Pat rang me up about a week before the wedding to book us, luckily we were free as we had filmed the day before, we done her a good deal for  the wedding photography and a Bentley she had always dreamed of for her wedding. The Bentley picked her up from her home in Dagenham Essex and took her to Barking registry office while i was taking photos of her husband to be Joesph.After a short service we went out into the pleasent gardens where we had the wedding photo shoot, then off to the wedding reception at the Moby Dick where we finished off by taking the cake shots, our congratulations to the happy couple.

This was one amazing wedding! For those of you who dont know the show  ' Dont tell the bride' the groom is given £12000 to spend on the strict understanding the bride has no say or contact whatso ever. Addem the best man rang me up and said Iv been recommended by Steve Goodchild the owner of Couture Bride and Groom in Hornchurch and asked if I would photograph the wedding of Aysin and Emma, it would be filmed live for BBC three on the day of the Royal Wedding, how could i say no?!.

                          Aysin decided on an Eygptian theme wedding as they had a great holiday there when they first met, also being Turkish he added that element in as well, everyone wondered if he would pull it off and make Emma happy. Im glad to say everyone loved what he had done, i got some fantastic wedding photos even though i had not even spoken to the bride and planned anything like i normally do with the bride and groom.

We had met Gary at the Debenhams wedding show a month earlier, he loved our cars and booked the Lincoln american stretch limo for his wedding at Langtons.

Another Langtons wedding! Hayley and Jason got married at Langtons house using our beautiful white Rolls Royce then went to Stapleford Abbotts village hall which amazingly was the same reception venue as last week!

Langtons House was the setting of Clare and Lee's wedding, she arrived on time looking good in the stretch limo, after the service we went outside in the beautiful Langtons grounds just coming to life after the long cold winter, we got a great set of wedding photos, Langtons always looks great no matter what the season is, the reception was at the village hall Stapleford Abbotts.

It was a lovely sunny day as I headed into Basildon for the wedding video of Kerry and Wayne, she looked stunning in her wedding dress matching the ivory vintage wedding cars. The holy Cross church in Basildon is really small not suited to wedding videos at all, i could only film from the back of the church which was disappointing.We then went to Stockbrook Manor which is a top class wedding venue one of my favorites, everyone had a great time there, the evening reception was very lively and made for a great wedding video.

Big wedding package today for Katie and George, we are supplying the wedding photography, video a Bentley Flying Spur and a Mercedes Viano for the bridesmaids. The weather is not good its pouring down the sky is very grey almost black, im thinking to myself is this the day i lose my record of never photographing a complete wedding in the rain?.
             We arrived early and the bridal party is no where near ready which is never a surprise, we get some photos round the house but its very cramped and crowded not enough space to really get a shot of the stunning wedding dress Katie was wearing, so we head for Waltham Abbey where we have a delay of about 20 minutes while we wait for the brides sister, i use that time to speak to the priest who was a really cool guy saying i could shoot whenever and where ever i wanted in the church within reason, makes my job so much easier.
         After the service we come out and its still raining but not quite so hard, big call do we go back into the church for photos or go straight to the reception? i choose the reception figuring its going to buy us half an hour, it was a good call the rain stopped and we got some great photos at Theobalds Park, the Bentley looking great against the stately home back drop.
         We stayed till about 9pm, the highlight being the great first dance complete with confetti cannon, it was a very enjoyable day made better knowing the wedding photos that i had already down loaded onto my Mac Book Pro looked terrific.

A bright sunny day was just what i wanted as i headed off to South Benfleet to meet George a young guy who is on the verge of signing a recording contract with The Ministry of Sound, they loved his voice they just wanted to see a portfolio of professional photos to see what he looked like.
                                       I had already shot him at his aunts wedding in December, they liked the  wedding photos so they gave me the task of photographing him, we started off in his house then moved into the garden, we then jumped in the car and headed off to Hedleigh Castle took a few shots there, then went to the sea front at Leigh where we got some great shots of George in a boatyard, we had a lot of fun and got some great unique photos, much better than the white background studio shots they first suggested.
                                  He was delighted when he picked up the photos a few days later, im sure he will get the record deal!.

Busy weekend, went off early to the Fennes Braintree,Essex, it was a grey gloomy day, rained most of the time, i was shooting the wedding video of Lee & Stephen, despite the weather we had an enjoyable day, it was my first wedding video of the year so it was good to get back into the swing of things.Bookings are coming in thick and fast now, took 4 today including a wedding on friday, nothing like a bit of forward planning! luckily we were available. We had a birthday party at Langtons House on saturday night, it was a James Bond themed evening,everyone turned up in great costumes, they had a band and dj, we had filmed Marions fancy dress party 4 years ago, now it was her husband Liam's turn, in between we had filmed their sons wedding last year so we know the family quite well, as usual it was a great party, everyone really enjoyed themselves.

