Dorset Wedding Photographer Phillip Allen

I have a great fondness for the Isle of Purbeck, regardless of the fact that it is not technically an island; it’s a peninsula of the Dorset coastline though with a local flavour all of its own that differentiates it markedly from its parent county. Kataya’s fondness for the locale is irrefutable, her having been raised there, and when she brought Richard to visit a lasting enchantment with its environs was equally guaranteed. They married at St. Nicholas Church and marked the occasion at the nearby Studland Bay House that in turn formed the base for a weekend of celebrations.

In four years of photographing weddings it has been rarely that I’ve found myself at the same location a second time round, two weddings at Milton Abbey in Dorset and a further two combining Poole Guildhall with the nearby Hotel du Vin constituting two of a total of three locations that I have thus far returned to again. This was my third wedding that combined St. Nicholas Church with Studland Bay House, which marks it as something of a personal record making occasion. There are no end of venues that I would be very happy to visit again for a wedding day but first and certainly foremost it’s about the people and I’ll follow them wherever they might choose to go. Maybe there’s something about Studland though that attracts a certain type of person to marry there (aside from the fact that in all three cases to date, one party to the marriage grew up on Purbeck) and this gels with my love of the area, how that stems from my outlook on life and in turn how that outlook is at the core of how I unconsciously choose to photograph things.

Whatever the case may be, once more I found myself immersed in a wedding day that was again laid back in temperament yet highly energetic in its manifestation, deeply personalised whilst still embracing the comfort and enjoyment of its guests and with people at the heart of it all that were a genuine pleasure to work with. Kataya & Richard were a delight to be around, calm and calming characters with a penchant for fun combined with a disposition to care for those surrounding them. Those attributes combined with the potency of setting foot on Purbeck again made for a fantastically enjoyable day out for yours truly. View full post »

Perhaps confusingly, considering the title of this post, this is not Richard & Kataya. They asked if I might take a photograph of the two of them together and I’m always very happy to oblige, when asked. I thought it might prove handy at some future point were I to leave it there with my business name alongside, just in case for any reason my services might be required. That may sound awfully presumptuous of me so I hasten to add that direct marketing is not my modus operandi; presumptuousness not in my nature.

Umm…

Kataya & Richard…