Samantha & James | Our Wedding Day | William Cecil | Stamford | 27th July 2018
The William Cecil is rooted within the Burghley Estate and on the grounds of England’s greatest Elizabethan house, Burghley House. Built and mostly designed by the man himself, William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I, between 1555 and 1587, it is one of Stamford’s greatest gems. Stamford is a Lincolnshire beauty spot. With so much character and proud history, The William Cecil at Stamford is one of the best located hotels in the country.
This wedding is one of three weddings that I am covering at the William Cecil in 2018, and my debut appearance. But what is fascinating is the connection with the bride and groom. Samantha and James met me at a wedding fair in Peterborough and we connected straight away. I offered them a personal visit to my humble home where we found out that we were all born in January and with 2 days apart from each other. Capricorns seem to find a way to congregate together.
After a recce with Samantha and James before their wedding, we came up with the perfect circuit for their personal shoot. The William Cecil and the picturesque Stamford is a photographer’s dream. Their wedding plans also included a full Ukulele band (featuring the bride and groom performing too), a crochet bridal bouquet and a very unique confetti throwing.
Samantha wore a Cathedral length veil and for those that know my work very well, know that this type of veil is the main ingredient to my signature style of photography. I do get asked what would I do if the veil wasn’t a Cathedral veil and my reply is very simple, “excellent, I can do something new”. It makes me proud when I hear a bride say “oh it’s Nikos, he loves veils”. Style is what defines a photographer, and if you can tell who a photographer is by the photo, then they are doing something unique.
On the subject of unique, it was nice to see my partner in crime take care of the hair and make up, Feroza. She is based in Peterborough and owns her own company, Feroza’s Artistry. We have been doing a lot of work lately with portfolio, studio and high fashion shoots. Veils are even featured somewhere with my uniquely created backdrops. Look closely and you will see the veil! Make up is a key part in photography and even if you like your make up to be natural, make up defines the natural look and not distort it.
The ceremony on this fine Friday, was to take place outside. England hadn’t seen any rain for weeks at the time of writing this. The ceremony was short and sweet as the temperatures were above 30 degrees celsius. Once Samantha became Mrs Brandon, there was a beautiful procession of Ukuleles which were then raised in the air as you would see in a military wedding except the swords were replaced with the Ukulele. This was a beautiful confetti shot and one that was unique. Samantha and James also played a few songs live performing in front of their guests.
We then went for our bride and groom shoot. This was most fun and it gives me full pleasure to see cars stopping to congratulate the newly weds. We went for a little shoot along the streets of Stamford and came across a stunning house with a lady that wanted to ask me something. Anne, owned a beautiful and classic Stamford house and wanted to know what I was doing with the veil. Well after I told her my secret, the exchange of my secret was to have permission to take photos in front of her stunning house. Thank you Anne!
I cannot get enough of Stamford and the William Cecil. I am looking forward to the next two weddings here and I can guarantee that the photos will be completely different. What makes them different? You!