Gardens like this one give you a picture you could not build indoors. We waited for the water to settle so the reflection came back clean, then let the two of them forget the camera was there.Ten quiet minutes away from the guests is usually all it takes. It is also the only part of the day most couples get to themselves.

A couple held together on a painted bridge, the whole scene repeated in the water underneath.

The Red Bridge

Bridal preparation is where the day is quietest and where the nerves are honest. This was shot at the window because the light there is soft and free, and because she wanted to watch for the cars.Preparation coverage is included from the Classic Gold package upwards.

The last still moment in the house, before anybody else has seen the dress.

Before the Car Arrives

Plenty of the venues we work in around Wiltshire and Gloucestershire have a staircase like this one, and most couples walk straight past it. It takes about a minute and it is often the frame that ends up largest on the wall.

A borrowed second on the stairs, the train and the veil doing the work.

The Staircase

Some frames are better without colour. The veil closes the picture down to two people and nothing else, which is the whole point of it.Every couple gets a set of black and white conversions alongside the colour files, at no extra cost.

Black and white, close in, everything else left out of it.

Under the Veil

The last hour before sunset is worth stepping outside for, even mid-reception. We usually ask for five minutes and give them straight back.

Late sun coming in hard from behind, caught before it went.

Last of the Light

Ruined walls and old arches photograph beautifully because the stone is never flat, it holds light on one side and gives you shadow on the other. Wiltshire is full of them.

Stone, ivy and two people who had stopped noticing the camera.

The Old Archway

Two of us work every wedding, which is what makes a frame like this possible. One throws, one photographs, and nobody has to stand around waiting.

An ivy archway and a handful of petals thrown from just out of frame.

Petals in the Arch

Asking a couple to walk and talk gets you something posing never will. We hang back with a long lens and let the conversation happen.

Walking away down a lined path, talking to each other rather than to us.

The Long Path

We photograph a good number of service weddings, with Lyneham and Brize Norton both close by. Autumn gives you colour on the ground as well as in the trees.

Service dress, a fishtail gown and a path covered in leaves.

Dress Blues

If a venue has gone to the trouble of dressing an arch, it is worth shooting through it rather than in front of it. The flowers then belong to the picture instead of sitting behind it.

A flower-dressed arch used as a frame rather than a backdrop.

Framed in Flowers

You rarely need to travel for couple portraits. Most churches have one good corner, and finding it before the ceremony ends is part of the job.

Warm side light off the stone, a few steps from where they came out.

Churchyard Light

Most brides want one frame that is just them, and most are too polite to ask for it. We build it into the day so nobody has to.

A turn, a look back, and the dress finally seen properly.

Over the Shoulder

Not every couple portrait needs them touching. Given a big enough piece of architecture, distance reads as anticipation.

Apart rather than together, which sometimes says more.

Either Side of the Arch

Shot on the way out rather than as a set-up. The best preparation frames are usually the ones nobody stopped for.

A pause on the stairs on the way to the cars.

Coming Down

Putting one of them out of focus in the foreground gives the frame depth and keeps the attention where it belongs. It only works when they are genuinely laughing at each other.

Focus held on her, him left soft in the front of the frame.

The Walled Garden

Arrivals are worth covering properly. The bride getting out of the car and the groom seeing her for the first time both happen once, and neither waits for anybody to get into position.Arrival coverage is included from The Essentials package upwards.

The first look at each other outside, with the whole thing still ahead of them.

At the Church Door

Ceremony photography is done on long lenses from the edge of the room, without flash and without moving about. Most registrars and vicars will tell you what they allow, and we check with them before anybody sits down.

Close in during the ceremony itself, working quietly from the side.

The Vows

The walk back out is the loudest thirty seconds of the day and it is over quickly. Standing at the back with the light behind them is the only place to be for it.

Married, and walking out through everybody who came.

Back Down the Aisle

A confetti line needs organising or it turns into a scatter. We line the guests up, tell the couple to walk slowly and stop halfway, and it works every time.Worth asking your venue first, since a few will only allow dried petals.

Everybody they know, both sides, and a lot of confetti.

The Confetti Line

Dappled light through trees is difficult and worth the trouble. Exposing for their faces and letting the background go bright keeps the picture warm rather than muddy.

Hand in hand through the middle of it, under the trees.

Through the Confetti

A frame that only works if the couple are willing to be daft for ten seconds. Most are, once the formal groups are out of the way.

Petals blown straight down the lens from a garden table.

A Handful of Petals

Holding one colour in an otherwise black and white frame is a trick that has to earn its place. Here the drinks were the whole reason they sat down.

Two drinks on the steps, colour kept only where it counted.

The Toast

Group shots do not have to be stiff. Get the formal version first so everybody relaxes, then let them do whatever they were going to do anyway.Family and group photographs are included in every package we offer.

Twelve people, one car, and nobody standing still.

The Whole Party

The groom and his side often get forgotten in the rush to photograph the bride. This takes two minutes while the drinks are being poured.

Five across the lawn, walking rather than posing.

The Groomsmen

Children give you about four seconds. You get down to their height, you have the settings ready before you ask, and you take whatever they give you.

The two smallest guests, briefly standing still.

The Little Ones

Evening receptions are the hardest light of the day. Working with the room colour rather than flattening it with flash keeps the picture looking like the night actually did.Creative first dance shots come with the Classic Gold package.

The floor cleared, the room dark, and everybody watching.

The First Dance

Details get photographed early, while the rooms are still tidy and the rings are still in the box. It takes minutes and it gives the album somewhere to breathe.

Two rings on dark wood, before anybody was wearing them.

The Rings

Somebody spent a long time on the flowers and they are usually in a bin by Monday. Photographing them properly is the least we can do.

Roses, calla lilies and freesia, laid down for a moment.

Ivory and Lilac

Shot from directly above on a plain surface so the arrangement reads as the florist built it.

Straight down onto pink and cream, with eucalyptus through it.

Roses and Gypsophila

Wide open on a short lens, so the front of the arrangement is sharp and the rest falls away.

Ivory roses with sweet peas and dried lavender worked in.

Sweet Peas and Lavender

Done after the ceremony rather than before, once both rings are actually on. It takes thirty seconds and it is on more mantelpieces than anything else we shoot.

Both hands, both rings, resting where the flowers were.

Rings on the Bouquet

The cake and the dressed room both get covered while the tables are still untouched, which usually means slipping out during the drinks reception.

Three tiers on a log slice, photographed before it was cut.