I was so excited to be asked by Bernadette and Rob to provide their wedding photography at The Connaught in, Mayfair, London. Although I am usually to be found photographing weddings in the barns and country houses of Suffolk, from time to time I am asked to travel the short distance to London for a wedding in the city.

I travelled down to London last autumn to meet Bernadette and Rob at The Connaught, to find out a bit more about their wedding and to look around the stunning hotel and to see inside the extraordinary Farm Street Church, just a short walk away.

Bernadette’s family travelled over from Ireland for the wedding. Here, her mother and sister look on as Bernadette has her make up applied by the fantastic Kate Hughes. Kate has worked with proper A list celebrities along with top magazines, advertising campaigns and television. She is incredibly down to earth and helpful, and Bernadette looked absolutely stunning.

Bernadette made the unusual but dramatic choice of black diamonds for her wedding jewellery, matched with black nail varnish. It worked really well.

Possibly the most beautiful wedding shoes I have ever seen, this style is Amelia by Emmy

Although the Farm Street Church, properly named the Church of the Immaculate Conception, is only a short walk from The Connaught, it’s always nice for a bride to arrive at her Church in style, and to spend a few quiet moments with her father and sister.

When I visited the Farm Street Church earlier in the year, I was absolutely blown away by the interior. I really wasn’t expecting such elaborate decoration. It really put me in mind of the basilicas I have seen in France. I wanted to get plenty of wide angle shots to show the scale and the design.

After the ceremony, the guests walked by to The Connaught, whilst Bernadette and Rob went on a short drive around Mayfair in the beautiful Bentley.

The drinks reception back at The Connaught was downstairs in this unusual mirrored-ceiling room.

The room for the wedding breakfast was laid out beautifully and very light and bright, despite being underground.

I love this shot of Bernadette, her mammy and sister enjoying a joke.

This was such a lovely wedding and I was delighted to capture it for Bernadette and Rob. I send them my very best wishes for their future.

If you are interested in booking me to be your wedding photographer at The Connaught in London, or your ceremony is taking place at The Farm Street Church, then please do not hesitate to contact me here

It was a fairly misty morning for this Suffolk engagement shoot. The forecast had been awful (I seem to be saying that such a lot at the moment) so in fact we were quite fortunate for Samantha and Matthew’s engagement shoot near the Orwell river. We met at the Ship Inn in Levington (which serves delicious food by the way) and took a walk along the banks of the river then onto Levington Marina. It was a year ago that I first met Samantha and Matthew, so it was really good to see them again. The will be getting married at Hintlesham Hall in Suffolk next month.

The mist and drizzle gave quite an ethereal feel to some of these images.

We walked along the wooden gangway through the rushes towards the river. Every time I go on this walk  stare longingly at the most beautiful tree in the middle of a field. I would have loved to use that tree on this engagement shoot, but unfortunately it’s impossible to get near.

On a clear day, the River Orwell which comes through Ipswich and flows out through the Port of Felixstowe is a beautiful blue and sparkles in the sunshine whilst the many sailboats tack up and down. I still love the coast of Suffolk on winter or cloudy days though. Whilst some might say it’s bleak, it takes on a quiet reflective character, and the cries of the seabirds and the bubbling and popping of the creatures in the mudflats can be clearly heard. Sorry, I’ve gone a bit poetic there!

After the heavy rain we have had, the edges near the shore had become quite boggy, so we decided to take the higher path, up the cliff and through the trees.

We then retraced our steps. The church and some of the other buildings in Levington can just be seen in the background of this next photo.

We then made the short journey down to Levington Marina, home to surprising number of boats. The Port of Felixstowe was only just visible through the mist.

It was great to see Samantha and Matthew again for their engagement shoot and I’m really looking forward to being their wedding photographer at Hintlesham Hall next month. It’s one of the best Suffolk wedding venues and I always love working there. It’s very versatile and you are guaranteed great wedding photos whichever season you have your wedding, and whatever the weather does. The staff are also fantastic and the service exceptional.

It was a pleasant drive down the A12 for this Essex engagement shoot one Sunday morning. It was quite a few months since I had met Rhea and Michael for their wedding consultation, so it was great to catch up with them again for their engagement shoot. Rhea and Michael are getting married at Butley Priory, a unique Suffolk wedding venue.

