I Love going through shoots a few weeks later. There’s something fun about having a look at photos with fresh frame of mind. Have you ever bought a record or CD you originally loved then rediscovered it months or years later? Its sort of like that with my photography.

This weekend’s great weather must have put me in an especially good mood. Editing photos is one thing that most photographer’s will tell you they hate – myself included. However, for some reason I felt like going through some photos that deserved another look at. Tom and Tiff’s pre wedding photography immediately sprang to mind. I deliberately left a few photos out in the original pre wedding photography post since they didn’t really fit in the original series, however, a second look today unearthed these gems which I think deserved to be published. Enjoy!

Zoom!

About the Author: Randolph Quan is a UK based wedding photojournalist. You can follow Randolph on Twitter or check out his wedding photography here.

Randolph’s Thoughts:

Jeff and Katie took on an enormous task of planning their wedding in Canada from overseas in the UK . I had randomly met both of them watching ice hockey in London in 2004 and I’ve been great friends with them ever since. When they asked me to be their photographer and shoot their wedding in Canada I jumped at the opportunity to do a destination wedding. I loved shooting this wedding, they decided to choose my alma mater for their venue so it was great to photograph their wedding in the same places where I learned to shoot. A big congratulations go out to Jeff and Katie.

DETAILS

Name of bride – Katherine

Name of groom – Jeff

Date of wedding – August 19^th 2008

Place of ceremony – London, Ontario. Canada

Place of reception – Windemere House

Time of day – 4pm

HOW YOU MET

How and where did you meet? At University.

Who proposed and what happened? – He proposed while on holiday in Key West Florida. It was completely unplanned and unexpected!

THEME

What was your wedding theme? – Classic – black and white.

Describe some of the style details. – Simple and formal

Were there any special touches that really helped theme the day? Wedding party in simple formal dress – colours were black and white.

Did you choose particular decorations, favors and table centers? Centrepieces were flower arrangements using locally sourced, in season flowers (featuring fall colours), flavors were small silver frames (they doubled name plates)

What music did you have? During the ceremony we had a trumpeter and pianist who played before during and after the ceremony. They also played during the cocktail reception we hosted immediately after the ceremony concluded. Later, the wedding party was welcomed into the reception hall by bagpipes.

THE BRIDE

What did you wear? Where did you get your dress?

Cream wedding gown – Simple A-line and strapless. Dress was sourced from a private boutique in South Florida.

THE GROOM

What did he wear? Where did he buy/hire from?

Simple black tuxedo. It was hired from a local vender in London, Ontario.

BRIDESMAIDS & ATTENDANTS

What attendants did you have and what did they wear?

The attendants wore the same simple black tuxedo as was worn by the groom. The bridesmaids wore black, knee length, strapless dresses.

THE CAKE

Who made it?

Our cake had four tiers with white icing. On one side of the cake the icing was smooth, the other side, the icing featured a simple design. The centre of the cake was dressed with a black ribbon that ran from top to bottom (diving the two differently designed sides)

The cake was sourced from a local baker in London Ontario (who ran their business out of their home)

FLOWERS

Describe your bouquet, the bridesmaids’ and the flowers at the venue.

All of our flowers were locally sourced – using flowers that were in-season. Colours were ‘fall’ like – i.e. res, yellows, and oranges. The bridal and bridesmaids bouquets were of the same design. However, the bouquets for the bride and maid of honor were a bit larger than the rest. All bouquest were simple, with the stems wrapped in white ribbon.

FIRST DANCE

What did you dance to? A song written and performed by a close friend’s band.

What time did the reception end? Around 1am (then it continued in the hotel portion of the venue)

Where did you spend the first night? At a hotel situated in ‘downtown’ London. Our wedding and reception took place at a hotel – however, we chose to spend our first night at a separate hotel away from our wedding guests.

SPECIAL MOMENTS

What was the most memorable moment from your wedding day?

There are two memorable moments:

Firstly, immediately after the marriage ceremony completed and my husband and I walked back up the aisle, we had a brief moment together in order to collect ourselves before we were due to greet and thank all of our gests – we just looked at each other and were like ‘were married’ – that’s when it hit us both!

