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Kate and Nigel’s wedding at Brighton College

I missed my first wedding ever this Saturday, as Kate and Nigel got married in Brighton register office at 10.00 am. Luckily this was all pre-planned, as the couple had decided to get the marriage out of the way before even getting ready for the day. After visiting the register office, Kate, her mum and bridesmaids made their way to The Metropole Hilton on Brighton seafront to start putting on the glamour. I stayed with them for just under an hour before setting off for the main ceremony at Brighton College. The college has it’s own chapel, which isn’t licensed for marriages but can be booked for blessings. For anyone thinking of using the college, they do have a wedding license for the Hordern Room next door, so you can have your whole day in one location if you want.

The chapel is lit with my least favourite light bulb in the world, the appalling orange sodium light, great for reducing your electricity bills but the worst possible choice for wedding photographers. I’ve done my best with the colours, but will probably end up converting a lot of the shots to black and white in the end. You can see an example of both in the posted pics.
Despite my moaning the couple had a lovely ceremony, choosing a Humanist service run by local celebrant Michael Wooler, followed by a wedding breakfast in The Great Hall.

The best part of the day, from a photographic point of view, was a trip in a taxi down to the Brighton bandstand on Hove seafront at twilight. The sky was just darkening as we arrived and it’s given a lovely atmosphere to the scene. The wind was quite strong, but this ended up being a real asset as it blew Kate’s dress into various great shapes. A bit of off camera flash added an element of drama to the shots. I could have carried on shooting here for half an hour or so, but the wedding schedule only allowed us a few minute before we headed back to the college for the cutting of the cake.

bride and groom on Brighton Bandstand at twilight

Kate and Nigel on Brighton Bandstand at twilight


bride in dressing gown shows ring in Hilton Hotel

Kate showing her big sparkly ring at The Hilton


Bridesmaids getting ready in Brighton Hilton

The bridesmaids getting exited while Kate gets ready


Wedding roses in box at Brighton Hilton

The flowers arrive at The Hilton Metropole


Bridesmaids outside Brighton College chapel

The bridesmaids waiting to go into the chapel at Brighton College


Bride and groom during wedding ceremony at Brighton College

The bride and groom during the wedding ceremony


Couple exchanging rings in Brighton College chapel

Kate and Nigel exchanging rings in the chapel at Brighton College


Bride and friends posing outside Brighton College

Kate and friends outside the chapel at Brighton College


Groom and ushers in line up outside Brighton College

Groom, ushers and best man outside chapel at Brighton College


Bride's father making speech with bride and groom at side

Kate's father making his speech


Bride and groom on Brighton Bandstand with West Pier in background

Kate and Nigel on Brighton Bandstand with the West Pier in background


Bride in swirling white dress on Brighton Bandstand

Kate with her wedding dress blowing in the wind


Newly weds on Brighton Bandstand in the evening

The bride and groom on the bandstand as the sun went down

Contact me for wedding photography in Brighton and Sussex

Sally and Masood’s wedding at The Royal Pavilion

I was at The Royal Pavilion this Saturday to photograph Sally and Masood’s wedding.

The wedding ceremony was in The Red Drawing Room, a lovely venue but always dark from a photographers point of view. Brighton registrars are usually very helpful about this and allow the use of some flash, except during the actual wedding vows. A bit of discreetly used flash, bounced off the ceiling, gave a nice light and solved the problem.

After the ceremony the newly weds and their immediate family went through to the Music Room for some formal photos. The Music Room is open to the public as part of the Pavilion tour, so there is usually an enthusiastic audience of complete strangers watching newly married couples as they have their first photos taken together. This room is dark as well, and I always bring an off-camera flash kit with an umbrella when I’m working here. There are several nice spots to get shots, in front of the grand fireplace, by the Chinese Doors, underneath the huge ornate light shades and nearer the windows if there is enough daylight. There was only about ten minutes allowed for this in the schedule, so I needed to move quite quickly to get everything done.

For the larger group shots all the guests were escorted around to the the front of the building, to meet the couple as they left the Music Room through the french windows. If the weather and light allow it, I like to get a shot of the whole wedding party with the Pavilion in the background. The sun was shining in the guests’ eyes for some of these photos, something I try to avoid if possible, but in this case the location made it worthwhile.

This was a short four hour booking for me. Sally and Masood had decided to have a small wedding in Brighton, then a much larger party for friends and relatives in the week when they were back home in London. After finding my website Sally had decided to book me as their wedding photographer without meeting up first.  I usually try to meet all my clients but, as the booking was made quite close to the wedding date, we didn’t get a chance to do this and organised everything by phone and email.

After the formal shots I joined the party in the King William IV Reception Room for the wedding breakfast, which gave me a quick opportunity for some reportage shots before leaving. If you’ve never been in this room, check out the wallpaper in some of the photos, they don’t sell that in B&Q!

