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New Place Wedding Photos – Debra and Matt

Mike French — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:28:47 +0000

This was the last of our weddings for 2011, and it started at New Place to meet Matt and his family rather than with Debra for her preparations. It was another lovely September day in a year which will be probably remembered for a seriously hot October, but once again September delivered with perfect weather for such an occasion.

I started with some bright overcast sky allowing me to photograph Matt, his family, and best-man in perfect light in the driveway area of New Place and in front of the house, before heading out to find some guests arriving, touch base with the coordinators from New Place, and get a view of the wedding ceremony room and plan my angles. It wasn’t long though before the guests were ushered in, and Debra arrived in a lovely old Riley wedding car which eased it’s way through the large feature gates onto the drive stopping near the house and allowing a reflection of this stunning property in the chrome of the bodywork.

Whilst Debra went in to see the Registrars I headed into the ceremony room, took my position on the squeaky floorboard between the registrars table and the fireplace and readied myself for her arrival into the room. It was very warm in the room, with the unseasonal weather, and as expected Debra found it near impossible to get the wedding ring onto Matt’s finger – but eventually it made it, and shortly afterwards they were married !

The sun was out in full force, and whilst the guests mingled on the terrace with drinks and canapes we worked through the formal photographs and family & friends groups heading over to the large flight of stone steps leading to the croquet lawn for the large groups. We had a few moments to get some relaxed portraits before heading down to the Arden Suite to photograph the cake and the room, and then it was on to a receiving line which delivered some lovely and amusing images.

Dinner followed, and I was able to grab some water, and a snack before heading back in to cover the speeches, and the cutting of the cake, and then shortly afterwards once the room had been turned around and the band set-up there was lots of dancing. Having covered the first dance, and some of the next few songs, as well as the band in full swing I made my goodbyes and headed off to backup the images.

Here are some of them, the full gallery will be available soon and guests and friends should have the password on a small personalised card provided at the wedding.

Marwell Hall Wedding Photos – Wendy & Martin

Mike French — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 21:46:26 +0000

Wendy and Martin wanted their day at Marwell Hall to be a party with a wedding also happening, and it certainly was that.

We started in the Marwell Hotel, in a bridal room I’m very familiar with, capturing Wendy’s preparations with her hairdresser, bridesmaid and make-up artist and her mum. Both of the other bridesmaids made an entrance via the balcony, and it set the tone for a wonderful day. Having photographed Wendy, the dress, shoes and preparations I headed over to Marwell Hall and met up with the boys. Resplendent in turquoise waistcoats, top hats and canes the guys were all wearing different feature shoes as well.

Arriving road trains with guests quickly followed and it wasn’t long before Wendy herself drew up with her father and went into the hall to meet the registrars. The ceremony room was flooded with light as this early September wedding became blessed with good weather and soon they were married, and the party started. Groups were completed quickly, and after some mingling with the guests which I captured, along with the room details Wendy and Martin headed off to the Lemurs for a private feeding. Deep in the enclosure we got some great images, with these fearless little creatures and then it was back to Marwell Hall for some more drinks.

Guests made their way up to the new marquee site, and we were soon into dinner, and speeches from both fathers, Martin and his best-man, and then Martin, Wendy and I slipped off for a few moments for some time alone to get some more relaxed images in the feature areas of the grounds surrounding Marwell Hall. On our return some of the guests made their way up to the marquee having taken advantage of the face painting in the zoo – fantastic art, very funny, and the first time I had ever seen this at the many weddings I have photographed here. More photographic opportunities came as the guys broke out a box of cigars and as the light levels dropped everyone was chilling around the marquee.

As the evening reception began my coverage drew to a close as I captured the first dance and some of the partying immediately afterwards.

Here are a selection of images from the day.

St Boniface Church and Winchester Guildhall Wedding: Becky & Ian

Mike French — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:08:52 +0000

Last Saturday we photographed Becky & Ian’s wedding at St Boniface Church in Chandlers Ford followed by a reception at the Winchester Guildhall.

Typically it seems for August weddings it started raining during bridal preparations at Becky & Ian’s house but this didn’t affect the mood as Becky, her bridesmaids and lovely flower girls got themselves ready. I left and headed up to St Boniface where an earlier wedding was just clearing the grounds, and having popped in to speak with the church officials I spotted Ian and his groomsmen walking up the road.

Arrivals were conducted in light drizzle, and then the sun came out blowing away the black clouds and exposing a bright blue sky ready for Becky’s arrival. The ceremony was an emotional one, a theme for this wedding, and the happy couple exited the church into a stunning summers afternoon. Family groups were conducted in the small patch of open shade afforded by the sole tree and then we all headed off to the Winchester Guildhall for a large group shot on the main steps whilst I briefly held up Winchester traffic by shooting across the high street !

The main room in Winchester Guildhall, Bapsy Hall, is impressive and looked stunning after it’s recent refurbishment as did the rest of this lovely building. The room was movie themed, with purple accents and I spent while photographing it whilst Becky and Ian prepared for their receiving line.

