Chic winter wedding

This Eng­lish wed­ding is a delight­ful com­bi­na­tion of lots of sub­tle ele­ments: vin­tage lace, gor­geous colours, fes­tive sparkle and sophis­ti­cated details. The bride and groom are Theresa and Chris and they got mar­ried at St. Peter’s Church in Cirences­ter this Decem­ber. Theresa’s amaz­ing smile and all the won­der­ful details of the are fan­tas­tic, and I hope they’ll inspire you!   

A beau­ti­ful com­po­si­tion of wed­ding dress, details and shoes by Car­o­line Alexander

The pho­tog­ra­pher for Theresa and Chris’s wed­ding was Car­o­line Alexan­der. Caroline’s approach to pho­tograph­ing a wed­ding is infor­mal and she has a great eye for cap­tur­ing all the mag­i­cal lit­tle details of a wed­ding as the day unfolds. These first pic­tures of the wed­ding dress and shoes are really pretty, with all the colours work­ing together to set the scene for this win­ter wedding…  

The vin­tage lace of Theresa’s wed­ding dress is just gorgeous.

Car­o­line snaps away as the final prepa­ra­tions are made. The detail­ing on Theresa’s dress is won­der­ful: this is one of the most beau­ti­ful vin­tage dresses I’ve ever seen. When Car­o­line sub­mit­ted the wed­ding she told me, “I LOVE Theresa’s dress with it’s antique grey/silver lace and lay­ers, it was quite fairy­tale and fit­ted her so perfectly”.  

Theresa rel­ishes every moment of her wed­ding day!

Theresa’s laugh­ter is infec­tious, even from the pho­to­graph! This is a fan­tas­tic lit­tle moment, the pic­ture is all about the excite­ment of the day — no wed­ding day nerves in sight. Theresa and Chris were mar­ried at St. Peter’s Church in Cirences­ter, a pic­turesque Roman Catholic church. Father Michael Davies helps Theresa as she skips inside!  

The wed­ding cer­e­mony inside St Peters of Cirencester

All eyes are on the bride and groom as they exchange wed­ding rings.  

Theresa and Chris’s wed­ding por­traits were taken around Bibury

After the wed­ding cer­e­mony, every­one went to Bibury for the recep­tion, which was held at The Swan Hotel. Bibury is a charm­ing lit­tle vil­lage on the river Coln in the Eng­lish Cotswolds, once described by William Mor­ris (1834–96) as “the most beau­ti­ful vil­lage in Eng­land”. You can’t beat that for your wed­ding photos!  

A roman­tic kiss, and a beau­ti­fully com­posed wed­ding photograph

I adore this pic­ture. Shots taken from a lit­tle dis­tance like this one, and in a small space, really empha­sise a pri­vate moment of your wed­ding day. Caroline’s pic­tures are always nat­ural, the bride and groom are wrapped up in their own lit­tle world and this really comes across here — such a roman­tic wed­ding photograph.  

Wed­ding inspi­ra­tion from Theresa and Chris’s win­ter reception

The wed­ding was just before Christ­mas, and I think Theresa and Chris got the bal­ance just right in terms of fes­tive dec­o­ra­tion and wed­dingy class! This photo com­po­si­tion of some of the wed­ding details shows they have crack­ers on the tables, and sub­tle lit­tle touches of red, gold and sparkle. The flow­ers are really lovely with white freesias and sea holly / sea this­tle* — a really ele­gantly themed wed­ding reception.  

*I had to study and then illus­trate these once for a cal­lig­ra­phy poem… I can’t remem­ber the proper name, I know they’re called var­i­ous things. Lovely flow­ers though.

Colour­ful retro sweetie bar and candy canes! Yum!

The candy canes, choco­late coins and sat­sumas are a lovely lit­tle fes­tive touch. I love tra­di­tional sweetie bars at wed­dings, they’re so pretty and great from a guest’s point of view as well as a photographer’s!  

Theresa’s dad gave a fan­tas­tic wed­ding speech

I love and hate pho­tographs of wed­ding speeches.… what was the joke? I’d love to know!! (they get me every time) But from the bride and groom’s point of view, this pic­ture will always remind them of a bril­liant moment at their wed­ding break­fast. Teresa’s dad looks a nat­ural (and the guys’ waist­coats and cra­vats in sil­ver look fab).

Theresa and Chris cut the cake while guests enjoy the moment

The great thing about photojournalism-style wed­ding pho­tos is there’s so much to look at. Every­one has a cam­era, they’re all watch­ing the big moment as Theresa and Chris cut the cake. I love the inti­macy of this picture, the cosy room full of friends and fam­ily. And the cake is fab­u­lous with three tiers and pretty flow­ers on top.

Con­grat­u­la­tions to the bride and groom: Theresa and Chris, you’re gorgeous!

These last two pic­tures end this fea­ture nicely: the bride and groom, simply and thought­fully pho­tographed. As they dance Theresa looks into Chris’s eyes and they both look so happy. I love the shape of the sec­ond pic­ture, as Theresa spins into Chris’s arms and they hold hands, her gor­geous vin­tage wed­ding dress is the focus and wow — it’s still as stun­ning as in that very first picture.

Thanks to Car­o­line Alexan­der for sub­mit­ting this wed­ding. I love it, I know Car­o­line loved it and I really think that comes through on every photo. There are even more pic­tures of this wed­ding on Caroline’s blog, and you should also visit her main wed­ding pho­tog­ra­phy web­site to find out more about her. I think she’s fab.