Last weekend was such a busy weekend with a location portrait in Eastbourne, Rich & James’s civil partnership in Maidstone and then to top it all off a pre-wedding shoot in Hungerford! I clocked up nearly 16 hours in the car (dont ask…..the traffic was terrible!) and spent nearly 17 hours with a camera in my hand!
I love working on recommendation as I get asked to travel all over the country and discover some gorgeous wedding venues I didn’t even know existed! One of those such venues is Littlecote House Hotel near Hungerford wher Nick & Kimberley are getting married. Littlecote House is a gorgeous 16th Century mansion with a story that spans thousands of years. King Henry VIII was introduced to Jane Seymour there, Guy Fawkes was tried there and in 1943 the US 101st Airborne Division was based there and took off from there on D-Day for the invasion on Normandy. It really is a photographers dream with not only amazing outside space but an inside ‘to die for’ too….I’m not going to be short of places to shoot on their wedding day!
Kim & Nick seemed a little apprehensive when I first met them and I was worried they might be concerned about the pre-wedding shoot. Wow…..I needn’t have been worried though as they were so relaxed and at ease in front of the camera it was great. They are clearly so in love, so at ease with each other and were total naturals in front of the camera. They knew exactly what to do and despite Nick being slightly jadded from an impromptu stag night the night before(!) we got some great shots.
Kim & Nick – thank you for being so fabulous at your pre-wedding shoot. With your model-like tendancies, your ease around each other and the amazing venue you have chosen we are going to get some fabulous wedding photographs for you! Look forward to seeing you later this month.
Venetia xx
I like to think that I go above and beyond the call of duty for my clients. It’s not something I try hard to do, or for any ulterior motive but it just feels natural to me. If my clients want it, they can have it (well within reason!!) and if it needs doing, I’ll do it (unless it’s reaching something from a tall shelf as I’m pretty short!). They come first and that’s just the way it is….no fuss, no ’show’, it’s that simple.
So, when Rich & James asked for a lift from their wedding ceremony to their wedding reception this weekend, my only thought was ‘Oh my god……the car is full of empty Starbucks cartons and sandwich packets!’. Or when the ice-cream van got lost on the way to their wedding reception (ice-cream for pudding….how much better could you get!), I immediately offered my services to go and track it down. I set off in the car, round the Kent countryside, while they were eating main course, in search of it. I never once thought ’should I’, ‘could I’ or ‘I’m not getting paid for this’…..I just did it. If it makes them happy, it makes me happy.
Richard and James’s civil partnership this weekend was full of surprise and fabulous touches all of which I’ve been desperately trying to ‘keep under my hat’ for the last few months following our pre-wedding meeting. Being ’slightly quirky’(!) themselves they decided they didn’t want anything traditional for their civil partnership and opted for a personalised celebration with lots of fabulously different touches. From the emotional blessing in the church (complete with a reading from ‘Winnie the Pooh’), to the amazing tee-pee’s they had their wedding reception in (complete with hay bales and checked picnic blankets), the gourmet picnic they had for their wedding breakfast (complete with your own cool-bag) to the ice-cream van with ‘all you can eat’ ice-cream…..the day was a photographers dream.
It has been such a pleasure getting to know Richard & James over the last year and the thought that we will be ‘doing dinner’ when their wedding album is complete, makes me very happy.
Richard & James – you both know how much I think of you. Thank you for being such open and welcoming clients and for letting me share the ‘fabulousness’ that was your civil partnership. I know were not going to lose touch so here is too many more evenings of ‘lying on the grass drinking wine’.
Venetia xx
P.S I found the ice-cream van by the way…..and the look on Rich’s face when I arrived back with ‘Mr Whippy’ in tow was the only payment I needed!!
Here’s a sneaky peek from their big day……..I love the relaxed feel on this photograph and it’s probably one of the only ones I have where they are being serious!!
Just time for a quick post before I run off to my next portrait…..
Yannis and his Mummy & Daddy came to the studio last week and we had such a fun afternoon. Being nearly two years old Yannis was a bit shy when he arrived by after a ‘bonding session’ of brick-building, blowing bubbles and dancing to Sing and Sign he was definitely in the mood for his photographs!
He is such a cheeky monkey and was definitely a lot of fun! Here he is playing ‘peek-a-boo’ with me and his sunglasses…..
Venetia xx