After dinner a set of emotional speeches ensued, followed by the cutting of the cake and I them managed to get a few moments with Becky & Ian alone to shoot some more relaxed portraits of them in the local grounds before the evening reception started, and some relaxed groups of their friends in another of the stunning halls. Becky & Ian surprised everyone with a Grease themed first dance before we got into the expected barn dancing and a planned shot of them happy couple in the middle of their dancing guests.

Here are some of the images from this lovely day.

De Vere New Place Pre-Wedding Shoot: Debra and Matt

Mike French — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:38:01 +0000

This evening I met up with Debra and Matt at the De Vere property in Shedfield – New Place – for their pre-wedding shoot and meeting. Whilst we hadn’t had the torrential rain forecast it was a little misty and drizzly and so we worked as much of the venue outside as possible to give a good flavour of this lovely old house and it’s grounds. We started on some formal portraits before getting some more relaxed and contemporary images.

Then it was time for an opportunity to catch up about their final plans for the wedding day.

Here are some of the images from the shoot, and I’m looking forward to seeing them both again this autumn for their wedding.

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Marwell Hall Pre-Wedding Shoot: Wendy and Martin

Mike French — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:39:28 +0000

I’m shooting Wendy and Martin’s wedding at Marwell Hall later on this year and so this morning we met up at the gates of Marwell Wildlife and headed up to Marwell Hall for their pre-wedding shoot. On the way up we managed to talk a little about Wendy and Martin’s plans for the day and we soon arrived at the Hall which was deserted at this early hour.

As usual I started with some more formal portraits, great practice for their wedding day, before we captured some more contemporary relaxed and informal images of them together and individual portraits using a variety of great locations near the hall. As light drizzle started to come down we called it a day, and headed back to the Marwell Hotel where we grabbed a drink and talked through the specifics of their wedding day before I headed off to backup the images and they met up with their DJ.

Here are some of the images from the pre-wedding shoot, and I’m looking forward to seeing them both again soon on their wedding day.

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HMS Warrior wedding: Lianne and Iain

Mike French — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:54:25 +0000

Yesterday I had the pleasure of photographing Lianne and Iain’s intimate wedding aboard HMS Warrior in the Historic Naval Dockyard, Portsmouth.

Despite following the same pattern of the last few days and pouring hard all morning by the time I arrived for this late afternoon wedding the rain had stopped, clouds were breaking and it was turning into a lovely summers day. I quickly navigated the security for the dockyard and made my way to HMS Warrior where I met up with Iain and the guys who were already on board. Having taken their portraits I then busied myself taking the views of HMS Warrior and details to give a sense of place for this wonderful old ship.

Lianne arrived in a stunning new Rolls-Royce Phantom just as the last of the general public were leaving the ship and I quickly positioned myself in my preferred spot in the captain’s cabin for the ceremony. As usual it was a relaxed ceremony with the local registrars allowing me sensible free rein and I captured some lovely moments during the ceremony before we made our way back out on deck for the group shot and the family groups accompanied by a real life sweep.

We had a few moments to capture some images of Lianne and Iain alone before dinner which was held in the ward room, and took an short break before returning to cover the speeches which were moving and heartfelt – but once they were completed, and with the evening guests arriving it was straight through to the gun deck for the cutting of the cake and first dance for Lianne and Iain and then a father – daughter dance immediately afterward.

Here are some images from this lovely day.

Rhinefield House and St Annes Church, Brockenhurst for the wedding of Christie and Martin

Mike French — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:24:18 +0000

Yesterday was the amazing wedding of Christie and Martin, two dancers from the Northern Ballet Company who were married at St Annes Church in Brockenhurst and then onto Rhinefield House for their wedding reception. I had met Christie and Martin way back in January 2010 at a wedding fair and immediately hit it off with them, and Christie’s family who had also come along. With significant experience of shooting at Rhinefield I was able to show them lots of relevant weddings, and they booked me the day afterwards.

Just under 18 months later, and having met with them for their pre-wedding shoot, and informally on a number of occasions (Martin is a keen photographer) and it was the turn of their wedding, and once which I had been looking forward to for some time. I arrived at Rhinefield House in the morning to photograph Christie getting ready and immediately bumped into Christine who was arranging the flowers for Exclusively Weddings our favourite and the recommended florist at Rhinefield House.

I could tell the weather was picking up while I was covering the preps, and by the time I was outside looking for the guys to photograph it had improved dramatically. The church close by was welcoming and a beautiful service ensued delivered facing the congregation from behind the altar – a first for me in 9 years of shooting weddings.

We returned to Rhinefield and I selected the front of the building to take the formal and family groups taking advantage of the shade, and protection of the wind it afforded. Running up against the time for the receiving line I moved to the rear of the house for a classic group shot of the entire wedding party followed by an image of Christie and Martin and their Northern Ballet colleagues and got a very cool shot of them all striking a pose !

