Chandos House wedding | Stephanie + Gareth
Stephanie and Gareth’s Chandos House wedding a couple of weeks ago was full of love, warmth and giggles. Â The giggles were mostly coming from Stephanie, although not far behind was her father’s more manly laughter. Â During their getting ready they play-acted some of their father-daughter roles: walking down the aisle to a 1-2-3 beat, him kissing her on both cheeks (Mwah! Mwah!) and giving Stephanie’s hand to Gareth. Gareth simply beamed throughout the day.
I started with Stephanie in the latter stages of getting ready, while make up artist Melanie Crump was adding the finishing touches and putting on Stephanie’s veil.
Stephanie’s bridesmaids see her for the first time in her dress.
Stephanie’s father has a last-minute traditional touch – a coin for her shoe – what a gallant gentleman he is.
Stephanie and her bridesmaids pick up their bouquets from their layers of tissue …
… and after a last bit of lip gloss, we’re off.
At this point I should explain how much I love Chandos House – it’s incredibly pretty and the paintwork and other features have been kept in great repair.  The flowers were by Scarlet + Violet, which apparently did Kate Moss’ bouquet for her Gloucestershire wedding – and one of my favourite designers Celia Birtwell is also a fan. The floral arrangements, buttonholes and bouquets were perfect: the buttonholes exquisite and not too large, the bouquets looking generous without overpowering Stephanie and her bridesmaids and the arrangements around Chandos House were stunning and in balance with the colourful paintwork.
Stephanie and Gareth’s cake was from Cakes 4 Fun – and chosen after an arduous tasting session sampling orange, banana, cinnamon and chocolate. (One of the lesser-known hazards of being a wedding photographer is that chatting with clients about their plans can often make you hungry).
Now – back to Stephanie and Gareth – we took about 15 minutes for some portraits about Chandos House.
All too soon, it was time for Stephanie and Gareth’s wedding breakfast – starting with a grand entrance.
Stephanie and Gareth had spent many hours putting together their detective themed table plan with a book from each of the featured authors on each table.
Stephanie’s father had everyone in stitches with his speech.
