So, after having to reschedule twice because of the spring rain, we met up with Heather, her husband Paul and son Edward in a local park for a two-hour photo session on a bright May afternoon.  Here’s a few of our favourites from the day…

A big thank you to Heather, Paul and Edward – hope you like your photos!

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Interested in a photo session for your family?  Get in touch with us today for further information and to discuss your requirements.

Paul mentioned that Heather had been wanting some photos of herself on her own for a while and would we mind doing a few?  We were happy to oblige while the boys went back to playing football.

The day began in Redditch, where I dropped Sarah off to start the morning coverage of Ian and his groomsmen.  After a short drive over to Bromsgrove, I hooked up with Laura and her bridesmaids who were getting ready at a local hotel.

The weather was lovely and sunny for most of the day – such a relief after having so much rain during the previous week.  Spring has been very unsettled this year but we’ve been remarkably lucky with the weddings we’ve photographed!  Laura and Ian had some great details – we especially liked the tables named after famous films.

A big thank you to Laura and Ian for looking after us on the day and especially to Laura who couldn’t resist posing up for a few more photos in the gorgeous evening light.  Such a diva!

As usual, here’s some of our favourite images from the day.  Hope you like them.

If you’re booking your wedding at Avoncroft Museum, feel free to get in touch with us to discuss your photography requirements.

The day began in Tewkesbury, where Dom was getting ready at his best man’s house.  After dropping Sarah off, I then made my way over to the couple’s home just outside Evesham where Rebekah and her bridesmaids where preparing for the day.  This was a lovely, relaxed morning and the girls had made sure they had plenty of time.

The wedding itself was held at St Eadburgha’s church in the quintessential Cotswolds village of Broadway.  Although at the time of the service the weather outside was bright and fairly warm, the inside of the church was quite the opposite.  With no internal heating, it was cold enough to see your breath!  St Eadburgha’s really was a lovely church though and the vicar was quite happy for us to work with very little in the way of restrictions.  Rebekah is a music teacher and during the service, two of her sixth-form students were there to play guitar and flute.

Following the service everyone made their way to nearby Dumbleton Hall.  This was a new venue to us but we’d done Dom and Bekah’s pre-wedding shoot here a few weeks prior, so we knew where we wanted to take photographs.  The estate has a long driveway approaching the main house, so I dropped Sarah off part-way along so she could get the shots of the car approaching while I parked up and covered the actual arrival.  This is one of those situations where having two photographers really helps!

Once people had settled into the drinks reception we got started on the formal group photos.  Thanks to help from Dom’s ushers – who assisted in gathering the required people up – these were done in no time at all so we then took the couple for a quick tour around the gardens for the all-important ‘couple’ photos.

The room for the wedding breakfast was laid out beautifully and each table was named after a different type of cake – but the cakes were also the favours, so each table had different flavour cakes! Following the speeches, we took the opportunity to take Dom and Bekah outside again into the early evening light before the first dance kicked off the evening party.

We’d like to thank Dom and Bekah for looking after us on the day – the bangers and mash were excellent, by the way (the same meal as the wedding breakfast).  This was a really lovely day to work on and we hope our pictures do it justice.

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The session isn’t all about posing.  The majority of the the shots we get are just the couple interacting with each other, with just a bare minimum of prompting from us.  It’s exactly the same way we work on the wedding day but of course, having the experience of the pre-wedding shoot means the couple can go straight into their photos with no nerves and a much better understanding of how we work. The pre-wedding shoot is included as standard with most of our coverage options.

Here’s a few images from three pre-wedding shoots we recently did at the fabulous Avoncroft Museum.  All of the couples here are getting married at Avoncroft in the coming weeks, so watch out for them on the blog.  Thank you to Laura and Ian, Sam and Chris and finally Polly and Jamie for being such fun to work with.

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We began the day locally, with Sarah covering Elric’s preparations at their home while I met up with Naomi and the ‘girls’ at a local hotel before everyone made their way to Highbury.

This was a wedding packed with details, many of which Naomi sourced from the online creative site Etsy, where incidentally, she runs her own business BabaMoon, selling baby hats!

It was really nice to be able to work at Highbury without the light disappearing in the afternoon.  Highbury Hall is always a smashing venue to work at and although it’s quite dark inside (black wallpaper!), during daylight hours there is a lovely quality of light.  Having a spring wedding meant we were able to use that light for longer.  As usual, the Highbury staff kept everything ticking over nicely.

The fabulous cake was provided by Choccywoccydoodah

Cars provided by Elmwood Cars

Solo guitar by Mike Gaeorgiades

A big thank you to Naomi and Elric for keeping us fed and watered and for being such fun to work with.  Here’s a few preview images from the day.

We love our dogs Pippa and Bella so much that they even joined us for our own wedding back in October.  Not all dogs are as lucky as Pippa and Bella though, and some need our help.  There are many reasons why dogs may end up at a rescue centre like Dogs Trust, but once there, they are looked after and hopefully re-homed. However, with Dogs Trust moto of “We never destroy a healthy dog” this obviously takes time and of course money!

My friend Nicki and I have decided to do a charity hike to raise money for the Dogs Trust.  In June, the two of us are off to hike The West Highland Way.  We will be starting off just outside Glasgow and making our way across 96 miles (154km) of terrain to Fort William. The route ranges from lowland moors, dense woodland and rolling hills, to high mountainous regions in the Scottish Highlands.

