A gorgeous Gloucestershire wedding

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Bride and groom in lamplit garden

Bride and groom in lamplit garden - this has to be my favourite. Wow!

Time to introduce Gloucestershire wedding photographer Jonathon Watkins to everyone today – and I hope you enjoy his photos as much as I do! Beautiful bride Sian and Leyton were married at Hatherley Manor Hotel in August.

Jonathon told me that Sian and Leyton picked a very rainy day to get married, but he caught my attention with these wonderful words: when life sends you rain, put up the umbrella and make beautiful reflections…

Beautiful bridal shoes

As Sian was getting ready, Jonathon took these pictures of the wedding shoes and tiara (below) on a glass table top. Talk about beautiful reflections...

Fantastic bridal shoes from Benjamin Adams – these are ‘Winslet’ in ivory silk.

Pretty wedding tiara

Pretty wedding tiara on a glass table top. Sian's tiara is made with intricate twisted wire and diamantes

Sian’s pretty diamante tiara is from Blossom Tiaras in Hampshire.

Sian's dad & the cat from next door are best of friends

Sian's dad & the cat from next door are best of friends  See more...

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On top of the world!

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Bride and groom Newcastle skyline

On top of the world!

This Newcastle wedding instantly made me think of ‘On top of the world’ as a title. As well as the amazing shot from the hotel roof in Newcastle, the romance in the photos is tangible and it shows that bride and groom Liz and Steven had the best day of their lives.

This wedding was sent to me by Simon Hudspeth, a Newcastle wedding photographer based in Durham. Simon works alongside his wife and marketing genius Alison, who told me how much they loved shooting Liz and Steven’s wedding.

The photos are an astonishing mix of contemporary cityscapes and romantic old cobbled streets, with views of the Tyne bridge and Newcastle’s Black Gate (part of the castle).

fastening the wedding dress

Fastening the wedding dress - it's all giggles for Liz

Groom's knees

Groom's knees!

Groom ready for wedding

Steven waits with a nervous smile

bride and groom getting married

This beautiful photo captures the essence of the wedding day

confetti time

Confetti shot! Chief of Confetti today is the lady in pink.

Bride and groom

A fun portrait of a very happy Liz and Steven!  See more...

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Great Hall at Mains Wedding

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bridal party in pink

I love the colours in this shot, and the super cool poses from the bridal party.

Olly and Louise came all the way from Australia and were married at The Great Hall at Mains in Lancashire this summer. I spotted their wedding on wedding photographer Jonny Draper‘s blog and couldn’t resist… Louise is a gorgeous bride, Olly’s so handsome, they make a striking couple and every photo is perfect.

Plus there was the llama, which had me in stitches…

The Cartford Inn

The day begins at The Cartford Inn where the boys are getting ready...

The Cartford Inn is a lovely little hotel not far from Preston in Lancashire.

Buttons and ties - the groom gets ready

Buttons and ties - the groom gets ready

Jimmy Choo wedding shoes!

Why have one pair of Jimmy Choos when you can have two!

The beautiful bride

The beautiful bride.

Bride

Louise looks amazing as she poses for a pre wedding photo

The prettiest little church for an English wedding

The prettiest little church for an English wedding

Louise and Olly were married at The Church of St Michael in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire. The late mediaeval church is a Grade I listed building.  See more...

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Tomorrow’s English Wedding blog

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Yellow table and pink wedding bouquet

Yellow table and pink wedding bouquet. Credit: Jonny Draper

I’m doing it again… a preview of tomorrow’s real wedding to tantalise your wedding appetites. This time I’m also playing with you, quite unapologetically.

Why? Well let’s see… this wedding has a random llama, a reverse confetti attack, loads of romantic photos and blasts of exciting colour plus a glitterball.

And until tomorrow folks, that’s all you get. ‘Cos I’m mean (and reeeeaallly busy!)

Claire x

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A very English wedding – brollies and smiles!

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Bride and groom kissing with cloudy sky

So beautiful... English summer wedding with cloudy skies

English weddings… Yorkshire… summertime… I think I went all summer without mentioning the rain, but let’s face it here in the UK we do get the odd shower, we love to talk about the weather and we can always make the most of things.

This wonderful wedding from Tierney Photography has a few umbrellas and hundreds of huge smiles – I love everything about it!

