Antonia and Gareth

Antonia and Gareth have been a lovely couple to get to know, since I first met them at the beginning of the year. We had a great afternoon in the Autumn, with their two mums; Margaret and Marilyn planning the photography and having tea.

Their big day dawned bright and clear as I headed off to Antonia and Gareth's home in Long Ashton, where Antonia was getting ready. Antonia's mum Margaret, who had designed all the beautiful stationary, helped her get ready, along with her bridesmaids and as I left, they were all tucking into the champagne!

The church looked very festive, with the crib and Christmas decorations still fresh from Christmas Day and Antonia and Gareth looked very happy and (in Antonia's case!) serene during the whole service.

We had chance to get some lovely shots outside Cadbury House before the heavens opened and it was time to reatreat inside.

Here are a few shots from their day:

Bea and Graham

With a Christmas feeling very much still in the air, I photographed Bea and Graham's wedding on Thursday at Dunkerton Church and Priston Mill.

Dunkerton is an idyllic little village and home to Graham's family so it was a really personal place to have their wedding. Bea and Graham had a guard of honour outside the church, made up of their friends from the RAF, who were all dressed in their finery.

By the time we got to Priston Mill, it was getting pretty dark, but there was still time for some lovely photographs in the grounds with some mulled wine to keep Bea and Graham warm, before heading inside.

Here are a few shots from their day:

Lorraine and Mick

Mick and Lorraine's wedding on Saturday, at Clifton College in Bristol, had a really Christmassy feel to it. Lorraine had chosen a stunning purple and yellow coloured theme for the flowers and decorations and their cake was a fantastic iced mountainside to reflect their love of walking and climbing!

We used the college grounds to take a variety of shots using the architecture as backgrounds. Before long the temperature had really dropped and we retreated inside for Mick and Lorraine to warm up and enjoy a glass of champagne.

Here are a few shots from their day:

Elaine and Mark

Saturday was, unofficially at least, the wettest day of the year, but the awful weather didn't dampen spirits for Elaine and Mark's wedding in Henbury, Bristol. As it was so wet, we took all the photographs inside the church and actually getting Elaine to the door of the church was a feat of navigating the lashing rain and huge puddles!

After the ceremony, we travelled to Cadbury House, by which time the rain had cleared, leaving the most amazing light and making the most of the lovely views towards the coast. We spent a bit of time outside, taking shots in the grounds and then, as it was so cold, took the rest of the relaxed photographs of guests inside.

Here are a few images from their day:

Suzy and Phil

I have really enjoyed getting to know Suzy and Phil and spent a particularly nice afternoon with them doing a shoot around the Bristol waterfront area earlier in the year. They spent a long time planning the wedding with meticulous detail and this really showed on the day.

They booked the cosy and intimate Close Hotel, in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, for their wedding and reception and concentrated on beautifully designed stationary and stunning flowers to personalise their day.

Suzy spent a relaxing morning having her hair and make up done while Phil greeted guests and enjoyed a fireside drink in the hotel bar. The rain was very heavy in the morning, but cleared in the afternoon for long enough to be able to take some lovely shots in the hotel gardens.

Here are a few images from their day:

Kenya and Tanzania - November 2007

Jamie had I booked three weeks out for November earlier in the year, but we just couldn't decide where we wanted to go. After an evening with travel magazines spread out over the living room and a bottle of Shiraz handy to make decision making easier, we had only managed to narrow the list down to the top 20 destinations!

What finally clinched it, was a trip we had to Kenya 3 years ago, which we absolutely loved; for the fantastic scenery, wildlife, beautiful beaches and overall wow factor. This time, we decided to see more of the country by spending the first two weeks travelling around Kenya and then fly out to Zanzibar for a week of diving and chilling out on the beach.

A hotchpotch of different cultures, sights, smells and tastes, a few days in Nairobi was a fantastic chance to get over our jet lag and catch up with Jamie's friend Sam, who is living and working out in Nairobi for a couple of years. From there, we went on to a stunning reserve in the foothills of the mist covered and atmospheric Mount Kenya. The lodge we stayed at had a watering hole for a variety of animals from zebra, giraffe, buffalo, rhino and elephants, less than 200 yards from our breakfast spot. For once, we were not sure we were the ones eating the most for breakfast. There was also an interesting moment, when the wildlife was literally on our doorstep, with an enthusiastic baboon trying to get into our tent!

From there, we drove through the Great Rift Valley and on to the Masai Mara for 3 days of hard core animal watching and enjoying the wonderful atmosphere of a lodge right in the middle of the park. We saw some unforgettable and truely breathtaking sights of whole prides of lions basking in the sunshine, huge herds of bufallo around the Mara River and, a highlight for me, a week old baby elephant being taught how to use his trunk by a very patient mother.

Our next stop, Lake Nakuru, was unforgettable for the sheer number of birds feeding on the shores - literally millions and millions of varieties of flamingos, pelicans and other birds.

By the time we reached Zanzibar, we felt we had deserved a rest and fairly quickly got into a routine of lazing around and enjoying a sundowner each evening, from the comfort of our sunloungers. We were lucky enough to the the only guests staying at a new boutique hotel, Echo Beach, in picture postcard Bweju, on the south east of the island. We were treated to fabulous food and hospitaility generally and can thoroughly recommend it as a fantastic spot for a holiday.

Here is a taste of our trip: