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Wedding photo of couple in lobby of Goring Hotel London

Another lovely wedding at the Goring Hotel in London’s Belgravia

By London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesOne Comment

We always look forward to a wedding at the Goring Hotel as we have photographed there many times, sometimes several times a year, and have always had a fantastic experience.

Wedding couple outside The Goring Hotel

Many people know this iconic hotel for the fact that the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton has long been an admirer, and in fact chose to spend the evening there before her Royal wedding to Prince William. We have documented weddings at the Goring before and after this famous event, but were sadly not available on the day!

Bride and groom by railings at London Goring Hotel

Take a quick look at google maps and you can see the description of the hotel says: “high-end hotel with royal warrant.” Every corner of The Goring exudes class, we have never seen such a well run and spotless yet cosy environment. The staff are super friendly and professional, and many have worked there a long time, and it shows in a good way.

Bride down the aisle at Goring Hotel wedding ceremony

Have a read of a previous wedding post here: Goring Hotel Wedding Photographer and here’s another when we tested a new camera from Fuji at the Hotel: Fuji X100 for your London wedding, and wedding? Yes at the Goring Hotel

wedding ceremony image from Goring Hotel ceremony

For this lovely day we were contacted by Hong Kong couple Yickyin and Leo who fell in love with the venue when they saw it. Both now live and work in London, and planned a very intimate ceremony and reception at the hotel which is perfectly suited to such an approach.

Laughter on the sofa downstairs at Goring Hotel wedding photo

As there would only be twelve or so people there, we decided that to be discreet but still get our Big Day Weddings style and approach the special day could be photographed by David alone.

Exchange of rings at Goring Hotel Chinese wedding

We got to know the couple at their engagement shoot with us on a very windy and overcast day at Alexandra Palace, blogged previously here: Engagement Shoot at London’s Alexandra Palace in Muswell Hill There is one of my favourite shots from that day immediately below.

Couple jump in front of London's Alexandra Palace image

Coverage started with the wedding couple arriving together in a customised Mini Cooper, very English. For the short time we had available before the ceremony we took the chance to take some couple shots around the hotel and just outside, with one eye on the impending rain clouds.

Looking at each other in Goring Hotel reception image

The wedding ceremony itself held downstairs in the hotel was intimate, emotional and moving, even for this veteran of ten years. Afterwards I captured some formal family shots the couple wanted, and then general reportage of the drinks and canapés time with some extra guests too who came for the wedding breakfast.

Kissing by the Christmas tree at Goring Hotel

After tossing her bouquet Yickyin sat down with Leo and some family speeches began and a few more tears were shed. Tears of joy I should add! All in all a lovely wedding with a great couple at one of favourite London venues.

Couple play in the garden of Goring Hotel

By David Green

wedding couple pose on the stairs at The Goring Hotel

We are often photographing in Belgravia, here’s another recent example of a big day in the same area: Caledonian Club Wedding in London’s Belgravia

exchange of rings image London

Be sure to check out our galleries on the website too, with many weddings showcased in and around greater London and the home counties.

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Fuji X100 for your London wedding, any wedding? Yes at the Goring Hotel.

By London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

It is still very rare for any wedding couple to ask us what equipment we use, and to be honest we are pleased about that. The reasons are many fold, but mainly it’s because creating and capturing images is about technique, flair, experience and an artistic eye. Not so much about the camera and lenses you are using. Try telling that to your average wedding photographer though! One well know photographer when asked which camera he used would reply: “a black one.” David Bailey has said that in the UK many think the camera does the work, while abroad he’s found there is more sense that it is the person behind the viewfinder that makes the difference. Having said that we have invested heavily over time in Canon’s top of the range camera bodies and all their best lenses to help do justice to our couple’s once only wedding days.

Fuji shot at central London wedding venue

So where is all this leading?  Well David in particular still loves cameras as an object of beauty too and not just a tool, but when we are on holiday or just out and about with our kids he does not (and nor do I – Joanna) want to lug around any of our wedding DSLR’s and a bunch of lenses. So for the past two and a half years our companion in family times has been firstly the fixed lens Fuji X100, and then its upgraded successor the Fuji X100s. There are a million and one reviews and posts about this little gem on the internet so that’s not the purpose of this post. Would we use the Fuji on a wedding day? Yes and no! For us the DSLR and it’s lenses are still first choice, but for discretion around a reception perhaps – where the little camera does not intimidate it can be very useful, especially in cramped conditions. We would usually use a long zoom like the 70 – 200 to shoot from afar or perhaps the 85 1.2.

We tried it out for a while along with our other cameras at the Goring hotel in London where Kate Middleton stayed before the Royal weddding. We used it for some of our corridor shots with the lovely bride and chief bridesmaid, and also for discretion and silence in some shots from afar (cropped in now) of the couple looking at their wedding cake in situ for the first time. Can the sensor handle it? Yes, but un surpringingly considering the price difference and spec – not in the same league as the Canon 5D mark 3’s that we use. Having said that, in completely subjective terms – this camera has a certain indescribable something. That’s why it travels with us.

wedding couple alone fuji x100

Fuji X100 Goring hotel wedding

So what’s it like for holiday snaps? Well you need to think like a prime shooter not a zoom freak. And as far as we are concerned that is fine because the quality of the fixed lens at f2 is so great and the resolution so good you can crop in later if needs be. The other thing too for our taste is that we are only really interested in shots that involve people. So for enviromental portraits etc it is excellent, and with the two new screw on lens adapters , closer portraits or wider shots are no worries. We will be investing in these very soon!

Here’s a couple of recent holiday snaps, one of Joanna (added edge blur) one of our youngest son Rory. We don’t bring Rory to a wedding, but we cetainly keep the Fuji in the camera bag, just in case!

Joa Green in Caen Franceann

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Our related blog post can be found here: Goring Hotel wedding photographers

A great resource for finding about all things Fuji is: Fuji Rumors

And the official Fuji site can be found here: Fujifilm

By David Green

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