Preparations. I appreciate that the internet will crunch the life out of my photos (and this isn’t a camera lens review Simon!) but I just love my 50mm f1.2, the catchlight in Emily’s eye is so clear I can count the horizontal blinds reflected in her pupil.

I’m always on the lookout for objects that have special significance to a couple; this was the first perfume Ben bought Emily. I looked for an interesting place to site it and found this simple yellow plastic chair, which in the right light looks rather fitting

The Girls. Sitting the bridesmaids with Emily, checking they cross the same legs but keeping a natural flow for the eyes with the varied height of the glasses and bottle.

I placed Emily’s bouquet in a variety of different places (on an old radiator, against a brick wall etc) but again I made use of the vibrant colour of the chairs as I so rarely see these in a bride’s room.

Initially, Emily’s dress was hanging in the corner of her dressing room. Photographing a dress on a hanger can look a little forced if there isn’t the right location, but this corridor space offered the perfect spot and adding the flowers created a little more texture and detail to the composition.

An alternative shot, swapping the flowers for Emily herself. I didn’t want a staged image “here’s Emily sitting by her dress” so simply asked her to look at it; prompting her with questions “do you remember the feeling when you found it it?” etc to illicit real emotion so looking back at the photograph she wouldn’t be thinking “this is a photo when Simon asked me to sit on a windowsill” but instead reminds her of a genuine moment in her day.

Similarly, I composed this photograph from the other side of the windowsill, her dress blowing at an angle across the frame in front of the leaded windows.

The simplicity of a bridesmaid putting in her earrings is elevated by asking her to step into beautiful window light. I believe that’s my job, not simply to tell the story of what happens at a wedding but to refine and fine tune things - just a little- so they are happening in the best possible light or location.

The window in this corridor was quite simply the best location for Emily’s photographs so as you’re seeing I took full advantage of it.

Buttonholes can be tricky and don’t form part of the Royal Marines uniform. Once again, by moving the subjects the image is much cleaner as all around us are 80 guests with lots of distracting colours. Ben was happy for anyone nearby to help him put his buttonhole in, but experience has taught me that once again I don’t need to just photograph what’s going on, I can raise the importance of a moment and get a better image at the same time so I found the bestman and called him over. They had a fun moment together and I was able to capture that for them. This is what I mean when I explain that I photograph a wedding from the inside, as a friend might, and not simply as an observer.

Buttoning the dress. Although I took wider angles of this shot I wanted to capture a close up of the final moment the dress was buttoned. Although a natural moment this shot had a few adjustments prior to me pressing the shutter button: One of the women is left handed so I had to ask her to use her right hand or it would have looked as if I was tying the dress myself - the photograph taken from my point of view. I also asked if the other could remove her Apple Watch which clashed and caused a distraction in the image. As you can imagine, this is done with good humour, and full explanation plus is all that much easier when I’ve spent a couple of hours with a family and got to know them. And yes, I spent most of the day with her watch in my pocket, both of us having completely forgotten about it. And yes I gave it back. And yes I have insurance.

For brides that are fortunate enough, the moment a father or important relative sees the bride in her dress is one of my favourites. Ordinarily I’ll ask them to wait outside a door, at the end of a path, at the top of a staircase etc but in this room there was really nowhere that this would work that wouldn’t risk Emily being seen by the guests so I conceived a plan. Emily waited in her changing room nearby with the door closed. I led her dad to The Window where he closed his eyes. Emily appeared out of her room and spoke to him; his eyes opening and welling up immediately. I like to throw the bride out softly of focus so our attention goes to the father/VIP. I never know quite what’s going to happen so I set my camera to shoot on a ridiculous number of images per second and choose the ones that capture the best emotion.

And this one does exactly that. unlike some of the other shots I’ve shared, there’s no way I’d interrupt to ask Emily to move her hand or wipe her head a certain way; this is simply recording the moment as it happened BUT only because I’ve found a location with the best light and the best background; I’ve set the scene and let it play out.

Here comes the bride.

That look. I’ve not given away a daughter yet (my youngest is 11 so I’m not in a hurry) but that’s the look I’ll give their partner. Definitely.

The interior of Mount Edgcumbe House is stunning and whilst this wide angle shot places the couple small in the frame, I believe it’s important for them to have a record of it. I was lucky, the design of the space allowed me to walk freely and I was able to get from behind the couple to here without becoming a distraction to the guests; it’s a wedding not a photoshoot.

The Rings. It’s often a little tricky for the couple to get a ring on each others fingers and being able to capture this with my 50mm rather than at a distance away and zoomed in, puts the viewer in the moment and we can’t help but smile with the couple.

The kiss is again one of those moments that I’ll take many many shots of and look for the best. I always deliver loads of this moment but for me, the best is just before a couple kiss. Whilst there’s obviously no way I’d refine this moment as I described earlier, there is the opportunity for me to talk to the couple (separately) beforehand. I always ask them to wait a little before the actual kids to give the registrar or vicar time to move out of the frame if I’m not able to photograph from this angle. Secondly I always encourage them to take their time leading up to the kiss. Believe me, this is much easier to talk to someone about than it is write down; here I appreciate it looks like I’m giving kissing advice- lol. It’s simply setting the scene to the best I can and letting it play out.

Before the wedding I met with the wedding coordinator who suggested that after the ceremony I could take a photograph of them at the top of the stairs; this would be done after all the guests had left the room and were getting ready for the confetti walk. The coordinator was right, it was a lovely location for this image. To maximise the couples love of the final shot I suggested to them that as they walked down the aisle and up the stairs at the end of the ceremony that they stop in the same place and looked back at all their guests. This would elevate the image from being an attractive scene to one connected with their memory of the day. They don’t look back on this shot and remember me asking them to “stand straight, bend your arm a little” but instead the sight of their family and friends celebrating