Let it be known that I love a winter wedding and this London Winter Wedding at Dulwich College was no exception. Let me explain why, or scroll ahead to the photos… My grandparents own a Christmas Tree farm. So as a child, I had many happy memories about what Christmas time meant. As a family, we’d come together not only for one day, or one-weekend for Christmas but for the entire festive period operating a family business, together and being with one another in the cold or sat by the fire drying off. As I aged a little I came to associate these short days, cold temperatures and Christmas decor with this feeling of connection, of being together with family.
As an intentional wedding photographer, I’ve become somewhat known for sunny wedding photos, “beautiful” destinations, hot climates and travel. I do genuinely love it. However, when the daylight hours shorten and December approaches, I love nothing more than to be in that fresh cold air with gloves on hands and a coat at the ready, it’s just who I am. So capturing weddings like the one below for Stephanie and Jamie at Dulwich College are a real pleasure, a unique insight into people lives at a time when we’re already feeling particularly ‘festive’, what a time for a wedding!
Now for some more from Steph and Jamie themselves, or scroll down to see their wedding in its full colourful winter glory.
Before becoming engaged, did you have any preconceived ideas of what your wedding would be like? And if so, how did this change once you started planning?
When imagining a wedding you often take inspiration from other people’s weddings that you’ve attended over the years. But once you properly start planning you realise how much the wedding gets shaped by your personal circumstances – so your budget, your family, your style, the time of year etc. It can end up being very different from how you imagined it, in a good way!
How and why did you choose your venue(s)?
Our love of food linked us with our venue, Dulwich College. We knew which caterers we wanted from the get-go and it turned out that they were one of the College’s preferred suppliers. It was also right on our doorstep so was almost a no-brainer!
What were your top three priorities in planning your wedding?
1) Music, 2) Great food and 3) Keeping the wedding personal and authentic to us.
What one thing most surprised you during the build-up to your wedding?
Just how much preparation and planning is required. In the final week, a good friend recommended a wedding coordinator for the day, which was excellent money spent – she helped everything flow perfectly and we didn’t have to worry about a thing.
What one thing most surprised you on the day of your wedding?
It sounds like a cliche and quite obvious, but the most surprising thing was the overwhelming sense of joy and happiness we felt all around us on the day. Nothing quite prepares you for that!
If you could do it all over again, which one thing wouldn’t you change, and if anything, what one thing, would you change?
Wouldn’t change: We couldn’t have asked for better suppliers – in particular Barney. He was instrumental in the planning of the wedding and on the day was fantastic; remembering the tiniest details. Most importantly, his photos looked amazing!
Would change: It’s hard to pick anything because it was a really perfect day. Maybe we would have made sure we saw all the different parts of the wedding. For example, we were so busy dancing that we didn’t get a chance to sample our evening food (raclette) and use the photo booth we hired. Quite a small thing though – we were too busy having fun!
In one sentence, or less, what advice would you give a couple planning their wedding?
There are so many things to coordinate, so give yourself plenty of time to organise. We picked particular ‘Wedmin’ days when we went to a cool local hotel bar armed with our laptops, which was a fun way to do it.
A few kind words about us from Steph and Jamie:
My wife and I hired Barney for our wedding in London last year. He was fantastic and ticked every box, and then went above and beyond:
1. Amazing photos.
2. Incredible organisation and marshalling of people. You won’t believe how important that is with a large wedding.
3. Fantastic on a social level – which really helped with #2 above, remembering all the names of so many of our close friends and family, so he could organise bringing them in for photos without too much fuss.
4. Going above and beyond – he even noticed that some guests didn’t have their food so chased the catering staff.
5. We ordered a photo book with him, and it’s beautifully put together. Something to treasure!
Complete supplier list can be found in the footer.
Complete supplier list:
Coordinator: Jane Spencer
Venue: Dulwich College
MUA: Kerie Ann
Hair: Avos Hair
Caterer: Favour + Ideas Box
Flowers: Augustus Bloom Flowers
Transport: Expeditional Bus + Morse Wedding Services
DJ: George Hilton
Pianist: PianoDJ Ltd
Videographer: Shoot it Yourself
Photobooth: Eventful
