On a fine day in mid-June we had the pleasure of filming the wedding of a premier league footballer and his lovely partner. It was hosted at Four Seasons Hampshire under the supervision of VIP wedding planner & designer Mark Niemierko.

We received the booking only the day before which meant we were a bit less prepared than usual, however we managed to co-ordinate the filming as we went along. The day started with the groom and his friends clay pigeon shooting whilst the bride and her entourage got ready. The wedding ceremony was held at a nearby church in the village of Dogmersfield. Mark’s team lavishly dressed the church to create a quintessential country feel and it was completely full for the ceremony!

Afterwards a drinks reception was held in the hotel’s fabulous Walled Garden. I’ve always believed that outdoor settings look better on film than indoor ones, and this garden really excels as a backdrop. Later on the wedding banquet was hosted inside the hotel with the cake cutting on the terrace accompanied by fireworks. The evening’s partying got off to a swing with a great band and the guests clearly enjoyed themselves. Below are highlights from the event.

One of the things we’ve noticed at Bloomsbury Films is the number of mixed cultural marriages we film. Recent projects have included an Anglo-Persian wedding, an Anglo-Greek wedding, an Anglo-Asian wedding, an Anglo-Jewish wedding, an American-Sikh wedding, an Italian-Persian wedding.. I could go on!

Perhaps this a reflection of being based in London, but perhaps also it shows the growing acceptance in our society for marriage based on love and like-mindedness, rather than seeking a cultural safety net. A particularly good example of this is Shahara & Christophers wedding which we filmed at York House, Richmond in early August. Shahara is from a Muslim Bengali family and Christopher from a traditional English one. In marrying Shahara, Christopher not only adopted a new family, but a new (Muslim) name. When I met them both months prior to their wedding, it was clear they were both very much in love and that whilst Christopher may not have have grown up in a Muslim/Bengali lifestyle, he was more than willing to adopt one.

I like their video very much, and the trailer shows their coming together well. They had splendid weather on the day and I am glad that there was a lot of opportunities for filming outdoors – which I always believe looks so much better than filming indoors! We have done several Bengali wedding videos of late including a stunning Bengali wedding in Newcastle, but this is the first mixed Anglo-Bengali marriage I am aware of filming. I therefore wish Christopher and Shahara all the very best in the future! Below are highlights from their day:

There is no better way of experiencing the quality of one’s wedding video service than being a customer of it! Iris and I got married on Friday 31st October; we had a small private ceremony at Westminster Registry Office followed by photography in Regents Park, a champagne reception at The Landmark Hotel and then dinner at Galvins Bistro-de-Luxe in nearby Baker Street. Afterwards we surprised our guests by whisking them off to see the new James Bond Film on its release day at the Odeon Leicester Square (oh yes, we are serious film fans!). The following day we had just enough time to recover before hosting a large wedding reception with a ‘showbiz theme’ at Bridewell Hall adjacent to St Bride’s church in Fleet Street.

Bloomsbury Films’ videographer Dan covered our wedding day from our preparations at home through to the champagne reception. He and our videographer Matt then covered the reception together on the following day. Despite obviously being familiar with both of them, they were totally professional, always thinking ahead to capture interesting and creative material. Its absolutely true that they are so unobtrusive you often forget they are there! That said, they were always on top of the events, missing nothing of importance and covering the event in the natural and spontaneous way we are known for.

We were lucky enough to have top wedding photographer Aziz from Aira Photography available for our wedding ceremony. He created some beautiful images for us here and in the park afterwards. Aziz is a really splendid guy who can think on his feet and was able to create exceptional images for us – we can’t thank him enough! For the reception we had the very talented David McNeil, who despite being a relative newcomer to the business did a sterling job. David has bags of enthusiasm and even set up a photobooth in the reception which provided a fun way of capturing original images of guests who attended our function. Once again we can’t thank David enough for all his hard work!

I think getting married is a momentous experience and the team of people one has to document this once-in-a-lifetime event is absolutely key! Iris and I will probably never have so many people who are important to us in one place like this ever again – so these still and moving images are worth the world to us. Without such quality professionals covering our special occasion we would be impoverished every time we came to reflect on a day that changed our lives forever. I hope as a result of having this experience of our own service, we will be in a better position to help those clients who follow in our footsteps by booking Bloomsbury Films in the future!