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Outdoor Jewish wedding ceremony at Shendish Manor

Shendish Manor wedding photographers, fun in the sun!

By Barnet Wedding Photographers, London venues and events, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

Shendish Manor is another of Hertfordshire’s more grand locations worth considering for a couple’s special day.

Jewish Dancing at Shendish Manor wedding reception

As Shendish Manor wedding photographers we were pleased to provide images for their new wedding brochure which featured photos from Gemma and David’s big day described here in this blog post.

Wedding dress hanging at Shendish Manor

Bride dress and mirror Shendish Manor wedding

Shendish Manor caters for weddings of all faiths and nationalities, and Gemma and David’s wedding was a grand and stylish Jewish celebration.

Groom by mirror Shendish Manor Hotel

Groom laughs getting ready for Shendish Manor Hotel wedding

We had all been crossing fingers for rain free weather as their ceremony and ‘Chuppah’ (wedding canopy) was located splendidly and rather dramatically on the lawns at the back of Shendish. All told Shendish Manor actually has about 160 acres of gardens and parkland, so it’s huge!

Bridal makeup Shendish Manor wedding morning

Bride looks out of window at her Shendish Manor wedding

Those crossed fingers worked as it was a gloriously sunny day, all day.

Groomsmen walking to Shendish Manor wedding

Coverage started with Gemma and David’s preparations within the hotel, and their interactions with friends and family arriving and assisting.

Jewish-wedding-ceremony-at-Shendish-Manor-Hotel-gardensBride and groom kiss after Shendish Manor wedding

Following in typical Jewish wedding day tradition once bride and groom were ready David assembled with the male side of the family for his “Tish”. This is a chance for the groom to meet publicly with his rabbi, get advice, have a drink, and sign a pre wedding document know as a ‘ketubah’, basically a Jewish wedding contract.

Wedding couple by tree at Shendish Manor

Gemma meanwhile prepared in a separate room for her “Bedeken” which is a veiling ceremony whereby groom enters and checks that this really is his bride! This is usually with only close family and wedding party and in our experience is typically a touching and emotion affair too, as it the first time future man and wife see each on the day.

Wedding couple in grounds of Shendish ManorBride and groom kiss by tree Shendish Manor wedding

After this it was out into the rather warm sunshine for a beautiful ceremony conducted under their wedding ‘Chuppah’ which is the canopy that everything happens beneath, also good for shading from the sun!

The formal ceremony ended with the grooms breaking of the glass underfoot and the celebrations began in earnest.

After some family photos we spent time with the bride and groom in the immediate grounds of Shendish. We were on a tight timescale (nothing unusual there!) so we had about 25 minutes to create some special memories.

For the rest of the day along with the wedding breakfast, toasts and speeches there was plenty of Israeli dancing and enthusiastic boogying on down throughout the evening.

A memorable Shendish manor wedding day for sure, and one I know David and Gemma will always cherish.

By David Green

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Sopwell House wedding in the rain 2

Sopwell House Wedding Photographer

By London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

While it is great to have variety as a wedding photographer in terms of venues and types of ceremony, it sometimes means that familiar venues are overlooked when it comes to writing blog posts. As a frequent Sopwell House wedding photographer this treasure of St Albans is exactly one of those places in question. From Jewish Sopwell House weddings to Hindu and civil celebrations we have photographed them all.

Confetti canon explodes at Sopwell House wedding reception

I’ve put some of our favourites in here, and also not the typical Sopwell House wedding photos that photographers usually showcase such as the couple on the red bridge or with a wedding car in front of the house itself. Yes we do those too and nothing wrong with them, but the internet is already full of them! Ok well just one, Sara the bride just before her ceremony and the first spots of rain from an impending massive cloud burst. Another Sarah this time with an “h” and another Sopwell House Jewish wedding as she looks out of the bridal suite window at the guests arriving.

Bridesmaids at Sopwell House wedding pillow fight image

A bit of fun in the shot above as the bridesmaids have an impromptu pillow fight, which helps to get rid of a bit of pre wedding nervous energy!

Kiss at Jewish wedding Sopwell House

We like this little corner of Sopwell for wedding shots because it doesn’t get used very often. It is always our approach to consider all parts of a venue not just the obvious and most convenient. We also look at how and where natural light and shade falls on the day of wedding, which may be quite different from a location scout from another day, especially if it was overcast.

