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.
Christmas is traditionally computer-free time in our household, and I think the only way to drag me away and stop me from doing something work-related, is to turn the computer off a bit earlier this year. Yes, I think the time has come to fully concentrate on getting into the spirit of the season.
I know I already ‘signed off’ in my last post, but who cares, over-abundance of Christmas wishes never hurt anyone!
I hope you all have a magical one. Catch you on the flip-side.
Christmas is nearly upon us, and as I will now be casting my mind towards things such as baking and wrapping of presents, I think it’s only appropriate that I’ll leave you with pictures from Katie & Ramy’s beautiful winter wedding at Wasing Park.
There were a lot of details at this wedding to get you into a christmassy mood, such as the seating plan in the form of a Christmas tree, the delicious looking cheese cake by Greys Cheese, and the thoroughly atmospheric lighting designed by Party Lights (loooove fairy lights!). And as you can see, Katie was the perfect winter bride in her gorgeous gown from Miss Bush Bridal Wear and flowers by Ruby & Grace.
I have to say, I couldn’t have asked for a nicer couple, or a wedding with a warmer atmosphere, to wind down the year with. Katie and Ramy are both such sweethearts, and I can’t thank them enough for allowing us to share their beautiful day with them!
With this I would like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, I hope you’re spending it with loved ones! x
Here’s a little sneak peek from Katie & Ramy’s beautiful wedding at Wasing Park, which was the last wedding of the year for me. I still have a few more things to share with you, including more pics from this wedding once I’ve processed them, before I’ll put 2010 to bed and start preparing for not doing anything at all over Christmas and New Year. Mmmm can’t wait.
No, it’s not a déjà vu you’re experiencing, it’s just that the ceremony of Anne & Will’s wedding did indeed also take place at Old Marylebone Townhall, this time around we were back in the Reception Room. It’s funny how, despite a familiar venue, every wedding is always completely different and has it’s own special atmosphere. I think that’s what makes attending weddings so fascinating – it’s the people who make a party, and each combination of people is always different.
After the ceremony we headed out for some portraits around Notting Hill. It rained on and off all day, and it was Anne’s beautiful vintage reproduction gown from Hope Harlequin that got the rough end of the deal by getting pretty soaked (poor thing!). Otherwise the autumnal colours of London were really showing their best.
After our little portrait session we rejoined the party at the reception, which was in full cocktail hour swing, at 20th Century Theatre. This was such a special venue, with a very unique feel to it, I have to say I absolutely adored it! Florist Amanda Wilgrave from Flirty had created the most beautiful flower arrangements and bouquets that really suited the time of year, while Tasting Plates took care of the catering. Other vendors I should mention were Hello! Lucky, who created the stationary (I’m so pleased they now have a base in London as well) and DJ Mitch Matthews.
I do love a London wedding and Anne & Will had created a day full of such warmth that one couldn’t really help but enjoy it all. Thank you so much Anne and Will for having us, it really was a pleasure!
I also have to give extra props to Susanna (who’s always pretty amazing anyways) for managing to capture some cracking cocktail hour portraits in very tight quarters!
Ever so sorry about the recent quietness. All sorts of things have been happening such as overseas visitors, and unfortunate illnesses, so it’s been a week of up and downs. Trying to get back on the horse now, starting with Amanda and Mike’s cool Soho wedding, which is way overdue to be blogged.
First of all, I can’t tell you how excited I was when I found out that Amanda was getting ready at the Dean Street Townhouse, which has got to be one of the most beautiful places to stay (or eat) in London. Amanda looked stunning in her Caroline Castigliano gown, and Mike very dapper in one of the coolest suits I’ve ever seen (skulls & crossbones lining, hello?) by a funky tailor in Brighton called Gresham Blake.
The ceremony of Amanda & Mike’s wedding took place in the Purple Room of Old Marylebone Townhall, which is starting to get quite familiar to us! The Townhall is definitely becoming one of my favourite places for ceremonies in London, not least because the staff there are always so lovely. From the Townhall guests (and Susanna) got on a London routemaster, which ferried them to the reception venue, Century Club, while Amanda, Mike and I strolled the streets of Soho for some portraits before rejoining the party.