The second moment was towards the end of the night when most of our guests had left for bed and we were left behind with just our wedding party. Having a wedding in Canada was special since living abroad it had been many years since we had all been together as a group. It was the first time my husband and I were able to really sit back and relax and share some time with our closest friends.

Is there anything you would have done differently?

No, I’m happy with how it all went.

WHAT YOU LEARNED

What piece of advice would you give others planning a wedding?

Don’t get too caught up in the planning – have fun and don’t agonize over every detail. Go with your first instinct on all decisions – in the end the moments you had with your new husband, family and friends will be more meaningful than the fact that you had yellow flowers.Remember to savor the day as it goes by so quickly. Take a few moments to really take it all in.

Is there anything you could not have lived without during the lead-up to your wedding?

My wedding book – just a file folder including all suppliers invoices / receipts, etc.

HONEYMOON

Describe what you did/have planned for the honeymoon

After our wedding in Canada, we went to Egypt for two weeks in the sun. We chose an all-inclusive resort holiday – which was ideal, as all we wanted to do was relax. As in three weeks we had travelled from London to Toronto back to England then onto Egypt. The break was much needed.

About the Author: Randolph Quan is a UK based wedding photojournalist. You can follow Randolph on Twitter or check out his wedding photography here.

I had the pleasure of photographing Mohanad’s and Jessica’s wedding recently. Their wedding was a 2 day affair starting with a Sudanese ceremony on Thursday evening and concluding with a more traditional British ceremony on Saturday.

It was the first time I’ve ever been to a Sudanese ceremony, and I admit I wasn’t really sure what to expect. What I found most interesting was that while each family was from an entirely different culture both managed to mix together so effortlessly. A big congratulations go out to Mo and Jess!

Details:
Name of bride: Jessica

Name of groom: Mohanad

Date of wedding:18^th and 20th December 2008

Place of ceremony: Royal Society of Arts

Place of reception:18^th Westbourne Grove Church, 20^th Bottacio, Grosvenor Place

Time of day: Morning ceremony, evening reception

How did you meet?

How and where did you both meet each other?

Through Mo’s brother who is married to one of Jess’s best friends. We got together at a mutual friend’s 30^th after knowing each other for 8 years

Who proposed and what happened?

Mo proposed with a ring in front of both our families (but we had decided privately before that…!)

More about the theme!

What was your wedding theme?

Sudanese traditional on the 18th. Christmassy I guess on the 20th

Did you choose particular decorations, favours and table centres?

Didn’t get too fancy on this stuff

What music did you have?

We had a Balkan Gypsy band called Alejandro and the Magic Tombelinos followed by DJ with lots of 60s soul classics

All about the Bride:

What did the you wear and where did you get your dress?

Cream dress from Temperley

Evening dress from Roksanda Ilincic

All about the Groom:

What did you wear and Where did he buy/hire from?

Day – dark blue suit from John Gray with shirt from Duchamp

Evening – smoking jacket from Favourbrook with dinner trousers and cravatte

The Cake

Who made it?

Patisserie Valerie fruit, chocolate and cream

The Flowers

Describe your bouquet, and the flowers at the venue.

Flowers by Mary J Vaughan. White rose bouquet

The first dance
What did you dance to?

The first tune of our band

What time did the reception end?

2.30am

Where did you spend the first night?

At the Covent Garden hotel

Memories

What was the most memorable moment from your wedding day?

Our Sudanese jirtik ceremony

Is there anything you would have done differently?

NO

What you have learned

What piece of advice would you give others planning a wedding? Definitely try and go on honeymoon after!

Is there anything you could not have lived without during the lead-up to your wedding?

My laptop!

Honeymoon

What did you have planned for your honeymoon?

Sudan desert trip and island holiday in Lamu (Indian ocean off Kenyan coast)

About the Author: Randolph Quan is a UK based wedding photojournalist. You can follow Randolph on Twitter or check out his wedding photography here.