It was good to back at Luton Hoo to photograph a wedding. I’d been at this imposing Bedfordshire wedding venue before to photograph an Asian wedding so I knew how photogenic the hotel and gardens were. Sometimes it’s frustrating at a wedding, knowing that you could spend hours (days!) creating beautiful wedding portraits in an almost endless variety of locations, but knowing that the occasion is first and foremost a celebration for the bride and groom and their family and friends, so a much shorter time is allocated for formal photographs.
As I’m primarily a documentary wedding photographer, I don’t really mind if time is short on the wedding day for ‘organised’ photography; most of my photographs are created as the couple and their guests enjoy the day – I stay in the backround and quietly and discreetly photograph the wedding from a journalistic point of view i.e. telling the story of the wedding day through a photographic narrative. I always think that photographs of you and your guests chatting, drinking, mingling show much more of the relationships between you all than the posed family photographs. Equally, it’s always lovely to take a few minutes (and it is only five minutes or so) to make some family and group photographs as these are always appreciated by parents and grandparents etc.
I was asked along to Kiersten and Adriano’s wedding as a second shooter, accompanying my friend Stephen Bunn who is a superb documentary wedding photographer based on the south coast. The couple had specified another photographer to cover the wedding preparations of the groom and his friends primarily, but also to provide some different angles during the ceremony and the wedding drinks reception. These were held in the Mansion house with the wedding breakfast in the opulent and impressive Romanov Suite.
It was a great day! It was fun working as a ‘hired gun’ and I enjoyed working alongside Stephen – I’ve seen some of his images from the day and he’s produced some superb work. I know the bride and groom were delighted with their wedding photographs and will have a lovely reminder of their special day together.
Here’s some of my favourite wedding photographs from the day.
A side view of the Mansion House at Luton Hoo.
Colour was an overarching theme of the day – the flowers and the chaircovers spring to mind.
The guests gather in the Mansion House at Luton Hoo for a few drinks before the wedding ceremony. It’s always a pleasure to photograph the friends and family socialising and enjoying the day.
The Sitting Room at Luton Hoo with some spectacular splashes of colour.
Some favourite photographs of Adriano and the boys getting ready.
Yep, it’s that time already…
A quick informal group shot.
Every hotel room should come with a Chewbacca mask.
Fixing those pesky button holes
For medicinal purposes.
The paparazzi are out.
Always have a plan.
A nice relaxed group shot, just how I like to take them.
Back to the pre-ceremony drinks.
The girls arrive for the ceremony.
Todays beautiful bride.
I love this little moment between father and daughter. Sixty seconds to go.
Such a light and beautiful room for the wedding ceremony.
The amazing Romanov Suite at Luton Hoo.
With the start of the wedding breakfast my time at Luton Hoo was over. I hope you enjoyed looking through these wedding photographs as much as I enjoyed taking them.