There were lots of delicious details to take in at the reception, not least the gorgeous cupcakes from Mrs Marengos, but if there was one experience I would take away from this wedding to treasure forever, it would have to be the absolutely gobsmackingly gorgeous roof terrace at Century Club, where the evening reception took place. I think it’s hard to beat a first dance under an open sky on a rooftop in the middle of London. Just, wow.
Thank you so much Amanda & Mike for having us share your wedding day with you, it was so full of love and laughter and I wish you’ll have plenty more of that to come in your future together!
You might remember a certain gorgeous smile, which I fell in love with during Jill & Gareth’s engagement session. The first thing to greet us after walking through the door of Gareth’s parent’s house, where Jill and the girls were getting ready, was Jill’s infectious laughter, which instantly let me know that this was going to be one special day.
Jill’s beautiful Alfred Angelo gown had the coolest pockets ever, and I probably don’t need to tell you that I spent way too much time with her gorgeous Charm heals by Kate Spade, talk about shoe heaven! Earrings by J. Crew, and that stunning smile, finished off Jill’s look for the day. Since Jill and Gareth planned the wedding from overseas, it was easier for Jill to let her bridesmaids choose their own dresses – the one guideline was the colour black, which pulled the whole colour scheme together with a splash of green. A family friend made the flower girl dresses and page boy’s tie, and Sophia the flower girl’s adorable button bouquet came from Etsy.com vendor kottonkandy52.
The ceremony of Jill & Gareth’s wedding took place at the Holy Trinity Church in Rothwell, followed by a reception at Kilworth House Hotel. I’ll let Jill tell us about the preparations:
‘We tried to do as much as possible on our own, as we wanted the wedding to be a true reflection of us, even though we planned it from another country. I designed all of the paper products (invitations, programs, menus, escort cards, push pins, and favour tags), and Gareth helped make my ideas come to life by putting the invitations, programs, and escort board together. We chose to have Washington DC as our reception “theme”, since it’s the city where we met and still live. Gareth took all of the photos in DC for the table plan, and we came together in a major team effort to make all of the green topiary balls and paper flower bouquets. (Of course, getting them from America to England was a bit of a challenge!)’
‘Of the things that we had to purchase, I wanted to keep the vendors either local or independent, so I used Etsy.com quite a bit. I always loved Jones Soda when I was growing up, and I thought that the colours would add a fun pop to our tables and serve as the perfect place card. I worked with Jaime at TheButterShop to create all of the soda bottle labels, and I couldn’t have been happier with how they turned out.
About three weeks before the wedding, Gareth and I decided that it would be nice to add another favour that was specific to each table location (burning bookmark for the Library of Congress table, FBI badges and spy glasses for the FBI table, etc). It took quite a bit of thinking and quick planning, but it felt so much more personal to us.
Gareth and I couldn’t have been happier with our wedding day. It was perfect in every way, and completely us!’
I couldn’t agree more. It’s a huge feat in itself to plan a wedding from another continent, and to do it with such flair and attention to detail is nothing short of a miracle! I feel so very privileged to have been a part of this wedding, and for the opportunity to get to know Jill and Gareth who are such lovely people. I will forever miss the sound of Jill’s laugh – I hope you two will have decades of laughter ahead of you. x
As ever, a huge thank you to Susanna for having my back, and thanks also to Mark Brown for keeping us entertained on the train journeys!
Sometimes, even in London, the light decides to co-operate. And even though that magic moment might only last for ten minutes, it is so so sweet when it happens. The day when Daphne & Rom travelled down to London for their post-wedding session, started off gloomy and dark. When I arrived at Green Park the sky was looking very ominous indeed and I was sure it was going to start raining any minute. But that luckily wasn’t meant to be. When Daphne and Rom arrived, there was suddenly a shift in the clouds, and this beautiful beam of sunlight just appeared from nowhere. I mean, how often does that kind of thing happen?
It was lovely, and somewhat surreal, seeing Daphne and Rom again, dressed as they were in the wedding finery like when I’d last seen them on their wedding day, but in completely different surroundings. And even though the sun disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared, we had a lot of fun catching up and roaming the streets of London. And I think we got some pretty special photos as a result as well.
Thank you Daphne and Rom, for your killer style, for being so sweet, and for letting me do my thing. I do hope you like your photos!
For Daphne & Rom’s wedding we got to travel up to Manchester. The wedding festivities took place between two hip hotels, the Hilton Manchester Deansgate, where the couple got ready and where they later returned to for the reception, and the Midland Hotel, where their ceremony took place in the opulent French room.