Joanna's beautiful bridal hair

Joanna is an incredibly pretty bride, here putting final touches to her beautiful bridal up do

Bridal shoe photo by Tierney Photography

Striking bridal shoe - I love the little sparkly floral jewel

Beautiful bride, by Tierney Photography

Joanna keeps an eye on the weather and I can't take my eyes off that dress - layers and layers of flowing lace - wow. She looks fantastic.

Bridal portrait by Tierney Photography

A favourite photo for me, Joanna poses on a chaise longue - perfect. Bridal portrait by Tierney Photography

Bride fashion photography

A contemporary statement photo works just as well to portray a dynamic and stunning bride.

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Beauty understated – a preview

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Bride and groom in the English countryside

Bride and groom in the English countryside

I’ve been looking at this set of wedding photographs for days and can’t wait to post them. With this week’s weather and the shots from Joanna and Liam’s wedding I can’t resist mentioning the rain… but it instills a kind of calm and serenity in me at times.

These images from Tierney Photography in Yorkshire are beautiful. The cloudy, misty, swirly skies and the soft tones in the photos are as romantic as the sunniest August day. I love this wedding and I think there’s a lot to be said for the English weather… see what you think when I post the full wedding for you tomorrow.

(I’m posting a preview partly because this is a very busy time for calligraphy and I’ve been burning the candle at both ends… forgive me. But I think this photo deserves a little feature of its own!)

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A very special Friday wedding

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Bride, groom and fence

Resting on a fence between photos, this is my favourite image from Matt & Yana's day

I feel a little guilty for having neglected the blog a little this week while I squeal about Vespas with calligraphy enquiries up to my ears! But I have a special wedding for you, to brighten your Friday and make up for a couple of quiet days…

Every wedding photographer has a favourite wedding, a showcase, a bride and groom who appear on their website and in their portfolio, as a blog header and on business cards…. even when every wedding is unique and wonderful and beautiful, I think there’s very often a stunner of a wedding in every photographer’s gallery that really stands out as a crowning moment.

When Pete Barnes submitted this wedding, I could see instantly that this is one of those very special weddings any photographer would be hugely proud to have photographed. The bride and groom are gorgeous, the photos are natural and exciting, the landscapes exceptional and… well I could go on all day. Here, have a look:  See more...

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Owls at weddings?

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owl at a wedding

Everyone should have a wedding owl.

Yes. Owls at weddings. Everyone should have owls at weddings. Perhaps in the spirit of my wedding priority list published a few days ago I could say they were ‘optional extras’ or ‘luxury items’, even ‘fanciful’… but after seeing this, I’d invite an owl before my uncle Barry.*

This gorgeous wedding blog feature has two purposes:
1. To show off more out of this world wedding photography by the rather masterful Chris Hanley Photography and make my blog look amazing!
2. To let us all bask in pure luxury, enjoy and admire images of a wedding that is stunningly beautiful, and to share in that lifestyle for a moment or two.

With no further ado…

Bride and groom bears in cups

Wedding bears! These are so cute, I love how they're looking at each other!

Wedding day note

A scribbled note is a precious little memory to keep!

Wedding rings

Wedding rings reflecting on a sea of green

Groom portrait

Daniel looks fantastic - Portrait of a groom-to-be  See more...

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A bit of a tease…

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groom's pocket watch

Checking the time... is it wedding o'clock? credit: Chris Hanley Photography

I have a wonderful wedding waiting in the wings. That’s how it feels, a little queue of the most amazing photographs of a luxury wedding, all ready for their turn on stage, in the limelight, on English Wedding this week. I’m excited…

…not least because Chris Hanley sent them to me! And he’s fab.

However, Chris sent lots of beautiful photographs and I couldn’t feature them all in one blog post, because it would be too long (I think he broke my record last time when I went from 20 to 30 images per post!) the problem being, they are all so damn good I can’t miss a single one.

So – I’m making you wait. I’m sorry. But it will be worth it. This little blog post is a bit of a teaser, then I’ll put a couple of exclusive photos on the English Wedding facebook page, there will be a full blog post of the wedding day and I’ll follow up with a venue feature on Peckforton Castle, where Kelly and Daniel got married just a few weeks ago.  See more...

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