Wedding details are the things you spend hours thinking about, planning and organising. Table decorations, details, favours, presents and the small objects no one really gets to see up close until featured in the wedding album, the small stuff always looks impressive when presented larger than life.

I liked these two recent wedding ring set-ups so I thought I’d share them here.

Fast and Fantastic

Wedding photography is a fast paced business, and you have to be able to pull off studio quality shots in a non studio environment by improvising with what’s at hand and do it quickly. While I’m at it I’ll include some other detail shots that were taken in such unlikely places as a gas hob in a kitchen, a couple of bathrooms, busy reception and mantelpiece. The secret here is select your surface with care and focus your lighting.

I’m always on the lookout, or more accurately in this case, have a cocked ear for anything that might just be brilliant at weddings. I loved this Kronos Quartet’s recording of The Beatitudes by Vladimir Martynov, on first listen. If you want walking down the aisle music, I certainly recommend this recording; for the brides, this is a serene way to make an entrance. Grooms, every time you hear the opening bars you’ll get that feeling you had just before you turned to see your bride for the first time. It’s beautiful, simple and gets inside your head in a good way.

What’s a Beatitude?

In Christianity “The Beatitudes” is the name for the teachings in the Sermon of the Mount. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus preaches:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain merciful. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see god. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of god.Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5-7

Interpreted as Jesus’ moral code, punishments and rewards are to be in Heaven and Hell. His central theme is love, not law and a righteous temporal life will transcend to a promise of an eternity with love. Famously, this point was debated on TV by John Cleese and Michael Palin who defended their parody in “The Life of Brian“, from Malcom Muggeridge, who calls the Sermon on the Mount, “one of the most sublime utterances that any human being has ever spoken on this earth.”

Whatever the ins and outs of the meaning behind the Beatitudes, we are fortunate that Vladimir Martynov was inspired enough to put them to music.

“God is in the detail”, so said very precise German Architect Mies van der Rohe, probably to his equally fabulously named mates, Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier (real name Charles-Édouard Jeanneret). But what was the pioneering master of modern architecture going on about? What did he mean precisely? Did his mates Walt and Chuck understand him or did they look back at him like a dog that’s been shown a card trick?

Here’s my take on Heir Rohe’s aphorism: It’s the small things that make something complete. It’s the bits you don’t notice straight away. It can be the hidden arrow in the Fedex logo, or the way Rembrandt lit his subjects, or the way that Jonathan Ive and his team obsess over what are essentially clever rectangles with rounded corners and a button. What I think Mies is saying is, whatever you do you should do it thoroughly; details are important they are what sets you apart and what makes ordinary things great.

We try and make all our products, prints and wedding albums special and unique to our couples and it’s the small details that help us achieve this. A lot of careful thought and attention goes into our designs; here’s a small sample of what we do. Mies, Walt and Chuck would approve.

Photo Gallery

Anthony and Kerry’s Wedding was held at the Kilworth House Hotel in Leicestershire. This is the second draft of their wedding album.

Wedding album preview

Guest Book Preview

Please feel free to browse the Guest Book below, use the arrows to navigate the pages or just click to view in fullscreen.

Wedding rings underwater

I experimented today with a novel way of shooting the wedding and engagement rings. The great thing about this technique is the shots are never the same twice. I will be practicing this and developing a portable solution for the wedding day.

Presented in no particular order, here are some of my personal favourite images from the last year’s weddings.

Favourite Images of 2011:

Wedding Album Preview

Please feel free to browse the wedding album below, use the arrows to navigate the pages or just click to view in fullscreen.

Wedding album preview

Please feel free to browse the wedding album below, use the arrows to navigate the pages or just click to view in fullscreen.

Wedding album preview

Please feel free to browse the wedding album below, use the arrows to navigate the pages or just click to view in fullscreen.