Georgia & Nick – A Relaxed Summer Wedding at The Retreat at Elcot Park
This was my first time shooting a summer wedding at The Retreat at Elcot Park and I couldn’t have asked for a better inaugural visit. Beautiful weather, a seriously chilled out day and fantastic people. Honestly one of those days that reminded me that, at its best, this is a hugely enjoyable way to make a living!
Georgia got ready at a lovely AirBnB nearby with her mum and sisters before heading across to The Retreat at Elcot Park in her wedding dress. The bride’s family are totally dog mad (as am I), so we were thrilled when an excitable black lab came along to help us all get ready! Dogs make everything even better right?
Just as I was arriving, Georgia’s good friend Polly turned up to deliver the flowers. Polly is the brains behind What A Lovely Bunch and her flowers are stunning – romantic and full of fun. She is also a top drawer human. She rocked up sporting the biggest smile and it was immediately obvious that her flowers reflect her attitude to life. Good vibes all round. I hope to work with her again soooon!
Ceremony in the Orangery
A summer wedding at The Retreat at Elcot Park really makes the most of this gorgeous venue’s best qualities. The ceremony took place in the Orangery, looking out over the North Wessex Downs. The Orangery is a space that is absolutely bathed in light, no matter what time of year you choose to get married, but in the middle of May, with the doors thrown open, it’s particularly special.
A question I am quite often asked is: “How do you handle a height difference between a couple?”. My honest answer is: “I don’t”. My reasoning is that you guys have chosen to marry one another, not someone who is taller or shorter. As such, I’m not in the business of hiding that. As far as I see it, there’s nothing to fix. I know a bit about this – I am 6ft3 and my wife is a full foot shorter than me. That’s how we are.
I had two initial thoughts upon meeting Nick – he is a supremely kind and polite guy and he is also extremely tall. Nick is a good couple of inches taller than me, while Georgia is dinky. Like Charlotte and I, that’s how they are. They look like people in love, having the best day of their lives and I’m not going to interrupt that to do janky forced perspective photography! I always say that “Your Wedding is Not a Photoshoot” and this mentality covers height disparities too!
Summer Wedding Vibes at The Retreat
After the ceremony, everyone spilled out to the front of The Retreat for confetti in front of the iconic red and white canopy that covers the beautiful entrance door. The sun shone all day, without ever once being what you’d call too hot. Basically perfect wedding weather. May is truly the best month of the year to get married in the UK. A few weeks later it was stinking hot; a wool suit, such as the lovely three-piece Nick wore, would have been an exercise in self-flagellation!
After an extremely chilled reception on the terrace and the beautifully manicured lawns, we headed back into The Orangery for the wedding breakfast. Heartfelt speeches were given, great food devoured and good booze imbibed before, in the early evening light, we snuck away for a few minutes of relaxed portraits.
Once we were back, Georgia reappeared in a first-dance-ready jumpsuit – what a move! From a photographic point of view the evening was a delightful collection of vignettes: dance floor antics, interesting people doing interesting things and a blurry late night conga-line that meandered its drunken way deep into the gardens! Needless to say, this day made me smile a lot.
Georgia & Nick, thanks for having me guys! Shooting your wedding was heaps of fun.