We had a great weekend at the Debenhams Wedding Fair in Romford, Essex, the other professionals at the fair were all very polite and we hope to network with them to provide an extended list of wedding suppliers to our clients, we took a few bookings and had many positive enquiries.

 its always a pleasure to meet the public and help them with there queries as many were not getting married until 2 or 3 years in the future, but had very little knowledge of wedding planning, we were glad to assist them.

It was an amazing year last year (2010), December was our busiest ever, just couldnt keep up the blog when i had so many videos and photos to edit, and weddings to shoot!  i will be getting round to it when i clear the back log, we had some great times last year, so come back soon!
Gary

Was looking forward to this wedding for a long time, Leez Priory is one of my favorite locations, set about 5 miles back from Chelmsford I always find it a relaxing venue, theres no rushing about, everything is in one place and the scenery is superb. Rumour has it Posh Spice wanted her wedding here to David Beckham but it never had a moat so she ruled it out.
                           The weather was just right, fairly sunny but not too hot, we had a lovely day and got all the footage we needed. The evening was a bit disappointing, we went to the coach house, where after about 20 minutes the staff turned every light off and everyone sat in the dark as if there had been a power cut! I asked the manageress why and she said it was too create an atmosphere but in reality they killed it stone dead which was a huge shame, still we had a great day and im sure Sarah and Joe the happy couple enjoyed their big day.
   

Arrived nice and early, the weather was good, was really looking forward to using Ashwells lovely grounds, the bride arrived in a white Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud driven by an ex driver and friend of mine, the service was held in an open pagoda, everything was going fine till an employee asked me how long i needed for photos, i quickly thought of last weeks  wedding photographer she had 3 hours, i said i could take them in 45 minutes, the guy then said dinner was ready in 30 mins!! it was another 8 minutes before the couple walked down the red carpet aisle, so i had 22 minutes ( i know all these times because i set the digital camera's clocks together before starting). I felt sorry for the guests because the sun had come out, the staff were serving drinks and the guests were chilling out but i had to get them moving for the wedding photographs.
                    Luckily the bride and groom were up for a quick photographic session, the bestman and usher did a great job getting the families ready, i shot the whole wedding party shots in 94 seconds! that must be a world record, they all came out perfect before you ask! the staff were well pleased that i got them back on track timewise i would have liked more time but it was not to be, still the photos came out great and everybody was happy. The moral of the story guys is make sure you allow enough time for the service and photographs!.

We had the pleasure of videoing Jennifer & Matthew Oathams wedding at St Augustines church Broxbourne and then onto the reception at The Manor of Groves, Herts , hotel afterwards. Jennifer looked really stunning in her  lovely wedding dress, the grounds are superb at the hotel as its also a golf club, the weather was good, we got some great footage, going to be a very good video.

After the morning wedding at Langtons, i went straight to Gaynes Park Barn for the wedding of Michelle and Mark, i was about an hour early, one of the bridesmaids kindly let me use their cottage so i could have a coffee. Mark arrived in a superb Aston Martin DBS, followed by the majority of the guests in a lovely old red London bus, followed by Michelle in a stunning white Bentley S3 and her bridesmaids in a matching Bentley.
                              The weather was just right the sun trying to breakthrough but not too hot, the grounds are fantastic we got some great footage, the couple were really up to get the shots we wanted, it makes such a difference, theres nothing worse than the bride and groom not interested in being photographed and just wanting to get drunk! we had a 3 hour wedding shoot before dinner. The 1st dance was a classic, they started off slow dancing then changed to a fast crazy dance, one for you-tube, watch out for it!

Back to Langtons yet again! This time it was for an early morning wedding, the couple had been badly let down 2 days before their wedding so i stepped in to help them out, i had another wedding but it wasnt till much later, i know every inch of Langtons so it didnt take long to get a great set of photos.

Congratulations to Amber and Nick who got married at Langtons, it was a relaxed wedding with no drama, the sun was trying to break through most of the afternoon which made for some lovely wedding photos, you really cant go wrong at Langtons, it may only be a council registry office but the grounds are as good as any top wedding venue, i love working here.
                                   After shooting all the formal pictures we decided to have a bit of fun, they had hired an American stretch limo but put all the kids in it for the journey to the reception. The best man was a black cab driver so we got some great shots of his cab and the couple with an A-Z, when i work out how to put photos on this blog page they will appear!

