If you are planning a wedding in South Wales, my home town of Blackwood has a couple of great venues. Take a look at Maes Manor Hotel for a wedding in a beautiful manor house, or Bryn Meadows, which has a more modern feel, set in acres of carefully tendered greens and fairways.
This picture was actually taken at the bride's home in Blackwood, during the preparation stage of the day. We start the day around 90 minutes before the ceremony, if the bride is getting ready at the venue, or 90 minutes before the bride leaves for the venue if she is getting ready elsewhere.
During this time, we are building rapport with the bridal party so that they feel relaxed with us for the rest of the day, as well as taking pictures.
After arriving, we immediately began photographing some of the details that are important to the bride and her family. These usually always include the engagement ring, shoes and bouquet. By capturing these inanimate pieces first, we get to warm up creatively, and it gives the family time to get used to us being in the room before we start pointing our cameras at real people.
The picture here was taken just before leaving for the church. The hair has just been set, the make-up is freshly applied. This is literally the time where our subject is their absolute best throughout the whole day. A very simple set-up using a window and my favourite portrait lens, but creates a wonderful image that I know the bride will love every time.