My first wedding of the year had me working as a Henley wedding photographer at the wedding of Rachel and David at Phyllis Court Club in Henley-On-Thames, Oxfordshire. Rachel first approached me because of my discreet reportage wedding photography style, and my love of telling the story without intruding or controlling the day itself. The couple were clear that they wanted purely documentary coverage. There were to be no posed shots and no family group shots. More and more couples are opting for this type of exclusive documentary wedding photography now and I love it because it frees me up to be able to concentrate on capturing all those wonderful real moments that happen naturally on the day.
The day started early for me as I made my way to Phyllis Court Club in Henley-On-Thames where Rachel was getting ready. Once made up and in her dress, Rachel waited for David and his son Zaak to come to her room, as they had chosen to meet in private before the ceremony and then walk into the ceremony room together. This was a lovely touch. From the minute I saw them together it was clear these two are just stupidly in love. I honestly don’t think I have ever seen a bride look at her husband-to-be with such total adoration.
The ceremony was short and sweet with only the closest family and friends attending. Outside, the guests enjoyed a short drinks reception as the rest of the 60 odd guests arrived. It was then down to the river and aboard The New Orleans steam boat. This was not only my first wedding of the year as a Henley wedding photographer but also one of the more interesting and challenging wedding receptions I have photographed. Whilst The New Orleans is a superb wedding reception venue with incredible opportunity, its narrow deck made manoeuvring unobtrusively amongst the guests slightly more challenging and the glorious sunshine gave no shade the entire afternoon. Strong, direct sunlight like this can often add complications as it tends to add strong shadows and harsh contrast. These obstacles were easily overcome though and as the guests laughed, danced, hugged and cheered, I discreetly made my way around the boat capturing the wonderful mix of emotions I was witness to.
I thoroughly enjoyed Rachel and David’s Phyllis Court Club wedding and judging by the smiles on their faces all day long, so did they. Here are a selection of my favourites from the day.
If you are planning your wedding at Phyllis Court Club Henley just get in touch to discuss your photography.
Amazing Steven, got a wedding there later in the year – got one hell of a lot to live up to now!
What a fabulous looking wedding. Great photographs. For a moment I could feel the sun on my back as if i was there!
There’s so much good stuff going on in these pictures, I bet Rachel and David are pleased. I love it when a Bride holds her Groom’s head like this – it’s so emotional and heartfelt.
Cracking coverage and some great stand alone frames. Love the frame of the young girl looking out over the fields from the boat – great feel to it!
love them!
Great stuff. You captured some wonderful moments.
Amazing shots Steven, you’ve captured the love and emotion of the whole day, and some very funny shots too 🙂 Love the tossing the bouquet image, and the dancing on the roof of the boat – super stuff!
Great work Steven. Particularly liked the ceremony stuff….looked very emotional and you captured it all well. The shot of the boy with the rings is my favourite I think.
Great job Steven – absolutely loved this one. Considering the situation you found yourself in with the reception, you still managed to come up with some beautiful creative shots. Love it.
Wonderful, you captured this wedding perfectly, the emotion, the joy, and all in difficult conditions and in a small space. Fantastic!
Some excellent work there Steven. I did a wedding there years ago. In fact it was the first one there straight after the law was passed to allow weddings to be held at any venue. So it made the local press, my claim to fame !
Very impressive images Steven.
The bridal preparation shots are great, and you managed the boat’s space perfectly during the reception.
Really enjoyed viewing these.
gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
Beautiful images. Love them all. Some very tender moments capture with skill. Very impressive.
Thoughtful, calm and exquisite photography S, as usual. I love the moments you capture.
Excellent work, great story and fantastic post production.
lovely set of images from what looks like a really perfect day. The cheeky hand is great!
Surely this can’t be in the UK? I mean, the sun is shining!
Great set of images – yes the naughty hand made me laugh too..
Great work Steven… looking forward to seeing more 😉
Such a wonderful eye you have. Lovely work. Always look forward to your posts. 🙂
Such fabulous story telling, Steven. Looks like a beautiful day, congratulations to the couple!
It looks like a fabulous day wonderfully captured. Great story. Great work.
awesome job man – beautiful images
Another wedding hit right out of the park! Fantastic stuff! So many shots I love. Bet the couple were well chuffed with these.
Stephen, Thank you for capturing our amazing day so beautifully. We can look back on our day through these photos and remember the whole day. It also gives us so many special moments that we didn’t see on the day. I would highly reccommend Carter Hewson Photography.
What a great job you’ve done to capture the joy, the fun, the love and the atmosphere of the day. I like so many of these shots it’s difficult to pick my favourites, but the groping hand is hilarious. (I’ll have to tell my friend Colin he’s famous.) I hadn’t realised that it was a difficult situation for you, so thanks all over for making do. What I really appreciate is that you’ve captured so many great moments and yet it’s as though you weren’t even there. Not a single one of these shots were directed. Fantastic.
Thank you for your comments Rachel and David. There was certainly no ‘making do’ as your wedding presented me with tremendous opportunity. A thoroughly enjoyable day, thank you for inviting me along to document your day.
Absolutely a beautifully planned wedding in a stunning environment, captured by a highly skilled photographer. Congratulations on very beautiful journey together as husband and wife.
Lovely pics and so natural. Too many good ones to say what my fav was. Enjoyed viewing them and many thanks Rachel and Dave for sharing. Love cuz Nan
These are really beautiful, fantastic work Steven!
These images are really fantastic. The couple most be so happy. You have captured it perfectly.
Great work, I especially like the two monos of her dancing on the boat!
Thank you for all these wonderful comments
Simply stunning images! I love your work.
I bet the couple and their guests were absolutely bowled over by these Steven. That bouquet chucking shot is a classic!
I like the wistful expression between the couple in the marquee, with the downward glance from the bride. In a way the hands tell the story as much as the expressions. Good work.