Anna & Nigel's Wedding at Hellens Manor, Much Marcle

On Saturday I was lucky enough to photograph Anna & Nigel's wedding, which was the first wedding ceremony to take place in the Stone Hall at Hellens Manor in Much Marcle. I've photographed wedding receptions at Hellens before but they've only recently started holding the ceremonies there.

We had perfect weather and gorgeous light.
Here's Nigel and his Best Man & ushers getting ready to speak to the registrar in the Stone Hall.

A "where are the rings" moment for Best Man Nick.

Married!
The beautiful setting at Hellens and a lovely blue sky.

Just enough guests to get a nice group shot around the keyhole at the front of the house.

Bridesmaid Sorcha entertained us with some flute playing between drinks and dinner.

Which the little ones clearly enjoyed!

Hellens has some great sculptures around the grounds like this wicker hammock. Anna & Nigel were only too pleased to feature them in their wedding pictures.



Some lovely afternoon sun in the grounds and streaming through the windows in the entrance hall. Perfect for showing off Anna's elegant dress.


I stayed with Anna & Nigel until they went for their meal in the wonderful converted barns. Looking forward to meeting up on your way back from honeymoon to re-live the day.

Rebecca & Rob Married at Ettington Chase

So a couple of weeks ago I was back at Ettington Chase in Stratford upon Avon for the wedding of Becki & Rob. Their pre-wedding shoot in Malvern was great so I knew this was going to be a good day.
Maid of Honour Larissa had been stuck on the other side of the world due to the volcanic ash cloud so it was a relief to everyone that she made it back in time. Here she is helping Becki get ready in one of the rooms at Ettington.
This is a great time on the wedding day when nerves and emotions are both plentiful! The girls and hairdresser Harriet all made sure things were running to plan and Becki stayed cool and calm.


When the ceremony and reception are all in one place I can zip around the venue dividing my time between the bride's preparations and whatever the groom is getting up to. Here's Rob and his entourage enjoying a bit of pre-wedding sunshine outside the front of the house.

These are the (two) Best Men getting into the posing spirit!

Married!

Larissa catching the bouquet. Actually she dropped it but we won't mention that!

Ettington Chase has some lovely grounds and we were able to sneak away for some shots of just the couple while everyone was enjoying drinks before the wedding breakfast.

Don't know what Becki said to Rob here but it must have been good!

I had my eye on getting into the pool so thanks to the Ettington staff for letting us in there and to Becki & Rob for being great sports and suffering the spa heat for a few moments in their full wedding attire! Love these shots.


This is one of my favourites. They're such a natural couple and Ettington has lots of great locations. Bounced the flash off-camera from the top of the stairs for this one.

Excellent choice of music for the first dance and onwards through the party.


I've delayed posting this one a bit so they're one of the first to see it when they get back from Hawaii. Looking forward to meeting up soon to look through the rest and plan the album.

Lisa & Chris's Pre-Wedding Portrait Shoot

A few weeks ago I met Lisa at her wedding venue Parkfields near Ross-on-Wye and we got a few shots in the grounds (see the earlier blog post). Chris couldn't make it that day because he wasn't well, so we arranged to meet up again yesterday.
Despite the pouring rain Lisa & Chris made the journey down from Staffordshire and we decided to give it a go. A little rain never hurt anyone did it!
We started off in this lovely bluebell wood in the Forest of Dean. The trees provided great cover and the colours and light were lovely. We even managed to find a dry tree stump to sit on!


Next to a lake near the Forest of Dean Heritage Museum. The fishermen thought we were a bit crazy clambering in amongst trees on the edge of a lake in the rain but never mind!


Lisa & Chris were great - climbing up banks for me to find more bluebells and not afraid to get a bit wet. I think it's going to be a good day at their wedding.


Time for a little off-camera flash in this nice mini-quarry bit we found on the way back to the cars. Love the serious look in this one.



Thanks for braving the elements. We got a lovely set of pictures and I'm looking forward to meeting up again on the wedding day next month.

Rachel & Rob's Pre-Wedding Shoot in Worcester

On Sunday I met up with Rachel & Rob at the Diglis Hotel in Worcester. They are holding their wedding reception there in a couple of weeks time so we had a little recce around the hotel and the riverside for their pre-wedding portrait shoot.
Although it was a bit cold, the rain stayed away and we spent a lovely hour or so exploring the area.
Here they are in the hotel grounds before we headed out along the river.

These trees must have the fastest growing leaves in existence. I was here a couple of weeks ago and they were bare after being chopped back! Glad they're back now though.


A carpet of cherry blossom just for us!




Some great locations and a lovely couple. Thanks to Rachel for getting the afternoon off work - looking forward to meeting up again on the wedding day!

Becki & Rob's Pre-Wedding Shoot

Yesterday I met up with Becki & Rob for a lovely pre-wedding shoot on the Malvern Hills. They're getting married at Ettington Chase in Stratford upon Avon next month but were keen to come down to the hills for their pre-wedding portrait session. I'm glad they did as the weather was great and we got some lovely pictures.

We met at the North car park by Tank Quarry before some shots around the amazing clock tower.




This one is inside the clock tower - a location I've had my eye on for a while now.

Then up to the spring where, amazingly we got the place to ourselves for a bit.


This was a perfect location for Becki & Rob as they are having a very natural theme for their wedding. Can't wait for the day!


Just above the natural spring are these benches and paths up to the Worcester Beacon.

The sun was still shining and it made for a lovely romantic setting.





Finishing off with a little off-camera flash just to round off the afternoon.

Thanks to Becki & Rob for coming down from Birmingham on one of only 2 days off for Rob before the wedding! Looking forward to meeting up again at Ettington in a couple of weeks time.