9th January 2014

Kingston Wedding with Fast Cars and a Boat ride on the Thames!

Last August I photographed a wedding on behalf of Galileo Photography in Kingston Upon Thames in Surrey. Caroline and Neil are a lovely couple, and although it’s usually the bride who puts a lot of her style into the wedding, Neil managed to throw in a few fast cars and boat ride on the Thames for good measure, which made for a very entertaining and eventful day!

They got married at All Saints Church, right in the heart of Kingston, and had their reception at Glenmore House in Surbiton, Surrey.

The day started at the rowing club, which was a short walk from Kingston city centre, where Neil had already done his early morning workout and was making everyone bacon sarnies. Caroline preferred to get ready with her bridesmaids and not have any photos taken (it’s not for everyone!) so I hung out there and ate a few bacon sandwiches with some of the wedding guests 🙂 The first hurdle was encountered by me trying to park at the church – All Saints Church is in the centre of Kingston’s busy shopping area, on market day, which was pedestrianised! I was allowed special access for my car, but it certainly wasn’t easy to get to (luckily I allowed lots of time!). I wasn’t allowed to take any photos during the ceremony in the church unfortunately (which does happen sometimes – you must always check with the Vicar / Rector what they will and won’t allow the photographer to do) but it’s a beautiful church that’s being renovated, so half of it was covered by scaffolding and plastic. After the ceremony everyone walked down to the Thames, where Caroline and Neil got onto a Slipper Launch (with me of course!) and went for a little ride to Neil’s rowing club. I then got squeezed into the back of a very nice blue TVR (just about big enough for a child, not sure how I and my camera gear got in, or even out!), in which Neil gave me and a slightly less excited Caroline a thrilling ride into the heart of Kingston again to collect my car and drive onto Glenmore House. None of the guests knew about the TVR, so it was quite amusing to watch the original wedding car arrive at Glenmore House, only for everyone to find the bride and groom weren’t in it… and then came speeding down and round the car park in the TVR 🙂 Glenmore House is a mix of modern and original features and styles, and has a beautiful blue ballroom. I can quite easily say it was the best wedding food I’ve ever eaten because it has award winning chefs – I got a delicious Beef Wellington followed by Sticky Toffee pudding while the guests were all eating theirs! All in all a very enjoyable day 🙂

See below some of the best pics to tell the story…