St Hilda’s College Oxford Wedding Photography

Liv & Finn’s St Hilda’s College Oxford wedding took place last spring at Liv’s old college. The day started with Liv’s preparations at a small Oxford hotel with some of her close friends, her parents and brother. Finn was preparing in central Oxford together with four generations of her big, warm Irish family. It was a bit of a wet start to the day and both arrived at St Hilda’s in separate vintage VW camper vans.  No keeping these two apart – they saw the registrar for their pre-ceremony meeting together and planned to walk down the aisle side by side.

St Hilda’s college wedding ceremony

They got married in the Jacqueline du Pre theatre to a packed audience, full of friends, family and supporters, utterly delighted that they were making this commitment to each other. After a few tears, some empowering and emotional readings and blessings, they were married! Outwards into the beautiful spring sunshine, their ceremony was followed by a champagne reception in the glass conservatory with kids playing chase across the lawns and playing games.

Professional wedding photography

When you’re looking for your wedding photographer, it’s natural that you’ll ask around for recommendations from family and friends who have been through a similar experience. So many (already married) couples I meet at weddings tell me the same story of regret – how their weddings were photographed by a friend or dad with a camera but they ended up with a disappointing set of photos that don’t really reflect how their day felt to them. Everyone has a camera or smart phone with camera these days and we all take more photos now than ever before. It’s easy to assume someone you know who’s keen to shoot your wedding (often for little or no payment) can do a good job. But good wedding photography takes years of practice, training and investment. You’re paying for a professional’s expertise when you book them and a big part of this is the way they connect with what’s happening at a wedding, connect with the people, understand the vibe of the day, the story of the couple, what’s important to them, and most of all, allowing the wedding to take place without interfering in the flow of events. Couples that book me understand the difference, value good photography and have placed their trust in me to capture their most important memories.

Best men, best women

I spent a little time with Liv & Finn that day taking some photos together in and around the main house and college grounds before heading back to the drinks reception, just before the call into dinner. There were so many children at this wedding, take a look at all the fab shots of them included in this post – you can see all their characters and mischief!!

Dinner was shared platters of delicious food, and in-between courses, were rousing speeches from best men, best women, fathers and both the brides of course. Day rolled into night and the band kicked in after dinner had finished, and Finn unexpectedly took to the stage with her dad on base guitar to sing!! Then some spoken word poetry, more singing and dancing into the night. There were so many fabulous moments at this wedding and so many images to share with you, it’s always hard to pick a small selection for the blog! Hope you enjoy them and get in touch HERE if you’re looking to book a relaxed wedding photographer for your 2017 Oxford University wedding or beyond!