LJ Photographics Blog

Yesterday we photographed Phil and Liz’s wedding day.

The weather all week had been unpredictable so we were expecting another showery day!

We arrived at the Cottage Inn to capture Liz and her girls getting ready for the day ahead.

We then headed onto the church in Littlewick Green, Maidenhead where Phil was eagerly waiting for his bride to arrive.

Liz arrived in style in a vintage Rover, one of a number of vintage cars they own themselves! She was escorted into the church & given away by her brother Chris.

After the beautiful ceremony we headed onto The Englemere for the drinks reception. The rain continued to drizzle but that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirit and we throughouly enjoyed the drinks reception entertainment from JuliaK who serenaded the guests.

We still managed to grab a few shots of Phil and Liz outside which was lovely and well worth it, given such a beautiful wedding venue!

We left Phil and Liz to enjoy their evening celebrations and wish them all the best in their future together!

Here’s a sneaky peek at a few of their images from their special day!

Newbury Manor Hotel might just be one of the area’s best kept secrets!
We visited this amazing venue today to take some photos for their Wedding Operations Manager, Katie.

Following a recent refurbishment, Newbury Manor Hotel are looking to re-establish themselves as a leading wedding venue in the area. Based on what we’ve seen today and from our conversations with Katie, we’ve no doubts that this wedding venue is going to prove even more popular!

Closer to the centre of Newbury than you might expect, this wedding venue is an absolute gem!
You’re greeted with a number of lovely surprises as soon as you arrive, the area ahead just opens right up and you’re treated to an amazing view across Newbury Manor Hotel’s 9 acres of parkland and water meadows.

Many of the wedding venues 34 bedrooms feature balconies that allow the lucky guests to enjoy that incredible view!
All of these rooms have been refurbished to very high standards and feel really warm and welcoming! The bridal suite is particularly special, with its beautiful four poster bed and chandelier!

Newbury Manor Hotel is a Grade II listed Georgian Manor House and the decorative style strikes a near perfect balance between the character of buildings from that era and contemporary style.

The venue offers many different sized rooms, allowing them to cater to weddings of many different sizes, from the very intimate to the very grand with a seated capacity of 200 in the Ballroom.

It is also possible to have a marquee wedding within the Hotel grounds, there is a dedicated area for this with power, water and (most importantly?) a BBQ in addition to those stunning views!

Within the grounds, to the front of the hotel is the very highly regarded, 2 Rosette rated, Riverbar Restaurant. As a converted Grade II watermill, this restaurant provides incredible views down river and across the Newbury Manor House grounds. It is possible to secure the restaurant as part of your wedding booking and it’s not hard to see why you’d want to!

If you are planning a Hotel or marquee wedding in the Newbury, Basingstoke or Reading areas, then we’d definitely recommend a visit to Newbury Manor Hotel. You’ll find an excellent and experienced wedding team there who would be very happy to help!
For more details contact Katie Marie, Wedding Operations Manager on either 01635 528 838 or katiemarie@newbury-manor-hotel.co.uk

Here are a few photos from our visit today:

On Friday we photographed Oliver and Hayley’s wedding day.

We started the morning preparations at Wokefield Park where Hayley was busy with her girls getting ready. Hayley’s dress was beautiful with stunning details – a lot of hours had clearly gone into designing the dress!

We then headed onto Ufton Court where Oliver was nervously awaiting his beautiful bride. Oliver had his best friend fly over from America to support him as best woman, we’re sure that with such a lovely wedding, she would have really enjoyed her first trip outside of the US!

The Barn looked beautiful with all the Christmas decorations, Ufton Court’s Christmas tree is always extremely impressive at 25ft tall!

Following the wedding ceremony, the guests headed over to Ufton Court house for their drinks reception. Beautiful fireplaces and beautifully paneled walls ensure that, even on the wettest winters day, the main house at Ufton Court is very warm and inviting. We were happy to make use of many of the all the indoor photographic opportunities this lovely venue has to offer.

Oliver & Hayley also had a videographer – The Camera Chap who we have worked with previously and it was great to work together again!

One surprise for the wedding guests was Hayley who treated the wedding guests by singing a beautiful song just before the speeches. She was assisted by an extremely good pianist who played throughout the wedding breakfast, filling Ufton Court Barn with musical atmosphere.

Oliver & Hayley had a musical theme to their wedding, which was visible on everything from table names, fantastic mini-piano name tag holders, and even wedding cake!

True to form, the evening celebrations were started with an amazing Jazz band who played for the first dance and for Hayley and her father which was lovely to see before the rest of the guests joined them on the floor!

We left Oliver and Hayley to enjoy the rest of their evening with friends and family.

They are off to Finland for their honeymoon, we hope they have a lovely time and wish them and their family a very Happy New Year!

On Sunday we were at the fabulous Wokefield Park photographing Gary & Deb’s special day!

Deb’s dress was beautiful with some lovely detailed sections on the back.

Given the changeable weather recently, we were thrilled to see the sun shining! Everyone was able to make full use of the fantastic grounds and many did enjoy a glass of Pimms or champagne on the terrace, overlooking the gardens and lake!

Wokefield Park is a fantastic wedding venue for guests & photographers alike and we enjoyed making the most of the stunning location!

Gary & Debs are great together, they both have fantastic personalities which we enjoyed capturing with our photography through the day!

In the evening guests were treated to an opportunity to play Blackjack & Roulette in the bar area as well as an opportunity to enjoy our mobile studio service Flaunt!

We really enjoyed being a part of their wedding day & captured some great shots through the day, here is a sneak peak at a few!

Yesterday we photographed Jeremy & Sarah’s wedding at the beautiful Ufton Court.

We began our day in Maidenhead at Sarah’s parents house. It was lovely to photograph such a smiley bride, Sarah could not stop smiling all morning which made our job very easy in capturing some beautiful shots.

Jeremy’s fireman colleague arrived to collect Sarah & her Dad in a modern day Fire engine… what a treat!
Not the most comfortable of rides, Sarah jokingly informed us, but nevertheless a photo opportunity not to be missed!
Plus – there was no chance she was going to be late!!

Despite the unfortunate weather which was determined to rain all day long, Sarah and Jeremy did not stop smiling all day, clearly nothing was going to dampen their spirits. Good on you guys!

We made full use of all that Ufton Court has to offer inside the beautiful house. It looked fantastic externally too, especially now that it’s been given a recent facelift!

The barn was decorated beautifully and the cake looked great with a fantastic fireman & bride cake topper! (pictured below)

We really enjoyed being a part of this lovely couple’s wedding day and captured some fantastic shots of them both.

Here’s a few from their wedding day yesterday!