Author: Henley

Irana got in touch to ask if I could photograph her marriage at Weybridge register office in Surrey. As they were having a big wedding day with all their family and friends in 2016, there was just the couple themselves, Irana’s sister and parents. I photographed their ceremony and then proceeded to capture couple photographs and group shots. I was with them for less than an hour in total and it was great fun, plus we even snuck in to their Limo for one or two photos before I left them to their celebration lunch.

Limeleaf started out as Limeleaf Weddings around 2006. We recently wound down our wedding photography to specialise in the commercial side. However, we’re still sometimes asked very nicely if we can photograph ‘just one more’, and it’s very hard to say no; So without further ado:

Jack and Kristina married in one of London’s most iconic buildings, 30 St Mary Axe or more commonly known as The Gherkin due to its distinctive shape designed by Lord Foster. They had selected Searcys restaurant and bar on the top floor, boasting some of the most stunning views of London available as their wedding location. This is one of the more impressive locations to be married in London that I’ve experienced.

Jack and Kristina are humble people, their main concerns for the wedding were that their friends and family enjoyed their time and wanted to provide something special for them all to remember. I think they hit it right out of the park with their choices, from the beautiful ceremony, again with a backdrop that would usually only be reserved for cinematic films along with the evening dancing above the city lights and amazing panoramic glass ceiling.

The wedding day itself went effortlessly, with Kristina getting ready at the Grange hotel just across the road from the stunning St Paul’s Cathedral and then travelling by black cab to the Gherkin. The ceremony itself was upbeat and heartfelt, and with those views (I will keep mentioning them) it was stunning.

Searcys themselves were extremely attentive. Their top class professionalism ensured the entire day was the first class affair it undoubtedly deserved to be. Their willing to work as a team with outside vendors, myself included, ensured that everything went superbly well behind the scenes and allowed Jack and Kristina along with their friends and family to enjoy the occasion to its full potential.

I can’t sign off from this wedding without mentioning the dancing, when you have such an upbeat couple with friends and family who are also full of life you get people enjoying life to the max. I photographed in to the early hours to capture as much of the epic dancing and fun they were having. As a photographer it’s hard to pull yourself away in the fear that you might miss ‘that shot’. Luckily for me, with everyone being so on the ball I had my pick of angles and moments and I couldn’t ask for more.

As they both work and live in London, I’m sure they’ll always appreciate that almost no matter where they are they can glance in to the sky and instantly see and remember one of the most special days of their lives. It was an absolute pleasure to photograph and be part of their day and I wish Kristina and Jack all the very best for their future together.

Jamie and Rebecca married in Somerset in the middle of August. A lovely countryside wedding with the ceremony being held at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, West Buckland, in front of their friends and family.

The reception and evening entertainment was held at the family farm, where Rebecca grew up in Devon. The farm courtyard was completely transformed from the first time I had seen it, in to a place where they had games, including snooker no less, and a large marquee to hold the wedding breakfast, speeches and dancing.

I arrived to a relaxed Kate, fresh and ready for the day ahead at a lovely cottage placed in the narrow streets of Lyme. The girls were full of life and laughter, chatting and getting ready with plenty of time before having to head over to RCHQ. After documenting for a while at the cottage, I made my way over to see Josh who was staying just down the road, and found him slightly less fresh, carefully working his way through a bacon sandwich and cup of tea.

Due to the night before maybe taking a slight toll on Josh, his groomsmen fired him up to get down to Lyme Regis beach, right by the famous cob to take a swim in the less than warm water to freshen up and knock some life back in to him. I stayed firmly on shore and photographed as the water shocked the life back in to him.

Once both parties were ready, they each made their way over to River Cottage for the ceremony. It was held by Josh’s mother who just happens to be a registrar.

Afterwards, it was out into the nearby River Cottage fields for garden games and canapés, including the famous River Cottage welly wanging. Kate’s bridesmaid also brought along a few other games for the guests to play.

The wedding breakfast (breakfeast?) was, as usual, superb. The River Cottage chefs being some of the best, they always serve up a mean dish and today was no exception. The freshly made lemon tart was amazing, I can tell you first hand.

Once everyone was suitably full and their cake cut, it was over to the Yurt for coffee and nibbles and then first dance and drinks! The evening band ‘The Hijackers‘ were really excellent, at one point a friend of Kate and Josh (who luckily is a singer himself) got up on stage and belted out a few songs.

– Henley

Sheryl and Jason contacted me from a recommendation of a previous wedding groom (he’s also a wedding photographer) whose wedding I photographed a few years ago now. They were to have a relaxed and intimate wedding at Widcombe Grange in Somerset, a gorgeous country house set in 22 acres of landscaped woodland on the Blackdown hills.

They needed me for just a few hours to capture the last parts of their getting ready, to capture those pre-wedding nerves and excitement. I photographed through the ceremony to the group/couple photos and up to a speech from Sheryl’s father just before their wedding breakfast.

It was a beautiful, fun and relaxed day and they really lucked out with the weather. I’d heard from my sources the evening went just as well with some slightly inebriated dancing.

Sheryl and Jason are both extremely lovely people and documenting their wedding day was a great treat, I hope their wedding photography brings them continued joy and a great family keepsake to cherish.

– Henley

I met Lorraine and Matthew in a small café in Guildford just weeks before their wedding, it was quickly clear that this couple were foodies through and through but this came as no real surprise considering they had chosen River Cottage for their wedding. Renowned for its excellent food to the point it has its own mainstream TV show here in the UK.

On the wedding day itself, their ceremony was held on top of a hill overlooking the beautiful landscape of rolling hills and clouds at Cranberries Luxury Hideaway. Luckily for all of us, the weather behaved for the most part, with the sun peeking out from behind the clouds and the wind dropping often enough to bring a really lovely countryside spring feel. After the ceremony, it was a quick trot back to the barns for a drink before heading over to the famous River Cottage HQ by bus.

I can usually assume that any wedding held at River Cottage will be filled with relaxed, down to earth, fun-loving people who also enjoy quality and the finer things in life too. Matthew and Lorraine were no exception to this; their families and friends enjoyed the welly wanging garden games and after some good hard wanging everyone had built up enough of a hunger to head on in for speeches and food. The River Cottage chefs did not disappoint, especially with the freshly hand-made croquembouche from their specialist in-house pastry chef.

Jen and Jo chose an amazing venue in the east end of London called the Town Hall Hotel. Walking around you’ll come across everything from a moose head on the wall made from carpet to an old dentists chair just sitting down a hallway like that’s ok. There’s a range of artwork and pieces dotted about the hotel, you could almost miss them as sometimes they’re seemingly placed as part of the fitments.

The ceremony was held in the council chamber, I’ve had to hold back on the amount of photos of the council chamber simply because I loved it so much. With the excellent hanging lights and traditional rows of seating, everyone enjoyed an excellent viewpoint of the emotional ceremony. Both Jen and Jo looked stunning in their beautiful dresses and the ceremony was an intimate and heartfelt affair.

Cocktails were shaken (and stirred) for the reception and the wedding guests mingled among each other. We took the newlyweds away for a few couple photos before heading back for the wedding breakfast at possibly (definitely) the longest dining table we’ve seen at a wedding.

After the wedding breakfast and the cake being cut, the dancing ensued. Again, we grabbed Jen and Jo for some alone time with just the four of us to experiment with some of the excellent locations the Town hall had to offer.

Jen is also a wedding photographer, check out her website. It’s always nerve-wracking when photographing for another photographer but it was nothing but a pleasure, thank you both for such a great day.

– Henley.

Daphne and Graeme set their Liverpool wedding at the quaint yet grand and beautiful Hillbark hotel, surrounded by a picturesque landscape. They are both very hard-working, full of life and love for each other and they created a fantastic day filled with splendour, lots of beautiful touches and tons of emotion. There were plenty of tears throughout the ceremony and speeches which is testament to the loving circle of family and friends that Daphne and Graeme have.

One of Daphnes close friends is a wedding planner by day and orchestrated the most important day of her life phenomenally well. The flowers, candles, centrepiece and details all gave a romantic soft feel and really fitted with the grandeur and history of Hillbark. They also organised a black tie and cocktail dress evening reception, fitting with the diamante candelabra and monochrome theme in the terrace room excellently.

A live band played throughout the evening before a secret fireworks display lit up the night sky, surprising and delighting everyone.

Having previously met with Helen and Alex at Huntsham Court we knew we were going to love photographing their wedding, the location is stunning and a beautiful backdrop to a classic English wedding.

The wedding day weather was tentative with sunny spells mixed with the typical english drizzle. I mention this as the ceremony was held outdoors, a first for Huntsham Court. As a result there were a lot of glances through the windows to keep check on the weather. Luckily, the crossed fingers worked and they met beautiful sunshine as Helen walked down the aisle with her bridesmaids and children.

The whole day was beautifully relaxed and fun, the weather holding on for the most part and with a bouncy castle to keep the kids occupied and a flow of champagne for the adults no one cared about that anyway. Friends and family mingled and laughed in the gardens, while having group shots and catching up with friends, later things moved on to the wedding breakfast for some emotional and fun speeches, along with Alex being suitable embarrassed by his best man.

A live band played for everyone in the evening while we snuck Helen and Alex out for a couple photo or two before heading back in for more dancing.

Overall, their wedding day was exactly as they had hoped; Fun, family, relaxed and in a beautiful setting with great people.

– Henley

The year started off for us with the beautiful wedding of Eleanor and Phil in Chardstock in Somerset.

El and Phil have had the most fantastic adventure, travelling the world for many months before the wedding, so the table plan and theme of the reception was all about their adventures, as well as celebrating all their loved ones being in the same place (and same country!) for a change.

Having a big group of close friends, Phil and El wanted to include them as much as possible in the day which made it even more personal and poignant. The church they married in was in the village Eleanor grew up in and a very personal touch was her stepmother conducting the ceremony. They had a good friend playing music during the drinks reception, another playing the guitar for their first dance and a fantastic travel themed cake made by Eleanors good friend.

The reception being at Forde Abbey where El spent much of her childhood was another personal touch, and the evening party was held in a marquee in the expansive gardens.

Phil and Eleanor had the fantastic idea of issuing each table during the wedding breakfast with a stack of balloons, a pump, and the promise of a prize for the best hat created. It was a brilliant idea, and you can see some of the excellent ‘creations’ below.

Another wedding we were privileged to photograph, with brilliant friends and family their day was destined to be a success no matter the location, but luckily they also had that as well. Chartering the Dartmouth Explorer to travel up and down the river, while the reception was in full swing gave an excellent and ever changing backdrop to their day while everyone partied away.

Rewinding to the start of the day, Amy and Dan had chosen the Royal Oak Hotel for their reception and wedding breakfast. A nautical themed hotel just minutes away from the Dartmouth Explorer which of course fitted the nautical theme perfectly. After the wedding breakfast we all headed out for some group shots before taking the newly weds to a special location where Dan had proposed to Amy.

Later on everyone headed over to the Dartmouth Riverboat for the reception where everyone partied hard with karaoke!

– Laura

One of the best things about being wedding photographers is the lovely couples that Henley and I get to meet and build friendships with through our work. You  get to share and be part of their journey to being married, but rarely get the opportunity to work with them again; so it was wonderful to receive and email from Ashley telling us about her second wedding ceremony and asking if Henley and I would photograph it for them.

Ashley and Alan had originally booked us for their wedding ceremony at the Holland Park Orangery in London back in 2012, and as Ashley is from Singapore, she wanted  a traditional Chinese wedding back home so she could celebrate with friends and family who were unable to attend the wedding ceremony in London. Having never been to Singapore before, we were both struck by the beauty of the city, the iconic and modern buildings mixed with the colonial designs of Raffles Hotel and the symbolic Merlion to give a unique feel and ambience.

On the day of the wedding, Ashley and Alan prepared for their ceremony together in their suite at the beautiful Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and Ashley got to wear her custom Stewart Parvin wedding dress again and looked just as beautiful and glowing as she did at her London wedding. The Mandarin Oriental is a luxury hotel with a unique oriental design, allowing us to use it as a gorgeous and striking backdrop for couple photography.

The Singapore skyline is filled with glittering lights and iconic buildings, and as the pool at the Mandarin is near the top of the hotel, we took full advantage of the views. We also knew how much the couple loved the Holland Park fountain shot we tool at their London wedding and wanted to create a Singapore version for them.

A Chinese wedding has a few different traditions compared to English weddings, firstly there is the tea ceremony where Ashley and Alan presented tea to their family. After the tea ceremony, there was a change into to a traditional Chinese wedding gown for Ashley followed by a cake cutting, champagne toast and  an eight course Chinese wedding banquet. The video and photos of the London wedding were played to all the guests throughout the meal which we were also invited to experience. We were so blessed to have been able to spend a second wedding day with Ashley and Alan, and look forward to catching up with them again soon.

– Laura

Henley and I headed off to Cambridge for the wedding of Dominique and Ed. Although meeting the couple beforehand, it was the first time we had been to Cambridge, and were practically salivating at seeing the beautiful college buildings, gardens and architecture as the whole town is steeped in so much history.

Dominique is a pastoral assistant at a London church so the ceremony was a poignant nuptial mass in the chapel of Christ’s College. Ed used to be part of the college choir so it was lovely to have his friends sing during the ceremony. All the clergy were dear friends of Dominiques, and it is without doubt, the most beautiful and personal church service I’ve witnessed especially as everything was so personal to the couple.

After the ceremony had ended we walked through the gorgeous college gardens and the streets of Cambridge for the evening reception at The Michaelhouse Cafe which is set in St Michaels Church in the heart of the city.

The couple met in Cambridge, so we wanted to not only capture their personalities in the couple photos, but also the surroundings which were so important and personal to them.

Dominique had hired Mintyslippers to shoot her wedding video so it  was great to catch up with Danny and Julie who we have known for a few years and are both always fantastic and professional to work with.

– Laura

“Oh my goodness – we have literally just picked it up from the post office (I am in the car park now!) The cd is so beautiful – that photo is just GORGEOUS. There are not words to say how amazing the photographs are. We are beyond happy. My parents watched the slideshow and I was on the phone while she was in tears because they are so special.

We will cherish your photographs for ever. (I will send you a photo of our wall when we put them up!!) 

Thank you SOOOO much,

Dominique & Ed xxxx”

St Audries is such a beautiful wedding venue, nestled in 100 acres of Deer Park in the Quantock Hills, it is perfect for a summer country house wedding like Issy and James’s. They are based in Godalming in Surrey but after discussing the sort of venue they were after to James’s mum (who lives in Somerset) she pointed them in the direction of St Audries which they completely fell in love with.

Issy has been married before and had always dreamed of getting married in a classic princess dress but had opted for a more demure gown for her first wedding. When James proposed and they started planning their day, she wasn’t going to pass up the chance to wear the dress of her dreams so set to work with a designer to create her perfect wedding dress.

Issy lives for music – she is a musical director at a school so it was lovely to see the choir from her school perform during the sun drenched ceremony in The Orangery as well as during the church blessing at St Etheldredas.

They had afternoon cream tea on the lawn followed by garden games before heading in to the banqueting hall for dinner and some very emotional speeches.

-Laura

Sarah and Nick rarely get to see much of each other with Nick being in the Marines and away more often than not, and with Sarah running her own tea shop they’re never together for long. However, in the time they’ve had together they managed to put together a very grand yet elegant and beautiful wedding right in their quaint English home town of Illminster in Somerset. In fact, even the grand Minster church was just a few minutes walk away. This beautiful building has a lot of atmosphere and a really lovely feel. Dillington House, the reception location and another grand site only minutes from where they live was also superb.

Sarah has been running around Dillington House for a while now, not just because of the wedding but as she’s a keen runner, she uses the grounds as a place to train. With herds of deer, open grassland and beautiful oak trees we could both definitely see why Sarah would not only love running there but also bring their family and friends to celebrate the love for each other.

Seeing them on the day, it was great to watch and document them being able to just relax and unwind from their hectic lives as their day sailed along gathering speed, the formal photographs and speeches began to slip away and the reception rolled in like a tiger in a cattery. Sarah and Nick are no wall flowers, owning the dance floor with their fantastic ‘Great Balls of Fire’ first dance choice. With the dance floor heated up for their guests, the party got started and there were few that shied away.

– Henley

River Cottage is such a wonderful venue, we have photographed here a few times now but every wedding feels completely different to the last as it really takes on the vibe of the couples day. Emma and Joe picked River Cottage as the venue for their wedding blessing in the herb garden, followed by garden games and reception in the lodge.

Emma along with her bridesmaid and father got ready in the beautiful setting of The Chalet in Lyme Regis just below Mark Hix’s restaurant and overlooking the beautiful Lyme Bay. As Emma finished getting ready, her dad sat outside on the terrace overlooking the bay putting the final touches to his speech.

Joe and Emma had chosen a vintage feel to their wedding and all the time they had spent looking into and choosing the details really showed. The tractor and trailer brought the guests down the long drive to the farm where flags guided the way to the front of the farmhouse into the garden. The herb garden was decorated with big white balloons along with wild flower arrangements in watering cans. They had entertainment by a ‘Gramophone DJ’ playing 1950s records which we’ve never seen before and was a lovely touch. After the crackle of the needle, music filled the air and felt like we had been transported back to a bygone decade as Emma made her entrance into the sun basked herb garden.

After the romantic blessing, everyone headed over to the lawn for Pimms and the garden games. Emma and Joe had really gone to town and there was a wide choice of activities including hook a duck, coconut shy, skittles, welly wanging, splat the rat and ferret racing! There was a prize for the person who correctly guessed which ferret would win and as you can see below, the lucky guest was extremely happy with his win! The games allowed all the guests to get to know each other in a relaxed manner and the day was so relaxed and fun that even the chef joined in to show off his expert welly wanging technique.

River cottage is a working farm, and as much of the produce as possible is grown or kept on site or is from producers in the immediate area meaning the food is amazing as is all local or home grown produce. The menu is always chosen by the couple and introduced by the chef. For their main, Emma and Joe had a pig that had been reared on site (her name was Alice, the chef informed us) and had then been been spit roasted for 24 hours, and was absolutely delicious. This was then followed by fruit crumble and salt caramel ice cream.

The evening entertainment was courtesy of the River Cottage resident band, The Guilty Pleasures who kept everyone dancing until it was time to head home (or to the pop up hotel on site).

As well as being a really lovely couple, Emma and Joe really put on a wonderful day and one that we were privileged to be part of.

 – Laura