eXpression's BLOG

Maria & Ben - Wedding Photography at Hylands House

2009-08-22T03:01:00.000-07:00

Maria & Ben confirmed their vows at the Holy Trinity Church in Hatfield Heath and held their reception at the stunning Hylands House in Chelmsford. The day started a little cloudy but the 'BBQ summer' held true and the couple were delighted when the sun appeared when we reached Hylands!

Maria's dress was beautiful and elegant, which perfectly matched the grandness of the venue, and Ben looked every bit the perfect groom! We shot at a variety of locations in the Hylands gardens and here are a few of our early favourites, including a lovely shot showing off Maria's dress inside the house!

Since then we've shot 3 more weddings and with another today, we're certainly keeping busy! We'll update more when we can, but in the mean time, we're off to Fanhams Hall!

Hayley & Richard - Gaynes Park Wedding Photography

2009-08-10T02:09:00.000-07:00

Gaynes Park was the setting for Hayley & Richard's big day and what a fantastic setting it is too.

Hayley and Richard booked our Platinum Package so we were there covering bridal preparations at the Brides parent's house right the way through until after their first dance. Both Hayley & Richard looked fantastic and were both great fun, which was exactly what the whole day was...........great fun.

Below are a few of my early favorites, starting off with a group shot that sums up the spirit of the day perfectly.

Charlotte & Nicholas

2009-08-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

Charlotte and Nicholas had their Ceremony at the absolutely stunning Haileybury College. It was the first time we had photographed a Wedding at Haileybury but then that’s not surprising as they only have on average, 1 wedding a year.

The Chapel at Haileybury is just beautiful, and even although Rachel and I stayed tucked out of the way at the back, we still managed to capture some great shots. Charlotte & Nicholas are a lovely couple with a great sense of humour and their day was full of fun and laughter from start to finish.

We are still proofing Charlotte & Nicholas’s images but here are a few of my early favorites.

More Thankyou's!

2009-07-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

It's fantastic to hear great feedback from Bride & Groom's on our Wedding Photography. Lucy & Neil had a great Wedding at Fanhams Hall in June and we received a lovely email from them today.

'We'd just like to take this opportunity to thank you both again. We had an absolutely fab wedding day and enjoyed every second of it and now we have hundreds of gorgeous photos to remember it by. You guys were both great, everything felt so relaxed and yet brilliantly organised. Lots of our guests commented on what a good job you were doing on the day and even more so now they have seen the photos on the website (I think my Mum has given everyone she meets in the street the web address and password) We wouldn't hesitate to recommend you to anyone, and by the way - you have more than surpassed my Dad's (retired photographer) expectations - he can't praise you both enough

Thanks again

Lucy & Neil'

Wedding at Gaynes Park

2009-07-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was back to work and the wedding of Kelly and Mark at Gaynes Park!

The sun shone, the bride looked beautiful and all in all, it was a lovely day!

We took a lot of beautiful shots and some of my early favourites are below. The first was taken in Gaynes Park's Orangery where the couple had their ceremony, the second sharing a precious moment after the confetti and the third at the pergolla.

This week has been a busy one for us with a Wedding at Parklands on Tuesday, then Hanbury Manor on Friday and Hallibury College and Ware Priory on Saturday! We're now very busy proofing back all the weddings for the couples, but I will do my best to keep the blog up to date!

Bye for now!

Rachel x

Thank you's!

2009-07-11T01:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the first in many, many weeks that we haven't got a wedding on and it feels kind of surreal! We actually don't know what to do with ourselves, ha ha!

We did get a lovely thank you card in the post this morning though from Eleanor & Danny who got married on 24th May. The couple purchased the CD of images and had their favourite made into thank you cards, which is a lovely touch and nice to receive!

"We both wanted to write to say a huge thank you for the beautiful photographs of our Big Day. We were thrilled with them all and it was an extremely difficult job choosing our 70 for the album!

We are so pleased we chose expression; you were so friendly and professional from the start and we knew you would do a fantastic job! You made everything so easy for us. The whole happy event went without a hitch and that's down to all the brilliant people, including yourselves, who worked so hard to ensure everything was perfect, down to the very last detail!

We both had a fabulous day and the photography perfectly captures how wonderful it was. So many of our guests have said what a relaxed and happy day it was and that really comes across! Thank you to both of you once again, with the very best of wishes, Danny & Ellie."