Information on booking weddings at The Royal Pavilion here.
Information booking me as your wedding photographer in Brighton here.

In the Red Drawing room during wedding ceremonySally and Masood in the Red Drawing Room for the wedding ceremony
Bride and groom exchanging rings in The Red Drawing RoomExchanging rings
Bride and groom in Music Room Royal pavilionIn front of the fireplace in The Music Room
Newly married couple in Music Room Royal PavilionThe Music Room
Newly weds inside Royal Pavilion BrightonThe newly weds underneath the ornate light shades
Wedding guests outside Brighton Royal PavilionThe whole wedding party in front of the the Pavilion
Newly married couple outside The Royal Pavilion BrightonSally and Masood waiting to go into the wedding breakfast
Bride and groom outside The Royal PavilionAnd another
King William IV Reception Room laid out for wedding breakfastThe King William IV Reception Room prepared for the wedding breakfast
Wedding breakfast in King William IV Reception RoomA few shots of the guests during the meal
Bride and groom in King William IV Reception Room

Sally and Masood enjoying a glass of champagne

Vicky and Ant’s wedding at St Margaret’s and The Old Ship

Here are a few images from Vicky and Ant’s wedding at the weekend. I started the day at The Old Ship Hotel in Brighton where all the family and guests were meeting up. We then took a bus over to St Margaret’s Church in Rottingdean for the wedding ceremony. It’s a beautiful church with a history going back to Saxon times, one of the more recent additions being a set of windows designed by Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer Edward Burne-Jones, to commemorate the marriage of his daughter, Margaret, there.

Like most traditional churches, it’s quite dark inside. I’d been told I could use a flashgun during the ceremony but I tried to keep this to a minimum. Apart from distracting the bride and groom’s attention it also tends to destroy the atmosphere in the images. Vicky and Ant lit candles during the service which looked particularly nice using the available light, but would have been ruined by flash. This sort of shot has only become possible in the last couple of years, with the huge improvement in professional digital cameras and their ability to work in low light. Even eighteen months ago I would have struggled to get anything useable, and the colours would have been so bad I would have converted everything to Black and White. You can see the results below, shot at ISO 3200 for any camera nerds out there. At the end of the ceremony four of Vicky and Ant’s friends sang from the gallery as the couple walked down the aisle and out of the church.

We made our way over the road to Kipling Gardens for all the formal photos. Despite a short shower half way through we managed to get these done quite quickly, and I had ten minutes alone with the bride and groom to take some photos before they left for the reception. This is usually the most frantic part of the day for me, it may be the only time I have to take shots of the couple and I have to make every minute count. I always ask for 20-30 minutes but the pressure of the day often means that’s not possible. My first priority is to get some good straightforward full and three quarter length shots, then, if I haven’t been told to go away, I’ll move on to something a bit more creative.

After this it was back on the bus to Brighton, for a drinks reception on the seafront opposite the Old Ship. I had three quarters of an hour for some reportage shots, and a final opportunity for a few photos of Vicky and Ant before they went back to the hotel for their wedding breakfast. I stayed for the speeches and caught the first dance before I left at about 9.30 pm.

Bridesmaids and flower girls at St Margaret's Church Rottingdean
Bride and Groom holding candle during wedding ceremony
Bride and groom being married at St Margaret's Rottingdean
Bride and groom at East Sussex church wedding
Choir in minstrels gallery during wedding ceremony
Wedding party group photo from gallery in church
Birde and groom in Kipling Gardens Rottingdean
Bride with her bridesmaids in Kiping Gardens Sussex
Bride and groom in Sussex gardens on bench
Newly weds in Kipling gardens Sussex
Bride and groom walking along path in Surrey gardens
Just married couple on brighton seafront outside the fish shop
newly married couple on Brighton seafront
Flower girls at wedding party on Brighton seafront
Couple taking first dance at the Old Ship Hotel Brighton
Boys pulling face at wedding party in Brighton

Visit the main site for information on booking wedding photographers in Sussex

Hugo and and Harvey get hitched on Brighton Bandstand

First civil partnership on Brighton BandstandHugo and Harvey, first couple to have a civil ceremony on Brighton Bandstand

Hugo and Harvey were the first couple to have a civil ceremony on Brighton Bandstand this weekend, after the granting of a wedding license for the venue by Brighton and Hove City Council. They had a fantastic sunny day for it and managed to cram over 120 guests in for the event.
The grooms hid in the Brighton Hotel opposite until the guests had arrived and furniture had been set up for the ceremony. In fact the couple were so well hidden that the registrar couldn’t find them for his pre-wedding interview, until friend and organiser E.J. let him in on the secret. When everybody was ready Hugo and Harvey made their grand entrance and stood in the middle of the bandstand with the guests forming a circle around them. Despite the number of people attending it didn’t feel too crowded and seemed quite private. A few curious members of the public tried to join in but were gently turned away at the entrance, which had been roped off for the occasion.
After the ceremony all the guests made their way down to the terrace at beach level for a drinks reception, and I had a chance to take photos of Hugo, Harvey and their families on their own, with a bit more space to work in. I spent a couple of hours on the terrace as well, taking informal photos of everybody chatting and socialising.

