A bright & sunny day in the New Forest

Tara & Steve wanted a certain style to their winter wedding and they found it at New Park Manor in the New Forest. Everyone had a fabulous time and the winter sun shone on the proceedings.

Up the 'Ammers

One of our most unusual venues was last Saturday as the happy couple were married at Upton Park, the home of Premier League football team West Ham United. Jeremy the groom spends many a happy hour at the ground as stadium announcer so it was only natural for him to want to have his wedding at his place of worship. Obviously his wife Jeanette is very understanding, and West Ham were playing away that day.

Happy Halloween

A friend of Jan's sent a halloween outfit over from the US for our new baby Charlotte, so it would have been rude not to let her wear it. It would also have been rude not to take her picture where she looks this cute! She's 10 weeks old in this picture.

Sent to Coventry

Helen & Alan had seen us working at a friend's wedding earlier in the year and asked if we would travel up to Coventry to photograph their wedding. It was our pleasure to take their photographs in a packed church.

Walkabout in Windsor

Julie-Anne & Lee had their wedding service at a very small church in Wexham north of Slough. Then we moved to Windsor town centre for the reception at the Sir Christopher Wren hotel by the river. Tourists walking across the bridge into Eton were amazed to see a bride & groom crossing the bridge with them and posing for their photo over the River Thames.

Showery day in Andover

Mo & Gary were married on Saturday afternoon in Andover. There was really heavy rain in the morning but this cleared up for the afternoon with just the odd shower - which simply meant people could alternate between the gardens and the bar!
Here Gary shows his excitement at the thought of being kissed in a group photograph:

Urban wedding in Richmond

The Bingham Hotel was the venue for Jenni & Mark's wedding in Richmond. After the ceremony and the usual pictures on the lawn we took some nice family pictures in their hotel room showing the happy couple together with their daughter, Evie.

Romantic wedding in Sonning

Sonning near Reading is a beautiful location where Emily & Paul were married at the local church and then went across the road to the Great House for the reception. We were able to wander down to the riverside for some romantic shots by the Thames. Paul & Emily were childhood sweethearts and had been together for 10 years - it was wonderful to see them getting married and being so obviously happy together.

Another beautiful day at The Elvetham

Sarah & Luke were married at a civil ceremony at The Elvetham Hotel in Hampshire. It's a wonderful location and we got some fabulous shots of the happy couple, their family and friends all having a great time.

Getting slightly wet at Farnham Castle

We had a few showers during the afternoon of Sharon & Con's wedding reception at Farnham Castle, but once those past we were able to go back outside and take some wonderfully romantic shots of the newly married couple.

Been a little busy lately

We've been a little busy at home lately after the birth of our daughter Charlotte. Sorry for not updating the blog as often as usual, but nappies, bathtime and any chance to catch up on some sleep have all had priority.

Claire & Tim at Easthampstead Park

Another really nice local venue is Easthampstead Park, which has wonderful grounds and all the required facilities located close together which means less time spent travelling around on the day. Claire & Tim had a great day, starting off with an early round of golf and ending with a evening reception in the main house. Lots of smiles all around and everyone really enjoyed the occasion.

Sara & James at The Elvetham Hotel

The Elvetham Hotel in Hampshire is one of our favourite venues as it's a beautiful building set in magnificent grounds with all the facilities for a wonderful wedding with lots of romantic shots of the happy couple.
There were 2 wonderful registrars present who made everyone feel really welcome, including the photographers as we were allowed to get some wonderfully emotional shots of the happy couple as they made their marriage vows. Registrars can make or break occasions like this and we have encountered some who do not allow pictures to be taken, or taken only from the very back of the room. It's a real shame to miss out on pictures like these of Sara & James really caught up in the emotion of their wedding.

A stormy day in Bracknell

As Pete & Celeste were getting married Pete claims there was a clap of thunder as he made his vows and the heavens certainly opened with a heavy downpour of rain as the couple left the church.

Fortunately the weather improved during the afternoon and we were still able to get some great shots of the happy couple and their families & friends, including this wonderfully romantic image of the couple reflected in the lake.

A trio of engagement shoots

One of the items we offer in our wedding packages is an engagement or pre-wedding shoot, which is a chance for the couple to get to know us better and also see that they will look good in their photos - being worried about having your photograph taken is a common problem!

The big benefit of this is that having seen the results before the wedding couples have one less thing to worry about and tend to relax more on the day, which means bigger smiles and better photo opportunities for us to capture.