Saturday morning started off really busy, Lynn & Paul came round to pick up their wedding proofs, they were amazed how good the photos came out, the new printed wedding proof books are really something special in their own right, they look like a mini storybook, we have only just started to use them so everybody is surprised when their receive them.
                             Then it was on to Walthamstow for Angelica & Dominic's wedding, they have a lovely garden we made a good backdrop for the wedding photos. Their church was St Thomas of Canturbury Woodford Green, The priest was good, he let me shoot anywhere i wanted even on the alter which is very unusual, which meant i got some great ring and wedding vowel close up shots, its very hit and miss with vicars some are awful even threatening to stop the service and throw you out if you move during the service!
                                         The reception was held at the Chigwell Police Sports Club, this venue use to have superb grounds but i was a little dissapointed, it seemed run down as if they had cut back on the gardeners wage bill, still we made the most of it till the rain came down hard and cut short the photo session.

                       We made up for it by photographing everyone round the tables before dinner, the evening was quite lively they had a band on stage, always good for photos, because they had a wedding video as well we stayed till 10.30pm so they had great coverage over 300 edited photos of the day, cant wait to see the proof book!

It was overcast as we headed off to Kent to shoot Felicity & Shanes wedding, this was a recommendation like so many of our weddings, its great when a bride to be rings you up and says i want you to film our wedding we love your work! the weather just about held, we had to work pretty quick as the black clouds gathered overhead, it was a bit of a shame we had to work mostly on the tarmac road as the grass was wet, the grounds at Rowhill grange are beautiful, but we got some great shots, even if we kept having to move to let the cars out of the hotel!.

                           Shane is a typical Geordie, really friendly and his friends and family knew how to party, it was a great night, we stayed til 10.30pm, it was a shame we had to go because it was a fantastic atmosphere, but we had another long wedding shoot the next day.

Drove a really nice couple to the Oxo Tower on sunday evening, the woman had organised it all as a surprise, I asked how long they had been together she replied 11 years last summer we got married, being curious i asked who did their wedding  photography and how much. It turned out they had 2 photographers all day with a storybook, it cost them £2,500, what a shame i replied we do the same package for £1550!  I hope they enjoyed their meal!

Congratulations to Lieu and Jamie who got married in Bow, Ted the driver said they were a lovely couple but again the photographer who i think was a friend took hardly any photos of the wedding car, he is use to me working round the car photographing it from different angles, getting great shots, after all how many times are you going to be in a vintage Rolls Royce in a wedding dress?!!

Monday saw us off to our 3rd wedding in 4 days at Langtons House Hornchurch, for Gemma and Marks wedding, Langtons was busy, i couldnt believe they had another wedding at the same time, so it was a bit crowded, but the grounds looked superb as always, it has to be one of the best locations in Essex for wedding photography.The reception was held at the May & Baker social club Dagenham, when we arrived there Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. were just finishing training for the day, hope they were pushed hard after saturdays defeat!. Everyone commentated on the quality and size of the meals, they were huge, easily the biggest iv ever seen at a wedding breakfast, well done to the caterers.

I had been looking forward to this wedding for some time as i shot Sarah's 1st wedding some years back,also her sister's and some friends, so i knew the family well.What Sarah didnt know was that Paul had arranged a church blessing straight after the civil service and laid on two coaches to take all the guests to the church in Ingatestone,Essex, and had hired a singer to walk down the aisle to.Guys if you want to earn extra brownie points, Pauls the guy to take lessons from! the look on Sarahs face said it all.

The wedding season is really getting into full swing now, we have 3 weddings in the next 4 days, first up we were at Stockbrook Manor Billericay Essex on friday for Rebbecca and Daniels wedding, she had her wedding preparations at her mums house in Shenfield Essex,wonderful garden her father had obviously  spent a lot of time and effort  getting it to look great, she had a vintage Rolls-Royce as her main transport and a Daimler limousine for her bridesmaids. Stockbrook Manor is a great place for your wedding venue, there is so many photographic opportunities, we were in the sunken gardens with the giant carp in the pond. We had a terrific day, the dj was very good and everyone got up and danced and enjoyed themselves in the evening, the photos and video is going to look great!.

