Wedding Photography in Surrey at Great Fosters, Egham – Susan and Richard

Yesterday kicked off my 2011 season as a wedding photographer with a late afternoon winter wedding in Surrey at the magnificent Great Fosters in Egham for Susan and Richard. They wanted a documentary wedding photographer to capture the occasion naturally and I was only too happy to oblige.

I’ve been here before as a wedding guest so knew what to expect, although this was my first time there as a wedding photographer. A 4pm ceremony start meant I was looking anxiously outside the window every few minutes hoping that the available light wouldn’t fade too fast, but as it had been raining for most of the day my prayers went unanswered as it grew darker by the second. The room itself was the Tudor room and anyone who’s familiar with this particular part of the hotel will know that it’s not renowned for being particularly bright! A big thanks at this point must go to the registrar. I’m yet to come across one who allows any sort of flash photography during the ceremony, but she realised that the light was going fast and was more than happy for me to use flash as and when required. As it turned out I didn’t need to rely on it too much but it was handy to have when required!

The ceremony was fairly small for this Surrey wedding with around 25 guests in total, the groom’s family were Spanish speaking and contained a couple of real characters which always makes for some good photography! Unfortunately, a mixture of fading light, weather and time meant that we didn’t get a chance to take advantage of the stunning scenery outside for the bride and groom portraits but they were really laid back about everything and were more than happy to have them done inside. Soon everyone was really enjoying themselves in the area set aside for drinks while the room was being transformed for the sit down meal. Some candid photos of the guests followed by some detail shots back in the Tudor room, and my work was done.  As a photographer that loves processing into black and white I’d been looking forward to this one in particular as the bride and groom were happy for me to put as much into black and white as I wanted, which is why the set below contains so many of them. One day I’d love to process a full wedding in black and white, I’ll have to wait and see if I find anyone willing to give me the chance!

Hopefully I’ll get another bite at the cherry in sunny conditions as it really is a great Surrey wedding venue, credit to the staff as well who were courteous and happy to help me out as and when required.