Marianne Taylor Photography | Portrait & Family Photographer in Cornwall
On-location portrait and family photography in North Cornwall. Siren of the Sea sessions, couples, families. Soft, romantic, coastal.
The loveliest couple, a beautiful summer evening, and London showing its best. What more could you ask for? I just loved spending a magical golden hour photographing Isabel & Angel’s anniversary session. It was such a pleasure to meet you guys, I hope you’ll have many more gorgeous anniversaries to celebrate in the future! x
Nina & Ben’s (who’s engagement session you might have seen a while back) wedding meant a return to Andaz Liverpool Street, a venue very close to my heart. It’s always such a pleasure to work there, now with the current wedding planner, Karly Hunt.
After Nina got her hair and makeup done by Sarah Crick-Linton, and got dressed into her beautiful Pronovias gown and super stylish LK Bennett shoes, the lovely humanist ceremony took place in the Bishopsgate Room. Marianne from Sweetpea Flowers, created the stunning (as always!) flowers that set the tone for the whole day, along with the stationery by Minted. After the ceremony, it was time for cocktails in the Gallery.
For the reception, we ascended to the sublime 1901 Restaurant, where the amazing Chateau Macaron cake took centre stage. All the tables were numbered with champagne bottles Nina & Ben had collected from special moments in their life, a very sweet touch! The day was filled with so much love, laughter and Jager bombs, I just loved it all. It was also a beautiful mix of English and German (from Nina’s side) traditions.
What a joy it was to be back at The Andaz, and to get to be a part of Nina & Ben’s gorgeous day! Thank you so much for having us, you are amazing. x
I think it’s safe to say Lucy & Brad’s London wedding will go down in history books as the rainiest wedding I’ve ever photographed. Oh boy did we get soaked! But I’m happy to say that the weather didn’t dampen the spirit of the day at all.
We started the day at The Threadneedles Hotel in Bank, where Nelson Caterino was in charge of make-up, and Tina Outen hair, before Lucy got dressed in her beautiful Lazaro gown. From there it was a short, but super rainy (I mean, the driver could not see a thing), drive to St Etheldredas Church in Holborn, where Lucy & Brad exchanged their wows.
As by miracle the rain halted and gave us a tiny window of opportunity for portraits, before entering The Royal Exchange for the reception. It was lovely being back at the Exchange, it’s such a grand and yet unusual place for a wedding I think. Black Poppy had created the most amazing flower arrangements, which I didn’t realise were made of fabric until it was pointed out to me. Just incredible! Also worth mentioning is the beautiful cupcake tower by Crumbs and Doilies.
Thanks so much for having us Lucy & Brad, what a gorgeous day full of warmth it was! x
As venues go, Andaz Liverpool Street is very close to my heart. Couple of years ago we shot so many weddings at the Andaz, that we might as well have moved in (oh I wish!), but strangely enough last year I did not have one wedding there. So being the photographer for Sarah & Colin’s Andaz wedding felt a little bit like a homecoming.
Sarah looked stunning in her Pronovias gown and those Jimmy Choos. Lauren Newman from Return to Glory took care of hair and makeup, while Maianne Johnson of Sweet Pea Flowers provided colour to the day with the stunning bouquets and flower arrangements.
The ceremony of Sarah and Colin’s wedding took place in the Bishopsgate room, with a drinks reception in the Gallery and wedding breakfast in the Great Eastern room to follow, centrepiece of which was the uh-ma-zing Peggy Porschen cake. A cool London theme carried throughout, from the tube map seating plan to the brilliant tube sign wedding favour biscuits by Biscuiteers.
And of course, it wouldn’t have been a proper homecoming had we not had a chance to cross paths with Max from the Wedding Smashers, with whom we share many happy memories from the dance floor of the Andaz!
Thank you sooo much Sarah and Colin for having us share your beautiful day with you, and for bringing us back to one of our favourite venues. x
Where do I start! Lucy & Brandon’s wedding at Andaz Liverpool Street in London was beautiful, not only because it was at one of my favourite venues, but also for the gorgeous little touches Lucy had created, and all the emotions that flowed on the day.
Lucy’s morning started a bit unusually, when she had a complete change of heart at the hairdresser’s. ‘My hair was done by the wonderful Paul at Aveda Academy on High Holborn. After spending two hours putting my hair up on the morning of the wedding, I decided that, actually, I wasn’t that keen and wanted to have it down instead… he didn’t even flinch, just did exactly what I wanted. He rocks!’ Personally I think it was just the right decision as Lucy looked really sweet with her curls. It also goes to show why you should reserve enough time for hair and make-up, you never know how much longer they might take!
