My Wedding Photography Blog - Chris Giles Photography

West Wittering Beach
Felicity & Alex

Meet Felicity and Alex. this gorgeous couple are getting married this August at Upwaltham Barns in Petworth.

But before then we planned a couples shoot where Alex proposed, which was across the dunes at West Wittering Beach. I love couple shoots, so much so I have one with my wife Laura each time we go away on holiday.

It’s something the brings you closer together, you get great photos at the end of it and you’re warmed up for your imminent wedding day.

We parked up, hit the dunes, the beach huts and the seafront. The tide was out at the time so

15th May 2016 Leave a commentEngagement ShootsBy Chris Giles

Islington Metal Works
Rachel & Chris

Tanks.

One thing I don’t see much of at weddings are Army tanks. Not that’s it’s going to be much of a surprise to anyone really. Can you imagine what it would be like if it became tradition that at the moment of the first kiss Grandma stood up in the turret wearing a lopsided helmet screaming YEE HAW! and firing a rally of missile into the air?

Yeah, it would amazing wouldn’t it?

But if the tanks won’t come to us (without ruining a lawn) then we need to go to them and it leads us to the rather kooky, 100% cool Islington Metal Works in London.

It’s such a Fab place and only 10 minutes from Islington Town Hall which is where Rachel and Chris got married.

Rachel and Chris are Brits living in Australia so it was their wish to come over here and get married with all their friends and family close.

Their ceremony at Islington Town Hall was unlike any other. The rules are no religious presence anywhere which is why you don’t see traditional hymns at a registry office.

This doesn’t mean you can’t take those rules and bend the heck out of them. Queens ‘Don’t stop me now’ and Ben E Kings ‘Stand by me’ aren’t religious so we did indeed have song during the ceremony.

Afterwards we took some photos in the usual spots that Islington offers before heading off via Routemaster to Islington Metal Works.

Islington Metal Works is great because they will decorate it any way you want and everyone is quite sweet there. The freedom and the friendliness they offer you is a win in my book!

After their arrival we took some more photos, the more formal stuff and then went in to dinner where Rachel’s sister sung her speech which was hilarious.

15th May 2016 Leave a commentIslington Metal Works, Islington Town Hall, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Shiplake Church and a Four Hat Tipi Wedding
Keli & Mark

A massive party. That’s how I would sum up Keli and Marks tipi wedding.

They had a gorgeous four hat tipi which was only a couple of minutes away from Shiplake church ( in Henley on Thames ). There were two of us covering their wedding, I was covering Keli’s side and Greg the photographic Ninja was covering Mark’s.

We both had a lot of space to shoot in and there was lots of cool stuff surrounding us. The best wedding car I’ve yet to see, a classic american Thunderbird, blew my mind and as the prep was next to the Tipi it gave me the chance to look inside and imagine the awesomeness that was going to take place later on.

I headed off to the church where Greg was waiting for me and I waited for Keli to arrive. After the ceremony Greg rode shotgun back to the reception with the other guests on a trailer pulled by a tractor!

While this was happening we made a brief detour to the waterside where Mark originally proposed and had some photo time there. We didn’t stay too long, enough to get the photos we needed and not too long their guests would miss them.

From this point the party started, the formalities were over and we could all relax, (other than the speeches but they were handled with ease)!

A Tipi wedding is typically a relaxed and more informal one and dinner was a carvery per table, each with it’s own nominated head carver and as the night drew in their band ‘Tetris’ kept things going until past midnight when we also finished too.

12th May 2016 Leave a commentTipi Weddings, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Southend Barns
Hayley & James

You know how sometimes you’ll go somewhere new and yet feel totally at ease with your surroundings? Well this was the case with me on my first outing to Southend Barns.

I know what it was too. It’s a welcoming space, the ceremony area is so very honest and calming and they have Alpacas out the back.

Alpacas! And cow wallpaper in the loos. I mean c’mon, that’s cool.
So yes, this was my first time here to shoot the wedding of Hayley and James, both are in the airline industry so there were little reminders of this every now and again in the venue with a less subtle bi-plane flyover after the ceremony for us to all enjoy!

One of the beautiful things about Southend Barns is the length of the aisle Hayley walked down. It really felt like a true aisle walk!

It was a beautiful and warm day, not too hot and the sun was sweet to us late in the afternoon. We went over to some cornfields for pictures after dinner before the evening kicked off spectacularly, I didn’t want to leave and stayed until the end.

I’m finding that staying later has it’s benefits with every wedding I shoot. People really let themselves go and I have more time to do some of the more experimental types of photography.

28th March 2016 Leave a commentBarn Weddings, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Lillibrooke Manor
Cecilia & Tom

Here is Cecilia and Tom’s wedding at Lillibrooke Manor, Maidenhead.

Their wedding day had quite a few traditional Chinese touches spread around the venue. Cecilia’s brother put together a cake and sweet table (which looked REALLY good) and one of their friends gave the most slapstick reading of Dr Seuss’s ‘Oh the Places You’ll Go!’ with full on arm movements and tonality – It was a scream to watch.

The day started for me at Cecilia’s parents and then we all made our way to where Tom was waiting at Lillibrooke Manor.

The ceremony Barn was nicely decorated with cartwheels on the walls holding lots of flowers and after the formalities we went outside into the sun for some photos and their drinks reception.

Their invites were based around Penguin Books in design and Cecilia’s love of Festoon lights was clear with how many were decorating the inside of the main barn.

After dinner we scooted off to the adjacent field where there were some poppies growing for a few second stage photos (I like to split the couple shots into two smaller stages across the day) and these worked out really well. The weather and light was kind to us too.

