We knew Kym and Jamie’s wedding at Stoke Place Hotel in Buckinghamshire would be a lovely affair, because we knew what great people they were! An engagement shoot a few months beforehand at Alexandra Palace in north London had meant a chance at getting to know them better, and also putting them at ease as far as photography was concerned.
This was always going to to be a full on and exciting day starting early with two sets of preparations, as the couple were having a traditional Chinese tea ceremony first. Kym had a special outfit for this, and then changed into her wedding dress for the rest of the proceedings and the civil ceremony.
As soon as I arrived and saw Mark from Mighty Fine Entertainment setting up mood lighting around the ceremony room in typically dedicated fashion, I knew that Kym and Jamie had not only chosen a great wedding venue, but experienced and highly regarded suppliers to add to one of the biggest days of their lives.
Stoke Place is a gem of a wedding venue for Buckinghamshire. A country house hotel set in twenty six acres of grounds it was originally built in 1690. So there is tons of history and period detail throughout the venue. It feels so private and secluded yet it’s only 15 minutes from London’s Heathrow airport!
As a professional wedding photographer with experience of venues far and wide I can see that the management has thought carefully about adapting it’s various spaces to make for a varied versatile and ultimately very special wedding day.
This was indeed a day full of love laughter and unforgettable moments, and I feel we did a great job of capturing them as well as creating a few of our own. I loved suggesting to Kym some shots in the roll top bath in her room just after she had put her wedding dress on. I loved even more that she took that all in her stride as though it was the most natural request she’s heard all day long! Jamie was just as open minded and relaxed, it was no problem for him or his groomsmen to ride bikes or juggle apples on this particular wedding day.
Disclaimer: every couple and every wedding day is different: we will never force you to juggle apples or get in a roll top bath on your special day! Honest! It’s an interesting point, because some photographic coverage is very much documentary, but for these guys it was a little bit of everything. The most important thing for us is to give you the coverage you value and that suits your personalities.
The ceremony itself was held in the Barn Room with bubbles and confetti straight after outside at the Lakeside exit. Being a typical English day of weather we had both sunshine and rain, and we did what we could outside until the heavens opened. No problem though, that just meant it was time for some chandelier and drawing room shots inside Stoke Place itself.
While guests enjoyed drinks and canapés the venue was able to transform the Barn into an impressive space for the wedding breakfast and speeches. I particularly enjoyed the groomsmen’s mass impression of Jamie’s dancing technique, and later on his brother performing a song on guitar for the newly weds.
After the meal came time for serious partying in the Lakeside which Mark from Mighty Fine had transformed into a DJ and dancing space. Needless to say the love laughter partying and dancing went well on into the night!
A special mention too for the excellent Toast Master Patrick Collins find him here Patrick Collins, and we also enjoyed working alongside Tracey the videographer from The Little Picture Studio. Mighty Fine Entertainment are here: Mighty Fine Entertainment
By David Green
Not long after their Stoke Place Hotel wedding day Kym and Jamie wrote this lovely review on Google:
“Where do we start? Thank you so so much! You’ve captured our day beautifully! Going through the photos have helped us re-live it all over again! Every single photo is shot to perfection, great angles and extremely clear with great colour! We loved all the special effects and filters you’ve put on too, especially the one with Kym “showering” herself! 🙂 You have captured all the special moments, especially the ones that went very quickly – such as our dip towards the end of the first dance (as we couldn’t hold that position for long! 🙂
We absolutely loved working with you both, you’ve made us feel at ease behind the camera, right from the moment we did our engagement shoot. It really helped us relax during the day. David you have a great way with making people laugh and have fun! We had many comments from our guests on what “cool” and “fun” photographers we had at our wedding. It was great to see everyone else was having a great time with us too.
Thank you again! We’ve already recommended you on to a couple that are looking for great photographers at their wedding!”
And finally here’s a couple of the most popular and hard working wedding professionals out there, DJ Mark Van Den Berg of Mighty Fine Entertainment, and Patrick Collins Toastmaster.
