Julia and You

Sneak peek… Lorna and Paul, Boreham House, Essex

Julia — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:38:35 +0000

It’s fair to say Ian and I had a lot of fun at Lorna and Paul’s wedding, it rained but it didn’t spoil the mood and you could never tell from their constant smiles that the weather was anything but sunny! They both have lovely families who made us feel like friends at their wedding and the venue is beautiful!! In fact everyone at Boreham House looked after us well, and all three courses of the food were amazing, as well as all the staff being so lovely. I will be posting a full blog post of their wedding once Lorna and Paul have seen their photographs, but this is just a teeny tiny sneak peek, believe it or not it was raining when I took this photograph under the blossom…
© Julia and You, wedding photography by Julia West

Ros and Raj’s wedding at Rhodes House, Oxford

Julia — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:00:51 +0000

Two weeks ago Ian, Hannah and I photographed our first Hindu wedding and it was a beautiful extravaganza of colour, starting off with a Welsh inspired civil service (with amazing welsh singing during the signing of the register) then it was the turn of Raj’s family to impress with his sisters beautiful voice then her amazing dancing during the meal. Overall the wedding was truly spectacular! It really was like attending two wonderful weddings in one…

The colours of the day were equally spectacular, but for this sneak peak I had to include Ros looking beautiful and serene in her lace dress, then later after their Hindu service celebrating by jumping for joy! I can’t wait to share the rest…

Graham & Christina’s wedding at The Lawn, Rochford, Essex

Julia — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:31:28 +0000

Just over a week ago the weather was a little wet (no surprises there!) but none of that put a dampner on any of my lovely weddings over the bank holiday weekend! The first was the lovely Graham and Christina’s wedding. Unlike lots of my couples who find me through magazines and wonderful blogs like Rock my wedding or Love my dress. I met Graham (and later Christina) because of a sprained ankle. Shortly before my own wedding in 2010, I sprained my ankle (badly – I was on crutches and literally couldn’t walk more than a few steps even with them). Graham was my wonderful physio who helped me walk down the aisle. During the physio he asked me what I did and I bored him for hours about weddings, my photography and at the time art directing WEDDING magazine. However unlike most men he didn’t glaze over, he was actually quite interested and he told me how he wanted to propose to his lovely girlfriend. So we happily chatted about how he would like his wedding to be. Christina clearly would have to be happy to include Star Wars references! Several months later, when my ankle was better, I got a email from Graham who had remembered our chats and wanted to come and see my photography work as he had at last proposed to Christina!

May the Fourth arrived at last (I actually missed the Star Wars reference until the day!) and whilst their lovely dog, Obi, didnt attend the wedding in the end, Graham did get to name the tables after Star Wars places, but Christina clearly planned most of their stylish wedding at The Lawn in Rochford Essex! Christina managed to get her own silliness into the wedding too with Zoolander poses. Let’s just say the wedding was hilarious, Hannah (my wonderful assistant on the day) and I had a blast. Everyone laughed a lot! I look forward to showing Graham and Christina their wedding photographs soon but until then here is a sneak peek (no Star Wars but I did have to include their Zoolander)

Ok! Last sneak peek of the Winter Barns wedding photography of Louise & Dean

Julia — Fri, 04 May 2012 06:00:03 +0000

Sorry guys this will have to be the last fix of Louise and Dean’s pretty spring wedding at The Winter Barns, Canterbury… but if you missed the last two not so sneak peeks scroll down. Louise had her florist create these oh so cute flower mugs. I love them, not so great for tea but so pretty!

{Featured} Jon and Vicky’s wedding on Whimisical wonderland weddings

Julia — Thu, 03 May 2012 09:49:18 +0000

The super cute blog whimsical wonderland weddings featured Jon and Vickys wedding today!! Head over to the blog by clicking here or you can see my full blog post here – part one and part two

Thank you Louise for the feature!