Ahhh, thanks guys! :-)

Rachel x

Mairead & David – Wedding Photography at Theobalds Park Hotel

2009-07-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Mairead & David had their ceremony at the Church of the Sacred Heart in London with their reception at the stunning Theobalds Park.

Rachel and I both agree that Theobalds Park is one of our favourite Wedding venues to shoot at. The main building is not only stunning from the outside, but there are so many fantastic places inside with lovely natural light flooding in.

Both Mairead & David looked great, Mairead wore a stunning long silk dress, which added to the dramatic effect of the venue.

Kate & Paul – Wedding Photography at Stansted Manor Hotel

2009-07-08T12:41:00.000-07:00

Kate & Paul had their ceremony at St Marys in Sawbridgeworth followed by a reception at the lovely Stansted Manor Hotel. We decided to make full use of the picturesque setting and beautiful light at the Church, so we grabbed some shots before we left for Stansted Manor.

The weather closed in on us a bit, but didn’t make any difference as both Kate & Paul were happy to ignore the spots of rain in order for us to capture some more great shots.

Joanne & Bradley – Wedding Photography at Parklands, Quendon Hall

2009-07-08T11:47:00.000-07:00

Joanne & Bradley took advantage of our fantastic mid week Parklands offer and were blessed with a gloriously sunny day. It was also the first one of the year for me being outside during the ceremony! Walking outside to grab a shot before the guests arrived, I remember thinking WOW! It was a truly stunning setting and the couple had a wonderful day!

It would be fair to say the day was fun filled from start to finish, although I’m not sure how fun it would have been for Bradley if the boys had actually succeeded in their plot to throw him into the fountain….

Summer's here !

2009-06-29T00:15:00.000-07:00

Hello

Apologies for our lack of blogs in the last month but we have been so busy with Weddings. May and June has seen us shot a lot of wedding at some stunning venues, like Parklands, Fanhams Hall, Vaulty Manor and Hanbury Manor. I promise to post a more detailed blog about what Rachel and I have been up to and also about our new website which we are both really excited about. In the meantime I have posted just a few of our favorite images from our recent weddings. Will post more shortly.

Mark

Highland fling at Parklands!

2009-05-26T04:32:00.000-07:00

Last Friday saw me shooting Karen & Paul's Wedding at Parklands http://www.quendonpark.co.uk, which was on the hottest day of the year so far, so they tell me!

As the weather was fine we were able to get some great shots inside and out! Here are a few of my early favorites.

Speak soon

Mark

Thank you's!

2009-05-14T09:43:00.001-07:00

We've done a couple more weddings since our last blog (both ran smoothly and we're delighted with the shots!) and we've also been receiving some lovely emails from our happy customers, so I thought I'd post a few! :-)

From: Teresa & Matt

Just a quick email, firstly to apologise for my delay in contacting you, and secondly to thank you for making our wedding day so wonderful!

I am still attempting to write all of our 'thank you' notes, and intended to post you a card as well, only it's taking so long.

We're so happy with the photos considering we both hate having our photo's taken. Chuffed to bits, just not sure how we're going to decide on the final prints!

We had the most amazing day, and a large part of that was down to the fact that everything we organised and booked came together so perfectly. We were so pleased with everything on the day, could not have asked for it to run any more smoothly (although a little bit of sunshine would have been nice!)

Thanks again,

Best wishes,

Teresa

x

From Kathryn & Mark:

Hi Rachel,

I just wanted to let you know how pleased we are with the photographs of our wedding, they are beautiful! we managed to see a few of them on our last day on the honeymoon as we couldn't wait and then we saw the rest when we got home. I'm so pleased with every single one, you've captured the day so well and even managed to catch Mark smiling which is an achievement all on it's own! i honestly don't know how i'm going to chose my sixty have a feeling i maybe investing in a few more and my Mum will definitely be buying quite a few. We will be writing to you to to thank you properly but i just wanted to let you know that we love them!

Thanks again for giving us the most beautiful wedding photos

Kind regards

Kathryn and Mark.

From Vicky & Simon:

Hi Rachel,

We have received our storybook album, thank you - it is wonderful and we're absolutely over the moon with it !!

Hope your both well !

Vicki !

April showers but who cares?!

2009-04-25T02:44:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and with it has come a few April showers, but regardless of the weather, the last 2 weddings went without a hitch!