Yep, youve guessed it, another hot sunny day, we have been really lucky this year, saw us off to Sue-Ellen and Bretts wedding,her mum lives just behind West Ham United football ground, lucky they wasnt playing that day!. I was shooting the wedding photos and we also supplied the wedding videography, we started off in the local park as there really wasnt any room in the house,got some great shots, then headed off to St Anthonys church Forest Gate for the wedding service where we took the main group shots, we then took the bridal party over to West Ham park, its a lovely park with very well kept gardens,which made a stunning back drop for the romantic shots, then we finished off the day at the reception where we stayed till the first dance, all in all we had a great day and have some fantastic shots for their storybook album.

Another hot sunny day, shooting a wedding video in Standford -le- hope for Joanne and Tyler, i was working with Trevor who was the official photographer, it made a change to be working with a good wedding photographer the video should turn out really good, they were a great crowd to work with and had a proper DJ! The reception was at Langdon Hills golf club

Another hot sunny saturday, this must be the best summer for years, our vintage Rolls Royce Tickford convertible travelled from Buckhurst Hill Essex  to Mayfair for a church wedding then onto St James Piccadilly for the reception, the bride had a great tour of London! the driver told me later that tourist were taking pictures every time they stopped in traffic, but what he couldnt understand was that the official photographer hardly took any pictures at all, another photographer that didnt really know what he was doing, a real shame as he had such stunning props to work with, the chance has gone forever...Still Sarah and Howard were a lovely couple and had a fantastic wedding day, we wish them all the best for the future.
                My parents came round for coffee sunday morning and told me what a great night they had at a wedding reception at the Cranleigh Hornchurch the week before, i told them my wedding had no dj and was pretty quite only livened up by guests dressing up in fancy dress for interviews for the video, they proceeded to tell me their night was brilliant, they had a singer/entertainer who sang just like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, they even got a business card from him afterwards to show me as they know im always looking out for top people.I know there are only 1 or 2 guys that can put on a show like that, so i made a quick phone call and lo and behold it was one of my djs!
      Looking forward to this weekends wedding, it should be a good one, lets hope its a another sunny day!

On saturday i was at Great Hughes Barn just outside Chelmsford Essex videoing Emma & Andrews wedding,the weather was great,sunny but not too hot which was lucky because they had the service outside.I was told beforehand that a friend was photographing the wedding, not my ideal situation as a good wedding photographer will make the video so much better,he was a nice guy who tried his best but theres no subsitute for a dedicated wedding photographer, i just couldnt help thinking the wedding photos could have come out so much better.Still everyone had a good time,we had a roast pig for the wedding breakfast which made a change.The barn was decorated really lovely and the lights sparkled like jewels for their 1st dance, but for some reason they had  no dj, after about 15 minutes the sound system (cd player) packed up and they spent the next hour trying to fix it, eventually it got going again but the evening dancing never really took off, it was a real shame, a good dj would have had the crowd up dancing and turned it into a brilliant night to remember.

Covered a Lovely Wedding on Saturday,  we supplied the Wedding Photography, Wedding Video and the Vintage Rolls Royce Convertible.

Victoria and Terry looked made for each other, when we arrived at the house for the pre wedding photos the bubbly was already flowing and the normal last minute make up was being applied, after taking some informal shots we made our way to the church, the wedding ceremony was held at St Marys Catholic Church, in Hornchurch Road, the Priest and all concerned at the church were an absolute delight, it was a pleasure to work there, the choir were fabulous and really made the service, I believe that Victoria the bride is hoping to join them!

After the Service, we took a group shot, the confetti and car shots, and left for the Reception at Langtons Hall in Hornchurch, it was a lovely sunny day and with the roof down on the Vintage Rolls Royce Convertible we took some stunning shots of the happy couple, as usual Langtons was very busy with many new brides and grooms having their photo shoots, we were lucky as we had the whole day to take our pictures, and when the gardens are in full bloom they look amazing, we first went round the lake with Victoria and Terry, then worked our way back to the guests for the main photography shoot.

Once inside, everybody was eager to eat and the Wedding Breakfast was delicious, Victoria has Spanish and Phillipines Heritage and had employed Tong-Eats Na, Wowowee Pa (0208 599 0790) to provide the catering and MC, Their professional manner shone through and the MC (Jodie) was superb and entertained the guests all evening, Sadly shortly after the cake cutting and first dance we make our exit, I bumped into Victoria and Terry on Monday and they informed me I was more than welcome to have stayed, I wish I had now! anyway I hope they have a lovely time in Thailand for their Honeymoon. and wish them all the happiness for their future married life together.

They will have a great storybook photography collection to choose from, and a wonderful wedding video to watch with friends and family.

Photos to follow

Gary.