Another sneak peek? Louise and Deans wedding at Winter Barns, Canterbury Kent

Julia — Thu, 03 May 2012 08:00:59 +0000

You want another sneak peek of Louise and Deans wedding… oh go on then!!! Scroll down to see the last one (featuring scrabble). After their afternoon tea we headed outside to get some golden hour shots, the mist was coming down and it left the most beautiful diffused light… I now may get every bride and groom to head outside during their meal if the light is like this as it was pretty perfect! These were taken in the Winter Barns pretty blossom orchard…

To find out more about your own wedding photography get in touch with Julia West of Julia and You, based in Gidea Park, Essex

Sneak Peek: Louise & Dean {Winter Barns Canterbury}

Julia — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:35:13 +0000

I’m not sure what the etiquette is with blogs… a sneak peek should be one post before you post lots more in a big post. In the big post you don’t repeat images from the sneak peek… Well I am about to break those rules!!! This is the first of a couple of sneak peeks because frankly I couldn’t pick which images to let you peek at and because an amazing blog has already said they would love to blog this wedding stylists wedding I wont be blogging the full deal for a while but it will be worth the wait! This is my first sneak peek of wedding Stylist and planner Louise (of Bow Occassions) beautiful spring wedding at the Winter Barns in Canterbury, Kent. As a wedding photographer when a planner asks you to photograph their wedding its a mixture of nerves but also wow this is going to be amazing and it didn’t disappoint. The scrabble pieces were used for their table names!

{Featured} on Love my Dress

Julia — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:06:51 +0000

The beautiful blog Love my dress has featured Becky and Tom’s wedding today (which was featured on my last post!!) Head to her blog to read the write up and scroll down to see more!

Becky and Tom’s wedding at High Elms Manor, Hertfordshire

Julia — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:11:01 +0000

I thought it was about time I shared this gem of a wedding (just two weeks ago) of my friends Becky and Tom. Becky and I met at university and then after Uni we both moved from Nottingham down to London and moved into various flats together. For a few years we moved apart (to live with boyfriends) but then came back together in houses just down the road from each other in hertfordshire. We have spent many an evening having fun, as well as mopping up each others tears. Becky is an art director, so VERY creative, she did the painting that clients who come to my home may see on the wall of our own wedding venue. I was chuffed when she asked me to do her wedding photography, and capture hers and Tom’s own special day forever for them.

The day started early at High Elms in Hertfordshire, in fact it started the night before for Becky, Tom and Becky’s fabulously helpful mum and dad, as they did all the floristry and decorations themselves. Becky’s dad has spent a lot of time doing DIY for them over the years so I was surprised she wasnt getting him knocking up a cabinet or something else equally impressive. But High Elms has so much lovely antique furniture it wasnt needed, instead becky decorated with vases she found at car boots and charity shops, old suitcases and lots of her own design work. I actually created the chair back flowers (although they were literally the last of the blooms left over and I was waiting for the caterers to arrive to sort out the tables so I thought I’d help!) As any good florist looking closely will see I wont be taking up a career in floristry anytime soon!

The whole week had been predicted it would rain, but the sun came out and we were lucky and didnt have a drop of rain whilst we were out enjoying pimms on the lawn.

It was great to see so many of my uni friends and Mia loves you all so much. I miss the girls a great deal, as we are now all across the country so sadly dont get to see each other as much as I would like. So until the next time we all get together, here is Becky and Toms wedding, it really was a great day!

If you are planning your own wedding, whether it is vintage styled like Becky’s or you have a style all of your own, whether it is in Essex, Hertfordshire or anywhere else in the UK. If you haven’t got your wedding photographer yet, get in touch and we can chat more about your wedding! I love to find out more about my brides so tell me as much as you can about your plans

Maxi & Mike’s engagement shoot {Eridge Park, Kent}

Julia — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:49:36 +0000

Just over a week ago I went and met the lovely Maxine and Mike at their stunning venue, Eridge Park in Kent. It was so lovely to meet the very beautiful Maxi and her hubby to be at last, after chatting over email and the phone but never in person!

When we were walking around I asked the question I ask all my couples, what made you fall in love with this venue, but really the answer was clear – the views. They are beautiful, the main house looks across the rolling fields of Kent. Of course we had to make the most of them for their engagement shoot too! So here are a few of the shots we took on the day…