Everything about this small and funky city wedding was done with such style. Daphne looked absolutely stunning in her Mahon dress from Pronovias. Her beautifully fresh and pure looking bouquet of ranunculus and gypsophelia was created by Verdure.
I really enjoyed our portrait session, which allowed me to take in some of the sights as well. This was the first time I’ve ever visited Manchester, and if there’s one thing I’ll always remember about the city, it has to be the wind. Oh my, it was just something else! I don’t know whether it was just that particular day, or whether it’s always that windy over there… I guess I’ll find out on my upcoming second visit to the city next month.
A few weeks after the wedding Daphne and Rom travelled down to London for my first every post-wedding session. Stay tuned, as I’ll be posting the results from that session at some point tomorrow!
Both Sophie & Henry‘s and Anna & Chris‘ weddings have the honour of gracing the pages of the December/January Cosmopolitan Bride, which is out now.
Coming from a magazine design background, magazines have always played a huge part in my life. When I changed careers to photography I was wondering how much I would miss the publishing world, but luckily I haven’t had to miss it all really. Having my work published in magazines has enabled me to experience the process from the other side of the fence, and I have to say it has been thoroughly enjoyable, not to mention a huge honour. Every time I get a new issue featuring my photos in my hands it feels like Christmas, and I can’t wait to see what the designers have come up with! :D
I’m so excited to finally be blogging Laura & Richard’s gorgeous London wedding! It seems like aaages ago since Laura and Richard booked me, and it feels a little bit surreal that the wedding is now suddenly behind us. It kind of goes to show the importance of photography that even I feel so happy to relive this wedding through the pictures, and it isn’t even my wedding!
First of all, what can I say about Laura’s stunning gown. It was called Fanal and was by La Sposa (bought at Bride and Groom, Bromley) in oyster colour, which I have to say was so so cool. Here’s what Laura told me about finding her dress: ‘It was the first dress I tried on, I then tried on about 30 more but each one was not quite right. I knew I wanted something plain and wanted to go for more of a Red Carpet/Hollywood/Oscar style look rather than a traditional bridal look. I wasn’t going to have a veil initially, but after struggling to find any sort of head piece that was right, I ended up going for a full length veil (by Richard Designs) for a dramatic effect.’ Laura’s glamorous Ted Baker heels complimented the colour of her dress beautifully. My absolutely favourite details must have been the gooorgeous earrings by Mikey. ‘I ummed and ahhed about these for ages as they were so big, but I couldn’t find anything else that matched so well,’ says Laura. The earrings also matched beautifully with her Tiffany pearl bracelet, which was a morning gift from Richard. To finish off Laura’s red carpet look Oonagh Connor did her make-up and Charlotte Dignam from Toni & Guy worked her magic on Laura’s hair.
Both the ceremony and reception took place at the Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich. This was the first time I’d ever visited this Victorian pub, and it certainly charmed me with it’s nostalgic atmosphere. Karen Woolven had created the beautiful flower arrangements and Laura’s lovely bouquet, which I thought were all show stoppers, not least because of Laura’s colour choices. In fact, Laura’s strong sense of style was evident in every aspect of the day, especially in all the stationary, which was designed by Laura herself. Sugarplum Cake Company (whom Laura and Richard found through my website!), created the cake – the cake topper (which turned out to be too heavy for the cake) was bought by Laura’s mum and aunt in Zurich, as they both thought it looked like the couple!
This certainly was one stylish wedding, and I really enjoyed being a part of it. One of the highlights of the day must have been when, while taking portraits of Laura & Richard, we stumbled onto the set of Pirates of the Caribbean 4! Sadly (or perhaps luckily, as I’m not sure they could have dragged me or Laura back to the wedding otherwise) Mr Depp wasn’t on set that evening, but I’m pretty sure all of us will be watching the film with a keener than normal eye, trying to spot all the set pieces that are now part of Laura & Richard’s wedding photos!
