I would like to thank all my brides & grooms from 2011. It was a real pleasure to be part of your world & celebration. You were awesome

Here is a collection of pictures to celebrate 2011 & embrace 2012 with inspiration & love.

My aim is simple & profound: in search of emotions that celebrate love & life.

I’m looking for the real you, the beauty that you hold within your deepest core: your true Self.

I want to give you images that will become treasures to share with your family & friends for years to come. Moments captured that will make you relive each & every emotions to the slightest details, moments in love…

Lets be 2012 the best year, full of intimacy, love, potential, motivations & splendor.

It might have taken Laura and Simon a decade to decide to tie the knot but when they did it was a lavish, elegant affair that entertained friends and family for 3 days.                        In celebration of their life achievements together Laura & Simon created a stylish and relaxed home wedding making use of their everyday work and family locations.

Laura is the proud owner of a beautiful spa resort St Giovanni Terme, Rapolano with terraced natural hot water pools in the middle of a green valley, an estate she created from nothing in the first years of her relationship to Simon. It is no wonder then that the sunset drinks and midnight swimming pre-wedding party took place there at the spa, with guests enjoying a relaxed and playful atmosphere before the big party.

The next day Laura and Simon got married with a private, small service at the Museo Dell’Antica Grancia of the picturesque village of Serre di Rapolano close to where they live. Afterwards they took the close family and friends present at the service for an Italian-style food feast at their favourite local restaurant Il Goccino.

Most of the English friends were staying at Villa Buoninsegna and on the last day Laura, Simon and the rest of the closest Italian friends joined them for a sumptuous lunch buffet and a day of swimming, pool games and a variety of garden activities.                               In the evening, Laura & Simon dressed their home for the wedding party, a large farmhouse sitting at the bottom of a sloping wood, and took charge of every detail. Simon is an Englishman and a writer and since moving to Tuscany has fallen in love with its culinary tradition and become a bit of a master chef himself specialising in creative Italian dishes based on traditional recipes but with a contemporary twist. Despite not having time to actually cook, he personally supervised the wedding dinner & added his own personal touches: alongside the most delicious and refined dishes of the Italian tradition there was also for the delight of his English friends fish & chips and a huge barbecue with a vast selection of meats and vegetables. A sublime mix! Other quirky little details included an ice-cream van, a fire eater, a salumiere (italian old-fashion charcutiere) & a dance floor at the edge of the wood with a huge tree full of hanging lights.

The home garden party was infused with relaxed elegance: silver candelabres on one side and cushions thrown on grass on the other. A chic but informal celebration where all the guests, including the many children, enjoyed a warm, chilled evening and had the time of their life. As you can imagine it lasted till the early hours of the morning.

For anyone organising a wedding in Tuscany, here is the list of Laura & Simon’s suppliers

BOUTIQUE  Dolci Trame in Siena for { SHOES }  Maison Martin Margiela * { DRESS }  Italian Designer Gianluca Capannolo * { FLOWERS } Agrifloor, Siena, +39-(0577)-593615  * { BAND } Ballantines in Arezzo * { ICE CREAM VAN }  Il Preludio * { MEAT }  Sandro Ciofi  “ Antica Salumeria Salvini ”

For friends & family who haven’t had a chance yet to see the 3 days event, you can browse through the different days and order prints here: Laura & Simon’s wedding online gallery on the ‘client area’ on the ‘love page’ of my website. Enjoy

ELEGANT & IMAGINATIVE HOME WEDDING IN SOUTH OF FRANCE

Melanie is half English, half French and spent her childhood between France and Japan before moving to England and meeting Tom while traveling Australia. When it came to choosing the theme of their wedding day Melanie and Tom decided to pay tribute to Melanie’s multicultural background and have a West-meets-East ambiance. Merging French natural flair with English humour and an Asian twist Melanie and Tom’s wedding was the most perfect example of a home country wedding. Warm, relaxed, fun yet impeccably stylish. The venue ‘Le Péquelin’ was Melanie’s family home in a small, charming village ‘Le Castera’ near Toulouse, South of France. While the gardens were beautifully lit with Chinese lanterns, the main hall was ingeniously furnished with tables borrowed from the local community hall that had been expertly dressed to match the elegant vintage look of the bridal outfit.  A proper barbecue with a hog roast lent the dinner that little rustic touch that had everyone immediately relaxed and ready for the fun. And fun we had! Melanie and Tom rocked the house until the early hours with all the guests wearing different wigs, from ragamuffin hairpieces to French berets. We all had the time of our life.

