley on Thames

This morning I took my wife to work – it doesn’t happen often but after working all weekend I decided to take things steady today. Also, the Olympic Torch was coming to town so we both thought it would be nice to see that as it’s a once in a lifetime experience.

So off we drove, down through the beautiful Chilterns to a rather buzzing Henley at 8.30am. With the streets and river bank packed with people of all ages it really was a great atmosphere. Unfortunately Becky had to get to work for 9.30 so had to leave me once she saw the first runner with the torch. Lucky me, whose boss had told him to take it ‘steady today’ decided to stay on and catch another glimpse of the torch when it was brought back down the river. I managed to get access on the bridge with a few hundred other people to see a flotilla of boats accompanying Sir Steve Redgrave whom was holding the torch. Having only my small compact camera I went for the landscape image capturing the atmosphere of the event rather than the press shot!

Mark Lord Photography

Oxfordshire based photographer specialising in people and our rich landscape

River Thames