Ellie & Jamie’s Richmond Park Wedding

November 7, 2019

Ellie and Jamie’s Richmond Park wedding at the beautiful Pembroke Lodge, was one of the highlights of this summer’s wedding season for me. Not only were they a great couple to work with, but their friends and family were so welcoming, the weather in August was perfect, and they had the most amazing party in the evening. Pembroke Lodge is a very special venue for me. Very early on in my career as a wedding photographer it was were I shot one of my favourite weddings. That kind of sets my expectations whenever I’ve photographed there since, and I’m glad to say I’ve never been disappointed!

Ellie & Jamie’s Richmond Park Wedding

On the day of a wedding, particularly if I’m there to photograph the build up before the ceremony, I usually get a very strong sense of what kind of a wedding is to come. It’s a really important part of the day for me, as I believe that the documentary approach to photography that I so strongly believe in, is not just about photographing things as they happen, but is about tapping into what makes every wedding unique. On this occasion, I was struck by two things in particular. Firstly was a string of family photos that Ellie and Jamie had strung up at Pembroke Lodge for their friends and family to enjoy as they arrived (the photo below shows a touching moment with Jamie’s mum and aunt.) The other moment was on the car journey with Ellie and her father from The Petersham Hotel to Pembroke Lodge. In the black and white photo below, you might just be able to make out dad’s phone resting on his knee, which he used to play an assortment of tunes, with the aim of calming his daughter’s nerves on the way to the ceremony. This lovely bond between the two of them was again in evidence during a brilliant joint speech between Ellie’s mum and dad done in the style of The Chuckle Brothers, “To me, to you!”