A couple of weeks ago we headed back to The Lord Bute Hotel and Restaurant and Highcliffe Castle for the wedding of Sarah and James. The two venues are so close to each other you can jog between the two, and they compliment each other perfectly. The bridal suite room at The Lord Bute is so spacious - perfect for lots of girls gathering round to have their make-up done ahead of a wedding. There’s a hint of “Motel” here and I love the fact that you get your own front door so a wedding car can pick you up from your little house rather than having to hang around in a hotel lobby.

The weather was a little bit dingy first thing, but what better way to bring a little light and sparkle to the day than being handed over a pair of glittery Jimmy Choos to photograph?

Champagne bottles are scary!

Sarah got a lovely pair of surprise earrings as a gift from James.

Meanwhile, Ian met up with the boys and the guests arriving at Highcliffe Castle whilst Sarah finished her final preps and revealed to her Dad he’d have to do a special, choreographed walk down the aisle. Priceless.

I’m getting quite good at taking photos over my shoulder without looking. I wish they’d invent bridal cars with swivel front seats.

I’d just like to point out those tripods and microphone aren’t ours

Shortly after the ceremony everyone made their way around the corner to the Lord Bute for the drinks reception. Love the icing bow on this wedding cake - it’s so pretty.

The Lord Bute has a very beautiful conservatory and terrace along with an exceptionally helpful and organised wedding co-ordinator, Chris.

I think there were a few tall tales being told in the Best Man’s Speech. All good fun though.

After a day of drizzle and cloud it miraculously cleared up just in time for us to head back over to Highcliffe beach to take a few late afternoon portraits of Sarah and James on the beach.

Posted with thanks and congratulations to Sarah and James x

Yesterday, we woke to that dreaded sound of the rain pattering on the window. Sarah and James’ wedding ceremony was held at Highcliffe Castle in Dorset, followed by a reception at the Lord Bute Hotel & Restaurant. Luckily, things brightened up just in time for our trip down to the beach.

See Sarah & James’s wedding at Highcliffe Castle, the New Forest in full here

While summer still remains the most popular season for weddings, there’s always quite something special about ceremonies that take place in the Winter – especially if it’s nearing Christmas time. With champagne ditched for mulled wine and plenty of fun to be had with decorations and details there’s definitely a different feel to a wedding shoot in December.

Emily and Martin chose to have their wedding ceremony at Highcliffe Castle in Christchurch, Dorset with their reception taking place at the Hallmark Hotel in Bournemouth.

The month leading up to the wedding was dire weather-wise, really dire, so it was a pleasant surprise to open our curtains to brilliant blue skies. The sun really helped set Emily’s golden wedding dress sparkling too.

Highcliffe Castle had quite minimal Christmas decorations but there was a tree in the back of the ceremony room which proved to be a useful prop for the rings.

Groom, Martin didn’t know Emily had hired a Lamborghini for him to travel to the wedding venue in, but we did! There was something quite rock and roll about hearing it throw up the gravel in the castle grounds.

Emily also arrived in style in a cream Buick.

I was impressed she was able to show off the dress without a wrap or a shrug. It was flippin’ freezing!

The ceremony room at Highcliffe Castle is like a big gazebo. That meant Martin had to close his eyes when Emily drove passed in the car to meet the registrar.

Phil the Best Man did a good job as ring bearer and rounding up folks for the group shots.

The sky was almost a bit too perfect I was concerned it would look fake. It was actually this blue.

Emily’s dress had a lovely long train.

After the ceremony the wedding party gathered for a hot toddy. It smelt so yummy and cosy.

There was another wedding less than an hour after Emily and Martin’s so we quickly had a run around outside to grab some shots in the lovely grounds. Time was of the essence!

Emily was very adventurous and made her own wedding cake, including the cake toppers! The tables were set up like a Christmas party with crackers and bowls of decorations for the table centres.

Another gift from Emily to Martin was used as a decoy for the Lamborghini reveal the morning of the wedding!

Because everyone had their Christmas meal and had pulled their crackers a lot of the wedding party kept their paper hats on. This made for some jolly speeches!

No, the Best Man didn’t put on a Powerpoint presentation, but he did organise a very funny slideshow, with plenty of Photoshop’ed images of the Groom and an impressive backstory to go along with each shot.

Don’t ask.

Food consumed, speeches done and glasses raised, there was a break between the reception and the evening do which marked the end of the photography. We left Emily and Martin to enjoy the rest of their day and wrapped up our last wedding of 2010.

With thanks and congratulations to Mr and Mrs Merrick.

We headed out to Highcliffe Castle today to catch up with Emily and Martin whose wedding we’re shooting next month. The weather this weekend has been diabolically windy and rainy but we successfully managed to dodge the floods, falling branches and flying umbrellas to be welcomed by a lovely couple and a very calm and grand venue.

We’re looking forward Emily and Martin’s wedding, not only because there’s the promise of a Christmas tree (woo!) but it’s our last wedding of 2009. I’m sure we’ll end the year with a bang!