It’s that quiet bit in between Christmas and New Year so I thought I’d jump back on the blogging train and share Callum and Adam’s Pembroke Lodge wedding photography.
Pete and I have had a really peaceful Christmas at home. I’m still fighting off a cold, so it was just what I needed. We cooked dinner, walked around a deserted Bath, visited Longleat House, watched the Dr Who Christmas special and generally caught up on some much needed sleep. Bliss.
I’m back to it today though as I prepare for a London wedding tomorrow, so here’s another wonderful wedding for your viewing pleasure. Callum and Adam’s Pembrooke Lodge Wedding took place this summer. I first met them at Kate and Ambroise’s wedding where Callum was best man and Adam was an usher.
Since then I’ve caught up with them a few times in the run up to the wedding, including a trip to Brighton for one of my favourite engagement shoots of this year, so by the time their day came around they felt like old friends.
Here’s what they had to say about working with me:
We could go on for days about Babb Photo, there’s so much to say. All of which is great we hasten to add. We met Laura and Pete at Callum’s best friend’s wedding which they were shooting. Callum was best man and Adam was an usher so it was an ideal time to see them at work as not only were we being photographed but we were helping to organise as well. They were so friendly and relaxed and fun and seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves and clearly wanted to capture the best of the couple so we knew we liked them. We asked to meet up with them to discuss our wedding and talk more about their photography style and approach. We quickly learned that meeting wedding suppliers is a bit like going on a first date and you quickly realise if there’s a spark or not. After our 3rd glass or bottle of white wine we were pretty convinced. (I’d like to add that Laura was professional throughout and we’d done the important stuff before the wine!) She explained about her documentary style and showed us examples. Her and Pete have this amazing ability to capture the feel of the day, they’re quick to spot relationships that may have 20 years of history behind them, they’re relaxed and unobtrusive yet also feel like an old friend who is a guest in their own right. We love the observed shots as much as the posed shots for this reason. A photographer is with you for the entire day so its essential you get on with them but more than that, Laura works really hard to build a relationship with you in the lead up to the wedding. Offering advice on any number of things, checking in with you and when it comes to the crunch working extensively to be prepared for the day so you can leave her to get on with her job and you can go off an have fun. There’s a reason she was the first thing we booked and why were arranging to meet up for a drink in the New year.
Feedback like this honestly makes my heart sing.
Scroll all of the way down to the bottom to read about Callum and Adam’s Pembroke Lodge wedding in their own words, as well as checking out details of the brilliant suppliers involved in their wedding day. Here’s their Pembroke Lodge wedding photography.
The Beginning
We both lived in the same area of London and met in the local pub. ‘The Antelope’, hence the silver pin Callum got as a present on the wedding day. The exciting part about same-sex relationships is that either of you can propose at any time! In the end Adam pipped Callum to the post by proposing on the Brighton Bandstand, which sounds really romantic right?! Well firstly, Callum hates surprises and loves planning, so tricking him into letting Adam organise the day was a feat in itself. Adam planned a great day out full of fun activities that stupidly relied on good weather. And it threw it down all day. As we walked along the promenade towards the bandstand in gale force winds and pelting rain Callum said ‘This is why I don’t let you organise anything and if you think you’re organising our engagement you’ve another thing coming!’. Quickly followed by Adam proposing to a confused Callum. Luckily he accepted and we moved onto the next stage of the plan. Adam took Callum to his favourite restaurant Estia which he had booked out for the night and filled it with close friends who already knew the plan and were waiting to surprise Callum. After the initial shock we had a our favourite Greek Mezze in Estia followed by Karaoke until the small hours of the morning. Adam was so relieved the next day that everything went well (and a little hungover) it was only when they arrived back home in London he realised he’d left all his belongings in the hotel…..
The Outfits
One of the many debating points of a same sex wedding! Do we wear the same? Different? Same colours? Kilts? How do you make a suit special? How much glitter is too much glitter?! So many questions. Quite early on we decided on a colour scheme for the wedding, we both really love royal blue and it suits us both so that was the easy part. Spending a day shopping together trialing the same suit route is definitely a testing moment in the wedding planning. Imagine both walking out the changing room to the following: Love it, Hate it. Yes. No. Maybe. Absolutely not. I look great. I look awful. In the end we both picked different suits and both felt a lot more happy but most importantly both felt like ourselves on the day. Being comfortable with what you’re wearing is so important. We decided to wear the same tie to give a hint of unity and in a moment of madness Callum bought bright red glitter socks for us and the ushers to add a bit of sparkle to the occasion. We didn’t have too many accessories besides cuff links, although Callum bought a Paul Smith crocodile tie pin and I opted for a waistcoat, Our button holes were our main accessory. Adam had pictured these as an Orange Calla Lilly from the start. They’re so unusual and looked great against the blue of our suits. We decided on a double Calla Lilly because…why not!
We chose Ring Jewelers in Brighton to design our rings. They do amazing bespoke jewellery and talk you through the whole process offering advice on everything from metals to stones and shapes. Rings are really important it’s the one bit of the day you see every day after. Again we chose complete different styles but the same stone to create the sense of unity – a sapphire to tie in with the colour scheme (just to be super OCD and remind us of the day).
