Edie and Martin’s wedding was such a relaxed, fun party – absolutely loved capturing it all for them. It was full of emotion, too – all the things that we wedding photographers just love to be surrounded by and thrive on capturing. It was my first time as a Lauderdale House wedding photographer – situated in Highbury in North London, Lauderdale House is a fab arts centre/historic house, and a delightful venue for a wedding; the building itself has lots of great, airy rooms, and its surrounded by beautiful gardens.

I loved the way that Edie and Martin did things totally their own way! They had one of their closest friends actually carry out the ceremony for them (which you can see in the image below), they had a private ‘first look’ before their guests arrived (as they wanted some time alone to see each other for the first time, and get a few relaxed shots of them around the grounds, too, so they didn’t have to leave their family/friends later on), they did their First Dance totally privately, on their own, which was the first time I’d seen and photographed this – was truly lovely.

I always love being a wedding photographer London, by the way – the city is just so varied, so full of life; love shooting weddings there.

Anyway, on to a selection of some of my favourite Lauderdale House wedding photography – I’ve also written about some specific images below; my thought processes, why I like it, how I took it, what was going on…those kinds of things.

One of Edie and Martin’s closest friends carried out their wedding ceremony – cue some huge belly-laughs like this (as well as lots of lovely emotional moments, of course).

As mentioned, there was a lot of emotion, a lot of which came from Martin. Honestly, just speaking from a fellow guy’s perspective, it’s just *so* lovely to see a groom let his emotions flow like this. You’ll see quite a few of Martin’s emotions in this blog post…! From a photography perspective, I love to get in close like this; it makes the viewer seem like they were really there, feeling it too – makes the images so much more intimate.

Ha, I like this frame! I like the way your eyes probably land on the sharp Edie first, before then gojng to the two out-of-focus guys, and then back to Edie – drawing your eye all over the frame. A fun composition of a small moment.

As mentioned at the top, Edie and Martin wanted to do a ‘first look’, and then have some shots of just the two of them. They wanted to do this so they wouldn’t have to leave their family and friends later on in the wedding. Here’s one from that time that I particularly like.

Big laugh, in close…boom!

I don’t force anything upon my couples, and thus it’s totally their choice if they want any bridal prep, groom prep coverage – or both! Edie and Martin wanted me to just capture the groom prep, and so that’s what I did 🙂

This may look like a portrait but in fact it’s not – it’s actually from their First Dance. Edie and Martin bucked tradition by having a totally private First Dance; whilst their guests were enjoying the end of the wedding breakfast in an upstairs room, the couple danced to an audience of no-one (well, I was there, and the DJ, but we don’t count!). It was the first time I’d seen this and I thought it was beautiful – a really lovely thing to do.

I like shooting ‘through people’ like this; it gives a good context as to what’s happening. And, of course, waiting for the ‘moment’ like this (I can’t really remember what was happening here, but I like it!)

Edie embraces her friend who did the ceremony for them. Again, getting in close like this almost makes it appear like it’s Edie’s viewpoint, which I really love.

Dancefloor antics rock!

What you could call a ‘non-portrait’. It’s a shot of one of the best men, but totally natural, unposed, and he probably didn’t even notice I took it. I like the leading the way the negative space of the sofa leads your eye up to his smile.

Late-night dancefloor hugs!

Edie was walked down the aisle by her brother; I love this look between them just as they reached the end.

I’m close, yes, but people get used to ignoring me – or not even noticing me at all – straight away. It enables me to get intimate moments like this, without people being camera-aware. Natural, real moments.

I love to capture laughs, I really do!

This is during the ceremony; I was allowed to move around more than I would during a ‘traditional’ ceremony, so I made the most of that to get different angles, and different viewpoints. Here, I love the way Martin is looking at Edie while she says her vows.

As mentioned, they had a ‘first look’, where they saw each other before the ceremony. This is from that time, and I just love the light here and Edie’s expression.

Ha, I really like this dancefloor shot! Always interesting to try to capture the dancefloor from different angles, and I think this low-down viewpoint really works here.

These next two shots show some lovely family relationships, I think. Here, Martin and his Father share a moment…

…and here, Edie and her Dad are mirroring during another moment.

Another one from their private First Dance 🙂

Earlier in this blog post there was a shot of Martin looking lovingly at Edie during the ceremony; this is a kind of ‘reverse’ of that, where I’ve moved around to the other side and captured Edie looking at Martin (and laughing, of course!)

Another shot that could easily be mistaken for a portrait, but it really isn’t – this was captured just a minute or two after Edie and Martin became husband and wife; they had just walked back down the aisle, and left the ceremony room – I just stayed back, watched, and captured them embracing.

I just really like this dancefloor capture! Makes me smile 🙂

During the speeches, I love to keep an eye on the couple. A small, quiet moment as Martin kisses his new bride.

During the ‘cocktail hour’ – or just anytime where groups of people are standing around talking, I see it as my job to still get interesting and dynamic captures. It may ‘just’ be conversation, but I think this composition – and the two big smiles – make it more than that.

One more from their private First Dance.

I hope you enjoyed looking at these Lauderdale House wedding photos, and reading some of my thoughts behind the images too.