Rubbina and Louis’ wedding day was in such a delicious contrast to their urban engagement session on the South Bank. With Rubbina’s family being from Sri Lanka, having traditional Sri Lankan elements to their wedding day was really important to the couple. This could be seen in different traditions throughout the day. Here’s what Rubbina tells me about her gorgeous outfits: ‘Traditionally you wear a white saree, usually made of silk that is the equivalent to a white wedding dress. Then, in the evening, you change into a red saree which is called a koorai and is given as a present by the bridegroom to the bride. You change into this later in the day after a member of the groom’s family has taken it round on a tray to be blessed by the married couples at the wedding – I asked Louis’ sister, Michelle to do this for his family.’
I also loved the garlanding, which added such a special touch to the day. ‘The garland is called a maali and is made of plaited flowers and leaves and is a symbol of acceptance and blessing as husband and wife. We asked Louis’ parents to garland us outside the church, and then for my aunt and uncle to garland us at the reception. So we were receiving blessings from both couples on our wedding day.’
‘Another important tradition is the giving of a wedding necklace called a thali which is placed on the bride by the groom after the exchanging of rings. The thali is made with a thick chain with wire running through it which gives it a distinctive look and you then have different pendants you can have designed for it. I had mine made in Sri Lanka at Nithiya Kalyani,’ tells Rubbina.
One big theme running through the wedding day was music. Rubbina says: ‘I come from quite a musical family. One of my cousin’s played the organ and piano, one cousin played the harp and flute, and my aunt made an arrangement of a John Rutter blessing and a host of my uncles, aunts and cousins sang it for us at the ceremony, which was amazing.’
The reception was held at the absolutely stunning Northbrook Park (I’m so excited to be returning to this venue in the spring!), where, in the gorgeous orangery, Tabitha Peet at Florish had created the most beautiful flower arrangements. The food was supplied by Cottage Caterers and cocktails were done by Create Cocktails. All the stationary was as thoroughly thought out as the other aspects of the day. Here’s what Rubbina told me: ‘We asked Blush publishing to design our menus using letterpress printing. They did a great job using an elephant design, which Louis then used to create the seating chart and table numbers.’
The music theme carried through to the reception as well: ‘All the table numbers had lyrics on them which guests had to guess in a mini-music quiz – I think there might have been some cheating! The wedding favours were 7 inch records that Louis designed. He created two tracks using the Janet Jackson and Blackstreet song girlfriend/boyfriend but mixing the a side with Sri Lankan music and the b side with some Spanish music as he has some Spanish heritage. The music on the night was provided by Louis’ friend Jon and then Louis did the djing honours until lights out – it was an amazing day and we got to do it all again in Sri Lanka with a second wedding party!’
It was such a pleasure being part of this vibrant and buzzing wedding day. Thank you so much Rubbina & Louis for having us, I hope your ‘second wedding’ was as gorgeous as the first one!
I know you’ve been waiting to see some more pictures from Sophie & Jonny’s amazing burlesque themed wedding for what seems like forever. Well here they finally are, and I don’t think you’re going to be disappointed – this wedding sure was something else when it comes to individuality and style!
Sophie and the girls got ready at the beautiful family manor hotel, Kegworth House Hotel, and the interior of the room couldn’t have been more fitting! Sophie got her hair and makeup done by a London-based company called Lipstick and Curls, which specialises in retro looks, Sophie even wore 1940’s red lipstick. Her beautiful gown was by Maggie Sottero, albeit with the addition of the black ribbon and the black corset ties, which were from one of her own burlesque corsets. I probably don’t need to tell you that her shoes were by Christian Louboutin, I think the trademark red soles gave it away already! I adored Sophie’s birdcage veil, which she got from from Pishposhes in the US.
The couple travelled between the venues in style, in a beautiful red 1951 Pontiac Cheiftan (which provided some extra excitement to the day by getting overheated during our portrait shoot!). The ceremony of Sophie and Jonny’s wedding took place at All Saint’s Church in Sawley, and the reception was held at the Westgate Suite in Nottingham. Sophie’s inspiration for the day was burlesque, 1940’s and 1950’s. She says: ‘I love everything 1950’s and as a burlesque dancer I knew I wanted that as the theme. With our Parisian and Moulin Rouge engagement I knew I also wanted some of that influence too, hence the black and white.’
In keeping with the theme, the evening’s entertainment was a burlesque dance performed by Scarlett Daggers. ‘We aimed to have the wedding our way for ourselves. I had the odd comment about the burlesque not being very “wedding like”, but I didn’t care. It was what I wanted to see and thought would be an amazing bit of entertainment that we’d enjoy and was a referral back our Moulin rouge engagement. Our engagement was so different and soo us! And so was the wedding!’, says Sophie.
