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Wiston House Wedding Photographer| Velma & Rob

I have known Rob, the Groom for many years through mutual friends and church, so it was a great joy to shoot the big day for him and his beautiful bride, Velma.

After booking me the first thing we put in the diary was the engagement shoot. This was set for a very wintery day in Arundel finished off with tea and cake whilst we put plans to paper! Here’s one of my favourite shots from that session.

Velma and Rob met at university in 2009 and instantly hit it off with their shared interests. Rob proposed to her on their 6th anniversary of dating on a beach in Zanzibar. There were musicians and a sunset to set the scene……so romantic!

Everyone got ready at Wiston House. The bride and her bridal party naturally assigned the most beautiful room big enough to host her girls and her family. The atmosphere was lively with drum and bass blaring from a speaker somewhere, whilst everyone bustled to get ready! The girls did each others hair and make-up in their matching silk robes, which was a lovely moment to capture.

As Velma got into her stunning mermaid style gown by Paloma Blanca which showed off her figure perfectly, the women present broke into spontaneous songs of blessing as she got into her dress. This was such an emotional moment and I struggled to hold back the tears! After a few shots with Velma’s mum I captured some moments with the Bride, one of which became a winning image… I had entered a number of wedding photographs into The Master Photographers Association 2018 regional print comp… I came both first and second place in two categories: Classic Wedding Photography and Documentary Wedding Photography. This particular image won Silver in the later category.

Whilst the bridal party made their final preparations, I popped down to see the boys before they left for the church. I found them finishing off some details in the Reception room before moving into the grounds to take some portraits. For a Wiston House Wedding Photographer the inspiration for portraiture is plentiful. The Groomsmen looked sharp in their blue suits and plum ties, to match the Bridesmaids, Rob standing out as Groom with a waistcoat. The look completed with Maasai print pocket squares from Kenya. The groomsmen were more than happy to pose for a formal shot or two.

As a coincidence, this image below won the second place silver in the same print competition, this time for the Classic Wedding Photography.

Once the boys had set off I returned to Velma to capture the most beautiful scene of the women in the room surrounding her in a moment of prayer. For Rob and Velma their faith was a very important part of their celebrations, it was an honour to photograph such an intimate tradition.

Before Annie, my second shooter, and I left for the church we captured Velma by Wiston Chapel to compliment the images I took earlier of Rob. All of my couples are provided with an album so I often shoot with a mind of how this will look in their album. As you will see I have earmarked this spot to create a portrait of them together later.

Rob and Velma chose to marry at Opengate Church in Bognor Regis, this is where Rob attended before he moved away. Before the arrival of the Bridal party, Rob spent some time with his Dad. Velma arrived shortly after with her parents, unbeknown to her Rob had organised to sing to her as she walked down the aisle once the bridesmaids had completed their procession. What a brave and touching thing to do.

Opengate is such a light, bright and airy church to shoot in and versatile to decorate so that it is in-keeping with your theme. The service was led by Jamie Fredricks, someone whom Rob admired greatly as he represented their values. Leading the worship band was my late husband and other close friends of the couple. It was an emotional celebration and you could see and feel the love and joy in the room.

Once Rob and Velma had signed the register (during which one of the bridesmaids sung), using the wide space and light room we created a group photo before the final blessing. Rob had one more surprise up his sleeve, with confetti cannons hidden around the room ready to go off as they walked up the aisle as husband and wife. The guests remained for tea and cake whilst we returned to Wiston House for some newlywed portraits.

As a Wiston House Wedding Photographer it is amazing to shoot here. The venue is beautiful and the grounds are vast, giving me the opportunity to create many varied memories of the big day. The happy couple arrived in a Rolls Royce with a personalised number plate and I was ready to capture this moment! The countryside grounds created a perfect backdrop for portraits of Rob and Velma, and not forgetting the chapel door that I mentioned earlier to create these stunning shots.

After taking shots in the grounds we also wanted to capture the grandeur of Wiston House itself so we moved to the main house where we took a few more portraits whilst they waited for their guests to arrive.

As the guests arrived they were greeted by a string quartet playing classical music. It was a lovely Spring day so the wedding party were able to use the stunning grounds for lawn games and drinks. The bridal party put beautiful handmade traditional Maasai jewellery on each other which was such a tribute to her cultural traditions.

Wiston House has an impressive Great hall used for the Wedding Breakfast, once the guests were seated the happy couple arrived to a rapturous applause. The speeches were given before dinner and it was lovely hearing the Groom, Father of the Bride and Best man regale kind and loving stories of each other. Rob asked his friend and mentor Jo to lead Grace before the wedding breakfast was served.

While the room was being set up for the evening, and many of the guests returned to their rooms to freshen up, we made the most of the stunning sunset and went outside to get more shots of Rob, Velma and their bridesmaids. We wanted to make the bridesmaids feel special and like they were part of a Vogue photo shoot! We definitely achieved this, they were all naturals and they all got their glam on!!

Before the evening party got started we embraced the period features of the house and created a couple more portraits before it was time for the first dance.

Rob and Velma booked an East African band for their party, embracing the Kenyan side of the wedding. They had a slow first dance before the band kicked off and the dance floor exploded! The moves on the dance floor were unbelievable, the room was full and the party was in full swing.

Annie and I left shortly after to head home for the next stage of our wedding photography service of culling, editing and designing the album. This was certainly not a chore as it was such a vibrant and colourful day to go back through. We completed their collection with a handmade Italian Album by Graphistudio a perfect way to view your photos back in the highest definition and print quality possible.