The first was Kathryn & Mark who had their reception at the beautiful Gaynes Park. It was bitterly cold (5'c!) but everyone was in great spirits and despite some rain, hale and cold winds, we got some great shots of the lovely couple. We met the guys in the pub in the morning and took advantage of the great contrasting walls against the rather dapper looking guys in their morning suits then over to Kathryn and through the day until their first dance. Below are a couple of shots from the day!

Our next couple was Teresa & Matt who chose the lovely Reid Rooms for their ceremony and reception. The day started off very wet but we got some great shots utilizing the black and white umbrellas we always carry, but as the day progressed the sun came out and we we were able to get some lovely shots outside too! Both Teresa & Matt were a little camera shy, but with a combination of Mark's witty jokes and my threats of dancing, the smiles and laughter soon erupted and we got to see Teresa's most beautiful smile!

2009-03-04T03:53:00.000-08:00

Hello All!

We're back! It's 2009 and I'm sorry for the lack of activity on the Blog, we've been crazy busy with wedding fairs, consultations and albums!

22nd February saw our first Wedding of the year at the fabulous Parklands Venue with Victoria & Simon! It was a cold but lovely winters day and both Simon and Vicky were great fun! We took some lovely shots both inside and out, and here's one of the happy couple getting showered with confetti!
We've also been working with a couple of wedding magazines on getting our work published, and in addition to some new 'real weddings' which have been published, we are now officially experts for 'An Essex Wedding' magazine in their popular Question & Answer section!

Enquiries are still coming in thick and fast and we've well over our target for this year, so fingers crossed, it'll be a great year!

Last one this Year!

2008-12-28T05:03:00.000-08:00

If I eat any more chocolates, I'm not going to be able to move!! :-)

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and Santa bought you everything you wanted! Jess must have been a very good little girl as she got lots of lovely presents under the tree and even participated in a little unwrapping (supervised by Daddy of course!). We couldn't resist posting a little piccie of our daughters first Christmas, in her Christmas outfit under the tree! Bless!

We photographed David & Helen's Wedding at Parklands on 22nd December and although it was cold, it was a lovely December day. Both Helen and David looked lovely and we took some lovely Christmassy pictures infront of Parkland's huge Christmas tree! A perfect end to a year of beautiful weddings. I will upload a picture as soon as I can tear myself away from the chocolate tin and get started on their proofs :-)

Don't forget our next Wedding Fair on 11th January! Hope to see you there!

Rachel

It's nearly Chrristmas...!

2008-12-18T10:27:00.001-08:00

It's nearly Christmas and thankfully things have calmed down a bit since the crazy summer, which has given us time to enjoy being a new family!

This month, we are again proud to boast that we've been featured in another Wedding Magazine (with our image on the front cover!!) with Rebecca & Nicky's Parklands Wedding Story as well as images from other weddings and participation in a photography feature. Hopefully this will continue to drive business for next year and show off our skills as a husband and wife team.
With one more Wedding before the end of year, we're looking forward to our first Christmas with the little one and a busy 2009 with well over our intended target of Weddings! It's going to be a very busy year!

Our next Wedding Fair is at the Hanbury Manor on 11th January, followed by Parklands and Ware Priory. You may also be interested to know we're also starting a new venture in baby portraiture, so if you are interested, please contact us directly for more information. We will also be launching the consultancy side of eXpression early in 2009 offering digital and design services to the photographic industry.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and happy and prosperous New Year!

Festive Wishes,

Rachel, Mark & Baby Jess xx

Autumn at Fanhams Hall

2008-10-20T03:52:00.000-07:00

October is nearly over and sadly, with it will go the lovely Autumn colours! 3 weeks ago we photographed Clive & Victoria's wedding at Fanhams Hall and they were blessed with the most perfect day of crisp blue skies, which really set off the bright Autumn colours in the trees! We found the most perfect spot down in the Chinese gardens and were delighted to get some amazing shots with the wonderful Autumn trees in the background and the couple on the bridge! We've just finished proofing so I hope the couple are happy with their pictures, but here's one of my favourites for the season!

2008-10-14T03:11:00.000-07:00

It's been another busy couple of weeks - album choices have been arriving thick and fast and we attended the Ware Priory Wedding Fair last weekend, which was very busy with lots of potential bride and grooms planning their big day! It was a good show for us and we'll hopefully secure a few more bookings for 2009/10. Our next Wedding Fair is at the Hanbury Manor on 26th October so if you missed us at Ware, come and see us then!

