Allie had hoped for snow for her wedding, in fact she had dreamed of it……so much that she told me she almost hired a snow machine for the day to make sure. Well she didn’t need a snow machine but could have done with a 4 wheel drive as there had been heavy snows the week before her wedding and even 2 days before as she typed an email to me from work where the snow was starting to fall and settling in Cookham she was so excited!.
On the day of the wedding I was using a new assistant Lindy who was a friend of my regular assistant who I have sadly lost from assisting at my weddings as she has just set up the own photography business in South Africa ClicketyClick leading tours to teach people about photographing big game, a far cry from weddings!. Lindy was, as I expected, fabulous and I am looking forward to doing lots more weddings in 2010 with her assisting.
I arrived early to take a few snowy photograph
s of Holy Trinity Church, Cookham before I went to Allies’ parents house for the getting ready shots. Allie has the most incredible blue, almost violet coloured eyes which looked fantastic in the make-up shots so I left most of them in colour and gave them a fashion look/tweak for the final presentation. We then headed off to the church where the paths were treacherous underfoot with ice and snow, I lost my footing a couple of times but managed to stay on my feet!.
After the ceremony we all headed off after a few family group shots to Phyllis Court Club in Henley for the reception which is a fabulous place for wedding photography in Oxfordshire. It was so christmassy when we arrived with snow on the glass 1920’s art deco hotel dome porch but as the light was almost gone I managed to get a couple of outside shots but everything else I did inside. When we went to do the signature wedding phototography shots with Allie & Jason we use the inside of Phyllis Court and their hotel room. I often use a dimable video light to light my indoor shots of a couple as it is so much more atmospheric and stylish than using flash.
I actually shot one of my favourite indoor images ever at this wedding with Allie & Jason spotlit at the bottom of the staircase with lots of negative space around them, Lindy did an fab job lighting this shot with my trusty Lowel ID-pro light and I feel it is a timeless image, this could have been shot in the 1930’3 or 40’s so very much in keeping with the venue. Most importantly Allie & Jason love it too! We also got a great sequence of the couple bouncing on the bed together
The couple were using one of the shots they chose from their pre-wedding shoot for guests to sign so that was a nice touch. Often my couples will want me to supply their engagement images in a white 16×20 inch mount for signing and it makes a lovely keepsake. After the wedding Jason & Allie headed off for their honeymoon, whereabouts you might ask after the freezing UK, was it Bali or Maldives, Mauritius perhaps………no……….you guessed it Finland for more snow and igloos!!
A lovely winter wedding with a lovely couple.
To view some more shots of the day in a video presentation click on the video play icon below:

This is what Allie and Jason had to say on return from their honeymoon: