K&F were married in May at the stunning Bedfordshire venue of Luton Hoo – A look into their gorgeous wedding

K&F
I loved K from our first conversation, she was enthusiastic, bubbly and very full of ideas for their wedding photos, when I spoke to F at the booking stage, I already knew that I really wanted to do this wedding! K and F are from the Netherlands and live and work in London and they chose to celebrate their wedding at the quintessential Luton Hoo estate on the Herts/Beds borders, the perfect venue to showcase some Bedfordshire wedding photography.
We did their pre-wedding shoot along the old docks in Canary Wharf with the city as the perfect backdrop, they really are a very lovely (and very photogenic!) couple and they even cheered me on as I did the London Marathon (which did happen to run directly past their flat) a couple of months later.

The Venue
Any regular blog readers will already know of my affection for the stunning Luton Hoo, it has such beautiful architecture and I always love to shoot weddings there. K&F wanted a venue which was in easy reach of them and their friends in London, as well as being easy to access for all of their guests coming from mainland Europe.
Despite it’s grandeur and elegance, Luton Hoo manages to maintain such a friendly and relaxed atmosphere – the perfect venue for this couple – they are a wonderful couple who know how to have fun!
If you are thinking about a Bedfordshire venue or about Luton Hoo, I have a blog post dedicated to wedding photography at this venue and would highly recommend having a read through.

The Morning

The weather had not been on side in the run up to the wedding day, but fortunately the poor weather cleared overnight, leaving clear blue skies. The bride was in one of Luton Hoo’s beautiful suites with her parents and bridesmaids and the champagne was poured as they watched Prince Harry and Meghan Markle marrying in St. Georges chapel on the tele whilst hair and make up was being completed.
Every now and then, I could dash down to the main house and take some shots of F and his groomsmen and capture guests arriving and greeting one another. F looked incredibly dapper in a white tux and choosing to put his groomsmen in the more traditional morning suit attire.

The Ceremony

The ceremony was a traditional registrar service, held in the ‘Living Room’ in the main house. The colour theme was a soft pink and the couple used this to accent the already beautiful space. Their wonderful expressions say it all and I love it when my job is made easier by big smiles.
F’s nieces were flower girls and caused an audible “awww” as they tottered down the aisle to hand over the rings. They ended the ceremony with an obligatory kiss and a small celebration as they headed back down the aisle to enjoy some drinks and refreshments.

The Reception – an afternoon tea

The couple lead their guests into the beautiful Library for drinks reception of wine and beer. They also chose to treat their guests to a light afternoon tea in lieu of traditional canapés. As traditional English afternoon teas are globally famous, it was great to see the international guests enjoying the fare. The doors of the library open directly onto the terrace and, with the sun shining, the guests soon spilled outside. K&F chose to employ and band and singer for the drinks reception, providing just the perfect amount of atmosphere and giving me a chance to capture some natural moments before the group photos.

The group photos and the terrace

K&F mainly wanted natural images, however they did want a few with their nearest and dearest on the beautiful lawns as well as a few ‘wow’ directed images for themselves. I cannot grumble at all, everyone was so friendly and polite and we achieved all of the group photographs in about fifteen minutes, leaving plenty of time for a few couple portraits and some fun with the wedding party before the main meal was called.

The Wedding Party and some couple shots

As with the wedding, the wedding party was also an international affair, with both of K&F’s siblings and best friends taking centre roles in the day. We used the lovely covered ‘folly’s’ in the main gardens to capture a few natural feeling group shots of such important people to to couple. To save some time, it seemed like a great idea to capture just a few of the lovely couple before they headed back to eat, drink and relax with guests until the meal was called through.

Meal and Speeches
Robin the toastmaster called the couple in to be seated at tables in the beautiful Romanov Suite within the mansion house. The couple delicately decorated an already impressively ornate room with further hints of pink and with their favourite cities around the world. Although, not necessarily a part of usual dutch wedding custom, the speeches were fantastic and well received by all of the guests. They then went on to enjoy their three course meal and cut the cake before heading back outside to make the most of the great weather.

A special request

When my couples come to me, sometimes shyly, to ask for special requests, I make sure that I listen – this is your wedding and I want you to love your wedding photographs! If the idea is a little zany or peculiar, that’s fine, these are your pictures and I love to work fulfilling odd requests because they often result in amazing images and they are always a lot of fun to create. K&F had three very specific requests, jumping on the bed, looking comically exhausted/drunk and later in the evening some stylised shots with cigars.

The Sunset

We nipped back to the front of the house to catch the last few rays of sunlight. This tends to be my favourite session with a couple on a wedding day – the beautiful, warm light always looks amazing and most couples are so relaxed by this stage, we always have a great time.

The Evening

For a relatively small wedding, these guys knew how to make a dance floor feel packed! I snuck out with K&F for their last request of the day – stylised cigar shots in the courtyard – 10 minutes of fun and challenging lighting before I headed home, tired but happy leaving them dancing away.

I hope that you have enjoyed looking through some images from this stunning wedding! If you are considering booking me for your own wedding, you can reach me here.

-Esmé