Thanks to all of you too for the lovely congratulatory messages about our baby girl Jess! She's doing great and is keeping us on our toes! She's currently upstairs napping so I'm taking advantage of the silence and updating a few things (including the blogg!). Mark took a nice picture of Jess and I last week so I thought I'd add it on here as it shows her starting to smile :-) Bless!

We're still here...!

2008-09-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

Phew! Since the birth of our baby girl we've been really busy, not just with adjusting to sleepless nights and dirty nappies (we're not moaning, honestly!) but also with 4 more weddings! Jo & Kieron got married on 23rd August, Amy & Lee on 6th Sept, Jackie & Nick on 13th Sept and Victoria & Clive last weekend on the 27th. With a mixture of church and civil ceremonies as well as venues and marquees, we've had a busy and varied month, not to mention some challenges with the weather!

The Wedding Fayre season is also approaching and we will be exhibiting at 5 events including Ware Priory, Hanbury Manor, Churchgate Hotel and the Hertfordshire Golf & Country Club. For more information and dates, please visit our website www.expression-photography.co.uk.

Above are some of the pictures from the weddings, with more to come.....!

She's here !

2008-09-02T03:10:00.000-07:00

Now we know this blog should be used for telling people what we are up to as far as eXpression Photography is concerned but we couldn't resist telling everyone that our daughter Jessica has finally arrived. She was born on Wednesday 27th August at 11.14pm weighing in at 7lb 6oz. Jessica and Mum are doing great.

Obviously I couldn't resist posting a picture of the new arrival to the Sloan family.

eXpression in the Press!

2008-08-22T00:31:00.000-07:00

This month has been a busy one for us - not only because it's peak wedding season and also because we're patiently awaiting the arrival of our first child (who's now 9 days late!) but we've also been lucky enough to feature in not 1, but 2 Wedding magazines!

Last month we submitted images of Louise & Dean's beautiful summer wedding at the Manor of Groves to 'Herts & Beds Wedding Magazine' and the editor was only too pleased to run a 'real wedding' feature of the couple's big day. We were also delighted to see that they selected one of our images for the front cover!

This month we also got Kate & Stephen's bright and colourful, Maiden's Barn Wedding featured in 'An Essex Wedding Magazine', again with another front cover image, as well as use of our images scattered within the magazine.

Not only was it lovely for our couples to have their weddings featured in the magazines, but we're also proud as punch that our work is good enough to be published! To order copies of the magazines, please visit http://www.anessexwedding.co.uk/ or http://www.yourhertsbedswedding.co.uk/.

High Praise at Parklands

2008-08-13T01:21:00.000-07:00

This is a first for us - managing 2 posts in 2 weeks......! Well, we do have an alteria motive.... !

Now, when we receive feedback from our couples we normally update the "what they say" section of our website but because of space constraints we cant always show the whole letter. We've just received a letter from Rebecca and Nicky and after reading it, didn't really want to cut it down as we felt it really covered some of the elements which we try to achieve for our wedding couples. So we thought we would go ahead and post the full version on our BLOG. Some would say we just trying to show off, but then, hey - credit when when credit's due... :-).

"Dear Mark & Rachel,

We had actually met with quite a few photographers before meeting with you, Mark. Deciding to go with your organisation, Expression Photography, was one of the easiest decisions we found we had to make. Both Nicky and I agree that this was because we were at ease with you immediately, in fact neither of us wanted you to go at the end of our meeting, we could have comfortably carried on the evening talking with you.

What you have that stood out from some of the photographers we met, was that you were not trying to sell to us, you were natural, honest, relaxed yet incredibly passionate and professional. And of course after viewing the albums of other weddings you had photographed we could see your work really was to the standard and style we required for our own wedding.

Then on the day of our wedding you went beyond our expectations again. From helping to calm Nicky down with pre wedding nerves, to helping me into my dress, fastening it up (Mark, this was very impressive, my bridesmaids obviously needed more training), and coming to the rescue when I spilt orange juice down it after only having it on for 2 mins!!!!! Rachel I have to say a special thank you to you for managing to feed that nightmare hoop into my underskirt........you have the patience of a saint !!!!

Your skill around the group photos also did not go unnoticed. You deff had the natural presence it requires for photographers to organise guests effectively and efficiently, and still you were both so calm and charming.......how do you do it ??????