How much do I love Lucy’s fab Jenny Packham gown, which she got from The Tailors Cat in Cambridge along with her earrings! Here’s what Lucy told me about finding her ‘Jenny’ and other accessories: ‘I saw the dress, tried it on, burst into tears and so did my mum. I didn’t even try on any others. Then the lady in the shop told me the name of the dress was “Sorrento”, which is where Brandon actually proposed to me last July, so I just knew it had to be that dress! When I left The Tailors Cat after finding the dress, I walked straight into Dune where I found the sparkly shoes. The headpiece was a gift from my cousins wife, who works at Richard Designs. The bridesmaid’s and flower girls wore off-the-rack dresses from Monsoon and just looked amazing.‘
Lucy wasn’t the only thing looking stunning on the day, I especially loved all the flowers and the cutest cupcake cake I’ve ever seen! Here’s what Lucy had to say about these: ‘I was bowled over by the flowers on the day, Lisa Carney at Moyses Stevens took my brief and just excelled in executing it. It was better than I could have imagined! My giant cupcake and the mini cupcakes were from Crumbs and Doilies in Wandsworth. Again, they took my brief and just delivered such a beautiful display. It was cute and fun, and although the surroundings are very chic and elegant in 1901, I loved the fun aspect the cakes brought.’
Lucy and Brandon love their little dogs, and as they weren’t able to have them there to share the day, they had a photo of them up by the top table so that they could attend at least in spirit! I thought that was really sweet.
When the evening drew closer DJ Jason Dupuy from Platinum Promotions got everyone on the dance floor. And that’s where we left them, as we packed up our gear at the end of the night, and jumped into a black cab to take us home.
Thank you Lucy and Brandon for having us share your day, it was a privilege!
I’m just now backing up Lucy & Brandon’s images from their wedding at Andaz Liverpool Street yesterday, and couldn’t resist sharing with you how gorgeous Lucy looked – I just adore her gown!
It was so nice to see Laura and Richard again when we met up for their engagement session in central London the other week. We started off at Bank station in the City, and then strolled over the river, finishing up at Bermondsey Street, which is a really lovely area of South-East London with it’s cute shop fronts and splashes of colour. It was such a lovely and sunny day, and I had so much fun with Laura and Richard – really looking forward to their wedding in September!
I’m almost done editing Sam & Adam’s lovely lovely (no really, lovely) London wedding, but I’m off to Finland tomorrow, so will have to continue on my return next week otherwise I’ll never get packing in time. There’s much more wedding goodness in store as well, including Rachel & Ben’s gorgeous hill top Oxford wedding, but all in good time.
In case you need me during the next five days, I’ll be checking my emails where I can, but most likely, unless your matter is super urgent, I’ll get back to you next week.
What made Sarah & Paul’s Andaz Liverpool Street wedding a little bit different from the others we’re doing there this year, was that their ceremony was held at the OBE Chapel of St. Paul’s Cathedral. I felt very privileged being able to photograph a wedding at such a prestigious venue, and despite the challenges it presented (the Chapel is underground in the crypt with no light, and photography during the ceremony is restricted) it really was an amazing experience!
I love the Gallery at the Andaz, the light there is always so lovely, no matter what time of year. It’s also fun to see how different spaces within the hotel transform to serve different functions. For example, Sarah & Paul’s wedding breakfast took place in the Bishopsgate room, which looked completely transformed from last time when we where there for a ceremony.
I do have to mention that Susanna was on fire during the reception of this wedding, she got so many lovely shots that I had a hard time narrowing the selection down! I think after the long dark winter of her being consigned to lighting duties during receptions, she was seriously itching to get behind the camera – and it shows.
Lastly, I have to say thank you to Sarah and Paul. It was a priviledge to be a part of your beautiful day!
First of all, can I just go on record and say that St. Bartholomew The Great is quite possibly the most gorgeous church I’ve ever had the pleasure to visit. Tucked away behind London’s Smithfield Market, it’s so inconspicuous from the outside that you would never guess at the gorgeousness inside. I’m not alone in my opinion either, proved by the fact that St. Barts has been used as a location in several films. It certainly provided a breathtaking backdrop to Lucy & Jeremy’s wedding ceremony.
Mind you, it wasn’t just the church that was impressive, the reception at The Royal Exchange was equally stunning. These amazing venues, and the attention to details, did make me feel like I was lost in a movie or a fairytale for the day.
Thanks Lucy and Jeremy for letting us share your magical day with you, I hope you’re enjoying your kick-ass honeymoon as we speak!