This week we had brief shoots with 3 couples, Celeste & Pete, Helen & Alan and Mo & Gary, all of whom are getting married in the next few weeks. We'd like to wish them all the very best of luck with the rest of their preparations and we'll catch up with each of them on their wedding days.

Sunny day in Aldermaston

Jenny & Vincent had 2 ceremonies at their wedding at The Old Mill in Aldermaston. The short civil ceremony was followed by a moving religious ceremony held in the large conservatory. This was followed by the traditional wedding breakfast and then games out on the lawn. A really hot day, with everyone having a great time.
The Old Mill is a very scenic location with nice gardens and a traditional feel to the buildings. The river and weir nearby can be a little noisey but the bridges provide some nice photo opportunties.

A sunny day in Hampshire

A very warm and sunny day down in Twyford where Liz and Matt were married. The reception was held in a marquee in their parents' garden which slopes down to Fishers Pond - an idea location for a party!

Now that was a wedding!

We were expecting a wedding with 20 bridesmaids and 400 guests at the reception on Saturday. This turned out to be slightly inaccurate... there were also 8 flower girls and a Maid of Honour, each of which had a page boy or groomsman to accompany them, plus the ushers, we think there were 58 people in the wedding party but we lost count at this point!

Sonia & Steve had a real Cinderella glass coach with 2 magnificent horses, to the astonishment of many people in Stoke Newington High Street on Saturday afternoon.

The reception was in keeping with the overall scale, there were over 650 people at the afternoon reception and many more partying on in the evening.

Great quotes from customers

We've had some wonderful letters of recommendation come in so we have now created a testimonials page on our web site where potential clients can view the letters and see what a great job we can do.

Wendy, Chris & Charley the horse

Well it did rain quite a lot on Saturday but stayed dry long enough for us to get some great pictures outside after the ceremony. Yes, the horse did turn up and mighty fine he looked too.

Bringing a horse to the wedding...

Should be an interesting wedding tomorrow as the bride is bringing her horse along! Apparently he's not going to take part, just posing outside for pictures. The weather forecast doesn't look too good though - hopefully there will be some parts of the day without rain so we can get some pictures of bride and horse together.

Hayley & Nick, Halton House, Bucks

Hayley & Nick picked the best day of the year so far for their wedding, a warm summer-like day set in glorious surroundings at an RAF Officers' Mess near Aylesbury. With the beautiful surroundings and young bridesmaids running around it was a delight to photograph their wedding for them.



Jan suggested we photograph Hayley & the two older bridesmaids walking up the gravel path... the others didn't want to be left out and demanded to join in even though they had already lost their shoes. They hobbled over the stones, smiling bravely!












The church was a little dark and the vicar not happy to have any cameras at the front so we had to make do with some nice shots from the back of the church to go with the more traditional Bride & Father of the Bride shots we had taken earlier.

Referrals are the best way to build business

Last year we tried advertising using Google Adwords. We were at the top, or near the top of the search results list for "Wedding Photographer" for only £5 per day! Apart from this being a lot of money to pay every day many of the hits were from people shopping purely on price rather than looking for our quality product.
We've now found that referrals from satisfied couples are a much better way to get business. First of all they are obviously happy with their photographs and albums and love to show them off. Secondly their friends have not only seen the results but often also met us while we were shooting at the wedding and realise that we're actually really nice people and not your typical traditional wedding photographers. The only remaining question is "are you available for our wedding?"
As these referrals mean we have to spend less on advertising we are now launching a scheme to reward couples who do recommend us to their family and friends. For every booking we get as a result of a recommendation from a couple we will present them with a free 20x16" print from their wedding or give them an additional free page in their wedding album.

Anna & Darren, Wood Hall Hotel, Yorkshire

We travelled up to Yorkshire for a long weekend to photograph Anna & Darren's wedding in Boston Spa and reception at the fabulous Wood Hall Hotel near Wetherby.

We couldn't make too much of the hotel grounds due to a very cold wind but we made up for it with some stunning images of the day with the happy couple, their family and friends all having a wonderful time.

What is this blog for?

We're using this blog as a diary of things happening behind the scenes at AJ Photographic so that people can see new events and pictures from weddings as they come in. We will post some of our favourite images from each wedding here, we're also thinking about putting a favourites or highlights page on the main web site so people can quickly find a selection of great shots.
We have also enabled the comments function on this blog so people can make comments if they wish to - we'll see how that goes! :-)

Susie & Pete, Frimley Hall, Surrey

A venue just down the road for us with a lovely couple on a bit of a cold day. The temperature didn't matter at all as everyone had a great time and looked great in their photos.
We love this spontanious shot of Susie and her Grandad which captures the happy emotions of the day.