It's been a few weeks since Chris and Nadine's fabulous wedding down in Buckinghamshire, and I wanted to get something in words down before releasing their full film.
We drove down on a Thursday evening, staying a local hotel about 15 minutes drive from Hedsor House. The location was ideally sat between St Teresa's Church, (ceremony location) Chris' parents home (where he was getting ready) and the reception location.
The day started super early for me; a 4.30 alarm for some sunrise shots of the grounds. Driving up the road in the run up to Hedsor House was rather strange with it being so quiet! I was there for around an hour getting some shots of the grounds and some long shots of the building to tease the opening of the film. Hedsor House is such a stunning location, not just the building itself but the surrounding areas are quite something to take in. Such a quiet retreat from the hustle and bustle of the capital.
As we weren't allowed inside Hedsor until 1030, it was back to the hotel to get ready and have some breakfast. Gotta fill up in the mornings as these are long days!
It was lovely to meet Chris' family and some of his friends, and especially seeing the wedding car for the first time (something Chris joked about in his speech, having waited such a long time to be allowed to drive it)! He has such a lovely relationship with his niece and nephew, and was ace to get some good sound bites to use in the film.
After leaving groom prep we bumped into both photographers (the wonderful Sally T and meeting Carla W for the first time) and after a quick chat we headed on back over to Hedsor.
A very excited Nadine greeted us at the main door and walked us through to the bridal suite where her equally as excited bridesmaids chatted and took photos. Chris' niece (who would go on to do a supremely confident reading mid-ceremony) gave Nadine her gifts from her husband-to-be, along with that day's Telegraph with their wedding announcement inside (they met each other whilst working at the Telegraph, how lovely :))
At this point we broke off, Charlotte stayed with Sally to get more bride prep footage and I set off to St Teresas.
After a short delay, the ceremony eventually got underway (something Chris would poke fun at during his speech!) and was a beautiful mix of readings, hymns and some gorgeous opera sung by a friend. The sun was beaming at this point which made the confetti parade a pleasure to film, and there was certainly confetti in abundance! The happy couple headed off in the wedding car to a cheer from the crowd and we all set off back to Hedsor.
The rest of the day was a heady combo of photos in the gardens, celebratory drinks between friends, an epic entrance to the reception party (watch the film to see!) some hilarious and heartfelt stories told in speeches, the best golden hour I've seen in a loooong time, an incredible dessert display (yes not a table or an area, a full blown display) and some reyt shapes thrown into the late hours.
Gotta give some thanks and praise to the rest of the documenting team, there was such a lot going on and we we're running all over the place trying to get everything in! This was the second time I've worked with Sally (she photographed Charlotte's sisters wedding where I made my first ever wedding film) she's so easy to work with and such a genuine person who loves what she does! It was ace to work with Carla Whittingham for the first time too, we talked about angles and she caught me lying down in the grass getting angles (see below). We have to give a shout to Nicole too who was one of the coordinators on the day who kept us hydrated and updated on timings!
Also a shout out has to go to one of Nadine's bridesmaids who snapped this of us all hard at work! BTS
Keep your eyes out for Nadine and Chris' film very soon!
Craig x
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