Now that the busy summer months are behind me, I have time to share some of the amazing weddings that I’ve photographed this year and I’m back with a bang!
Today, I’m looking back at Melissa and Luke’s incredibly surrealist wedding at Aynhoe Park and I know you’re going to love this. As a London wedding photographer, Aynhoe Park is one of my favourite UK venues and this creative and unique wedding was very special indeed.
After months of ‘non-dating’ and a beautiful proposal, Melissa and Luke headed to the iconic Burning Man in the Nevada desert with some of their closest friends for their first wedding ceremony before returning to the UK for a more formal, and only slightly more traditional, celebration.
Aynhoe Park was the perfect choice of venue. From the outside, it appears to be a quintessential English country house and yet, when you step inside, it blows you away. Stunning alternative interiors feature statement décor, chandeliers, balloons and show-stopping taxidermy, including the famous giraffe.
I was absolutely thrilled to be chosen to capture Melissa and Luke’s three-day celebration. The festivities began with a pre-wedding BBQ dinner, with a super chic black and white colour scheme. Melissa wore a wonderful black and white Chanel trouser suit to the BBQ and teamed it with a bespoke swan headdress that gave a taste of things to come…
Melissa and Luke created a wedding that was all about elegant surrealism to celebrate their own surreal love and guests certainly embraced this. In fact, the dress code for the wedding itself was ‘feathers, headpieces and glitz’ without limits. This was a wedding that was set to be spectacular!
For the wedding day, Melissa wore an incredible dress that certainly fitted the couple’s ‘without limits’ approach to the day. The 17kg dress was made for Melissa by a tailor in Turkey who has known Melissa’s family for years. She finished her look with shoes borrowed from her mother and a fantastic custom-made headpiece that mirrored the amazing embellishments on the wedding dress.
Luke wore a Hugo Boss suit whilst the rest of the wedding party chose their own outfits. The bridesmaids were asked to wear shades of green to complement the natural, yet surrealistic, setting.
There really was so much to love about this wedding. From the doughnut cake and the hydrangeas on the dinner tables that are now planted in Melissa and Luke’s garden to the whisky shot seating chart and name tables. I have to mention the fabulous first dance – more like a musical than a single dance, it was a medley of songs that told the couple’s story, from their first dance to their engagement and onto their wedding day. I’ll never forget it.
After two-days of celebration at the jaw-dropping Aynhoe Park, the wedding festivities continued at Soho Farmhouse for a weekend of much needed ‘rejuvenation’.
There’s so much more to tell and if you’d like to read more, you can take a look at this feature on Harper’s Bazaar US that’s all about Melissa and Luke’s unforgettable wedding. It’s been a honour being featured on my dream publication Harper’s Bazaar.
After delivering the wedding gallery to Melissa & Luke, I received the most wonderful review about my service:
“Roberta is THE best!! She delivered way beyond our expectations, capturing the emotion of the day in a way that will stay fresh in our hearts and minds forever. She instantly blended into the buzz of the atmosphere while never missing a beat. Everything happened seamlessly, nothing was forced, each set up flowed naturally with the day, and when we weren’t looking she snapped all the love, laughter and joy that filled the room. The result is astounding! We couldn’t be more overwhelmed with the abundance of beautiful pictures we received, enough to make a multitude of albums! We are so grateful to Roberta and really feel like we found a friend who will be there without camera to celebrate a reunion for our first anniversary… although if she brought her camera again that would be great too 
Thank you so much Roberta, thanks to you the pure happiness, love and joy of that day will live with us and all our friends and family forever.”
As well as working as a London wedding photographer, I’m also available for destination weddings in Europe and I’m currently taking bookings for 2020 weddings in the UK, Italy, France, Greece and beyond.
You can keep up with my work on Instagram.
Do contact me to check my availability for your date or to find out more.
Wishing you all a lovely week.
With love,
Roberta x
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