Photography: Jay Rowden
Church: St. John’s, Hartley Wintney, Hampshire
Reception: L’Auberge at The Cricketers, Hartley Wintney, Hampshire
Brides dress: Benjamin Roberts at Brides Visited, Ashtead, Surrey
Brides earrings: Porters, Hartley Wintney
Grooms suit: Moss Bros
Cakes: Catherine Wright, Hartley Wintney

There are lots more real life weddings on LMW – be sure to check them out.

(Wow loving all those piccies Gaynor – its so late at night now that I am going to save the part 2 instalment for another day very soon. In the meantime you can also find Gaynor on her blog OurDayByDesign)

So Sam what was the best thing about photographing Lisa and Damian’s wedding?
“When Lisa asked me to do her wedding photography I was thrilled. I had met Lisa when she was a bridesmaid at her friends wedding which I had photographed a few years previously. When Lisa then told me she was marrying at Cripps Barn it got even better! I had only just come across Cripps Barn the previous week whilst surfing the web and thought how much I would like to do a wedding there. Being some 200 miles away I didn’t think it would ever happen! Lisa & Damian’s wedding had a lovely, laid back, retro feel to it which, along with those gorgeous bridesmaids dresses and fabulous details I loved photographing.”

What another great wedding, Lisa and Damian you wedding looked amazing and I have to say that Sam has taken some really lovely photos. What a great choice of venue – its really unique, guests are allowed to camp in the grounds, there is no corkage fee and you can have log fires inside and outside. Cripp’s Barn sounds really special.

The photographer, Sam, is based in the North West, and mainly photographs weddings in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Chesire & the Lake District but will also do wedding elsewhere in the UK. Have a look at her site Sam Clayton Photography and her blog

* I asked Gemma what was the best bit about the wedding
“Loved all of it! Even better than ever expected. Few moments were being woken to breakfast being served in lounge, room upgrade, passes by comments, everyone dancing ceildh band, having to kick friends and family from our suite at 2am”

* And any tips for brides to be?
“My advice would be to plan as much as possible, do as much as possible and enjoy every moment.”

Thanks again ladies and make sure you all check out Compose Photography where you can see lots more of Susannah and Huma’s work.

Although both living in the East Midlands, Hannah & Stephen held their wedding near Halifax. They had their ceremony at St Matthew’s church in Lightcliffe just up the road from Stephen’s parents house after which they headed over to Stephen’s sister’s house where the reception was held in a marquee in the fabulous garden.Hannah got ready with her 2 bridesmaids in a little cottage in the garden, renovated specifcially for the wedding. Her Ian Stewart dress was stunning & the bridesmaids dresses had a grecian feel to them which were worn with flat gladiator style sandals. Don’t those flowergirls look so cute in their little dresses (I think that they might be from Monsoon as I saw something very similar last time I was in there)
Because it was Easter Saturday, Hannah had lots of ‘easter’ touches in the table decorations – Little bird eggs nesting at the bottom of floral displays & chocolate egg favours.
The top table had completely different decorations than all the other tables, pretty floral displays of roses and tea lights in silver sparkly pots. And don’t you just love the chocolate cupcakes in butterfly cases??The views from the road outside the venue were amazing and Sam managed to get some lovely photos there, as well as using different parts of the large garden. Friends & family had spent many weekends leading up to the wedding helping to get the garden in order.
I asked Sam what she particularly enjoyed about shooting Hannah and Stephen’s wedding…
“I remember that the weather forecast for the day was not good, yet we ended up with a lovely day, perfect for dramatic photos across the valley. I absolutely loved Hannah’s huge bow on the back of her dress. A great detail to photograph, providing interest on the back of her dress and I just love bows!”

If like me you have fallen in love with some of these photos then make sure that you check out her site Sam Clayton Photography and her blog where you can see more piccies and find out more info about hiring her for your wedding.

Don’t you just love the dresses, the big bow on Hannah’s dress, the bridesmaids and the flowergirls all look gorgeous don’t they?

I always like to hear what people particularly liked about the weddings so here are a few words from Christina about photographing the event
“We loved everything about Emma & James’ wedding. Lennoxlove House is a wonderful venue and Emma used her talent as an interior designer to put her own stamp on the day – the end result was absolutely stunning! Emma & James were very generous with their time, and happy to go along with our ideas, which led to incredible images. And the reception was so much fun – as you can probably tell from the photos!”

Yes we can! Thanks Guys for sharing these lovely photos and James and Emma all the best for a wonderful, happy marriage!

Here is a selection of photos from one of their recent weddings: Emma getting ready (looking stunning in an antique fur jacket that belonged to her great grandmother and a custom-made dress), James and his ushers at the pre-wedding lunch, the marriage at St Mary’s Church, Haddington and lastly photos of the newly married couple together outside. Flowers are by talented scottish florists Planet Flowers, based in Edinburgh.

James and Emma are gorgeous, the whole wedding is stylish yet effortless, and when you see the next post, with photos from their reception, you can clearly see that everyone is having a LOT of fun!

How cool are those shoes? I am loving the personalisation (and the fact that Lucy bothered to photograph these little details).
And here are some more of the gorgeous bride and groom with some of their wedding party – the little bridesmaid is just the cutest.

There are many more gorgeous photos from this wedding on Lucy Davenports blog so keep on reading over there or check out her website, Lucy Davenport Photography . Thanks Lucy for sharing this wedding with us on LMW. Oh and I will leave you with a few more because I can’t bear to leave the rest of them out!

