Summer wedding at Buxted Park Hotel

Buxted Park Hotel is one of those venues that I always love to go back to in East Sussex. With its Georgian styling and modern comforts it definitely meets all the expectations of a luxury wedding venue. The venue is less than a ten minute drive from me and is one of my favourite venues to shoot at. I love the character and charm that it offers.

The lead up

I was honoured to photograph Jordan and Zoe’s special day at Buxted Park Hotel. They hadn’t given me much of a breif and said that they would just give me the reins. This is always great to hear, knowing your clients trust you is a key part of the booking process. During the lead up to the wedding, Zoe always interacted with my posts on social media. As much as this is a confidence boost it equally adds to the pressure of my role and outcome of the day.

Routine start

Upon arrival, I was eager to go in and meet the bride and bridesmaids. In this case, the beautiful Zoe and her gorgeous friends. Im always nervous walking in, you never know what to expect. Everyone was on a high and the atmosphere was great, the banter started. I instantly knew it was going to be a good day full of fun and laughter.

I always start my routine with the details. Dress, shoes, flowers and so on. The chandelier is my go to in any luxury wedding venue.

I thought I would add the ring to this shoe shot. Sometimes the shoes compliment the engagement ring.

One shot that Zoe had asked for was my setting spray shot. I set this photo up at many of my weddings. It’s a really atmospheric shot once you get the lighting right.

I asked to use the make-up artists ring light to ad something else to the frame.

I then went on to meet with Jordan and his groomsmen. As you expect, music was playing and drinks were ordered. Then I hear the best man shout my name. It was an old school friend, what are the chances? I took a few snaps of the details but they was mostly ready.

It’s usually the girls that make a mess when getting ready but in this case, I think the boys showed them up!

I loved these custom cuff links. It is the little details that make your day unique to you.

Whilst the girls were getting the finishing touches done, I went down to meet with Jordan for a few portraits before the ceremony.

Finishing touches done, it was time for Zoe to walk down to the Orangery to meet her groom.

Ceremony in the Orangery

The orangery is one of the best features for getting married at Buxted Park Hotel. Yes, it can be very warm in the summer but what a beautiful setting. Jordan was very nervous waiting for his soon to be wife who was accompanied by her Father. As soon as they saw each other the love filled the room!

They were besotted with each other and forgot all eyes were on them and enjoyed their moment.

You can see the love Zoe has for Jordan.

Confetti

The confetti shot is one of the best parts of the day for all of the guests as well as me. You just never know how the photo will turn out. There is no guarantee with these shots. I find stopping the couple for a kiss increases my chances of capturing that special moment. We went straight in to group photos and got all the formalities done and out the way.

Speeches

I absolutely adore photographing speeches. They are always full of emotion which sometimes brings a tear or two and you can always count on the smiles when the best man is delivering his speech. Jordan blew everyone away with his speech, talking about the highs and the lows whilst cracking a few jokes without forgetting to mention how beautiful his wife looked.

Portraits

Once Jordan and Zoe had finished their wedding breakfast, we decided to go out whilst the sun was nice and low which is a perfect time to get those golden hour pics! This is my favourite part of the day. I get to set everything up so these images are all down to me. Most of the time my couples are shy in front of the camera but this couple were naturals! We wandered around the venue grounds finding a few features. I could have spent hours shooting there. Buxted Park Hotel has a lot to offer for sure!

The evening

By the time we finished couple portraits and cutting of the cake, it was time to put on their dancing shoes and what a ball they had!

Jordan and Zoe’s wedding was one of those days that always springs back to mind, as it was effortless and natural. You know you’ve done a good job when one of the bridesmaids books you for her special day!

Elopement weddings

When I spoke to Sam and Alice about their wedding day, I was so excited as I knew this wasn’t your standard “all bells and whistles” wedding, they were eloping! They had told me the story of how they met each other at university over nine years ago at East Sussex university in Lewes. Alice had explained to me that they just wanted to marry each other on their own and surprise both of their families. Followed by this she asked me if I would be a witness and if I could bring an assistant to be the other witness. I mean… I felt honoured to say the least. I replied with a very short and sweet “OH MY GOD! YES!!”

They booked a very small and quirky air B&B in the High Street of Lewes Called The Old Forge. This amazing little place was a hidden gem with a lot of character and a rustic feel to it and matched the personalities of this beautiful couple perfectly.

I walked in to some folk music playing in the background, Sam sitting on the sofa and Alice getting her hair curled by the MUA/hair stylist gazing out the window. Straight away I was loving the vibe. I very quickly unzipped my case to get the cameras out. I started my day with the rings, shoes and dress. Alice had a 1960’s style dress and some really modern glittered shoes to mix it up a little. Sam complimented her with a linen 3 piece suit and brown brouges. Alice’s choice of flowers were dried to match the theme of the day.

Before we left the B&B I thought we should get some portraits shots to take their minds off things as I could see the nerves starting to kick in. I used soft natural light from the window and a wide lens to incorporate some of the details of this room.

We walked down the cobbled streets of Lewes on the way to the Registry Office getting some couple portraits on the way. I knew I had a lot of time to get some more shots after the ceremony but I am an opportunist and wanted to get as much as I could for these two. I loved the fact that both of them were up for any pose or composition I suggested.

When we arrived at the Registry Office, we was greeted by a lovely lady that took us through to the ceremony room. As there was only four of us in total, my assistant was in charge of the music through the ceremony which Sam had prepared on his phone. Usually during the ceremony I capture some reactions of maybe, a mother in law or someone close to the bride or groom but this one was all about the two of them. I could see during the ceremony that they were b0th besotted by one another and I didn’t anticipate taking as many photos as I did.

It’s a strange feeling signing that legal document because the responsibility and feeling I have when photographing a wedding was nothing compared to that signature.

After all the legal stuff was out the way, Sam said to me “Now its all down to you to show how happy and in love we are” I replied with '“that’s not going to be a problem”. Straight from the off there was no pause, I was constantly throwing ideas at them. It was a very bright and sunny day but managed with setting up some off camera flash to reduce the shadows. On average I usually get around 30 minutes for my couple portraits, I had 1 hour 30 mins to be as creative as I could. So we explored to see what we could find.

We explored in and around the Registry Office. We got some really cool images there but I knew that they both wanted to go to the university where they met each other for the first time 9 years ago. This was not a place that was going to be easy to photograph at. I thought there was going to be students everywhere. Luckily being bank holiday weekend a lot of them were away.

Walking through the grounds of the campus, Alice and Sam were reminiscing. Pointing at buildings and telling me some of their stories and what had happened there. We strolled passed a big blossom tree and I said to them I want to try and take a confetti shot. I picked some of the petals off the flowers and approached two students to ask if they could help me with this photo. They agreed to help. I don’t think it can get much more spontaneous than that.

I think this was one of my favourite weddings because it was so different. I delivered the gallery to them and they were amazed by what we had created. They said the love shined through in every photo. To be honest, I can’t ask for much more than for my clients to be happy with the service and product I offer.

Thanks for your time on reading this. I hope I did it justice for you too. Until the next time…

Eddy Fisher