Dinner and speeches ensued with some touching moments, and then I took advantage of some soft evening light to take Christie and Martin for a walk around the gardens for some relaxed and more intimate portraits of them alone before returning them in time for a cake cutting, bouquet toss, and then straight into their first dance which was beautiful. The evening was topped off with a “Frank Sinatra style” singer which got the dancers, and the other guests up onto the dance floor in the Kings Room.

Here are a selection of images from across the day.

St Cross Church Winchester and New Place Wedding: Michelle and Jon

Mike French — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 20:54:41 +0000

Yesterdays wedding was held in the picturesque church of St Cross in Winchester, and then onto New Place in Shedfield. I started at Michelle and Jon’s house where I met Michelle’s parents and the bridesmaids and got some lovely documentary images of Michelle getting ready as well as details of the bridal wear. Then it was a short journey to the ~~church~~ pub where I met up with the guys who were just finishing up and walking over to the the church grounds. With the guests safely tucked away in the church with the groom Michelle arrived in a beautiful white Rolls Royce before gliding down the aisle to Jon who was eagerly awaiting her arrival.

After a beautiful ceremony, we captured some natural moments and the family groups before spending some quiet time with Michelle and Jon in the stunning grounds of St Cross while the guests headed over to New Place. After a short while we joined them for the large group shot on the steps at the rear of the house, and then some more relaxed images, and some time for me to document the Arden Suite which had been tastefully decorated with lots of personal touches. I was kept on my toes with a cake cutting between starters and mains and then captured the speeches which has a fantastic reception from the appreciative guests.

Once the band had set-up Michelle and Jon delivered a polished first dance before inviting everyone onto the floor where they danced the night away…

Here are some of the images from throughout the day.

Wedding Photography update: April 2011

Mike French — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:47:26 +0000

We are half way through April, and it is now time for an update on our wedding photography.

On the 1st April we covered our first wedding of the year at the lovely Rhinefield House, where will will be returning later on in the summer. We are well into our season of pre-wedding shoots and meeting up with our booked couples to talk through the details of their day, some practice and posing tips, as well as creating some fun images for them to use at their wedding and to keep as a memento.

This year we are fortunate to be working at some great venues and as always we have a wonderful selection of couples who have asked us to spend time with them on their wedding day, including a booking which came in this week for Marwell Hall another of our regular and favoured venues.

This booking is significant because it marks the last wedding collection we will book for 2011 that has an album associated with it. In order to ensure that we deliver a high quality service to all of our wedding clients, and our portrait and commercial clients we limit the number of wedding albums we produce every year, and therefore the number of weddings we take on. On average the design, preparation and delivery of an album takes 30 hours of our time over a longer elapsed period driven mainly by our couples.

We now have a very limited number of available spaces for weddings in 2011 on a digital files only collection at £2000 for full day coverage and the hi-resolution images. Do contact us without delay if you have been considering us for your wedding photography as it is likely we will close our books for 2011 weddings in the next 3-4 weeks.

And finally do expect a pre-wedding shoot from the breathtaking St Cross Church, and New Place on this blog over the next few days featuring another of our couples for this year.

Rhinefield House Wedding Photography: Liz and Carl

Mike French — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 12:00:18 +0000

Direct link to online gallery – HERE

Yesterdays wedding was at my favourite venue in the New Forest, Rhinefield House – wedding photography is a pleasure at this venue and once again it didn’t disappoint with a dry day improving throughout and with wonderful light in the great hall. Our last wedding of the year was at Rhinefield House as well, and I was really looking forward to my first of the year.

We were working with two of our favourite wedding suppliers as well, Lynda Robson from Exclusively Weddings a stunning florist, and Helen Spenser my absolute favourite make-up artist who makes bridal getting ready a pleasure with her relaxed approach and love of natural light.

I met up with Liz in the Walker Suite as she was preparing, and with Helen just beginning her work. It was a busy room, and I worked quickly and discreetly to capture some lovely moments as well of details of the dress, shoes and flowers. I left shortly after Liz had completed her make-up to allow her to relax before getting into her dress and went and found the groom, Carl and his bestman and ushers.

The service was really lovely and Carl was visibly moved when her saw Liz coming down the aisle.

After some time in the Kings Room for drinks and congratulatory hugs we moved outside and quickly covered the family and formals groups before taking a walk with just Liz and Carl around the grounds to capture some relaxed moments of just the two of them before heading in to the Great Hall again to see the cake and the room layout.

I left them during dinner and returned for the speeches which culminated in a fantastic poem from bestman Alan about Carl’s stag night – the first time I have heard a rhyming speech from a bestman !

The first dance followed shortly afterwards, and after capturing that and some of the dancing I bade my farewells and left them to enjoy the evening…

Friends and family with the correct password can view the galleries on Liz and Carl’s page.

Here is some of the Rhinefield House Wedding Photography from the day.