A few words from Lucy on why she enjoyed shooting this wedding….
“The wedding was actually planned in 6 weeks as the couple accepted a last minute date at their dream venue to save having to wait. The detail and thought that had gone into the wedding was very noticeable. The bride had gone to every effort to make sure even the smallest of details were considered, this makes for great photographs. 6 weeks was a real challenge and they definitely pulled it off.
It was my first time at this venue and the weather was perfect so it was great to explore the grounds to get some bridal couple shots”
Oh and by the way if you love the make up its by Ruth Talbot from Cotswold Brides who specialises in hair and make up in the Cotswolds and Gloucestershire. I can defo vouch for her as she did my hair when at my best friend’s wedding when I was a bridesmaid – she is great value and I was over the moon with the result as was the bride!

What I find amazing, and very difficult to comprehend is that from the minute my grandparents first met, until quite a long time after the birth of their first child, they were unable to truly be together. They were both posted to different places during the war, Granddad working as a surgeon, whilst Grandma was working in the RAF (doing a number of different jobs). I know I’d struggle if I was apart from my husband for 2 weeks, but here we’re talking a couple of years – with babies, war and fighting in between – never knowing if you’d see the love of your life again.
Grandma says that despite getting married in 1943 they couldn’t start ‘living’ until the war finished in 1945 and Granddad was home safe and sound. Today, 67 years later, they are sitting here on the sofa, holding hands and recounting their special day to me. I don’t think that there are many couples still alive today that were married during the war and can recount their stories first hand – I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to record this little bit of family history, the wedding of Mary and Robert in 1943.

* How did you meet Robert?
I was doing Red Cross work, as nurse in a military hospital in Cheshire and Robert had just qualified as a doctor. I met him on 6th January 1941 (I can’t believe she has such a good memory) but it wasn’t until a few months later that we went on our first date. During all of the time that we were courting we kept in touch by letter, writing to each other regularly and when we could the odd phone call. Shortly after we met, when I was living in Bath (I had been stationed there) I took a week’s leave and went to stay with a friend in Cheshire. Robert borrowed his father’s car and drove me to Liverpool where we went to watch a Gilbert and Sullivan Opera. (After the Opera, there was an airraid, shrapnel hit the wheel of our car and we were stranded! An air force chap who happened to be driving past and got us a new wheel finally rescued us. But by the time I finally got home to my friend’s house it was very late -they definitely didn’t believe our story and thought that we had just been out later than we should have enjoying each other’s company!)

* How long were you together before getting married?
Robert proposed on 8th December 1942, so we were together nearly 2 years. During that time we never lived together, or in the same area as we were both posted all over the place. We wrote to each other a lot and when we could both get leave, we would arrange to meet in London. We would go out for dinner and then always to the theatre, and then back to our (separate) rooms in the hotel. We got married 5 months later, on April 27th 1943, in the Catholic Church in Newbury.

* What did you wear?
During the war we were given coupons to buy clothes (this was the time of rationing of food and pretty much everything) so I saved up my coupons and went to a little dressmakers. At that time my job was in Bath – I was an officer in the air force doing codes and ciphers (high secretively). The owner of this little shop managed to help me and made a pretty dress for my wedding using fabric that I could just afford with the coupons I’d saved up. I wore an egg blue pleated skirt with a black jacket, that was trimmed with the same material as the dress. Robert wore his best blue suit. Robert gave me a lovely bouquet of flowers on the day – I think that they were orchids (“you would have had the very best” Granddad shouts out from his seat on the sofa)

* How did you get to the venue?
I think I went in a taxi with my parents. My father didn’t have a car at the time, not many people did and even if those that did struggled to find petrol. Robert stayed the night before in a hotel in Newbury with his best man, Victor (who was also his cousin).

* What about your guests?
Well we only had about 14 guests – we had both our families and Robert’s best man. We didn’t have bridesmaids or anything like that, I’m not even sure if any of my sisters were there. It was during the war and it was a very simple affair – most of our guests had to hitchhike to the wedding, because like I told you hardly anyone had a car.

* What happened at the wedding?
The wedding was in the morning and was basic compared to how things are now; there was no music at the service, nothing to mark the entrance of the bride and groom. It was just a simple wedding service. Afterwards we went to the Chequers hotel in Newbury for the reception. My dad had somehow managed to get hold of a couple of magnums of champagne (which was very unusual at the time) and we probably had some bits to eat. There was no wedding cake or anything like that. No dancing. I don’t really remember too much about the reception it was all over quite quickly. The next thing was we were off on the train to London to start our honeymoon – I remember waving goodbye to everyone on the platform. The best bit for me was just being married and having my husband.

* What about the honeymoon?

We got straight on the train to London, spent the first night at Grosvenor House Hotel and went to see a show called Pat Kirkwood (singer/ dancer). The next day we got the train down to Torquay, and stayed in a little hotel called the Palm Court Hotel – its still there today, its on the east end of the front. We did lots of sightseeing by bus. After the honeymoon I went back to my job in Bath (we had to continue with our war work) and Robert back to his job as a surgeon in Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. Just a couple of months later, Robert was called up to join the army and spent the next few years serving his country from places as far away as Burma. We were lucky that he managed to get a few days leave so that he could come and see me and meet his first child, Gillian, a month or so after she was born.

* How much do you think the whole wedding cost?
About £150

Grandma says that secret to their long happy marriage is that they have had to work at it, and support each other through the highs and lows. It sounds like getting married in the middle of the war and then being apart for so long would have been an incredible challenge for any young married couple. I think we’re blessed to have it so easy these days.

This post is dedicated to my other grandma, who died a couple of days ago, by the time I got round to seeing her she was too poorly for me to ask her about her 1940′s wedding (which was just after the war). So I feel sorry that I didn’t get to record that piece of history though we did manage to have a little chat about it and I have some beautiful photos from her wedding that I will share with you soon X