14th February 2016 2 CommentsBarn Weddings, Lillibrooke Manor, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Hampton Court House
Kimberly & Anthony

Here’s Kimberly and Anthony’s Chinese fusion wedding at Hampton Court House in June. It was a super hot and sunny day without a cloud in the sky.

I started off at the Hilton Hotel near Syon Park for prep and followed them through the rest of the day until the end.

I loved their energy, with the grounds at Hampton Court House being particularly nice as a backdrop to their photos. The hut made entirely from shells was a sight to see with the front of house was great to photograph at night.

Their first dance was in the conservatory and it has to be mentioned how pretty the ceremony area was thanks in part to the huge number of flowers.

Here are some more photos from thier awesome day:

25th October 2014 Leave a commentHampton Court House, Houses and Hotels, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

A Church and Yurt Wedding with A Bell Tent Village, Rickshaw…
Laura & Dave

Here is Laura and Dave from late September, a visual treat if ever there was one.

Starting at the family home I found that there was not just a yurt for the evening but an entire village of bell tents for the guests. I’ve never seen anything like it and doubt I will again, at least not for a while anyway!

I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect it to be like this. Part of what I do is to get an impression of what the day will be like in advance of the wedding so I can sleep on what I ‘ve found out and build an image of the day with rough expectations of things to come. This one though, was beyond my imagination.

All the boxes were ticked, gorgeous weather, wonderful family, huge attention to detail with personal handmade touches everywhere.

Laura arrived at Marden church by Rickshaw, (as you do) and after the ceremony we all headed back to Laura’s parents for the reception.

When we got back the Routemaster bus and Rickshaw were used for photos so we could go right in and party. Guests were playing games, using the Space Hoppers and generally enjoying themselves in the time leading up to dinner in the Yurt.

Speeches came first and dinner marked the start of a gradual slope upwards into insanity on the dancefloor.

We took some more photos at sunset and almost lost Laura head first into a ditch after a badly calculated lift but we survived and all that remained was a MASSIVE party.

29th January 2016 Leave a commentTipi Weddings, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Islington Town Hall and St Bart’s Brewery
Amy & Gavin

I love it when people lose the plot on a dancefloor. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t and you never can tell with each individual wedding I go to what’s going to happen.

Sometimes a wedding will have the ‘shuffle shuffle wave’ or the couple will dance like nobody is watching and everyone will jump in too.

Amy and Gavin’s wedding was the latter, it never really stopped from the first dance through until close!

Their wedding ceremony was as Islington Town Hall with their reception held at a favourite of mine, St Barts Brewery over in Smithfield.

It was November, a bit chilly, definitely windy but crisp and the sun kept saying hi! every now and again.

16th January 2016 1 CommentIslington Town Hall, London Wedding Photography, St Barts Brewery, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Hexton Manor
Kelly & Dan

Here we go, Kelly and Dan’s wedding at Hexton Manor.

Now you guys won’t know this so I’ll let you know now. Before every keystroke I’m in a constant battle between what I’d like to say to you, the reader and what I’d really like to say about my experience on the day. At some point there’s a battle of words in the air and something gets written down in front of me.

But personally, I loved these two. Dan, aka ‘Dj Dan Van Damage’ and Kelly are two people that if I could, I’d keep them in miniature and carry them around with me at all times.

They just love each other, completely and utterly and our friendship started off a few weeks prior during their pre wedding shoot. We just hit it off right away, they were completely open and I always knew where I was with them. Love them to bits.

Lots of things happened today, Kelly got ready at the Live and Let Die pub in Pegsdon (Nice place, recommended) and then we headed off just down the road to Hexton Manor.

Hexton Manor is a lovely country house, it’s secluded and quite kooky inside. Kelly had hoped that they could have their ceremony outside but at the very last minute it started to rain and we moved inside which was just as nice.

We still got to take photos inside and out even in the rain. Hexton Manor lends itself to being an all weather venue and they have an 8ft stuffed bear you can use too. In fact screw it, it’s a great venue for photos because you can go pretty much anywhere on the first floor to do so. I’ve shot in some country houses and you can’t always go everywhere so it’s a big plus.

Their main reception was in the marquee across from the manor and we continued the rest of the day there until close. Some of Darren’s friends were heavily into cars so we were graced with a Lambo which was a nice touch.

10th January 2016 5 CommentsHouses and Hotels, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

The House Meadow
Charlotte & Sebastian

It just doesn’t want to stop raining does it? (Happy new year by the way), it’s total freakish weather right now and it all feels a bit angry out there.

So, let’s glance back at July when it was much nicer and we can drift into Charlotte and Sebastian’s wedding at The House Meadow in Biddenden.

Their wedding was a totally relaxed one with horseshoe throwing, a Coconut shy, swingball (YES!) and various other distractions for everyone to take part in.

I started the day at theirs with everyone getting ready and then headed off to the House Meadow there Sebastian was waiting. Once arrived the girls walked from the Horseshoe Barn past the meadow and up to the Gazebo where the ceremony took place.

I loved the seating arrangement here for some reason (see pics) maybe because it was different to most weddings or that it filled the frame well for photos but after the ceremony we walked over to the trees by the lake for popcorn and Pimms.

With dinner in the main barn Charlotte’s fondness of Tea showed in the vintage crockery and I did my best to make sure Sebastian’s love of Lego featured somewhere too.

Dinner was a lot like an open picnic on each table where everyone helped themselves and it was just, well, lovely really. You felt cosy, comfortable and welcome here.

4th January 2016 Leave a commentBarn Weddings, House Meadow, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles