My Wedding Photography Blog - Chris Giles Photography

Winkworth Farm Wedding
Hannah and Joe

Winkworth Farm

Winkworth Farm in Wiltshire played host to Hannah and Joe’s wedding in early June.

This was very vintage and boho in style with lots of personal touches everywhere.

Hannah and Joe made copious amounts of beautiful bunting and had stunning wildflowers on all the tables which complemented the ring of flowers worn in the hair of Hannah and her bridesmaids.

The farm is an all in one venue which has a courtyard barn for overnight stays and bridal preperations. The ceremony can be held in either the garden (as it was in this case) or in the main building if the weather is a bit erm…British.

Winkworth Farm Wedding During the ceremony there was a reading of ‘Oh the Places You’ll Go’ by Dr Seuss…which is an awesome thing to have, a great reading.

Afterwards we went to the lawn and gardens for Pimms and photos followed by the wedding breakfast.

I also brought the photo booth for the time between the end of the speeches and first dance which went down really well.

There was the unexpected consequence of sword fights between the younger members taking place behind me though!

Winkworth Farm Wedding Altogether it was a fantastic day. There were lots of great places to go to for photos and the Farm is very well run.

2nd July 2012Barn Weddings, Wedding Photography, Winkworth FarmBy Chris Giles

The Barn at Bury Court
Naomi & Chris

The Barn at Bury Court – Naomi and Chris’s Summertime Wedding

For regular readers of the blog you may recognize Naomi as one of the bridesmaids at Jennifer and Stevens wedding at Nonsuch Mansion last year. It’s a great compliment to be asked to photograph their wedding too!

Naomi and Chris’s wedding was mid May, just as the yellow fields were blooming and the heatwave was about to hit us with such force. Naomi and the girls chose Greywell House Hotel Dorking to get ready in. It’s a wonderful place to stay with lovely grounds and decor. It’s full of personal touches everywhere.

During prep Becky Sargeant from Beauty Call was the make up artist and did a fine job, with Naomi’s dress being from Alfred Angelo.

Chris also had a surprise for Naomi in the form of a necklace from Tiffany and Co!

Once we were finished I headed off to St Pauls Church in Dorking, (10 minutes away) which is a relatively new church with some features at the back which suggest it’s much older than it really is!

Naomi walked down the aisle to a piece of music her brother composed and it was the most beautiful, personal piece I’ve ever heard for this type of setting.

The ceremony was lovely and after the photos / confetti outside we made out way to The Barn at Bury Court in Farnham.

The Barn at Bury Court is easy to find with a Sat Nav and at this time of year involved driving through some LOVELY yellow fields of which I made a note for later on.

Now, a little warning about the photos in the yellow fields. This is Rapeseed and the yellow pollen comes off easily. If you want to have some shots in somewhere like this find the tractor tracks and stand amongst them.

Please don’t turn into Julie Andrews and go running into them as in the Sound of Music style because your dress will be ruined. You’ve been warned! x

The grounds in which the barn is situated are spectacular with well tended gardens and great views. The weather was a little spotty so umbrellas were handy to have nearby but hardly used other than in photos!

I had no problems at all working in there and I had lots of space to move around.

During the reception Naomi and Chris chose to have Bob Hooper, a Spanish Guitarist play via an amp for background music and we then vanished off with Owen from Vantastic who kindly offered to stay a little over time to drive us to those yellow fields in his VW Camper…. and I’m so glad we did.

Afterwards I freelanced, there were the speeches and first dance. The band that Naomi and Chris chose were called Rollercoaster who did an excellent job.

23rd June 2012Barn at Bury Court, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

An Engagement Shoot to Blow you Away – Literally
Jane & James

WOOOSH!

That’s how windy it was during Jane and James’s engagement shoot last Friday. Windy. Like. You. Wouldn’t. Believe.

But hey, we won’t allow that to interfere with things too much shall we?

All joking aside though, maybe the pier wasn’t the best place to be on a windy day. But, due to the unpredictable weather we’ve had delaying the shoot Jane and James might of been married by the time it took place. So we went for it anyway….and it paid off.

