Pembroke Lodge wedding venue

Jan and James have chosen Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park for their wedding reception, following their ceremony in Cheam. Pembroke Lodge is one of our favourite wedding venues; a stunning backdrop for photographs with THAT terrace overlooking the Thames and beautiful grounds.

It's looking wonderful at the moment with all the spring flowers and we hope the wisteria over the porch will be in full bloom for their wedding day in June.

For more information on wedding photography at Pembroke Lodge, the beautiful wedding venue in south west London please visit http://www.westlondonphotography.com/Pembroke_Lodge_Wedding_venue_in_London.php

Patrick and Katie are holding their wedding reception at Syon Park in September

Congratulations to Katie Johnson and Patrick Foster whom we met at the Syon Park Wedding Open day on Saturday. We're delighted they've chosen us as their wedding photographers and are already planning, together with them, how they can get the most out of their wedding day photography.

Patrick is French, based in Paris, and Katie works in the travel industry. We've a lot of experience helping couples whose time in the UK is limited, recommending suppliers who go the extra mile and keeping in contact by email/our website.

Their pre-wedding shoot at Syon Park is now online. If you're friends or family, please ask them for their password-protected link to their gallery.

Syon Park wedding Open Day

Saturday was a beautiful spring day and Syon Park looked wonderful. Beccy Thorpe and Victoria Corke invited over a hundred couples who had either booked Syon Park as their wedding venue or were planning to hold their ceremony and/or reception there.

It was a great opportunity for us photographers to show our work and share our experiences of photographing weddings at Syon House.

And of course, it was good to meet other suppliers, Holly from Tapenade, Richard and Sarah Harris from Capture It who are fantastic photographers who also know Syon Park well. Gary from Gorgeous Films who is the best in the business, as far as we're concerned. And of course Kate Hughes, star make up design artist.

We look forward to working with you this year.

Thank you Nesta and Gwen

Thank you Nesta for the lovely bouquet you brought us today when you collected Gwen's completed wedding albums. We much appreciate your gesture and thank you for choosing us as Gwen's wedding photographers at her wedding to Cyrus last summer at St Anne's Kew Green and then afterwards at Syon Park.

We're delighted you love the photographs and that they bring back such happy memories. We hope Gwen won't have too long to wait before a family member takes her albums across to Atlanta! We look forward to hearing from you then, Gwen.

A real life wedding at Syon Park http://www.westlondonphotography.com/Syon_Park_House_real_life_wedding.php

To veil or not to veil? Short or long?

Eleana's dress was out of a fairy tale for her wedding at The Mandarin Oriental. Her veil was the crowning touch and we photographers love the way it falls softly over her shoulders. Very flattering.

Nadia chose a beautiful classic gown with long sleeves for her winter wedding in a glamorous Scottish castle. And her soft veil is flattering and frames her face to perfection. She loves Butler and Wilson jewelry and when she took her veil off for the evening party, she put on some really spectacular earrings.

To veil or not to veil?

It's your big day. Why not make the most? Our 2009 Brides are asking our opinoins about whether to veil or not. We LOVE veils as do our Brides once they've understood how chic they can be.

We need to pull together their views on the website. Promise to do this soon so you can choose the best one for you.

Patrick Ciatto at PTO - what camera do you use?

Florida based Patrick Ciatto gave us a welcome masterclass at Photo Training Overseas in Egypt.

He ran through and demonstrated the 5 main ways of lighting portraits in a flattering way and then showed how to position groups so that eveyone looked their best. He showed us at what angle to hold the camera and what to ask the group to say to guarantee a smile. And no, it wasn't 'cheese'.

He told us that when he's asked what sort of camera he uses, he says 'a black one'. That really sums it up. Given the photographer is a professional, why do you need to know? The title of his talk was 'The camera never had an idea'.

And that's why we were all sitting listening to him