Later in the afternoon the party made their way to The Old Market for the wedding breakfast. This was a short booking for me, so, after taking some shots of the receiving line, I said goodbye and left everybody to enjoy their evening.

I’ve taken newly weds on to the bandstand a few times since it’s restoration last year and it’s always a great spot for wedding photography. This is the first time that I (or anyone else) have attended a full wedding ceremony here and I’m sure it will be a very popular venue.

Visit the main website for more information on wedding and civil partnership photography in Brighton

First civil ceremony on Brighton bandstand
Exchanging rings during civil ceremony
Civil partnership ceremony on Brighton bandstand
Brighton registrar on Brighton bandstand for civil ceremony
Couple on steps of Brighton bandstand after civil ceremony
Wedding guests leaving Brighton bandstand after wedding ceremony
Guests at wedding reception underneath Brighton bandstand
Just after civil partnership ceremony in Brighton
Gay couple married on Brighton Bandstand

Asti and Robbie’s wedding at East Court Mansion

bride and groom in Surrey posing outside at night

Asti and Robbie outside East Court Mansion in Surrey



Here’s a selection of photographs from Asti and Robbie’s wedding in Surrey this Saturday.

Asti began the day in her parent’s house in Horsham, and I joined her in the early afternoon to take some shots of her preparations. The weather was looking a bit gloomy, but we managed to get into the garden to take few photos of the bride with her parents and family.

The wedding itself was at East Court Mansion in East Grinstead, an 18th century listed building restored, and now run, by the Town Council. The grounds stretch away into the Ashdown Forest, and on a good day would have been a great location for exterior shots. Unfortunately, by the time the ceremony had finished it was tipping down with rain, so I had to do the formal shots inside with a bit of emergency lighting. Thank you to Stuart, the very helpful caretaker at East Court, who quickly whipped all the chairs out of the ceremony room, so we had space for some of the larger group photos.

Despite the rain there were opportunities for some nice shots. When Asti’s parents were married a friend had lent them a vintage Citroen for their wedding car. The owner  brought the original car along on Saturday and allowed us to use it for some posed photos. We took shots inside and outside, it made a great background. The front of East Court is quite elegant, so I also asked the couple to pose by the pillars outside the entrance.

One thing that Asti hadn’t mentioned when she booked me was that her father, her father’s friend with the Citroen, and another of his best friends who was also attending the wedding, had all been professional photographers. One of Robbie’s relations was also in the photography business. However long I work as a photographer myself, this is the sort of thing that makes me nervous! I don’t know why it should worry me, but somewhere in the back of my mind I expect someone to come up and say ‘You’re a charlatan and a fraud sir, how dare you call yourself a wedding photographer. Call that a composition?’. Luckily they were all very nice, and didn’t lean over my shoulder offering me helpful tips and questioning my lighting techniques, so my confidence soon recovered.

Later in the evening the weather improved so I took Asti and Robbie outside again. We spent some time at the front of the building, then went to the back for some more dramatic shots as the light started to go. The view over the Surrey countryside has gone, but I think the sky and clouds add some atmosphere to the images. I ended up staying a bit longer than planned, and caught the first dance before making a move back to Brighton.

 bride adjusting wedding veilAsti putting on her wedding veil

Surrey bride in her wedding veil

Final adjustments

Bride in wedding dress posing in doorway

In the back garden at Horsham before the wedding

Bride leaving house for East Court Mansion wedding

And at the front getting ready to leave for the ceremony

marriage ceremony at East Court Mansion

The wedding ceremony at East Court Mansion

newly weds signing marriage register in Surrey

Signing the register after the ceremony

bride looking surprised at wedding reception

Asti adjusting to married life

bride and groom kissing in vintage car

Outside in the vintage Citroen

newly weds leaning out of vintage wedding car window

And another of the Citroen

Surrey bride and groom in front of East Court Mansion

Asti and Robbie outside the front of East Court Mansion

Groom with best man and ushers at Surrey wedding

Robbie with best man and friends

newly married couple posing on bench at East Court

More shameless posing from the newly weds

bride and groom in Surrey countryside at night

And a bit more out the back

First dance for Surrey newly weds

The first dance

Groom dancing at Surrey wedding

Some very special dance moves from Robbie

Groom kissing bride in Surrey countryside at night

And a last kiss.



Visit the main site to see more examples of wedding and commercial photography in Sussex.