A couple of Saturdays back saw the wedding of Owen and Jane at Clearwell Castle in the Forest of Dean, just a short drive from Bristol.
As you've probably noticed, I'm often at Clearwell Castle so I'm really getting comfortable there.
It's a beautiful venue with some massive rooms, beautiful art, furniture and grounds.
The grounds look extra special for Owen and Jane's wedding. Things are looking much more green and mature now!

I could say this about every Bride that I shoot, but Jane made a fantastic Bride. She really enjoyed it!
I hope that you'll be able to see that from the images. Owen was very laid back and was also a pleasure to shoot.

A super-cool couple indeed!
How cool?

Well Owen is a concept artist who has worked on projects for some small companies like Disney and Atari.... No, I've never heard of them either.
Jane designs websites for CBBC and CBeebies.
I think that classifies them as cool, and those are just their jobs!

Thank you Owen and Jane for letting me be with you (literally) all day. You and your guests made me feel so welcome.
Enjoy these pictures.

Owen created these designs. Very impressive!

A sneak peek at Jane's dress

Hair and make up by the amazing Julie Dunkley

This is the cottage where Jane got ready, And yes, I was very nervous bringing the dress outside!

Jane's mum helps to take the dress to the Bridal suite

Nice to see a keen groom like Owen and suited up already!

Jane's twin sister Sam and friend Nerys made brilliant bridesmaids and multitaskers.

A new favorite.

I loved how Jane and Sam shared their mannerisms!

Jane's Mum loved seeing Jane get ready, and she was a great help too...in-fact she was a pro!

Owen's parents looking excited!

Molly just getting in some practise for her big job!

Jane's Dad was thrilled to see Jane looking so stunning!

Owen looks more relaxed than his best men! That's a first for sure!

The amazing wedding cake by Justine from Just Cakes

Wearing a hat as smart as this one, you can't help but smile, I think.

This amazing string quartet really set the mood!

Nobody knows how to play, but everybody likes a shot at it!

Good friends of the family and real gentlemen; Roy and Steve were very pleased to be at the wedding.

Rhydian looking a little nervous before his speech! I hate that feeling. Alcohol usually does the trick.

The soup really was that good!

I've not included the images here, but there was a pretty ugly riot at the wedding a little later on when the guests realised they weren't give fish and chips like Molly!

This here was the leader of the riot.

How good does this look though?!

In the same room was the secret meeting of hat wearing ladies. SShhhh!

A quick costume change! Very pretty!

Jane's fathers speech was brilliant and is physically congratulated by pretty much everybody!

"You ready?"
"Yep...let's rip Owen to pieces"

...and rip they did!

7:43 to be exact! I'm not too sure who won the sweepstake, but I did hear some heavy bribery going on!

We popped out whilst the light was just fading. All my couples, Owen and Jane included love this time when they can just relax and get some fresh air!

...and have a lie down!

I love a well beered-up group of stags, this lot though were especially tricky to work with. I loved it!

I challenge anyone to find me a picture of a freshly married groom with a fat cigar in his mouth, rocking a pair of aviators with a castle in the reflection.

Dance time!

Nerys and Nick make a great couple. (tried to think of an Avatar-based quip for their blue faces... I failed)

This lady is either heading for the dance floor, or the bar. Either way, she's going the right direction!

If you're not using your fingers to point in every direction, you're simply not dancing!

I liked watching Jane hold on tight to her husband!

And that's all!

Congratulations Jane and Owen.
You made me feel very relaxed and welcome and I thank you for that.

I hope you've enjoyed your honeymoon in San Francisco and I also hope that you really enjoy the rest of your lives together, you're a wonderful couple!
Take care.

On Friday I shot the wedding of Owen and Jane at Clearwell Castle.
It was an incredibly warm but crisp Spring day!
Perfect for a wedding.
The Castle is a very short journey for us, considering the journeys that we usually make all over the country!

I really enjoyed this wedding, I was there right up to the very end which was great as I really got to know a couple of the guests.
I certainly felt like one of Owen and Jane's friends by the end of the evening as they made me feel so welcome!

So, thank you, you two!
I hope you made your flight to San Francisco for your honeymoon in the end!

This one picture is just a little teaser.
It really caught my eye when I was going through the 1400-ish pictures!

I love that Owen's mum made time to glance at her son at a very important moment.

Keep an eye on the blog as I've got another great teaser to post before I blog the best of Owen and Jane's pictures from their wedding at Clearwell Castle.

Enjoy!

At the beginning of this month, I shot the wedding of Jimmy and Louise at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire.
If you didn't check out their Engagement shoot, make sure you do!

We had loads of fun in the fog and the cold on that day.
Unfortunately, Jimmy and Louise wern't exactly blessed with good weather for their wedding either, but what I love about Clearwell Castle is that if the weather is poor outside, then there are so many rooms to discover!
In fact, embarrassingly, I didn't realise that there was a downstairs to the castle, full of a dance floor and even more rooms!
I've always finished shooting before the dancing starts at the other Clearwell Castle weddings I've shot.
I much prefer these longer weddings, sure they're far more physically exhausting, but I enjoy it as I really get to know the guests and they get to know me.

This was the biggest wedding I've shot at Clearwell and certainly the most fun!
It was also my first Chinese wedding, so plenty of new sights I've not witnessed before, like the tea ceremony which I found fascinating!
I'd love to be there for their Chinese wedding in Hong Kong, it sounds loads of fun!

Friends and family flew in literally from all over the world to see Jimmy and Louise get married, so the atmosphere was amazing!

This was the last wedding of the year which is a bit sad, but I've had an incredible year.
I'll be posting some of my favorite images up on here later on in the week!

Thank you so much Jimmy and Louise for choosing me, I was so flattered!
Enjoy these pictures!

With light pouring in like this, you know it's going to be a good day!

And with this level of military precision, not much could of gone wrong!

So many friends and families flew over from Hong Kong.
This was just Jimmy's luggage though.

All day, there were smiles like this, everybody was so happy!

And so many cute faces!

Although, some were either clearly jet-lagged, or just not that crazy about weddings! 


Jimmy and his boys. 

Louise with her bridesmaids, Jo and Rachel.  

A few last minute tweaks!


On more than one occasion at Jimmy and Louise's wedding, I attempted to use other peoples camera flashes to enhance my own image.
I've never seen so many cameras at one wedding, so this was quite easy.
Also, the gentleman checking the image on the back of his 5d mk II is Bristol photographer Jordan Chung




And now the tea ceremony. It's a chance for the older members of the family and important relatives to give gifts and advice

I really took a shine to "Uncle Joe"... not sure he realised it though!

I don't know what this friend was saying but I'm sure its profound.

Glad I'm not washing up!

And so begins the toasting!

Another two not overly fussed by weddings! Or just knackered from jet lag!

Another use of other peoples camera flashes to get a cool cake cutting shot!

One of the smartest and cute kids was sat on my table.

And the lovely couple themselves!
Thank you so much Jimmy and Louise!
You could've chosen anyone to take your pictures, so I'm so grateful you chose me!