10 Castle Street is soon becoming one of my favourite wedding venues in Dorset. There’s just something about this place that feels a bit special, and it just so happens that two of my favourite weddings ever have been here.

We started and ended the day at the venue, with Jaye getting ready up in one of the rooms and Christopher already suited and booted by the time I arrived and keeping himself busy ensuring everything’s ready to go.

In classic English form, the weather was all over the place. It absolutely poured with rain until 5 minutes before the ceremony started in the avenue of trees, and then the sun popped out and stayed out. The universe must have wanted everyone to sweat a little this day.

Jaye looked the nuts in her dress by Couture Tailoring of Downton & Downton Brides Couture Bridalwear. There’s just something about a blusher wedding veil, they should make a comeback. Christopher looked pretty bloomin’ smart too.

Pampelmousse did an incredible job with the flowers. And by incredible I mean, have you seen this?! Honestly, one of the most amazing looking aisles and dining rooms I’ve seen at a wedding. The food was also predictably delicious by Little Kitchen Company.

Perks of a mid-summer wedding is that you have oodles of time for photos. So we headed off a couple of times through the day and evening for a breather and to take a few photos. 10 Castle Street has some fantastic grounds to explore when it’s sunny, and some proper funky interiors when it’s not so sunny. Perfect setup really. I enjoy shooting inside during the middle of the day and then heading out later on when the light has softened and to capture that beautiful golden hour.

We finished the night with a pretty crazy dance floor full of tears and general mayhem. Jaye and Christopher opted for the indoor option for their wedding instead of the marquee, which is a really beautiful space and great for slightly smaller weddings.

All in? One of my highlights of the season. These two have such an infectious personality and the day was a complete whirlwind of tastiness. 

Oh my days, this is something a little special. I honestly had no idea what to expect from Charlotte and Werner’s intimate forest elopement. It was shrouded in secrecy and impulse going in, so I simply turned up ready for just about anything. And this is exactly what happened.

I knew it would be good when I had a phone call from Charlotte in the morning of their wedding with a complete change of location and entire change of plan. 

We kicked things off at Forest Yurts, a glamping site on the edge of the New Forest. Charlotte was getting ready in one of the yurts while Werner was struggling to put his shoes on while sat in his car. 

Along with Charlotte’s best friend, the four of us then went on a sighting lap around the lake to find the best spot for their religious ceremony, of which we chose a small clearing right on the lakeside. 

The ceremony was so special, proper intimate and full of beautiful little moments. While everyone was getting a quick drink and snack after the ceremony, we went off for photos which unintentionally turned into an absolutely epic session which included taking a small makeshift ferry across a lake.

Then it was time for part 2, the hand-fasting ceremony in the forest itself. Charlotte and Werner had a very specific and very special tree to hold the ceremony by. The weather wasn’t on our side at this point, with some quite pathetic rain and dense cloud cover. Not to be dissuaded, we soldiered on with umbrellas in hand.

I’ve never considered myself to be a religious person, but what happened next made the hairs on my neck stand up as the sun beamed through the trees and lit up the forest during the invocation of the four directions. This gorgeous light held through the entire hand fasting ceremony, and then just as quickly as it begun, the sun disappeared at the exact moment they tied the knot. 

Incredible.

We finished things off with a couple of quick family photos and a 5 minute dash to catch the last of the light by Werner’s favourite trees in the giant sequoias along Rhinefield Ornamental Drive. 

Banger alert. 

I feel like I spend half my life in Italy, but oddly this was the first time I had travelled to Sicily and hopefully not the last. What a beautiful place! Decided to stick around for a whole week to take it all in and see the sights either side of Claire and Chris’ stunner of a wedding at La Chiusa Country House. 

The day started at IUTA Farm outside of Noto where Claire was getting ready. This also happened to be where the pool party was the next day, where I captured some pretty sore looking heads. More of that to come.

I then whizzed off down to the venue to capture the setup, say hello to Chris and begin photographing guests arriving. There’s something just a little bit special about destination weddings. Everyone’s in a different kind of mood, there’s so much more of a holiday vibe about it. The spirits were seriously high this day, and the energy was contagious.

