Beautifully stylish Farbridge Barn wedding

Rachel and Matthew (or Mabes, as almost everyone calls him), got married at the delightful Farbridge Barn in March. It was a bit of a grey day; chilly and windy and the clouds were looking particularly ominous. I could see the barn was lovely from the outside, but I was blown away when I stepped in the door. Everything was decorated to perfection. Long white drapes were hanging towards the back of the room, and every table had an elegant vase of pale roses on it. It was light, bright and airy, and the white set the beautiful stone and wooden beams of the barn off wonderfully. 

In fact, everything about the venue was light and airy - a photographer's dream! When I headed over to the bridal suite where Rachel was getting ready, I was just as impressed. Everywhere had that feel of being very clean, contemporary and stylish, yet maintaining the gorgeous rustic features of a barn. We didn't spend too long outside given the chill in the air, but it was set in stunning countryside as well so it was lovely to get some portraits of the bride and groom with the hills and meadows in the background.

Rachel looked like a 1940s movie star; a stunning simple dress set off by red lips and blonde hair in a beautifully soft up-do. The whole bridal party was incredibly well-dressed actually, the groom in a dapper navy suit and the bridesmaids wearing a pale blue full skirt and simple white three-quarter sleeve top from Monsoon. Even their four flower girls were dressed in pretty, floaty cream dresses. The wedding felt like spring, and I think everyone else at the wedding felt much the same - there was a really nice cheerful vibe to the day, with lots of smiles and laughter, especially during the speeches. 

So here are some of my other favourites - enjoy!

JNP

The bright side of the moon.

So, aren't I the luckiest. Another gorgeous lady decided to have a boudoir shoot with me and she was SPLENDID. Luna (not her real name, but I thought the alias suited her given how she [cheese alert, sorry] lit up the darkened room), strolled in with all the sass, declining my offer to 'start off easy with more layers', announced she was putting on some red stockings and totally blew me away. If she was nervous, she hid it extremely well, because once the lingerie was on and the camera was focused, she owned the room. You wouldn't know it either, but she was feeling quite run-down with a cold that day, but she well and truly womaned-up and fooled both me and the lens.

"I can imagine Luna just laughing her way through the boudoir shoot"... yep, pretty much! And it suited her perfectly; in between the smouldering looks and intense baby-blue stares, she'd let out big laugh and her smile was as beautiful as the rest of her. You wouldn't believe this girl turned up with rollers in her hair, feeling a bit under the weather, politely asking for 'hippy tea'.

She's a siren without even trying, but she did herself proud and completely rocked it - her are some of my favourites.

Amy + Garry's engagement shoot at Alexandra Palace

Amy and Garry said that London signified the happiest times of their 6 year relationship, and they had a particular soft spot for Alexandra Palace and the area, so I was more than happy to venture up to North London for their pre-wedding photos. It was really wonderful place to shoot I discovered, and I was full of enthusiasm as we walked around the palace and found some excellent spots to take photos.

Even more of a treat than the location however, were Amy and Garry themselves. From the moment I started shooting, I knew they would be both a breeze and a delight to photograph. As my dad commented after seeing one or two of these photos, Amy has the most infectious smile, and I spent the majority of the time smiling behind my camera back at them. Full of laughter and genuine ease with each other, they were perfect from start to finish. 

Their wedding, which will be in London next month, is going to be full of wonderfully creative and personal details that make me SO excited to be shooting it. But the real cherry on the cake is getting to photograph the wedding of such a beautiful couple, inside and out.

Richmond Park engagement shoot

Amelia and Andrew were at the second wedding I ever shot; Amelia was a bridesmaid. She stood out as this beautiful, elegant woman and I remember taking a photo of her and Andrew and thinking what a lovely couple they were. I then shot another of their friend's weddings, and to this day the photo I took of them there is still a firm favourite of mine - they looked like movie stars, and did it effortlessly:

So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when they asked me to shoot their wedding as well! It's the (supposedly!) quieter time of the year for weddings at the moment, and it was lovely to be doing an engagement shoot again after at least 3 months since the last. We chose to do it at Richmond Park, and it was genuinely one of my favourites I've done. They told me about how they got engaged in a tree house, smiled absolutely loads and were basically wonderful. I asked them what they were most looking forward to about the wedding, which is an interesting question; it's often about enjoying the day, everyone being together, making it official... Andrew's reply was that he was most looking forward to when Amelia said "I do", and I did a little happy dance (inside. I am a Professional you know). Then we had a bit of a chat about whether it was "I will" or "I do" but came to the conclusion that it didn't matter too much, really. It was everything behind the words, and I think their photos demonstrate that quite well...

She's the hunter and the fox...

I decided I wanted to shoot some boudoir photography after having mine done with Ever Photography  last year and really enjoying it; I wanted to help other women feel proud of their bodies and have some beautiful photographs to keep for the rest of their lives. It's quite a scary thing to take your clothes off and allow someone to photograph you in such an intimate way, but it was one of the most positive things I've ever done for myself. 

Sian was my first guinea pig, and what an exquisite guinea pig she was. Sian, with her striking eyes and perfect eyebrows, dark hair and flawlessly pale skin, was an absolute joy to shoot. She was calm, quietly beautiful and totally effortless in front of the camera. Here are some of my favourites.