To see the full wedding album CLICK HERE

Here we are again in this little peice of paradise in Tuscany. Our lovely couple Sarah & Dino with their son Elyah have chosen Podere Finerri as their venue of choice to celebrate their union. It was the perfect choice as it fullfilled Sarah’s dream to get married under an arch in an open landscape. It was fun, relax & full of joy.

American couple Raquel & Barrett opted to get married in the simple & elegant setting of Tuscany countryside, preferring a small gathering of close friends & family to a big party back home.

In true Italian Style, they had the most romantic & spontaneous wedding celebration; blessed by sunshine & great food. Raquel & Barrett combined a family holiday with their wedding, staying at Podere Finerri for a week before the big day. By the time the wedding took place everyone was truly relaxed & inspired by the beauty of the landscape. The guests danced the night away after many emotional speeches.

Earlier this summer I was engaged in taking a pre-wedding photo shoot of two couples in Asolo, Italy. These 2 couples (Melanie & Tom + Kara & Jerry) have more than friendship in common – the two brides are engaged to two brothers, Tom & Jerry, and will both get married this year. They do get married in two different countries though – France and Italy. The pre-wedding shots took place in a lush and elegant hotel – Hotel Cipriani -  in the historical town of Asolo, one of the Giro d’Italia’s stage, the world famous cycling competition. The 2 brothers are very fond of cycling and every year they go to Asolo to witness the athletes getting to the finishing line. In this occasion I was shooting a wedding in Tuscany, not too far from Asolo, therefore it seemed very natural to take their pre-wedding photographs in a place so close to their hearts.

Here Sarah & Dino, with their son Elyah, are having fun in Cambridge, weeks before their big day. Their wedding took place last Monday and Tuesday at Podere Finerri on the amazing hills near Siena in Tuscany. We all had a lovely time and were lucky to get beautiful and hot Italian weather. I will post their wedding pictures in a couple of weeks.

Having been in a relationship for more than 10 years and married for two, I love to think about simple ways to celebrate the first love that brought my partner and I together. It’s very easy in our busy life’s to let life pass by and forget to celebrate the spark that brought us together in the first place. Perhaps that’s why Valentine’s day is so popular amongst couples. But I find spontaneous initiative and personal touch more rewarding. I will always remember what a bride once said in her wedding speech: one thing that made her feel very special is that her now husband was taking her out every Wednesday since they first met. I truly believe that spending time acknowledging love strengthen the bond between lovers. Revisiting places that have meaning for you as a couple has the power to bring intimacy back into your relationship. It is a great gift for your partner and yourself.

Our love birds, Lana and Jonathan, celebrated their love by bringing the memory of their first meeting in London back to life. They allowed themselves to forget about the hustle and bustle of their busy life in order to live a few hours just in the playful embrace of their union. They wanted to capture on film this moment and chose as a backdrop the old City of London, which is where they first met and worked.

Every time I photograph a wedding at Podere Finerri in Asciano, near Siena in Tuscany, I am overwhelmed by the charm, the beauty and the ever changing look of the landscape. I have been there many times and it never looks the same. It offers everything a bride could wish for and is a haven of beauty for the guests, not to mention a real paradise for photography. This venue is my best kept secret.

This time we have an Irish contingent, a fantastic bunch of very creative people that love enjoying life to its limits with dressing up parties & live music on end. Our couple, Tony & Grace, were a dream to be with. We seemed to be on the same wave length: wild at heart.

When I asked the groom what type of pictures he would like to have for his wedding pictures, he told me he would love to have some couple picture on a tree. When they first met at a friend’s party he took her on his back and climbed a tree where they spent most of the night. How romantic is that? I was very interested by the idea. I did not dare take the picture during the day as it would have been just to easy to damage her gorgeous and delicate dress, but by the end of the night I took my chance and asked him if he was still up for it. They were both very thrilled to climb the tree and capture on photo this meaningful symbol of their relationship. Take a look at the last picture in this post.

Pre-wedding sessions are a great opportunity to have a feel of how much fun it can be to be photographed. These short sessions often help both the couple & the photographer to get accustomed to each other and make a connection that will establish a sense of trust, peace and fun, especially for people who are camera shy. On one hand, the couple will have the opportunity to communicate their preferences over locations, poses and overall look of the photos. On the other hand, the photographer will be able to understand the couple needs and suggest ways to feel confident in front of the camera based on extensive experience. These sessions are most valuable for people to get insights and tips on matters such as best positions and angles to enhance their features, use of props, how to maximize their venue location or make the best of the season’s weather.

Here we have Deborah & Mark, a perfect match. We started the pre-wedding session at their home and followed with some funky shots close by, in the very photogenic London neighbourhood of Islington. I also photographed her fitting at Morgan Davies, in Cross Street, where we had a bit of fun in the shop window.