Wedding at Ardencote Manor

Lauren and Michael got married at St Nicholas Church in Leamington Spa and had the reception for the wedding at Ardencote Manor Hotel and Spa in Claverdon, they also had a great party from the stag do ideas in Budapest before the wedding. Lauren and Michael are a lovely couple and had a wonderful wedding surrounded by good friends and family. You could tell that family relationships meant a lot to these two, and it was interesting to see which photos Lauren picked as her top 5. I am really enjoying the addition of this feature to my blog posts as it really is great to find out what some of the individual photos mean to my couples. You can see Lauren’s top 5 below along with the reasons for choosing them. I have selected my 36, which you can also view. Along with the slide show and video at the bottom of the post. Lauren and Michael booked my video fusion package. It was lots of fun.

Lauren’s Favourite Five:

ONE:

Lauren says:

This photo of my Nan and Michael is a personal favourite of mine! Taken as everyone arrived at the church, I wasn’t even aware of its existence until we got our wedding photos back from Kathryn and it definitely brought a tear to my eye. My Nan is the only grandparent that we were lucky enough to have with us on our wedding day, she means the world to both of us and she has truly welcomed Michael to the family.

Two:

Lauren says:

This photo, with a view of our wedding venue in the back ground is one of our favourite photos of us together. We were so lucky with the weather for our wedding day, so with the sun shining it was great to be out in front of the lake and fountain for this picture. Kathryn did such a great job at making us feel relaxed and we think it really shows in how natural these photos look.

Three:

Lauren says:

The best men’s speech! Before our wedding day we hoped it would be full of love and laughter, and Michael’s two best men helped that along. Lee and Anthony (aka Biff) are both very old friends of Michael and had some stories to tell. I’m not sure either of us knows the exact part that resulted in this photo but we think the head in hands says it all.

FOUR:

Lauren says:

My bridesmaid Marie had only had her daughter Mila around 3 months before our wedding. Even with a new-born baby around Marie was there for me through dress fittings, wedding planning and last minute nerves and I can’t thank her enough for her support. Marie’s husband Simon had been on baby care duties throughout the day, so after dinner there was chance for a mum and daughter cuddle before Mila’s bedtime. One extra special part to this photo for me is that it was just outside these windows that I asked Marie to be my bridesmaid many months before.

Five:

Lauren says:

The boys! I’m not sure Kathryn was expecting this, or a number of the other photos, when she asked the groom and best men to strike a pose! We had great fun out by the lakeside for this and a number of other photos of the bridal party and I don’t think any of us have spent that long laughing before.

Fun and emotion:

I absolutely love some of the reasons behind Lauren’s favourite images. Particularly the one about Marie her bridesmaid and the fact that the spot the picture was taken was the same spot she asked her to be her bridesmaid. Sometimes as a photographer you don’t even realise the significance of a picture you are taking. You just frame it and capture a moment because you feel it. But then to hear Lauren’s take on the same photo makes it even more special. I love that!

36 Photos:

I have chosen my favourite 36, which was hard. I wanted to tell the story of the day, whilst including some of my favourite moments. Some of these include captures from my second shooter Carolyn Brown, who got a great shot of Michael’s nephew on his dad’s shoulder’s with his hands over his dad’s eyes. Great capture Carolyn! I loved Lauren’s grandma, and how happy she was to see Michael at the church. I loved the moment Lauren and Michael clapped eyes on each other for the first time in the church! I loved the Disney quotes on the table settings and the silhouettes of their favourite characters. It was very effective and I enjoyed reading them. I loved Lauren’s bouquet. I loved the relative who stood right in front of Lauren and Michael for the group shot, and made for a hilarious picture of the two of them pulling faces behind. Not staged at all. Just a funny candid moment. I loved the bit where Michael’s niece gave Lauren and Michael some vials of shells they had collected especially. The little girl was so excited to give them the gift. It was super cute! I loved the belly laughs in the speeches and the folder Michael presented to Lauren about where they were going on Honeymoon. It was a big surprise. So Lauren was very excited to find out they were going. It was somewhere exotic on the Canary Islands I think. Can’t remember where now. Looked pretty idyllic though!!! I loved taking silly portraits of the groomsmen holding the bouquets and doing silly poses. And I loved the evening portraits in the beautiful golden light and that lovely portrait of Lauren. Swoon. So thats why I chose those.

Amazing Day:

Lauren and Michael had an amazing day. They made me feel extremely welcome as their photographer and Carolyn and myself enjoyed a dance on the dance floor at the end of the night. It was wonderful to capture these memories for them, and I hope they will have many more. Don’t forget if you’d like to see more, the Slide Show and Video Fusion is at the end of the post.