The Wedding of Ellen and Dave
Hello there,
It’s been a while since I posted up a whole wedding but as things start to slow back down after a hectic year I can start to catch up and blog a few recent weddings. I am going to start off with the beautiful wedding of Ellen and Dave.
Its seems forever ago that Ellen, Dave and Dave’s mum came to visit me and book me for their wedding. I was pretty excited to be honest as Ellen told me the couple were getting married at The Old Rectory in Redditch in Worcestershire. The Old Rectory is an amazing wedding venue, its a hidden away boutique wedding venue that ooozes charm and romance and from a photographers point of view, its freaking awesome – the opportunities for photographs are endless.
But back to the wedding of Ellen and Dave, like pretty much all of my weddings I started the day with the bride and that meant at Ellies Salon (the hairdressers)
Ellen and the girls had the place to themselves and it was great, I have to thank the staff at Ellies as I was looked after so well, and drank enough tea and coffee for it to almost be coming out of my ears.
Bridal preparations is probably my second favorite part of the day – I love seeing how the bride transforms from looking like your normal girl to looking like a princess or in Ellens case a movie star (all about the lippy as you will see later)
I should also point out that of all my brides this year Ellen shocked me the most, I should explain a little – when we did the engagement session it was pouring with rain, also Ellen had only just got home and had quickly washed up – in her day job Ellen does not wear a ton of makeup so for the engagement session there was no makeup, her hair because of the rain was pretty much soaked to her head, she wore jeans and a jumper and kind of looked like a semi drowned rat albeit a pretty good looking one – so when I walked in and saw her already 1/2 way thru hair, it was amazing
with the massive big windows the light in Ellies was fantastic and I just sat back with a long lens and blasted away and got some fantastic photos. I also like using props like the signs to make for interesting backgrounds in the photos
The it was time for the makeup and Ellen disappeared into the back room, I followed and grabbed a few photos
and you just have to have photos of yourself in rollers on your wedding day !
I remember from when I met up with the couple that they wanted some black and white wedding photos, so I made sure to shoot a few throughout the day, I actually like the way this one works and catches the hairspray
and then the transformation was complete
I left Ellies a few minutes before the bride as I wanted to get some shots around The Old Rectory in Redditch but I also wanted to spend as much time with Ellen and the girls before the wedding.
Back at The Old Rectory Wedding Venue
The wedding breakfast was being served in the conservatory on the side of the hotel
and naturally I took this chance to grab the all important photo of the cake
With a million and one things going on I cant remember who Ellen said made the cake but I remember her telling me it was made by some very special (a family member or friend) and that this made it special – I made sure to get lots of photos of the cake !
The it was off to the room where the wedding service would take place – naturally this was a civil service wedding and The Old Rectory has a purpose built annex that is simply breathtaking.
The attention to detail the owners have put in is second to none, trust me I see lots of wedding venues and this one is first class with icing and a cherry on top for good measure !
then I shot back upstairs to get a few photos of Ellen getting ready
Ellen had a beautiful Jenny Packham wedding dress and it was amazing – I love Jenny Packham wedding dresses, they are elegant and etherial and it takes a certain bride to be able to pull them off – this one was really stunning.
Now at this point I will point out while Ellen was getting dressed, her mum, Dave’s Mum and 3 bridesmaids plus a flower girl were all in the room ! – but Ellen asked for a few more sexy / risque but without being naughty if that makes sense photos be taken – I will show you a couple but the rest are for Dave’s eyes only (plus everyone who saw one of them in the evening slideshow – which the couple agreed could be in there !!!!)
and then mum helping do up the back of the dress
then it was just a case of waiting around for the wedding to start
at this point I went downstairs and shot a few photos with the fella’s but since I am running out of space you will have to wait to see Dave till the wedding – bit I did get some nice detail shots
and a shot of Dave with is mum
and the flower girl !
Then it was time for the wedding to take place
For the first time EVER since I have been a wedding photographer I actually didnt go into the room for the wedding – I shot all the photos from outside. The room was filled to capacity but thanks to great lighting and huge big doors I just used a long long lens and held back and captured the wedding from the back of the room – had I gone to the front I would have been too close and would have missed the feeling and atmosphere of the occasion
In the following photo I used the doors to frame the couple
and the big kiss
and the signing of the register
The it was time for the part to get started,
The couple had only requested a few formal shots so we didnt spend too much time on those but we always like to try to get a group shot of everyone
and naturally a confetti shot
then as I said before it was a few formals and then onto pictures of the couple
one of the things Ellen and Dave had both said when the booked me was they liked the dramatic style of wedding photography and they wanted a few of my signature style images – these are the ones where I use lights to really make the images pop.
This following few photos were actually taken in broad daylight – I used the garage door by on the side of the hotel which just so happened to be black
then I shot some more traditional but dramatic bridal portraits,
Following this it was time for the wedding breakfast, speeches and then the night time, for the sake of the blog post I am skipping the meal and speeches and jumping to after dinner – there was a little time between when the meal finished and the evening was starting so I took the opportunity to shoot a few more photos and play with lights a bit more
As I mentioned before The Old Rectory is a stunning wedding venue and one of the key features is the round windows, I have seem lots of other photographers photos there and wanted to come up with something just a little bit more different so with a little patients from the couple we came up with this
and then on the drive way
and with a few friends
then as the evening guests started to arrive, I quickly set up for the first dance photos – I like to shoot these in both a silhouette and a well lit way that way the couple has the choice of which they prefer
I think you have to agree Ellen and Dave had an amazing day, they came over my studio today to collect their disk of images to go away to choose for the album and we talked for hours about all the fun on the big day – from what I hear the evening party went on till the small hours and was a blast.
It just leaves me to say a big thank you to all the girls at Ellies and also to Pam and Michael from The Old Rectory who really did an amazing job of not only looking after me but in putting on a really amazing wedding.
Dave, Ellen good luck, and I hope the love and happiness you shared on your big day stays with you for ever, it really was a fantastic day.
congrats guys.
love
dp
David Purslow
Wedding and Portrait Photographer
http://www.davidpurslow.com
Phone 01299 253844
Mobile 0759 007 6666
