Kath & Ian are a cool couple. By that I don’t mean cool, hip and trendy (though by virtue of the type of cooolness I’m referring to I dare say they are all of that, in a way that doesn’t shout out loud but talks softly). Still waters run deep.
Here’s an example of what I do mean. Perhaps the perfect example. They’re off on honeymoon and they’re flying in to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, as an entry point to five weeks in South East Asia.
All they’ve booked is the flights.
No, they’re not disorganised.
Cool, calm and collected they very much are.
Their wedding day started off at Goodlake Barns in the village of Shellingford, Oxfordshire. Kath & Ian, their families, wedding party and various partners, a party of 20 in total, took over a number of units for a period of three nights and what a fantastic place it was too. Beautifully appointed with heaps of space to spread out (and the price per head was preposterously inexpensive to boot!) Their proximity allowed me ample opportunity to document both the bridal preparations and those of the groom, a few hours in the former case and a few minutes in the latter.
2010 seems to be shaping up to be the year of the calm bridal prep.
Kath. Calm. Collected.
Seeking some extremes of activity to warm up my shutter finger for the day, I headed across the courtyard to check out the Best Men's cottage. I found ... calm. Andy, one of Ian's Best Men. A pillar of strength. The voices in my keyboard have started again.
Not the type of image I'd normally choose to blog but it's the type of face I love. Strong. Clean lines. Expressive. I could wax lyrical about Helvetica all day long. Martin, Ian's other Best Man, clearly has good taste in typography. Seems Ian's following suit too.
Flower Girl the Elder.
At last, drama! But never fear, Flower Girl the Junior is also a qualified engine mechanic.
Make-up artist Laura from Eye Kandi. The Red Adair of oven rescue. All part of the service.
When Best Man Andy burst in pleading for hairspray I knew it was all systems go on the groom's preps so over to Ian's annex I headed...
... where mayhem aboun... I found calm. A dash of concentration though!
Poor, calm, collected Kath had been watching all around her eat Pizza as she had her make-up and hair done but a member of the bridal party came to the rescue before she faded into utter... calmness. I typically make it a point to not photograph people whilst they're eating but my shutter finger slipped - no really, it did - and I found the result really quite dainty, quite delicate, an advert for the beauty of eating one might say. Especially when hungry. And surrounded by food.
I feel a wedding coming on!
Proud Dad. Ecstatic Flower Girl the Elder. Calm Kath.
“We fell in love with Friars Court the first time we saw it.” Kath & Ian’s introduction to the ceremony venue in their wedding invitation gets to the heart of what’s special about the place really.
On arrival at Friars Court I joined up with exquisitely talented yet painfully modest Brighton, Sussex and UK wide wedding photographer Simon Fazackarley (with an up-sized tumbler of Google juice as I’m sure there’s a niche market out there looking for exquisitely talented yet painfully modest photographers). Mister F as he’s not wont to be known but will be for the purposes of this feature had travelled up for the day, from Brighton as you may have guessed, to join me as second shooter (as we describe such roles in the Wedding Photography Corp; Semper Fi!) but in practice we took on a perfectly balanced lead role as his flair for details and editorial, not to mention his flair for flare, melded perfectly with my personal love of reportage.
Anyway, enough of our working relationship and back to the most significant relationship in this story…
{Above : Mister F}
{Above : Mister F}
Kath's sister and Matron of Honour Claire delivers a touching address.
{Above : Mister F}
And into the bush Kath & Ian venture. To marry in the UK, the law requires that the legal aspect of the ceremony takes place under a permanent roof. A cheeky little (permanent) roof built into a shrubbery will do nicely.
{Above : Mister F}
{Top : Mister P | Above : Mister F}
{Above : Mister F}
{Mister P Left : Right Mister F}
{Above : Mister F}
{Mister P Left | Right Mister F}
{Mister P Left | Right Mister F}
{Above : Mister F}
Firmly wedging oneself into an upper storey window frame is a crowd pleaser every time {Mister F : the above image, not the window frame wedging}
{Above : Mister F}
"If your surname starts with any letter from A to M stand to the left; my left or your left, doesn't matter. If your surname's changed recently move one step in the other direction, whichever the former direction was." My new system for posing group photographs seems to be working really well.
{Above : Mister F} Camera shy. Not! :~)
Kath's Bridesmaid Joli. My assigned group wrangler. Responsible for a personal record time in completing the group photographs and allowing celebrations to continue unhindered by posing duties.
{Above : Mister F} "Insufficient Vertical" (not the composition; it'll make sense to someone :~)
{Above : Mister F} The Wedding Breakfast can't come soon enough for some.
Mister F headed off to the Stone Barn to document the Wedding Breakfast details. Kath's fantastic design skills show through in the hand made place names with a graphic theme that extended through the save the date cards, invitations and order of service. All stitched together with a sewing machine too.
Meanwhile I set about documenting people looking happy, people looking beautiful, people pretending they hadn't spotted me, or not as the case may be...