Rhea and Michael had told me at their consultation last year, about their dog Blue and how they really wanted him to be included in their engagement shoot. I’ve had quite a few couples bring their dog on their engagement shoot and so I was more than happy with this suggestion. (See the links below) I fell in love with Blue instantly! Rhea and I were walking along, chatting with Blue on the lead, and when we started talking about him, he turned around and smiled at me. I swear he did!

It was a gorgeous spring morning and it was so nice to spend it in such a lovely setting. We took a circular route through the woods with Blue racing off and coming back again, jumping in and out of the stream, and just generally having a great time. Here are some of the images from our walk through the woodland. Look out for Blue in some of the images he wasn’t even supposed to be in!

I had such a lovely morning with Rhea, Michael and Blue on their engagement shoot, and am very much looking forward to their wedding at Butley Priory. Sadly Blue won’t be joining us for the wedding.

Here are some of the other engagement shoots with dogs!

Daniela and Tim

Louise and Martin

Ellie and Tom

An engagement shoot is complimentary for every couple booking me as their wedding photographer. I am very happy though to photograph couples whatever the occasion – Valentine’s Day, birthday, anniversary, or just because… Please do not hesitate to contact me to enquire

The weather forecast in the week before Grace and Alen’s London engagement shoot had looked decidedly dodgy, and unfortunately, in this case, the forecast proved to be correct. With Alen working up in Scotland, it wasn’t possible to rearrange their engagement shoot, so we just had to make the best of it! I had had plans to do a lovely circuit around the City area of London, but in the end I just had to think of places with cover where we would be able to shoot.

We met at Leadenhall Market, which was the location for the Diagon Alley scenes in the Harry Potter films. It’s a very pretty Victorian market, which during the week is filled with the hustle and bustle of City workers, eating, drinking and shopping. It was very quiet and a little sad with nobody there at that time of the weekend, but it meant we were left to our own devices.

We also found a little bit of shelter near the Lloyds building.

With the weather just not playing ball for this engagement shoot, we decided to head over to the west side of London and to Covent Garden. Naturally we went by tube and I managed to sneak this shot as a train came in.

There was indeed more shelter in Covent Garden, but oh my goodness, it was heaving! We used to live in central London many years ago, and Covent Garden was pretty much our local town.

Sometimes it’s quite nice to include other people in a shot, especially if they are scurrying by while the couple are lost in a moment.

First of all I thought about doing a shot with the traditional red telephone box (another of my couples, Chelsea and Bobby had been desperate to have some photos with one, but sadly they are very few and far between in Suffolk) then I noticed the shop behind the box, and got them to do this..

We carried on walking a little further. Sometimes the rain eased off, but most of the time we had to use the umbrellas we’d brought with us.

We finished the shoot near Trafalgar Square, in a nice mall we found. It was good to be in the dry for a while.

We had good fun despite the weather and we also discussed the plans for their London wedding in more detail. I shall blog the images of their wedding at All Soul’s Church and the Langham Hotel soon!

A selection of my Vintage Trouble photos, taken at The Waterfront in Norwich in December 2011

If you haven’t yet heard of Vintage Trouble, you soon will! After a stand-out performance on Later with Jools Holland the band began to tour the UK bringing their high energy live shows to fans across the land.

Their enthusiastic performances combined with their good humour and accessibility (meet and greets and pop up shows in unusual venues) means that they have an enthusiastic and loyal fan base always ready to welcome them back to these shores.

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Vintage Trouble backstage in their dressing room before the show at the Waterfront, in Norwich, taking photos of them warming up.

The music of Vintage Trouble is a blend of Soul, Rock n Roll and Rhythm and Blues in its original sense. One moment you can be whirling like a dervish on the dancefloor, the next,moved to tears. Charismatic singer Ty Taylor, who first caught our eye on Rockstar INXS, is the consummate front man, captivating the audience from the very start. Able to sing screaming high notes but also soulful, mellow blues, he completes the package with some seriously energetic dance moves.

Naturally the rock on which a Rhythm and Blues band is built, is a solid rhythm section. On drums is the ever laid back Richard Danielson, with the snake-hipped Rick Barrio-Dill on bass.

The set ends with a jaw-droppingly beautiful solo from guitarist Nalle Colt.

Some of these images featured on the fan-generated Tour Video

Vintage Trouble are back in the UK this summer, 2012. Try and catch them at one of the festivals!

Oh and if you needed another reason to love them, have a look at this video of the day they visited a nursery school

Vintage Trouble visit Huntley Preschool

Images have been reduced in size  for web presentation. As always these images remain my copyright. If you wish to use them please email me first