I had so much fun recording this gorgeous wedding! Thank you Sophie & Jonny, for being exceedingly cool and for creating a wedding that looked 100% like you!
P.S. Sophie & Jonny are in fact so cool that Rockn’n’ Roll Bride called dibs on featuring this wedding right after seeing pictures from their engagement session!
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!
Daphne got married to Rom in Manchester…
…and Rubbina & Louis tied the knot in Surrey.
On a beautiful weekend in July we made a long (and rather adventurous!) journey to a picturesque little village in France to cover Alix & Manu’s wedding. Words can’t really do justice to this place, it was like stepping into a postcard, or a fairytale. I have to say, I do love being a photographer! Not only because I get to record memories for my clients, but also because looking at the pictures lets me relive magical events and remember the places I’ve visited myself.
There were so many beautiful details in this wedding that I wouldn’t know where to start, but I have to mention the gorgeous gown that Alix designed herself, which was made at the Maria Lucia Hohan atelier – it really was a piece of art, even more delicate and magical in real life than in pictures!
I would like to take this opportunity to say a HUGE thank you to my assistant Susanna Hauru, who’s been an amazing help this summer. I’ve certainly had some adventures this year, and I’m glad she’s been there to share most of them!
p.s. Do also check out Alix’s blog for the fabulous honeymoon pictures – oh my, talk about paradise!
Sophie & Jonny got married yesterday. They are pretty rad.
I have to say I adored the style of Emily & Owen’s vintage flavoured London wedding (almost as much as I adore Emily and Owen themselves!). Owen is a fellow photographer, which always adds that bit of extra pressure, but ultimately, every time another photographer chooses me to cover their wedding I am beyond flattered!
Emily and the girls got ready at Hilton Euston, and Emily’s personal style was evident from every detail right from the beginning. Emily’s dress was a gorgeous 1950’s vintage number from ebay and her fab shoes were from Topshop. Oh and Emily’s kick-ass up-do was created by Freda at Rush Baker Street.
The ceremony of Emily and Owen’s wedding took place at the Old Marylebone Town Hall from where it was a short skip and a hop to the reception venue, Six Fitzroy Square, an absolutely stunning Georgian townhouse, which was for sure one of the nicest venues I’ve visited in London. It had such an elegant and grand, but yet homely, feel about it. I can’t thank Palette Events enough, they took such good care of us and did a great job on the day. Also, Lisa at Honor Oak Florists had created the most charming flower arrangements into vases that Emily had collected from charity shops, markets and car boot sales.
I love the fact that I’ve got to cover such a diverse bunch of weddings this year – and I really and truly have loved each and every one of them. When the personalities of the couple shine through in every detail, it is always bound to be a beautiful day! Emily & Owen’s wedding was certainly one event that I will not forget easily, not least because of Owen’s singing… :D (and now I go hide from Owen, while you go check out the pictures!)
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!
Sam & Adam (a.k.a. awesomest clients ever™) have the pleasure of starring in a real weddings feature in the October/November issue of Cosmopolitan Bride, which is out now. The timing’s quite appropriate as well as tomorrow I’m off to cover another wedding at the Andaz – I adore that venue!
Vee & Will got married in a tiny little village called Little Bardfield deep in the Essex countryside. Their intimate humanist ceremony, coupled with a topsy turvy wedding day schedule, created a special day that really reflected their fun personalities. Hill House, Will’s childhood home, made for a magical setting, and the different marquees dotted around the grounds ingeniously divided the outside space into different areas according to the different stages of the day.
There were so many things I loved about this wedding, from the fun relaxed atmosphere and Pimm’s in the garden, to the quirky hat-themed seating plan, but my favourite has to be the gorgeous flowers – they were just beyond beautiful!
I don’t know whether it was the remote location which made the darkness feel darker, but when the evening fell at Vee & Will’s wedding, I realised that this crazy summer has almost come to an end. When we drove off into the pitch black night, leaving the wedding party tearing it up on the dance floor, I found myself feeling quite nostalgic… Not to worry though, the season is nowhere near finished yet, September and October are chock-a-block with lovely weddings to look forward to.
But first, let me take you back to rural Essex….