I arranged with Kenilworth Dogs Trust centre to take some photos to illustrate our cause.  Helen, the centre’s Support Relations Officer, gave me a tour and showed me everything that has to be done on a daily basis.  Helen and her staff at Kenilworth run this centre brilliantly and all the dogs are loved and cared for. I had lots of cuddles from the dogs and my highlight was with the puppies as you will see below.

Please have a look at the photos then click through to our Just Giving website where you can follow our adventure and donate your much needed money   Don’t forget to check back later in the year for photos of our hike.

Click here for our Just Giving page and to make a donation
(Please feel free to leave any words of support for Nicki and I)

Like most women, I went all mushy in the nursery!  I’m still not sure who was more excited, the puppies or me ;p

All dogs are neuted when they arrive at Dogs Trust.  Of course some dogs are pregnant when they arrive, so they have a nursery unit which helps the newly born pups.
Kennilworth Dogs Trust is currently in need of a new whelping box (birthing box) so if anyone has one they no longer need, please consider donating it to them.

Dogs Trust also have their own animal ambulances that travel the UK collecting dogs from various places and delivering them to their 17 rehoming centres. The drivers are all trained and experienced in dog welfare so they can ensure their passengers arrive at their new home fit and well.  Obviously, regular cleaning is a priority!

Inside one of the buildings,  the glass panels have all be angled in such a way so as to give the dogs their own space, out of view of the other dogs. The floor has underground heating too.  In each dog’s room there is a door that leads out to their own outdoor space.
With so many dogs to feed, a large kitchen is needed, and LOTS of bowls! Then there is all that laundry that needs doing too!
All the dogs need daily exercise and with the help of some lovely volunteer dog walkers they get to have a play on the equipment.
There is also a number of enclosed areas for the dogs to have a good run around with their friends.  This particular dog was having a ball of a time with well…..a ball!

Kenilworth Dogs Trust have their very own dog trainer too. It was lovely to see how proud he was of his work and was more than happy to show off one of the trained dogs.

Some of the dogs even get to spend time working with the staff on reception

I know I’m scared and nervous and shy
You might just want to walk on by
But please look again, please talk to me
And see the boy I’d like to be

I’ve never had a life of fun
I’ve never had the chance to run
To chase my ball till I’m all puffed out
To learn that people don’t always shout

I might not wag my tail at you
But look in my eyes, look closer too
There’s life in them, and hope and joy
And I’d love to be your special boy

Author: Fionna Duncan

A big thank you in advance for your donation from Nicki, Pippa, Bella and Sarah xx

Click here for our Just Giving page and to make a donation
(Please feel free to leave any words of support for Nicki and I)

This was the wedding of Karen and Tim and was what we call a ‘referral’, meaning it was booked on the recommendation of a past client.  We photographed the wedding of Peter (Karen’s brother) and Vicky back in 2009 (click here to see blog post).

Starting the day over in Kenilworth, I dropped Sarah off with Tim and his groomsmen and then made my way over to meet up with Karen and her bridesmaids before moving onto Avoncroft itself.

This was a cold but very bright winter day – so bright in fact that the couple opted to have the curtains drawn in Avoncroft’s main Guesten Hall to avoid everyone having to squint during the service!

As with all winter weddings, we’re a bit more mindful of time than during the summer.  It’s important we get the couple out for the photos of them alone as we won’t have a chance later on due to the light disappearing so early.  Of course at Avoncroft this is no easy task as it’s such a large site and with so many varied and interesting photo opportunities to take advantage of.  Karen and Tim had pushed back the time of their food so we could make the most of the afternoon sunlight and we were rewarded with a lovely winter sunset behind the iconic Avoncroft windmill.

A big thank-you to Karen and Tim for keeping us fed during the day – hope you like the pictures!

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In contrast to how we cover a wedding, I attended just for a couple of hours.  Enough time to get some family group photos and the service itself in Wren’s Cathedral.

This was a really lovely event to cover and it was great to see a few familiar faces again.  Here’s a few pics from the day…

Sarah and Paul booked us earlier this year.  The wedding itself was held at SS Mary & Bartholomew church – a stone’s-throw from Hampton Manor itself.  The vicar, Duncan Ballard was very welcoming and was happy for us to work unimpeded.  This really does make a huge difference to the quality of photos we are able to get and is in such start contrast to the attitude of some of the clergy/officiants we come across.

Although cold outside, everyone was a good enough sport to  stay out long enough for us to get the formal group photos completed before we took Sarah and Paul off on their own.  We timed the session just right as we had some glorious golden-hour light to work with.

The fabulous cake was by Pam and Norma of The Red Cake Company (who, incidentally, made the excellent cookies for our own wedding in October).

Entertainment by singer/songwriter Hannah Atkins.

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This was a slightly shorter than usual coverage day for us, but we were still there to get some of the morning preparations and more importantly to Laura and Tim – the evening ceilidh dancing.  With all the day’s events happening at Highbury, we had no driving around to worry about either.

Though the sun didn’t make an appearance, the rain held off and there was plenty of autumnal colour in both the gardens and the predominantly red colour palette  chosen for the wedding.   The day was full of colour and detail, with thematic images of owls and maple leafs throughout.  There were some really lovely touches, such as the RSPCA contributions as favours.

Laura and Tim themselves were great fun to work with and we’d like to extend a big thank-you to the couple for looking after us on the day and being sports!

We love comments!  If you’d like to leave a few words, please use the form at the very bottom of the page – thank you!