Fairytale wedding at Orchardleigh

The wed­ding car — a 1950s Bent­ley — and Orchardleigh’s red car­pet set the scene for the day

I found this wed­ding on Gilbert and Evans’s blog last week and I loved the way pho­tog­ra­phers Simon and Helen had cap­tured the fun and emo­tional moments of the day.

Gilbert and Evans have a great phi­los­o­phy for their blog. They tell a story with their pho­tog­ra­phy and ask the bride to share her story too. As wed­ding pho­tog­ra­pher blogs go, this is one of the very best for brides to be.

Heather describes how she and Alex met and got engaged, and shares all her favourite mem­o­ries of the wed­ding day. I won’t hijack that story, as you can read it on Gilbert and Evans’ blog. But I couldn’t resist shar­ing the pho­tos of the day with you.

A lovely intro­duc­tion to the wed­ding: Heather’s dress has lovely swirly flo­ral patterns

This lit­tle cutie really caught my eye!

The guests arrive. I love this photo for all the move­ment and excite­ment it conveys

Heather’s dress is amaz­ing — it was made espe­cially for her by a small bou­tique in Brighton. I love the red lac­ing at the back, and she is such a beau­ti­ful bride.

Arriv­ing at the altar — an emo­tional moment. Heather remem­bers her dad “clutch­ing her for dear life” as they walked down the aisle

My favourite photo from the wed­ding — romance between the bride and groom; romance in the feel of the image with the archway

This is how happy it’s pos­si­ble to be. They look over the moon.

Heather’s wed­ding dress was bespoke, from a small bou­tique in Brighton. I love the sweet­heart neck­line and lit­tle sleeves, the shape of the skirt and the red lac­ing — which is a per­fect match for her stun­ning red ger­bera bou­quet. Alex’s suit is great as well, I love the length of the jacket, and he looks fan­tas­tic (and so delighted!)

Orchardleigh is stun­ning and at its absolute best with a milling wed­ding crowd

Heather and Alex wanted a tra­di­tional wed­ding venue with char­ac­ter and orig­i­nal­ity, and Orchardleigh House was perfect.

Heather’s Dad makes his speech, and has every­one in stitches — I love how proud he looks here!

Alex’s speech is heart­felt and romantic

The sun sets over Orchardleigh House and the pink and vio­let skies make a stun­ning back­drop for a sil­hou­ette of Heather and Alex

The first dance — one of my favourite pho­tos from the day with the guests in the back­ground and Heather and Alex just wrapped up in each other

Night time at Orchardleigh — the party car­ried on into the night

This last pho­to­graph is another one I love: the pretty colours of the lights, and the sug­ges­tion of the wed­ding pho­tog­ra­phers slip­ping away into the night!

It reminds me of a com­ment Heather made on the pho­tog­ra­phers’ blog: “Simon and Helen were great, fun yet totally relaxed… their pho­tog­ra­phy has seized every moment and angle of our day yet where were they?” It’s the per­fect acco­lade for wed­ding pho­to­jour­nal­ists — being able to tell a wed­ding story with­out direct­ing how it unfolds.

I’d def­i­nitely rec­om­mend sub­scrib­ing to Gilbert and Evans’s blog. If you’re get­ting mar­ried and you want to see great pho­tos of real Eng­lish wed­dings teamed with brides’ sto­ries that will prob­a­bly bring a tear to your eye, you’ve just found the per­fect place: www.gilbertandevans.com/blog

To see Helen and Simon’s port­fo­lio please check out their main web­site at www.GilbertandEvans.com

I’m wan­der­ing around the world of wed­ding pho­tog­ra­pher blogs at the minute, seek­ing out the very best wed­dings I can find. If you have some­thing to share, please do give me a shout!