Early May and it was a return visit to the wonderful St Audries Park, this time for the lovely relaxed wedding of Mark and Raquel.

As is fairly common, the wedding day itself was my first opportunity to meet the couple. Busy lives seem to have made the pre-wedding consultations a bit of a stretch for many couples so all communication was by phone and email. Whilst I would have found this situation odd just a few years ago I’ve grown accustomed to it. It’s not at all unusual these days for me to take a booking without having met the bride and groom to be. It helps, of course, that every couple I’ve worked with this way have been turned out to be delightful, and Mark and Raquel were no exception. I was greeted warmly by Mark and his brother and Mum whilst I was walking the beautiful St Audries grounds capturing a few “scene setters”, and I knew from that point all was going to be fine.

Weddings are always about the joining of two families and on this occasion the joining of two cultures too as Raquel is originally from Portugal. After living and working in the UK for 10 years she seemed well used to English traditions, but I got the feeling the rest of her family enjoyed the novelty of a typically English wedding in such a beautifully historic venue.

Coverage started with preparations, and as Mark was also getting ready at St Audries I managed to get a few frames of ties and jackets going on too, one of the benefits of a large venue like this one with plenty of bedrooms.

The ceremony took place in the Orangery and featured something I hadn’t seen before……the groom doing a reading, a wonderfully creative and touching poem that he’d written himself. Needless to say, that went down well with all concerned, not least Raquel!

Group shots, relaxed portraits of the newlyweds and general documentary coverage of events unfolding took us through to the evening and the challenge of photographing the dancing in a disco room with floor to ceiling mirrors all around without capturing myself in action! I normally love a reflection shot but the challenge is more often to find and use them creatively, rather than avoiding being in them.

So, a lovely couple, a glorious venue and beautiful early summer weather made for a wedding that was a delight to document. Here’s a selection of my favourites from the day.

If you’re getting married at St Audries Park and you’re looking for a photographer to tell the story of your day with maximum style and minimal intrusion please get in touch.