Pre-Wedding Photography

“Hi Dan! We have a grand idea of wearing Edwardian costume. Would that be weird? Is that too far out?”

This isn’t the normal kind of question I receive from my couples just prior to photographing their pre-wedding session, I have to say. However, this response filled me with enormous excitement – not only was I going to photograph Amy & Sam’s engagement session on Hampstead Heath, they were also going to wear Edwardian costume!

When I woke up on the morning of the session, the sun was ablaze in the sky and continued to burn brightly throughout the day, allowing me to capture some beautiful photographs. Of course, having a gorgeous couple standing in front of me didn’t hurt. Did I mention they were wearing Edwardian costume?

Edwardian costume!!

Ahem…anyway, whilst I was editing these photos, I lost track of the amount of times I uttered, “Wow guys, you look amaaaaaazing!” I think you’ll agree that they do. I mean, how many times will I be allowed the opportunity to photograph a couple in EDWARDIAN COSTUME!!!

Amy & Sam, you were absolute superstars on the day; especially as I dragged you for miles across Hampstead Heath, all the way from Kenwood House down to Hampstead Hill Gardens and Pergola. But boy, was it ever worth it…

If there are any nicer ways of spending a couple of hours than photographing a gorgeous couple in a London Park on a balmy summer’s evening, I’d really like to hear it…

I met Francesca and Phill for their pre-wedding photography session just outside Regents Park station, and from there we wandered through one of London’s finest green spaces. We talked about their wedding and our shared experiences of planning a big day – Francesca and Phill are getting married in Lillibrooke Manor next year, where I had the great pleasure of photographing Lindsey and Dan’s wedding back in the day. We also chatted about their love and obsession of all things Disney – thankfully there was no mention of me being a Mickey Mouse photographer (boom tssh…I’m here all week folks…!)

The weather was glorious, and when the clouds moved over the sun I simply whipped my flash out (steady now) and created some of my very own sunshine (I’m full of tricks like that). You’re really spoiled for choice in Regents Park as far as beautiful photos are concerned, and towards the end of the session we were blessed with one of the finest sunsets I’d seen in a long time. Thank you Mother Nature.

You know when you meet someone and you just know you’re going to get along famously? Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce you to Shimmee and Jason…

A little backstory for you. I recently ran a promotion via Facebook asking for couples to take part in some pre-wedding photography sessions, to give me a chance to add some fantastic images to my portfolio (and as an excuse to experiment and play around with a few ideas). Shortly after selecting and emailing the successful couples, Shimmee called me up and exclaimed how excited she was that she’d been selected along with her hubby-to-be Jason.

To be honest, I’ve received a fair few emails from excited couples which is always a buzz (and exactly my intention – my pre-wedding sessions are supposed to be exciting and lots of fun), but I’ve never had anyone call me up before. It was a fabulous surprise, and set the tone for the pre-wedding session itself…

I met Shimmee and Jason outside of Westminster Station on a warm Saturday evening. Those of you who know Westminster Station (and London stations in general) know how busy they can be. Especially on a Saturday evening in the summer. Yes, there were people everywhere, but this didn’t deter us as we battled our way through the crowds onto Westminster Bridge and beyond…

Shimmee and Jason were amazing and an absolute joy to photograph. We had loads of laughs, they were open to all of my ideas (even the off-the-wall ones!), and together we captured loads of great photos together. Here are some of the best ones from our jaunt around Central London:

Many years ago when I was a sad computer geek (not a lot has changed, to be honest) I used to work for a large digital design agency in Brick Lane. So it was with great joy I returned to Shoreditch and the surrounding area to photograph the gorgeous pre-wedding session of Rajvi and Preetesh.

Shoreditch has changed a lot over the years. It used to be…how shall we say…one of the less salubrious areas of London to frequent. Nowadays it’s full of hipsters (I really felt out of place, I can tell you), bohemian coffee shops and lots and lots of funky graffiti.

Rajvi and Preetesh looked completely at home here – not only are they both lovely, they were also extremely friendly and suggested some poses and locations too which always makes my job a lot easier. It also (hopefully) contributes to some fabulous photography.

So a huge thanks to you both – apologies for dragging you half way round London, and Rajvi, I hope your feet have recovered from all the walking we did!

Here are some of the best photographs from the session:

London really is the city that keeps on giving.

It always amazes me how you can live in a major city and always discover something new about it. This is exactly what happened when I recently photographed Hannah and Dominic’s engagement session in Central London. I’ve been to St James’s Park many times, but I discovered a new area of the park just behind Downing Street that I hadn’t seen before. It was here we managed to capture some gorgeous photographs in front of the fountain, just as the sun set behind Hannah and Dom and bathed them in glorious soft light…

Of course, there are many other fabulous locations in Central London to see, and we managed to include a few of these in the photos too. It wasn’t the warmest evening if truth be told, and being a Saturday evening meant there were a few (i.e. thousands!) of Londoners and tourists strolling about. We were also carrying lots of gear including a rather large flash, so I’m grateful we managed to avoid hitting anyone on the head with it on the packed Westminster Bridge! Thankfully I had my good friend and assistant Matt from Salt Photography to help me lug all the kit around the streets of London.