We started off on the pier itself and soon decided which side of the pier to shoot on because of the weather. We walked along the length of Brighton Pier stopping occasionally for photos. Some places were a good idea, others not. The light was unpredictable but it was always interesting.

Halfway along the pier we stopped at the milk cans and the nice chap there allowed me to hop over to record James throwing a few balls at the target, then we went to the arcade for a bit, heading off to the beach after.

15th June 2012Engagement ShootsBy Chris Giles

An Outdoor Wedding at Buxted Park Hotel
Elissa & Luke

Buxted Park Hotel Outdoor Wedding

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be the Wedding Photographer at Elissa and Luke’s wedding at the Buxted Park Hotel in Uckfield. I was also lucky enough to be present at their first outdoor ceremony and the weather couldn’t of been better for it. The only cloud in the sky was miles off!

This was a day filled with love and laughter from a couple totally at one with each other.

This wedding was full of firsts for me, other than the first outdoor wedding at Buxted, we had an ice cream man (Matt Benecci) and a Lionel Richie Tribute (Moni Tivony).

All of which were awesome.

This was an all day wedding for me, usually I cover the prep upstairs in the bridal suite but this time I was downstairs in Academy Room 1. Photographically wise both are great. With the Academy Room I could shoot from outside through a window and also walk straight out onto the lawn for the detailed shots of things like the shoes:

Elissa’s chief Bridesmaid Yasmin Fakhrhosseini did the bridal hair and makeup with Elaine from Hall Hair Design for the Bridesmaids. The ceremony was beautiful with a couple of readings. Ian from Disco Fever provided the music during the ceremony, the background during the wedding breakfast and was the dj for the evening.

Luke and Elissa had laid on a close up magician Matt Wainwright who did an awesome job wowing the guests.

Elissa chose to have different coloured bridesmaids dresses from Ebony Rose which looked stunning and her dress was from Mia Mia Bridal.

Pollen did a wonderful job as always with their flowers, they just consistently deliver a high standard, always.

Other things, well we had some fun and games with Luke and the boys and also took advantage of the different light in the evening with some shots of Elissa and Luke with their daughter:

It was great to be there at Buxted Park and I felt really lucky to be a part of their day.

8th June 2012Buxted Park, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

A Firle Place Wedding with Wedding Olympics
Ruth & Matt

Firle Place

The Firle Estate near Lewes was the destination for Ruth and Matt on their wedding day this May.

Firle itself is a small town complete with church and a large estate all within cosy distance of each other.

Ruth and Matt used the stables for their wedding reception and 250 guests…this was a big military wedding with an elegant theme throughout.

The whole day went off without a hitch and the weather was exceptionally good to us. After the ceremony Ruth was place in a wheelbarrow and wheeled away from the church but the barrow had a flat and so the solution was for Matt to call on his Navy friends to carry Ruth instead!

The wedding reception followed on the grounds of Firle Place…which are huge.

Loads of places for photos are available here, weeping willows, long grasses and a croquet lawn to entertain guests with and everything is in one place (the guests arrived by a double decker bus).

After dinner things went off the track a little if I’m honest… we had a Wedding Sports day!

There was three games in total. The first being where 4 or 5 victims, ah, volunteers had to hold a pole to their chins, look at the top of the pole and spin around for ten seconds and run towards a tree.

Bearing in mind by this point there’d been the reception drinks, wine during the wedding breakfast and then the toasting during the speeches and well…

Next up was an egg and spoon race.

Lastly a competition where groups of two had to balance an apple between their foreheads and do various steps and jumps on command without losing their apple.

4th June 2012Firle Place, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Grittenham Barn
Georgia & David

Grittenham Barn

Is it me, or does this years weather seem to be, well, as it should be? April showers, then with May being a bit bleurgh with June hopefully turning out warm as Summer should do?

Who knows, just thought it was worth mentioning but I digress. You’re not here to read ramblings like this but more to read up on the latest weddings taking place here at CGP Towers.

So here we are, hello and welcome to Georgia and Dave’s pretty awesome wedding at Grittenham Barn, Tillington.

I started off at Coco’s Hair Salon in Billingshurst for a few snaps of Georgia having her hair styled and I then shot off to the family home for the other bits and pieces, small details and prep shots leading up to the main part of the day.

