Margam Park Wedding Photography

Saturday May 15th 2010 was the fantastic wedding of Jenny and Chris from Swansea. The day started early for us at 8.30am in Killay for the hair and makeup shots which was literally just around the corner from the church. Chris and the best man on the other hand were getting ready in Loughour. This meant that for Jenny and Chris the flexibility of having two photographers from Kapow came into play with the tight timings and the fact that Loughour can be a 15 minute drive away from the church and that’s if there’s no traffic! Once we’d done the hair and makeup shots we usually “borrow” the brides shoes and take them outside into the sunlight and try to capture some light on the shoes and get creative with the photography. These all important wedding details along with the wedding dress are one of the most important aspects of the day and we feel must be documented through the lens in the same way as the reportage photography and traditional family group shots. Getting some creative shoe shots can also play an important part in the album creation as it really does tell a story, especially if you decide to go for the storybook layout option instead of the more traditional look to your album. With the sun shining and a great mosaic tiled table in the garden that we found meant that Jenny’s shoe shots looked spectacular.  Once we did this, along with documenting the wedding dress, it was then time to split up and get some photos of the boys getting ready also. Dave remained in Killay and was on hand for the wedding car to arrive at 11.30am at Jenny’s house while I made my way ahead of the boys to the church to have a quick word with the vicar and get some cool candid shots of guests arriving at the church.

The wedding venue for the day was Margam Park Orangery, which is up there with one of the best wedding venues in South Wales we’ve attended. With the weather just perfect for photography on the day it made our jobs a dream as we were overloaded with stunning surroundings and places we could get creative with the camera. A vintage car was also on show bringing the bride and groom in style from the church to Margam and with a surprise of white doves being let off it really couldn’t of gone much better for Jenny and Chris.

The Orangery Built from 1786 to 1793 by Thomas Mansel Talbot to the design of Anthony Keck, it is listed Grade I as one of the finest classical buildings in Wales and of 275 feet in length it is the longest Orangery in Britain and its white and glass interior made for a fine setting for a wedding breakfast. The light tall interior along with round tables ensured that as photographers we were able to move around with ease and capture some great photos of the speeches. With a mono-pod handy Dave was also able to get some aerial photography of the wedding guests and the whole function itself. After the wedding breakfast and speeches and having captured the odd tear from Jenny as Chris made his speech it was time for myself and Dave to move back outdoors. Because of the lovely summer weather it gave us the opportunity of more outdoor photography around the grounds of the park. The ruins of an old abbey just outside the orangery and the evening sun meant that we could get creative once more with staged photographs of the groom, best man and ushers. The day was rounded off nicely with evening guest photography back inside the orangery and with the nikon 50mm f1.8 lens on the camera I was able to get some cracking portrait close ups of some of the guests enjoying themselves chatting and having a drink.

The day was complete when we captured some amazing first dance photographs and some awesome night time shots of the Orangery with the tripods in use. Then it was back to Cwmbran for Dave and back to Swansea for me as we finished up from a long by fantastic day as South Wales wedding photographers.

If you’d like white doves at your wedding, they are available from loveydovey.uk.com