Unfortunately it was pretty damn windy, which meant that the drapes above the ceremony were not playing ball. But this did not deter Valentina at L’Amuri and we quickly switched to plan B. 

Chris’ sister and best man performed beautifully during the ceremony, and the ceremony itself was conducted by a very close friend. I find this makes so much difference and adds huge amount of intimacy about any wedding.

After the ceremony, it was food and wine o’clock in the late afternoon light. The temperature had dropped and it was a beautiful afternoon in such a stunning location.

We headed off for a quick few photos before we lost the light, catching a gorgeous sunset and taking advantage of the interesting balance of modern and traditional architecture that La Chiusa has to offer.

The speeches were on a whole other level. I hear a lot of wedding speeches, and I’ll be the first to admit that some are better than others. These were right up there with the best. And they were a perfect segue from dinner to the dance floor, where friends and colleagues were on the decks late into the night busting out tunes left right and centre.

The next day, it was back to IUTA Farm feeling a little worse for wear. But that was nothing a few Aperol’s couldn’t sort out.

Groom’s Suit: Lane Forty Five

Flowers: Cut Flowers London

MUA: Rhea Le Riche

Hair: Louis Byrne

Rockbeare Manor is quickly becoming one of my favourite venues in the South West. It has it all—a spectacular view, stunning architecture, a beautiful ceremony space, plenty of little photography spots and a great team running it.

There’s something about winter weddings that feel a little bit special, and Hannah and Rob’s wedding is absolutely no exception. We started things at The Pig At Combe, which is an absolute corker of a place to get ready, spoilt for choice with portrait options. Once Hannah slipped into a beautiful Vera Wang number, it was off to Rockbeare Manor for the ceremony where Rob was doing his rounds. 

The nerves were obviously apparent, but they soon subsided once Hannah entered the room. Not a dry eye in sight. 

The sun popped out just at the right time as we headed out for photos with the car and the venue. Before their wedding, Hannah made it clear that they didn’t want any photos that were too ‘weddingy,’ so we made a bee line for the bar to get what has ended up becoming a classic image. So much so that the team at Rockbeare Manor have even had it printed and displayed at the venue.

As the sun set, the drinks came out in full force. Nervous Rob no more, not sure what came over him but the entire room was his. Lo-Fi Band had the crowd going and we were throwing shapes into the wee hours. 

Shall we do that again?

Venue: Rockbeare Manor

Dress: Vera Wang

Flowers: Lucy Florist Design Flowers

Band: Lo-Fi Band

String Quartet: Bristol String Quartet

Cake: Homemade

See, I wasn’t lying about needing to move to Norfolk. 

I think it’s safe to say that Courtney and Cam’s wedding at Waxham Barn is the epitome of good vibes. Honestly one of the most enjoyable days I’ve had in a long time and real highlight of the season for me.

A rare occasion where I went straight to the venue instead of any photos of the bride getting ready, so I instead said hello to Cam and just set the scene and started capturing the moments as guests slowly arrived. 

The ceremony was absolutely kitted out in beautiful flowers and drapes from the rafters. So tastefully done and an incredible backdrop that I couldn’t stop using for photos during the day, as it honestly felt rude not to. Smoke & Wildwood and Array Events had no right to go this hard. 

The ceremony was very special, there’s something about having a celebrant or close friends that just adds a little bit of extra seasoning. It’s so personalised and emotional, pretty sure everyone was set off at some point during the ceremony.

If there was any doubt that this woudl be a good day, it disappeared the moment Courtney and Cam walked back down the aisle to The Darkness. Who doesn’t love a little noughties cheesy rock. 

Dinner was a help-yourself buffet, which I’m a big fan of and really allows everyone to properly mingle. There wasn’t even much of a table plan, with plenty of guests enjoying a bit of sun outside with their dinner and others inside on the beautifully decorated table rows.

After dinner and speeches, we walked 5 minutes down the road to the beach to capture some photos and give Courtney and Cam a much needed breather. Although that breather was short live as I sent them wandering here, there and everywhere through the dense grass and sand dunes for some incredible cinematic moments.

As the sun set, the music came on and the dance floor lit up. Some serious shapes were being thrown this night, I didn’t even know where to point my camera half the time.

What an absolute blast of a day, and also a double wedding weekender.