The Styling
Besides the colour scheme we didn’t have a strict wedding theme. Instead we found this we built up the larger picture of the day. As Pembroke Lodge is an old building you are slightly restricted with how you can decorate and you can only use existing hooks etc. Most people hang flowers around the french windows but we knew straight away that wasn’t very us. At the time Adam was working for Space NK and and window installation was a mobile of hanging blue disks, which he promptly took home with him from various stores around London and which ended up being hung in the french windows. Another great idea at the time even if the reality of hanging 100 discs on the morning of your wedding doesn’t turn out to be as fun as you’d imagined. On one of our trips to Brighton we stumbled upon Cable and Cotton which Callum already loved in the lanes and bought strings of lights to hang around the windows. We focused most of our efforts on the centre pieces and other flowers which, we have to say, is one of our favourite parts of the wedding. We found Wild About Flowers in Twickenham and fell in love. One rule we had was that we didn’t want to work with any suppliers we didn’t enjoy spending time with or like dealing with and these gals and guys were amazing. So informative and passionate and completely up for creating unique and unusual arrangements. We told them our scheme and ideas and together we found a collection of flowers and styles we liked and took it from there. Honestly, we still talk about our flowers now. The bouquets, the centre pieces, the lilies, the birds of paradise. They hit it out of the park and we are so grateful to them for everything they did on the day and in the run up.
The Ceremony
The ceremony took us quite a while to plan, unlike a religious wedding where the format is well known, here you can completely tailor what you want and with it being a same-sex wedding you have even more possibilities such as how you enter and exit. That might sound great but, as supportive as all our friends and family are, we wanted to maintain some traditional structure to make sure to keep the sincerity and sense of occasion of a wedding intact. One thing that proved quite difficult was finding gender neutral readings or songs. We decided to both walk down the aisles accompanied by our mums which when you realize how nervous you are on the day was a sensible decision, but choosing fun music like Arctic Monkeys’ cover of Baby I’m Yours or Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams does help to put a smile on your face. We got close friends to do two readings and as Adam is part of a theatre company two friends also sang instead of another reading. We opted to write our own vows which was a blessing and a curse. There’s a lot of pressure to be able to articulate the promises you want to make to your partner and we both read a lot of online articles offering advice which helped in some ways. However, it doesn’t prepare you for how moving it is to hear your partner’s vows for the first time in front of all your guests! We both said the ceremony was our favourite part, you work so hard to have all elements from vows to the registrar’s script to readings and music to reinforce the message of what the day is all about and at times it felt like there was just the two of us in the room. We honestly think you can see this in the photos Laura took of that part, she captured everything we were feeling at that moment which is something we will always treasure.
The First Dance
We choose Ryan Adam’s I Love You But I Don’t Know What To Say. He’s Callum’s favourite singer and the song is not at all well known but it has such beautiful and apt lyrics. We also wanted a fairly slow song to help us with the dancing!
The Entertainment
We had a DJ in the evening by which we mean Callum wrote a 4 hour playlist and told him this is what you’re playing. We’ve honestly had so many comments on how good the music was. That’s no mean feat when one of you loves Whitney Houston and the other loves the Smiths. Our good friends from the Cygnet Players also did their traditional flashmob and rewrote lyrics to a song from Footloose which they performed live on the night. Always good fun when you know they’ve had a drink or two (in some cases probably a bottle or two). We also decided to write a quiz about the two of us for the meal. It may sound narcissistic but was actually a great way to get people talking who might not know each other too well.
The Best Bits
Our favourite part of the day was when we left the ceremony. We were handed champagne and walked hand in hand round the venue. Just us two and had a quiet moment to take in the fact we’d just got married. An old couple stopped and congratulated us as we were walking which was a really touching.
The Words of Wisdom
In Callum’s speech he said ‘I’ve loved planning every minute of this day with you’ and I think that’s the most important thing. A wedding is very different to a marriage but it’s a good taster. Work together, compromise, relax and try not to stress and enjoy every minute. We’ll let you decided if that is referring to planning a wedding or being married. Oh and if a guest brings out some dodgy German spirit just say no!
The Credits
Pembroke Lodge wedding photography by Babb Photo
Callum’s Suit, , Shirt, Tie Pin and Both Groom’s Ties: Paul Smithhttps://www.paulsmith.co.uk/uk-en/shop/
Adam’s Suit, Shirt and both Groom’ Shoes: Ted Bakerhttp://www.tedbaker.com/uk
Rings: Ring Jewellery http://www.ringjewellery.co.uk/
Florist: Wild About Flowers http://www.wildaboutflowers.co.uk/
Venue: Pembroke Lodge http://www.pembroke-lodge.co.uk/
Decor: Lights – Cable & Cotton https://cableandcotton.co.uk/, Chair Covers/Starlight Cloth – Host With Style, http://www.hostwithstyle.co.uk/
Cake Maker: Cake Me On
Usherette’s Dresses: Coast, Phase 7 and Badgley Mischka – http://www.coast-stores.com/ http://www.phase-eight.com/ http://www.badgleymischka.com/
Ushers: Suits – Hired from Moss Bros, Ties – River Islandhttps://www.moss.co.uk/ http://www.riverisland.com/
Stationary – Save the Dates/invites – 8th Day http://eighthday.co.uk/ , Name Places – etsy https://www.etsy.com/uk/ (Matilda Pullin Designs)
DJ: Sound Division – https://www.sounddivision.co.uk
Videographer: Tim Spatz http://spatzfilm.com/
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Gorgeous! Captured perfectly.
Thank you, Sara!
Dynamic, creative, emotive…just the very top drawer of wedding photography.
Thank you so much, Mark
omg your comment section popped up! It seemed to be missing in action for a while there. LOVE this. So sweet, such gorgeous photos, your style is so specific and the colorfulness just pops and I adore it. Congratulations to the couple, too!
Thanks so much, Lix