Most of all I’d like to thank Hannah and Dominic for being absolutely brilliant sports, and putting up with us while while we visited different locations. The final shot of this series was touch and go to be honest – I’d had the idea in my head for a while of capturing light trails while illuminating a couple, and thanks to Hannah and Dom’s patience I finally managed to pull it off…thanks guys!

It’s a bit nippy in January, in case you hadn’t noticed. However, this has its benefits, believe it or not – one advantage being that normally popular and crowded tourist venues (such as Hampton Court Palace) are unusually quiet and bereft of visitors. This means that you can spend time there without the hassle of being buffeted left, right and centre by enthusiastic crowds, and enjoy some quality time with some rather lovely people.

Which is exactly what happened on Saturday, when I met up with Rianne and Aaron for their engagement session. We spent an hour chatting, enjoying the beautifully historic (and quiet) surroundings, capturing some lovely photographs along the way. Here are some of the best photos from the session:

You’re engaged! The question has been well and truly popped (so to speak) and has been positively reciprocated, so what’s next? Lots of wedding planning, obviously, such as booking the venue, buying a dress, arranging the catering etc, but how about booking in an engagement photography session while you’re at it? Why, I hear you ask? Without further ado, here are five thoroughly good reasons why you should definitely book a pre-wedding photography session*:

1. Get to know your photographer

When you hire a wedding photographer, you’ll be working alongside each other all day on your wedding day. All photographers have different styles and ways of working – some are quiet, polite and work in a relaxed and efficient manner (me, for example…!), and some….well, some photographers I’ve met and worked with are a little more…vocal, shall we say. You might prefer one way of working over the other, so the best way to find out what your photographer is really like is to book them for an engagement session. You wouldn’t want to fall out with him or her on your wedding day now, would you?

2. Feel comfortable in front of the camera

As I mentioned in my blog post 5 Tips to Look Great in Photographs, very few of us feel completely comfortable having a camera pointed at us. However, it’s your photographer’s job to make sure you feel relaxed when having your photo taken on your wedding day, and spending an hour or so in their company creating fantastic photographs certainly helps. When it finally comes around you’ll be completely used to being caught on camera, and you won’t hunch your shoulders up around your ears every time a lens is pointed your way!

3. You’ll receive fantastic photographs

An engagement session is a great opportunity to be creative – not just for your photographer, but for you as a couple as well. It should be a relaxed, fun affair – you can throw on some fancy glad rags, bring some props or a favourite pet along with you, and spend an hour or two in one of your favourite locations larking about with your significant other. At the end of the session you’ll receive some amazing photographs – doesn’t get much better than that.

4. Your photos are useful!

Once you receive your photos, I’m sure you’ll want to share them with your family and friends on social media, to show them all how utterly gorgeous you and your significant other are! How about using the photos for Save the Date cards? Or a signing book perhaps? How about a coffee table book to show off when you have friends over for dinner?

5. Your engagement is important

There are very few events in life that can be considered truly historic. I’d say there are four – your birth, your engagement, your wedding day and having children (if you so desire). Shouldn’t your engagement be something to be celebrated? Just as you’d fondly look back on wedding photos in years to come, shouldn’t engagement photographs be treated with the same reverence? I for one say they should.

* All wedding photography collections come a pre-wedding session, so drop me a line for more info!

I love pre-wedding photography sessions. I love Greenwich. I love photographing couples that are in love. Can you tell just how much I loved photographing Keziah and Rob recently in Greenwich Park?

It was a lot. A ridiculous amount, in fact. Yes, It was a bit chilly, granted, but the light was so beautifully soft and Rob and Keziah were so wonderfully friendly and chatty, that it didn’t really matter how cold it was. So one gorgeous couple + a stunning location + lovely weather = one very happy photographer indeed.

Like what you see? I’d love to photograph your pre-wedding photography session – please email me now!

Here’s a quiz question for you. What do you get if you combine (a) a picturesque London park (b) beautiful evening sunshine and (c) a gorgeous couple whose wedding you’re photographing later this summer…?

Hopefully the following photographs of Holly & Richard should answer that question for you! I had a great time photographing them, especially as the sun started to set and the photos took on a gloriously warm tone.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the Taittinger box and the Stephen King book in the picnic photos? Well, all is explained in Holly’s own words:

“So…on the day we got engaged we had a day exploring the Lake District then we had a picnic with me giving Richard grief as I was Hangry (hungry + angry). After the picnic we hiked to Sleddale Hall! Richard proposed 😀 We wanted to go for a fancy meal to celebrate but it was really late so we bought champagne and a takeaway curry from Asda instead! 🙂

When I met Rich he didn’t read a lot of fiction but after bugging him for a while I managed to convince him to read the Shining as it’s my favourite book and I LOVE Stephen King. Only took Rich around 4 years to read it :-P”