Ellie & Ted at Carrow House, Norwich. Home of the Coleman’s family.

Bride and groom amongst wedding crowd at Carrow House, Norwich, on 35mm film.

The getting ready

The morning was spent at stunning a local AirBnb, and was full of intentional decisions by Ellie. Bridesmaids had personalised embroidered cotton PJs and joy.

Ellies mum brought her a necklace to wear, which was a beautiful moment, before Ellie and her bridesmaids had a first look upstairs in opposite doorways. I always prefer natural first looks without lining people up and asking them to turn around, because that’s very forced and puts pressure on people to react a certain way. This way, Ellie simply opened her door to come out of her room, and the girls were hanging out in the opposite room, making for cute photos of them peeking around the doorframe. For bridal prep photos on film, I use a mix of black and white and colour film, and use direct flash when I need some light and there’s no window. It feels fun and simple, so the focus remains on the real moment that’s happening rather than trying to move everything around so there’s a bit of window light, which could change the flow and take people out of the moment.

You know what I said about not asking people to stand there and turn around for a first look? Scrap that. We had to sort of do that for Ellie and Teds first look, although as naturally as possible. Ted waited in the garden and Ellie went out to him before she asked him to turn around. I was quite far away from this so as to let the moment be theirs, while documenting that it happened. It’s a lot to expect someone to behave naturally in a big moment when a camera is right there.

Ellie’s dad joined and first saw her as he came through the doorway. It seems that I quite like doorways.

Cameras & lenses:
- Nikon F5
- Nikon F80
  - Nikkor 28mm f2.8
  - Nikkor 50mm f1.8
- Mamiya C330 (Medium format)
- Canon R6ii
  - RF 35mm f1.8
Film:
- Kodak Portra 400
- Kodak Portra 800
- Ilford HP5

The ceremony

Guests gathered in the gardens of Carrow House, before being seated the secluded and sheltered ceremony area, which had a beautiful archway put together by East Creations. The wedding styling team, Smoke and Wildwood had made the whole venue look beautiful with long dining tables outside, and fabric bunting inside the orangery, ready for the evening.

The ceremony itself, which was led by Ted’s sister, was full of emotion, and emotion caught on film hits harder than anything else for me.

After they had their joyful exit, everyone gathered outside the orangery ready to welcome Ellie and Ted back into the gardens with confetti as newlyweds. We set it up so that the beauty of the historic orangery and gorgeous afternoon sunlight could elevate the moment, and we weren’t disappointed.

The reception

Drinks, canapés and reconnection in the Carrow House grounds in front of the orangery.

The wedding breakfast

Dining outside in the UK is always a bit risky isn’t it, but it was absolutely the right decision for Ellie and Ted. Carrow House is perfectly set up for it, and there’s no need for any turning spaces around because it’s separate from the ceremony, reception and party spaces. Smoke and Wildwood set the long tables up beautifully, with the orangery in the background. The sun came out as speeches started, and stayed throughout the lovely dinner prepared by Flora Norfolk.

Scattered portraits

Photos of a couple together definitely count as portraits. If they’re together, having a good time and in love, those moments will happen.

These days, I don’t tend to have a portrait session at one point during the day. Instead, I take a handful of portraits at various points throughout the day when it feels right. Maybe a quick one or two after the ceremony if it feels natural, maybe a few as everyone is going to find their seats for the wedding breakfast, maybe one after dinner, and maybe another at some point in the evening if there’s a lull. This way, it feels more natural and adds some variation to the day.

For Ellie and Ted, their focus was having a fab time with everyone, and so we grabbed a nice one after the first look, and a few at various points throughout the day, some without them realising. Their dog made an appearance too, which was really cute.

The party

The Carrow House oranger was stunning in the evening. A bit of evening glow coming in through the windows and stained glass gave such a beautiful ambience for the start of the party. The colours on Kodak Ultramax 35mm, and Portra 400 medium format film were really natural and worked so well with the summer evening light and bright interior. It started with an informal speech set up for the best man, with people stood casually with drinks listening. This is definitely my favourite speech scenario, as it feels less intense and more dynamic than when everyone is sat formally.

Coupled with the orangery, the bar was inside the house, which was darker, with some gorgeous wood cladding, which led to some more fun direct flash film photos.