Claire got ready at the Aviator Hotel in Farnborough which had some very unique and stunning architecture, most impressively the grand central section which had a Starship Enterprise feel to it.

Being that Simon had gone to school at Wellington College in Crowthorne he was lucky enough to be allowed to use Wellington Chapel based there. The chapel is beautifully maintained and has some history around it as well as the memories for Simon being that he spent so much time at the College.

The wedding reception was Coworth Park in Ascot, another great choice. The hotel is owned by the Dorchester Collection who also own the Dorchester hotel in London and as such the quality of the reception, decor and the staff looking after Claire and Simon really showed and was exceptional.

During the reception we took Claire and Simon for a small stroll around the grounds and venue. We grabbed the FX Films guys as well and went to some locations Laura and I had eyed up to get a few couple photos. There are more couple shots than usual in this entry due to this and also more that aren’t shown but hopefully everyone loves couple shots as much as we do! After each photo we handed over to the guys at FX Films before moving on to the next shot so they could get their footage and minimise the amount of time Claire and Simon were away from their wedding.

On a personal note, it was myself and Laura’s three-year anniversary and during the speeches we were surprised that Claire and Simon presented us with some personalised cup cakes! It’s no surprise they didn’t last longer than twelve hours with us both having a sweet tooth.

We had a fantastic day with Simon and Claire and also working with Richard and Tim from FX Films. Keep an eye out for their cinematic wedding trailer which we will link to here on completion.

- Henley.

Rob and Emily met at school (not as children, Emily was teaching and Rob was there on a placement), and are one of those couples that you could be mistaken for having not long got together. The loving glances between them throughout the day (not to mention the look of pure love on Robs face as Emily made her entrance into the picturesque Combe church) as well as the way they would smile while talking about the other was so beautiful to see. The day was filled with love and laughter and really was a perfect day.

It was lovely to see her students waiting for her outside the church, and some of her ex-students were there as waiting staff complete with bunny ears, and her friend made the delicious pie and mash wedding breakfast. In fact, the more people we spoke to on the day it became clear that EVERYONE loved these two, and if there is one phrase I heard quite a lot on the day it was ”that’s just so Emily”. Emily is extrememly creative and was determined to put her own stamp on the day. From the photoboard to the vibrant colourful theme and decor at The Freeland Hall, she did an amazing job, every detail had been painstakingly thought out. She even surprised her new husband by serenading him with a song she had written accompanied by her bridesmaids.

Emilys dad is a sculpter and has a studio affixed to their home, and where Emily got ready in the morning so it was lovely to be able to incorporate this into their day. They also had two of his rabbit sculptures on their awesome cake which was made by her talented friend (and also school bus driver) to incorporate all aspects of the theme.

We also met and had the pleasure of working with the very lovely Russ and Adam from I Do Wedding Films.

Below are a few of our personal favourites from the day.

-Laura

After trying out the focusing, tracking and ISO capabilities I will say that anyone with a pre-order will not be disappointed, the 1Dx is a serious beast. Tracking the karts around the track was effortless for the 1Dx with entire series of shots in very sharp focus at 12fps.

On more than one occasion as the karts flew past where I was standing I’d sometimes be playing around with settings and then at the last-minute swing the 1Dx up to my eye, hit the focus and shoot. Normally I would be very surprised to even get one in focus being so flippant with my shooting style but the 1Dx was nearing super powers and I found that more often than not I would get a sharp well focused image, usually several in fact due to the speed of the camera.

Already owning the Canon 5D mk3 we were more accustomed to the new high iso capabilities of the new generation of Canon cameras and the 1Dx again is top of its game, changing how we’re going to be shooting certain aspects of weddings in the future.

-Henley

- Henley

Mandie looked a vision as she walked down the aisle to meet her groom, along with Bob their dog who joined them whilst they recited their vows to each other. During the ceremony live music was played by Matt Bee which was a great touch.

Mandie also brought along Bobby their dog, he’s an important part of their family being valiantly rescued by Mandie from Portugals’ streets and painstakingly brought back to the UK. Bobby joined them at the alter and we also made sure to include him in one of their couple photos.

Whilst there were many children that attended the wedding, Mandie and Marcus hired Elf Sitters mobile crèche which meant the  parents were able to enjoy the wedding day without distraction. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun, no doubt helped by the sweet station too!

The day was perfect in every way, with the sun slowly slipping behind the Wiltshire hills Marcus and Mandie danced in to the night.

