Polly Alexandre Photography

Fine Wedding & Portrait Photography

Sarah & Oli – Wedding Photography at Claridges Hotel, London

Oh my. What a utterly stylish and wonderful wedding this was….To be the photographer for a wedding at Claridges is always lovely, but I especially love working for creative clients like this bride. Shortly before her wedding, Sarah had just taken the plunge and left her job as a magazine designer to start up her own stationary company, Brown Paper Design, with her close friend & cousin Juliette, so she brought that creative talent and eye for beauty to the styling of her wedding day. But this was a day that was not just beautiful to the eye, but also beautiful for the warmth and joy of sharing it with their families, to whom the couple are very close. In the Jewish faith, family is very important and Sarah planned the wedding closely with her parents, especially her mother, who herself has a great eye and interest in art and design.

Sarah met Oli as a friend of her brother, and then friendship blossomed into romance over time and it became obvious the couple were the perfect match. On the wedding day we started at Sarah’s parents home where her mum so sweetly covered the outside of their home with little teddy bears wearing customised ribbon neckties. Sarah’s father accompanied her to the synagogue in her uncle’s beautiful vintage car, and in Jewish tradition he walked her down the aisle to the huppah, decorated in white roses. I love shooting Jewish weddings for their sense of celebration and joy in the ceremony itself, not the mention the vigorous dancing…and all before you’ve even sat down to eat. Sarah & Oli’s friends ensured this was particularly lively! (I think the grooms friends were mainly responsible for the wild celebratory chaos at this point & definitely for the hoisting up on the couple on chairs in the air, despite the bride’s reservations!). Sarah designed beautiful notecard sets as favour/placenames, with each guest’s name printed at the top. She also made gorgeous escort cards in a chic grey stripe and the most beautiful gold foil embossed invitations. I highly recommend checking out her new website.

Sarah loved both the grainy black and white look of my documentary work and the soft palette of my colour photography so I combined the two by capturing the details and portraits in natural light in colour film, and the evening’s events in my trademark grainy black and white film. My goal was to create a portrait of the wedding that was at once elegant, natural and beautiful.

Wishing Mr & Mr S both many sweet years together, and perhaps even a lovely family of their own one day…..

Ceremony Venue: Western Marble Arch Synagogue.  Reception Venue & Catering: Claridges Hotel, London. Bride’s Dress: Peter Langner from Browns Bride. Bride’s Shoes: Rupert Sanderson. Jewellery: Tiffany. Hair & Make Up: Daniel Galvin. Bridesmaid’s Dress: Gucci. Grooms Suit: Nick Tentis. Stationary by the Bride’s Company, Brown Paper Design Flowers: Paul Thomas Cake: Peggy Porschen. Super 8 Film: Mariage a la Mode. Wedding Cars: Sarah’s Uncle.

Thank you to Kate Rossin from Depict for some second shooting (not shown here)

 

Catie & Danny – Wedding Photography at the Mandarin Oriental

What do you get when you add together a couple very much in love, their beagle puppy, a white vintage convertible Bentley, one of the best wedding bands ever, a white grand piano in a glamorous reception, and a lot of energy and style?

Catie and Danny’s wonderful wedding, held at the Mandarin Oriental in London. I love this wedding!

Catie’s stunning dress is Elato by Elie Saab available from Pronovius. Her shoes are by Louboutin. The vintage diamond earrings were a gift from the groom.

With his wife to be so stylishly clad, Danny was not one to be outdone in the sartorial stakes. Rumour has it Danny’s shoes were flown over especially from Italy. There’s a story behind these I think, but Danny was a little coy about revealing quite how much effort went into his footwear. Loving the sharp well cut suit and immaculate coordination.

We headed out to do the couple shots before the ceremony; and Catie & Danny hired a vintage white Bentley especially for the occasion. We all got a little nervous on the way back as being an old car it was a little temperamental and didn’t want to start. And then just as we got going again, we hit good old London traffic. With it being a Sunday there was a cut off time for the marriage ceremony to be performed and it was a touch and go as to whether we would make it back in time. Catie started to look a little nervous as you can see here!

It ended up with the pair flying in full fabulous wedding attire through Knightsbridge on foot, flying past Harvey Nicks and up the steps to the Mandarin Oriental, followed in fast pursuit by myself and my assistant Karina. It was all good and we had time to catch our breath before the civil ceremony began.

The couple shots were really important to Catie and Danny and they wanted shots that reflects who they really were and showed their personalities and connection. They actually already booked a wedding photographer when they came across my work but decided they wanted me to capture their day instead and I love it when couples trust my vision. We scheduled the shoot for before the ceremony and we had an hour for portraits which allowed me time to create some fantastic images and for the experience to be relaxed and enjoyable. OK, so a good part of this time was spent cruising along in a vintage Bentley convertible but that was wonderful in itself!

Meet ‘Renny’, their adorable Beagle puppy, who is very precious to the couple. We arranged for Renny’s walker to bring her down just for the photographs and I am so pleased we did! She was so excited to see her mommy and daddy it was a while before she calmed down enough for the camera.

The chic elegant cake was by The Little Venice Cake Company, and the elegant flowers were by Rachel at Bud Flowers

Both of Catie’s sisters and her Dad gave heartfelt speeches. Catie’s Dad was like an actor with his command of the stage and his special words. He even made me cry.

Catie’s first dance with her Dad was sweet and emotional. And then the party began. Jewish weddings are always a lot of fun but this one took it to a whole new level.  Catie and Danny had a totally incredible band at their wedding – The Gilev ShowBand. They’re a 14 piece band with singers that actually get on in the audience and involve the wedding guests in the performance. Alexandra Burke was in this band before she won X Factor and they were totally incredible! So much energy and great performers.

I just knew I had to get Catie up there with Danny to dance on the white grand piano and I managed to persuade her to slip off the Louboutins and go for it! It was totally awesome to watch! So celebratory and special!

Later in the evening Catie changed into a chic Stella McCartney dress. Here they are again, on stage this time, having a brilliant time! It was like something out of a movie.

Thank you to everyone at the Mandarin Oriental, to Bloomsbury Films for being easy to work alongside, Karina for your help with lighting and for being fearless on the dancefloor during the crazy dancing, but most of all to Mr & Mrs Miller.

Thank you so much to you both for inviting me to be a part of your big day. You are a wonderful stylish and fun couple and have an amazing connection. I raise a glass of champagne to a fabulous long life together for you both!