Sopwell House wedding photographer bridal prep

Red bridge shot at Sopwell House wedding

Sopwell House itself has had a great residence on the site near St Albans since at least 1603. Master mason Edward Strong who worked on St Pauls Cathedral developed the estate in the eighteenth century, and then it became a country residence for various members of the Royal Family. In 1986 the Georgian splendour of Sopwell was further enhanced to be the wedding venue and hotel that we see today. Here’s a link to their official website: Sopwell House Website

Bride looks through Sopwell house photo

Find out a little bit more about David and Joanna here: David and Joanna

By David Green

Big Day Signature

 

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London outdoor wedding

By London Wedding Photographer, Wedding VenuesNo Comments

When planning your special day in and around the capital you may not at first think of having a London outdoor wedding, but there are a surprising number of places in our busy densely populated city that you can acheieve this. We have photographed outdoors from St Pancras station to ceremonies by swimming pools in St Tropez and always enjoy that something special of wedding vows and receptions in the great outdoors. For Katie and David’s Jewish wedding they choose a venue just outside London in the Hertfordshire countryside that gave them the space and freedom to plan their day, and reflect their relaxed and fun loving personalities.

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Buckettsland Farm is a venue that we have photographed at previously, and this provided the backdrop for the big day in question. A large marquee was erected for the wedding breakfast and reception, and was also on standby as a plan B for the ceremony in case of rain! There was also another covered space for a “chill out” room which doubled as a venue for the “bedeken” which is a traditional part of proceedings where the groom will place the veil over his bride to be. The chuppah looked fantastic covered in flowers and nestled among small trees at one end of the large field space used for wedding hire, with little ornaments hanging from some of the branches.

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Katie got ready in the farm buildings beforehand, and when the time came for the marriage ceremony she and dad accompanied by bridesmaids and pet dog walked across the field in the sunshine (whew – relief all round) to the wedding canopy and expectant guests. Live music accompanied the whole proceedings with some lovely traditional singing at the relevant points.

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As usual in these circumstances Joanna and I took up different vantage points with myself close to the chuppah and Joanna focussed more on wider views and guests reactions, one of the beauties of having two experienced photographers. As well as a list of family formal shots we were able to grab a relaxed twenty five minutes with the couple for some photos of them alone.

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Buckettsland Farm itself was built in the sixteenth century and is Grade II listed, and is a collection of unusual and interesting buildings. As is the tradtion on a Jewish wedding day the Israeli dancing was a fun and energetic highlight of the evening. Here’s a link to the farm itself and its hire: Buckettsland Farm

And for those of you planning a St Tropez wedding or just something outside or by a pool, take a look at this related blog post of ours:  St Tropez Wedding

This is Katie and David’s google plus review of the day: “David and Joanna did a great job with our wedding. They made us feel so at ease in front of the camera resulting in really natural, happy photos. They listened to what we wanted and delivered exactly that. Thanks so much for capturing and preserving the memories of our Big Day!”

By David Green

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London St Pancras wedding

By London Wedding Photographers, Wedding Venues2 Comments

Our latest London St Pancras wedding was a great meeting of cultures in a venue that has culture in spades! Lizzie and Sandy living in New Zealand and both in the medical profession came home to celebrate their love in front of friends and family at one of Londons most iconic hotels. This incredible building and station not only dominates the skyline but is quite a part of Joanna’s childhood as she lived nearby and often looked at the clock tower from her bedroom window to check the time.

The day started with Lizzie getting ready in her fantastic bridal suite with lovely tall windows and an elegant adjoining bathroom. Not an original room we think as the hotel when it opened in 1873 did not have en-suites, for all it’s glory you would actually have to go down the corridor to bathe. This is one of the factors that lead to the early demise of the hotel as tastes and expectations changed. After it recent refurbishment all those problems have been banished though, it really is spectacular and a great mix of old and new throughout!

St Pancras station wedding

The wedding ceremony took place under the huppah in the dramatic Hanson Hall, and as Sandy is a Scotsman all the official kippahs were tartan.

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St Pancras hotel wedding prep shot

For couple shots we had twenty minutes (hey it’s all we need or less…) of fun around St Pancras station – one of the many location perks of being busy London wedding photographers.

St Pancras wedding bathroom shot

All too quickly it was back to the serious business of the wedding breakfast and dancing the night away. Best man Jim as well as a great speaker led the celebrations with his fantastic Ceilidh band. So a little Israeli dancing was followed by a lot of Celtic revelry. A great time had by all.

Kissing at St Pancras station wedding

Wedding dance at St Pancras London

Renaissance hotel wedding

We are experienced at photographing weddings for all the major faiths so please feel free to contact us and ask for specific examples and whole wedding days.

To see over 100 wedding images just click on the link here: GALLERIES OR just scroll through this blog, it’s full of images!

By David Green

 

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