Possible new favourite venue alert. As a wedding photographer in Dorset, I’ve always whizzed past Pennsylvania Castle and thought it looked stunning, but never had an opportunity to shoot here into Sera & James showed their happy little faces in my inbox.

My god, this place is unreal. Every room is just stunning. Those enormous south-facing windows are just something else altogether – especially with a view like that to gawp over.

We kicked the day off up in the room at the top of the tower, where Sera appeared to have some uncontrollable giggles, which I discovered as soon as she dropped some crisps on the floor.

Can’t go too far wrong with an outdoor ceremony, especially with a backdrop like this. So much space for all of the guests and a beautiful little structure to get married under. Couldn’t get much better really.

After some lovely food, we headed out onto the cliffs of Portland overlooking Weymouth to capture the stunning sunset. Sera & James were awesome on their engagement shoot, so I knew they’d be super comfortable with each other in front of the camera.

I’ve been up here before under worse conditions and knew it would be a good’un, but oh my days were we spoiled this time. The sky was absolutely perfect and it was almost impossible to not get any beautiful images up here.

Everything came together and we captured that perfect balance of epic dramatic shots, cosy little moment and Sera and James being their usual selfs. What a way to round off the day before the carnage of the dance floor.

The dance floor is almost always my favourite part of any wedding, but this was something different altogether. Chaos, is the word that springs to mind. In fact, it was so fun that I stayed right until the very end before whizzing home.

Thank you SO much for inviting me along to photograph your wedding! Massive highlight of the season for me. 

Dress: Allure Bridals

Dress Shop: Pure Couture

Caterpillar Cake: M&S

Florist: Fiona Penny

Hair/MUA: Amazing Face Dorset

Catering: Rodeo

Been a little hectic here in Stuart Land over the past few months, which is a real shame as some absolute bangers just haven’t had a chance to make it up on my blog. 

Well that changes today. I’m nicely caught up with most of my work and seemingly random travelling adventures, so it’s time to sit down and show the world all of the amazing weddings I’ve had the pleasure of attending and capturing towards the end of the 2019 wedding season.

Rachel and Sam, what more can I say? Your wedding was unreal.

Deans Court in Wimborne is soon becoming one of my favourite venues to photograph weddings in Dorset (and dangerously local, which is always nice). Such a perfect balance of cool outdoor space, nice walls, weird little corners and general awesomeness around every corner. 

I love alternative vibes as much as the next person (you probably already know from all of my weird black and white edgy photos), but when Rachel and Sam just let me go ham on their wedding day, I knew it wasn’t an opportunity to pass up.

Rachel looked absolutely bananas in her Stella York dress, and Sam didn’t half make an impression with his suit (which just so happened to match the dogs…)

Thanks SO much for inviting me along to capture you guys getting hitched. A real highlight of the season for me. 

What a beauty of a wedding this one was.

Kicked things off just a few miles down the road from Oxfordshire’s Brightwell Vineyard at Veronica’s family home where she was getting ready. This place really is beautiful and I really couldn’t resist that stunning dining room for some bridal portraits and dress shots.

As a wedding photographer in Dorset, it made for a nice change to whizz up to Oxfordshire this time. 

The boys were getting ready at a hotel nearby and then whizzing over to the vineyard to make sure everything was in order for the day.

Never been to Brightwell Vineyard before by my God would I like to again. Not sure ceremony locations get much better than beneath a pine tree among a forest clearing…

I’ve always been a sucker for a quality dance floor but this really was something else. For lack of a better word, things got pretty lit. 

Jäger was flowing, shapes were being thrown and Veronica was even treated to an impromptu reenactment of Magic Mike from John on the dance floor in front of the family. 

What an absolute belter of a day and thanks so much for having us guys!

• Dress: Wed2Be
• Marquee: GP Marquees
• Catering: Too Perfection

It’s hard to go too far wrong with a wedding in your back garden in Hampshire—but Kate and Ed really did take it to the next level and then some.

I’m trying hard to figure out whether I’ve ever photographed a wedding with so many details and personal touches. It was hard to know where to even begin—although the umbrellas and lampshades hanging from just about everything seemed like a good place to start.

Kate and Ed got ready separately so I met up with the guys at the house to capture everyone arriving (perhaps a little dazed from the party the night before). 

Ed was as cool as a cucumber right up until Kate rocked up in an old Land Rover. Five whole seconds later, with all of the bridal portraits done, I casually (sprinted) over to the big tree to capture the ceremony.

There are ceremonies and then there are ceremonies. This was the latter. It really does make it special having someone so close to you acting as the celebrant. Every word carried infinitely more weight and there was hardly a dry eye in sight.

Once the balloon was popped (definitely not a euphemism), the garden party got started. 

The barn was kitted out with incredible decoration and in long rows, which helps with the conversation flow and provided a whole load of intimacy. Kate and Ed were squished right in the middle, which made things a little interesting during the speeches but  made for some incredible photos and genuine moments to be captured without anyone noticing. 

We decided to save a lot of the couple portraits until the evening to let the light settle down and so Kate and Ed could enjoy the time with their friends and family. Thankfully we were surrounded by miles of awesomeness, so we squeezed our way into a good looking field and boshed out some of my favourite couple portraits to date.

Kate and Ed really know how to throw some shapes. Pretty sure I saw an ape-like mating ritual thrown in for good measure. The dance floor went bananas for the entire night, fuelled by the funky tunes and a few too many of the brown stuff. 

Thanks so much for having us guys, we had an absolute blast. It’s going to be a hard one to top! 

Awesome wedding alert.

I get on really well with all of my wedding clients but every now and again, a couple slips through that seem like they’re only one tiny step removed from being part of my closest friendship group.

After boshing out some of my favourite minimal bridal portraits to date, I whizzed down to Finchdean in Hampshire ahead of Emily to say hello to Dave before it all kicked off. I’ve never photographed a ceremony between three trellis corridors which made things interesting. Thank God I had my friend Dan shooting with me, as I was pretty hemmed in at the front!

The good weather and good vibes were out in full force for Emily and Dave’s wedding, with guests chilling out on the grass and sipping on the drinks that they brought themselves and kept cool in the refrigerated truck. 

After no persuading whatsoever, we drove down the road to catch the last of the light in grounds of St Hubert’s Church—a favourite view from the train window for the London commuters.

What an absolute banger of a wedding. Emily and Dave—you guys did good. 

Dress: Rembo Styling

Band: Skaraman

Oh my days, Yzzy and Daniel’s wedding really was something else. We had just about every weather, men in skirts, impromptu beer pong and not one but three Mr Brightsides.

Started and finished the day at the beautiful Cain Manor on what can only be described as the rainiest morning I’ve experienced in a while. Thankfully it was all timed to perfection, with the clouds clearing and blue sky poking itself out just as we stepped outside for drinks and photos.

Cain Manor is a beautiful venue with plenty of little pockets of awesomeness (can’t exactly go too far wrong with a nice window and a couple as cool as these two to plonk in the middle of it).

And who says you need a live band to have a good time? Some serious shapes were thrown on the dance floor to nothing more than an iPhone and an aux cable. Sure, we did hear Mr Brightside two times more than acceptable but that’s totally okay.

Thanks so much for inviting us along guys! Had an absolute blast photographing you both. 

Venue: Cain Manor

Dress: From Berta Bridal

Cake: Vida Bakery

Florist: Flowers By Eve

Kilts: MacGregor & MacDuff