Guildford Manor Hotel & Spa Wedding, Surrey | Greta & Nick

This was a glorious wedding at a venue I’d never shot at before.  As is customary with new places, I visited the week before just to familiarise myself with the surroundings and ensure I knew where the sun would be for the outdoor portraits and golden hour photos that were in the schedule I’d agreed with Greta and Nick in advance.

The day actually didn’t start at the Guildford Manor Hotel & Spa, as things kicked off with groom prep at Nick’s parents house about a 20 minute drive away.  Here I met up with his lovely mum and dad and acquainted myself with the groomsmen as they got ready in their matching suits and accessories.  It was here that Nick’s father brought out some rather special Irish Whisky and we all toasted the groom in the beautifully manicured front garden.

Then it was off to the hotel to meet Greta and her bridesmaids, who already had a Moët & Chandon on ice as I arrived.  Once the finishing touches were applied to the makeup, Greta’s mum helped her into her dress before we ventured out onto Guildford Manor’s lawns where we awaited Greta’s father for a reveal photo.  He was led out of the hotel by the bridesmaids, his eyes obscured so he couldn’t see his beautiful daughter until the time was just right.  And when it was, he lowered the covering and saw his daughter for the first time in her magnificent wedding dress, which understandably resulted in a lot of emotion being shared.

The ceremony itself was held in St Dunstan’s Church, another short drive away, so I made my way there just before the vintage car came to collect Greta and ferry her off in style to her wedding.  Many churches can be quite challenging to photograph in due to the low light levels, and even though I always come prepared with the right kit for the job, it was still nice to discover St Dunstan’s had a very light and airy feel which made for some fabulous natural light photographs.  Wedding formalities over, we headed back out for the confetti toss and to say au revoir to Greta and Nick as their vintage car took them back to Guildford Manor Hotel, with the rest of us in hot pursuit.

Just after we arrived and had a quick drop of bubbly, we took the group and couple photos before settling back down for the wedding breakfast.  I don’t normally take pictures of people while they’re eating (it’s not a great look) but I didn’t venture too far, as this was also speeches time, ably compered by their MC, who had flown in from Greta’s homeland, the Cayman Islands.  Just before dessert was served we popped out again for 5-10 minutes to take advantage of the gorgeous sunset we were lucky to have on this glorious September evening.

Once dessert had been eagerly gobbled up, it was time for the cake cutting, bouquet toss and then the party started.  To say this crowd liked a party would be an understatement as everyone piled onto the the dancefloor right after Greta and Nick had finished their first dance and carried on strutting their funky shapes until well into the early hours.  I absolutely adore a packed dancefloor and after setting up a couple of off-camera flashes I manoeuvered right into the middle of it to ensure all the joy, happiness and laughter was being captured for posterity.  I even managed to grab some photos of Nick singing “Can’t Take My Eyes off You” and he didn’t do a bad job at all. 

ARE YOU GETTING MARRIED AT THE GUILDFORD MANOR HOTEL & SPA?
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