... and occasionally stepping on people's toes.
Amusing and tortuous in equal measure (the pangs of culinary desire were almost more than I could bear). As the clocks on our cameras were synchronised in order to maintain a consistent time-line when editing the day's images, as I worked through my portrayals of people mingling during cocktails, Mister F's gorgeous representations of food which he'd been creating at the same time kept leaping out of the mix and psychosomatically assaulting my taste buds.
{Above : Mister F} Music. Very important to Kath & Ian. Each guest received a copy of their wedding mix.
One Flew Over the Receiving Line
{Above : Mister F}
{Above : Mister F} One wall of the Stone Barn was dominated by an array of photographs that Kath & Ian had printed out and pegged to lines, images of their times and travels together, with each other, with friends and with family. I found this display especially heart warming, knowing a couple value photographs so highly as memories of special times and special people.
{Above : Mister F}
Kath's Dad commences the speeches with a hypnotic oration.
{Mister F Left | Right Mister P} Hear no... See no... But someone's definitely speaking...
... nothing evil but in the modern parlance, a wicked speech {Mister P Left | Right Mister F}
{Mister P Left | Right Mister F} It transpired that Ian was something of an orator himself. A marvellously crafted speech delivered beautifully.
Kath lobs a monkey at Ian in appreciation of his fine words. An Oxfordshire wedding tradition. Apparently.
Best Men Andy & Martin decide it's time to give the barn walls a lick of paint, or to paint it with light indeed...
... in a presentation entitled 'The Evolution of Ma.. The Evolution of Ian'.
{Above : Mister F}
At the end of their speech Andy and Martin, Martin+Andy rather, presented Kath & Ian with a framed memento of their deep abiding friendship with the couple. It was genuinely flattering to see my work used in so meaningful a manner and I've instructed my solicitor to include a note of my appreciation with the other paperwork being sent to them :~)
{Above : Mister F}
After the peeling of the cakes we took Kath & Ian off for a quick pre-sunset portrait shoot around the grounds.
{Above : Mister F}
{Above : Mister F}
{Mister F Left | Mister Centre P | Right Mister F}
I love how friends and family always slowly surround the Bride and Groom as the first dance concludes. It's very much a wedding tradition in its own right but it always occurs spontaneously, not because it's one of those things that's a done thing. It's natural gravity taking effect and I find it beautiful.
A parting message for Kath & Ian, in the form of dance :~)
Congratulations Missus K and Mister I :~)
If you were a guest at the wedding, a family member or friend and you’d like to see the full gallery once it’s in place do feel free to leave a message in the Comment box below and I’ll contact you with directions as soon as it’s ready.
Check out all of the following. I wouldn’t note them here if I didn’t feel they have something really special to offer, and it was a consistent theme of Kath & Ian’s wedding that they wouldn’t have selected them either were they not just perfect!
- Accommodation: Goodlake Barns
- Make-up: EyeKandi
- Hair: Samantha Edwards
- Venue: Friars Court
- Flowers: Green and Gorgeous
- Catering: Sadlers Catering (big thanks to them for looking after Simon and I so well during our break!)
- And not that one gets to choose one’s registrars when getting married but a note of appreciation for Ann and Sue. When other’s associated with the backstage running of the wedding asked who the registrars were I’d dig out my notes and say, “Ann and Sue, according to my notes.” Each time, the immediate reaction was, “Oh brilliant!” They lived up to their reputation :~)
Contact Bournemouth wedding photographer Phillip Allen : phill@misterphill.com : 07870 696248
by Phillip Allen
show hide 9 comments
Lisa Fellows - So many emotions captured in one blog post, stunning work Phill. I think your and ‘MrF’s’ styles complement each other’s perfectly.
greg thurtle - Wow! some awesome images there – you’ve captured not only the whole day but the spirit and emotion too! fabulous stuff!
John Parker - Another amazing series of shots. :-)
Tony Good - The next volume in your wedding storytales…..
Expectation fully satisfied, I can now carry on with my day imbued with a feeling of happiness and joy. Your double act with Mister F clearly in sync producing a beautiful set of images, excellent work yet again Phill!
Sue Roberts - Hi Phill,
Your photos are amazing! You have captured the spirit of the day really well. And we enjoyed your company too!
Please let me know when the full gallery is ready.
Best wishes,
Sue and Peter
Kate - Brilliant. Just brilliant. What an awesome job, love the two styles merging, and it looked like a super wedding. :)
Alan Hutchison - Awesome wedding. Awesome Pictures. Awesome writing. Awesome b*gger’s nicked me beer….
Stunning stuff Phillip – always inspiring.
Phillip Allen - Thanks one and all for your kind comments. Particular thanks Sue to you and your family for taking such an interest in my welfare during the day. The lunch-time pizza was delicious :~)
Stephen Dewar - Hi Phill,
Unfortunately we couldn’t make the journey from HK, but these are truly brilliant pictures and a marvelous day. Please do let us know when the full gallery available.
Kind Regards,
Stephen and Luisa