Cheltenham Wedding Photographer - Pittville Pump Room

Being a Cheltenham Wedding Photographer and shooting a wedding IN Cheltenham is always a treat.  Last (ish) weekend I was at St Marks Church and Pittville Pump Room for the wedding of Tim and Carolyn.

Despite it being February the weather was surprisingly good and made for a great wedding day.

It's not often you have a bunch of wedding flowers in your hand to carry around all day....it makes most bride smile :-)  Now, nip off and get your wedding dress on; a veil, jeans & striped shirt really isn't the look I'm after.




Not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR bridesmaids, all with their eyes open and no one pulling a silly face - wow, that's the holy grail of documentary wedding photography.

Check: Button hole on the right, or is it the left?  This must be the most frequently asked question on a wedding day.  I work on the principle, blokes on the left flower up, ladies on the right (optional flower down - but up usually looks better).  As to if that's right I have no idea.  May I suggest all brides, mother of the bride, groom, best men, bridesmaids etc etc etc Google this before the day and find out.


Like father, like son.  Tim and his dad chat away to Paul the Vicar....who I must say was very reasonable about photography inside the church.


St Marks Church in Cheltenham.


It's important to keep bridesmaids fenced in otherwise they can be prone to escaping before the bride arrives.



Pre ceremony nerves or a funny joke?


Rain?  Who forecast rain on your wedding day?  As you can see, one bridesmaid did indeed escape and helped with the wedding dress - good work.







It's a great look on Tim's face as he watches his bride walk up the aisle.



At this point it would appear that I can be in three places at one time, which astonished me when I saw the shots I'd taken.  And in all seriousness folks, this is one reason why I'm happy to work as a sole wedding photographer and don't feel the need for two photographers over powering your day.






Ahh look at them, all lovey.  You're meant to be concentrating on the hymn!



Okay: Wedding Flowers.  Especially BIG BUNCHES in front of a lectern when you have 'shorter' (excuse me for generalising) guests doing a reading.  Ummmm.....?????  As climbing on the pews wasn't an option to gain a little extra height I settled for my tip toes, to 'just about' see this lovely lady do her reading.  Wedding tip no. 2 today - I'm feeling so very helpful.



If you have small children at your wedding may I recommend parents who would like to miss the actual ceremony and ideally sit with their child playing games.  May I also suggest, watch out for games with noisy bits - as theses two found out during a quiet part of the ceremony.



If you think one of four bridesmaids is likely to pull a funny face (as spoil an otherwise beautiful shot), simply chop their heads off and focus on the flowers.  * Documentary wedding photography tip no.2 *









A quick Q&A. "Was this posed Matt?" -  No.   "Are many of your photos posed Matt?" - No "Do I still get lovely photos of all my details and pretty things" - Yes, especially when you stand in great light with a bunch of flowers and hold them just right.



Two videographers, one photographer (+ moi) and only two people throwing confetti!  Multi-media overload.


I have no idea what this is about but liked it.  Maybe it'll make sense to the wedding couple?


This is one of my favourite photos from the day.  Why?  Well, it's a naturally occurring moment, it screams 'WEDDING' with all theses elements in one frame (Wedding car, wedding guests, bride, confetti, smiles) and is held together with this great connection (almost symmetry) between the two hands.  So, that's why I like this photo.  I also rather like the photo below too, but I won't bore you with why...it kinda is self explanatory.

Portrait Photographer Cheltenham - 7 month baby

Waaaaaaaaaay back, in the long forgotten year of 2008, I photographed the wedding of Ian & Emma at Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham.  Now, fast forward a few years and ta na.....we have the arrival of baby Hannah.  (aka Hindle Junior)  My services were called upon to take some relaxed family portraits and knowing Emma & Ian already certainly made for a good start.  Emma is a self confession camera dodger (I recall this from her wedding day!), so I knew I'd have my work cut out on this one.  

"Baby play mats are great fun, but tell me, who's this man hanging around our house taking photos?"








A cheeky little family portrait in the house, followed by a few tickles.





The 'cot possey'.

"Hah, dads goofing around looking like an idiot again!"



"ahhh, my feet.  Now how do I pull these socks off without anyone seeing?"



"I'm in my baby car seat, this can mean only one thing - we're off somewhere exciting".....



.....and indeed we were.  As it was such a glorious day we popped out for a walk in the park - Pitville Park in fact, where Ian and Emma got Married at the Pump Room back in 2008.





Hoodies hanging around on park benches, frightening the locals!  Ahh ok, no so in this instance.  Hood on.........


.....hood off!








Kids and swings, always one to make them smile.


And to finish how about a cute baby photo taken in amongst the spring flowers. Oopsy daisy, staying sitting up at seven months isn't always guaranteed!



If you are interested in some family portraits, I specialise in documentary family photography and take natural photos of you and your kids.  Contact me for details.  www.mattdavisphotography.net