Georgia had a lovely light Grey dress from Marylise – take note, this colour looks really classy and really set off her hair colour and makeup.

The wedding car was a bit wow if I’m honest. Being a fan of the Vintage musclecars it was great to see a blue 1975 Oldsmobile convertible turn up to escort Georgia to Grittenham Barn.

This car was from Kentucky Cars (www.kentuckycars.co.uk) – it’s the first wedding I’ve seen a car like this, as in an American Classic….and I do lots of weddings.

On arrival at Grittenham Barn Angelique from Angel Like Flowers (www.angellikeflowers.com) was there to greet me with several bouquets. She had dressed the whole of the barn and reception area too.

The ceremony was lovely, there were a couple of readings, we threw some confetti and did some formals. For the smaller groups were went inside for those.

29th May 2012Grittenham Barn, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

A Slightly Unorthodox Greek Orthodox Wedding
Paula & Harry

I photograph a lot of weddings, lots…. but every now and again something a bit off the wall, a bit new, a little…unusual comes along…meet Paula and Harry.

Now quite honestly I don’t know where to begin but one thing I’m sure of is I won’t forget this one in a hurry!

Harry knew Paula was going to dye her hair for the wedding but he wasn’t aware which colour but Pink was the theme. There was a Pink Porsche Carrera as a wedding car too and Paula hand made all the bouquets.

1st April 2012Greek Weddings, London Wedding Photography, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Bassmead Manor Barn
Kate & Andy

September the 17th last year was the wonderful wedding of Kate and Andy in Cambridge.

This was an all day event for me, starting at the home of Kate’s parents and then moving onto The Registry office in Ely (The Old School House in Market Street).

Since booking me they found out that they were expecting!

Because of this Kate wore flat shoes and she said they might not be worth using for photos as they were a bit boring,…. sure thing…..

The weather on the day was really changeable, that sunny but ‘could really chuck it down any time’ sort of weather!

4th February 2012Barn Weddings, Bassmead Manor Barn, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

Shoreditch House Wedding Photography
Claire & Jeff

This was my first time at Shoreditch House in London and I was there to cover the wedding of Claire and Jeff from LA.

Most of my enquiries come from the UK but Jeff is a Columnist, Journalist and Author based in Los Angeles so it was great to know my work has that kind of reach!

The date of the wedding was the 30th of December, early in the evening. It was challenging to work so late in the dark but …. I’m ready.

For weddings the level is split into two rooms. The Biscuit Pin and Biscuit Tin. The former being a two lane bowling alley with a bar attached and the latter being the main area for the ceremony, dinner, speeches and dancing. This also has a large bar inside.

There is hidden value in the surroundings here. You’ll find a wealth of artistic Graffiti on the outside of the building and up the street… it’s everywhere.

Shoreditch House is a great venue, they even have a pool on the roof with a view of the London Skyline (members only). It’s very chic and oozes class. When I was there is was really well run, everyone was attentive and polite and really made an effort with the guests. There is parking all around and for those that want to use their sat nav, the Shoreditch House postcode is E1 6AW.

28th January 2012London Wedding Photography, Shoreditch House, Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles

The Wharf Teddington
Jo & Gary

Jo and Gary:

We’re heading back to June for Jo and Gary’s wedding which consisted of Richmond Registry Office and The Wharf Teddington. There were lots of vintage touches throughout the day starting with Jo’s dress which was a short 1950’s inspired number.

In the registry office the registrar was an almost spitting image of Len Goodman and he sounded the same too, which was a giggle.

After the ceremony we all headed off to the Wharf Restaurant in Teddington. This is a lovely venue, really well laid out, professionally run and decorated. Before the actual reception itself there was a bit of a picnic in the field next door where some friends had raised bunting and put on a spread of nibbles and champers, we also took a lot of the group shots and more detailed formal photos there.

After the picnic the reception began upstairs in the Wharf restaurant. The cake lady, ‘Cakes by Sugar’ had made a beautiful cake and lots of smaller cupcakes decorating an entire table in a vintage look.

The vintage theme continued throughout with the table decorations, flowers and small details:

26th December 2011Wedding PhotographyBy Chris Giles