- Henley

Whilst we had some really great times along the way, we know Richard will do every bit as well in his training as he has done with weddings. It goes without saying that we wish him the absolute best for the future!

- Henley and Laura

I digged through the archives for a photo to use on this blog entry, considering how many times we’ve worked with Richard it’s amazing we don’t have more photos. The one above I found from 2009! (Left: Henley, Middle: Laura, Right: Richard).

Emma planned her romantic valentines day wedding despite having a) three children under the age of twelve, b) having moved house three months before the wedding, and c) being heavily pregnant and  less than three weeks from giving birth on the wedding day!

The wedding was an intimate affair with the couples closest family and friends in Exeter, Devon. Their magician Duncan Norris deserves a mention as his rapport and skill in bewildering children is something to behold.

Emma and Nic have also since got the most amazing wedding present in the form of their new daughter Emily, huge congratulations guys!

- Laura

Lime Leaf Weddings was voted as a finalist in the Reportage Photographer category, and received the wonderful comments below:

• Very professional.  Completely unobtrusive service on the day and were fantastic!  Really put us at ease, and wonderful results.  We’re thrilled with the photos!!

• Henley and Laura couldn’t have done more for us if they had tried.  From the first phone contact, to the support in the lead up to our wedding day, to the professional way they conducted themselves on the day, to the laughs along the way, to the processing and handling of the images – exemplary.  And the final product?  Stunning.  The images capture the feel of the day perfectly and we shall treasure them.  We have had comment after comment from friends and family saying how wonderful the photographs are.  The creativeness of the documentary style of photography is the way to go.  I couldn’t recommend Lime Leaf Wedding Photography more strongly.

• We knew we were going to book Lime Leaf Weddings from the word GO! They have an unmatched reportage style, with pure class.  Since receiving our images, we now want to enlarge every single one of them! Our day has been captured in the best possible way, by people who are clearly passionate and talented.

• Laura and Henley are beautiful people you immediately relate to. When we first met, we felt that we would get on very well and enjoy ‘working’ with them. The photos are absolutely lovely and stunning, we got a beautiful slideshow done, which was amazing. They managed to capture the day so well, and we have the perfect memory in our pictures!

• Absolutely thrilled with Henley and Laura and they exceeded all our expectations in regards to our wedding photography!!  Everything was perfect and in particular, the style of photography was exactly what we had hoped for and saw through their other work examples. They really captured the spirit and emotions of the day..

• We will truly treasure Lime Leaf’s photographs for years (and possibly generations!) to come as a representation of our personalities, relationship, family and hopes on our wedding day.

• The most amazing photographers, our guests hardly noticed them but the photos taken show they were everywhere and capturing the most amazing moments.  Simply wonderful, I wish we could have Laura & Henley at every event. 

• Laura and Henley were fantastic to work with both prior to the wedding and on the big day. They were discreet, professional and produced stunning results. The photojournalism/documentary style of photography was exactly what we were looking for and the quality is outstanding. We are overjoyed with our wedding photographs and will treasure them forever.

• We were drawn to lime leaf weddings because of the great pictures they take. We now have some superb pictures from our wedding on our walls. Henley and Laura put us at ease, were great fun and captured all our personal moments. We were delighted when they said they could photograph our ceremony and the pictures they produced give us many happy memories.

• Laura and Henley were exceptional throughout the whole process. They had a really lovely way of working so that you didn’t really feel their presence, however they still managed to capture all the emotion and intimacy of the day. They photos were truly stunning, we really couldn’t have asked for a better service from them.

Massive congratulations have to go to our lovely friends,  Tara at the Fox and Hounds Country Hotel on their win as ‘Best Wedding Venue Devon’, Rod at Soul Funktion for winning ‘Best Wedding Entertainment’, and Bob and Kate from Strawberry Leisure for their win as ‘Best Wedding Transport’.

-Laura

The day itself was really lovely, sunshine throughout the day and the sea front in Lyme Regis is always picturesque. They held their reception at Peek house, a great place which also has its own private beach, cinema room and even a games room (see below).

Due to it being a more intimate wedding party I photographed this wedding alone.

- Henley

The day itself started off misty and grey, not ideal weather but gave a dramatic windswept feel to the fort and with the views over the English Channel from the bridal suite. The fort is very atmospheric on the inside and the arched brickwork in the ceremony room, drapes and fairy lights made it feel very cosy while the winds howled outside.

After the ceremony, the rain stopped, the fog cleared and best of all the sun came out briefly allowing for a few photos on the beach before the wedding breakfast and inevitable letting down of hair!

 - Henley