Sam hates being photographed. I mean really hates being photographed. So his and Katie’s engagement session certainly required some cunning methods on my part in order to try to capture some of the relaxed and loving interaction they fell into when ever the camera wasn’t pointing at Sam. Katie and Sam are a thoroughly lovely couple, and we did have a lot of fun, but boy did Sam make me work for my pictures! :D Having said that, he did swear that he’ll be on his best behaviour on the wedding day in December. I’m holding you to your promise Sam! :P
We started our shoot at Borough Market and then made our way over London Bridge into the City. Ever since Carolyn & Marc’s wedding, when ever I’m doing a shoot in the City I just cannot resist going back to Leadenhall Market! I went to see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus recently, and was so excited to see that Leadenhall featured quite heavily in the film – so cool!
Heather is an American and Mark is a Londoner, which means their idea of what constitutes ‘real London’ differs greatly. Heather was all about double deckers and red phone boxes, which Mark had banned as ‘touristy’, while wanting to have The City as the backdrop. I think we did manage to find a nice balance for the pictures in the end, and even if I didn’t manage to sneak a bus into any of the pictures for Heather, we did get some with underground signs and with St Paul’s in the background!
Heather and Mark are getting married in Georgia next spring. And while I would love to capture a wedding at such a beautiful place, amongst all the lovely hanging moss from the live oak trees which I fell in love with when over there, it will actually be Heather’s friend who will be in charge of the wedding day photography. I for one can’t wait to see the pictures! I could put money on you guys having a beautiful wedding, and that Heather will look absolutely drop dead gorgeous on the big day!
Just because I know Heather is eager to see something… :P But now it’s back to wedding-editing.
Asko & Matt are getting married in June, in the middle of a busy schedule of travelling in Italy and in South America, before relocating back to Matt’s home country of Australia. They wanted to get some pictures in their wedding suits, that would also remind them of the two years they’ve spent in London.
So last Sunday we headed into the City on the lookout for some suit-appropriate backdrops. The boys told me that they definitely didn’t want any ‘shmaltzy’ pictures, which ruled out my usual methods of trying to get people to kiss as much as possible in front of my camera. :D I think they look very dapper in their suits, and I’m sure after seeing the evidence, they can now rest assured that they will look damn handsome on their wedding day!
While going through the pictures from Lucy & Richard’s wedding it became quite obvious that there was a star emerging… Yes, I have to admit that a certain someone called Bridie stole my heart completely! So I just had to dedicate a whole blog entry to her, the cutest bridesmaid ever!
Here’s finally the last instalment from the reception of Lucy & Richard’s wedding. The Northbank Restaurant truly was a lovely venue for a small wedding such as this. It is stylish and contemporary, with amazing views, and yet it has this really comfortable and intimately friendly vibe about it. And the staff is absolutely lovely! Thanks so much for taking such good care of our little photography team.
If the warmth and joy of their wedding day is anything to go by, Lucy and Richard surely have a wonderful life ahead of them to look forward to! Thanks again guys for letting me share your special day with you.
The reception of Lucy & Richard’s wedding took place in the Northbank Restaurant, with great views of Tate Modern and the Millenium Bridge. The party kicked off with champagne out on the terrace, and even the sun came out to celebrate. If you’re trying to figure out why the ‘wedding cake’ looks a bit strange it’s because it was actually made of cheese! Later on it was cut and served as a cheese platters.
There were so many shots from the reception that I wanted to show, that I had to divide them between two entries so as not to crash anyone’s rss reader. :D So, look out for the second instalment later on.
The ceremony of Lucy and Richard’s wedding took place in St James Garlickythe in the City of London. Since Lucy and Richard live so close to the church, all they had to do in order to get there was walk over the road! The ceremony was beautiful and very intimate, yet the church gave it a grand atmosphere. Lucy was beautiful in her unique grey gown, and Bridie the bridesmaid behaved commendably.
It’s going to take a while longer to process the pictures from the reception, hopefully I’ll get some up early next week! And can I once again say a big thank you to my assistant/second shooter Susanna, who once again did a stellar job as my right-hand woman.
Lucy & Richard’s wedding yesterday was lovely. Everything ran smoothly and even the weather held out and the sun came out to play. You’ll have to wait a while longer to see any more pictures as there is a lot to process. But I just wanted to say a big Thank You to Lucy & Richard for letting me be a part of your day, and congratulations again! I hope you’ll have a wonderful time on your honeymoon!
Lucy and Richard are getting married at the end of April, and we just about had time to squeeze in an engagement shoot before the big day. It’s always very useful to have an informal shoot with the couple before the wedding day, as it gives us all a chance to get to know each other better in a fun and relaxed setting.
For this shoot, we had a fun time walking around the City and the South Bank in the hunt for some elusive sunlight. This area is very special to Lucy and Richard, as they live right by the river, with an enviable view of the Globe Theatre!