Rachel, I remember being amazed at how much running around you did, just to adjust my dress by a fraction or to fix my veil or what ever it might have been, you paid so much attention to the detail and I am so pleased as it really pays off in the photo's. I can't believe how much Nicky and I have spoke about you both since the wedding, we truly were completely blown away by how hard you both worked on the day....................I am sure it's been said before but you are flippin FABULOUS !!!!!!!

The photo's of course are perfect, we love all of them and are now having a nightmare trying to pick the ones we want to keep for the album. Once again thank you for being so honest, patient, personable and bloody super at what you do, THANK YOU.

We hope you enjoyed photographing our day and I really hope we were not too demanding or difficult ? Finally, just wanted to wish you lots of luck for when your new edition arrives........it can't be long now ? Best wishes Rebecca & Nicky"

July Update

2008-08-04T06:12:00.000-07:00

It's been nearly a month since our last post but being as it's peak wedding season we've been busy shooting weddings, proofing and getting albums turned around for our happy customers!

Since Rebecca and Nick's, we've had 4 weddings in July and thankfully we were graced with sunshine for them all (well, inbetween a few spots of rain!).

In July we photographed Emma & Leon at Maidens Barn, Talia & John at Stockbrook Manor, Emma & Joseph at their beautiful parents house & marquee and Karen & Graham at Manor of Groves. All our bride and grooms looked stunning and the weddings were a pleasure to attend.

Still no sign of our baby girl yet but with 10 days to go, we're getting very excited!

Off to finish off the proofing before she arrives....!

Rachel & Mark

Summer is here........I think!

2008-07-04T02:43:00.000-07:00

Since my last post post things have been rather hectic and as a result its been a little while since our last post. Even although we're now firmly into summer we have been very busy in June with some other ventures, we even managed to go down to the south coast for a few days break.

Rebecca and Nick - Parklands, Quendon Hall

We shot Rebecca and Nick's Wedding at one of our favourite venues, Parklands is a fantastic 17th century mansion set in over 100 acres of deer park. We love it because it offers so much choice for fantastic shots and the staff are superb. In fact we loved it so much that Rach and I got married there ourselves.
The sun shone for Rebecca and Nick and we were there to cover the whole day. I have not even finished proofing Rebecca and Nick's wedding but thought I would share a few of my early favourites.

The month in brief...so far

2008-05-28T01:13:00.000-07:00

....and what a month its been!

May saw Rachel and I move in to our new house! (hence being a little quiet on the blogg!). We both still cant quite believe we’ve moved after all those happy years in our old house, but we love our new home and are excited about our plans to extend the house to include an office and reception area for eXpression (but all in good time as Rachel keeps reminding me!).

It was off to Bristol at the beginning of May for Anna and James’s Wedding. They got married at a stunning Church with the most beautiful stained glass windows, then we went via the Clifton Suspension Bridge for some shots (how could we not?!), then onto the reception, which was held at Bristol Zoo Gardens. It was a wonderful occasion, full of smiles and laughter with fantastic weather enabling us to take advantage of the wonderful grounds.

Two weeks later, Faye and Clive got married at St Marys Church in Old Harlow and it was then on to the Churchgate Hotel for the reception. We got to know both Faye and Clive well in the run up to their wedding - what a lovely couple! It was a real pleasure to cover their wedding and we got some great shots including one of the guys crammed into an old red phone box (they work for BT!). Again we were blessed with some fantastic weather (I'm beginning to think we're a lucky charm for the weather!). Here’s a couple of my early favourites.

Before I sign off, we have one more bit of exciting news to share.... Rachel and I are expecting our first baby, due in August. We are both of course over the moon and just so excited! Rachel will be shooting her last wedding at Parklands, Quendon Hall in June and Ian will be taking her place for a while. Here's a picture of Rachel relaxing in our new garden, you wouldn't know she's just short of 7 months at this point!

Got to go and get on with an album design.... Hope to be back again soon with some more updates!

Best wishes,

Mark

Spring is here!

2008-04-11T15:49:00.001-07:00

Spring has arrived and today is a lovely sunny day compared to the snow and rain we had last week! It's traditionally our quietest time of the year, although we are now being kept very busy during the winter months with more and more couples deciding on a winter wedding. It's also been a time for not only Weddings but also first and final consultations and we've just booked 3 more weddings for 2009. No rest for the wicked!

Here's two of the weddings we shot this week:

Patricia and John, Fanhams Hall, Ware. Patricia and John got married at St Marys Church in Old Harlow with their reception being held at the beautiful Fanhams Hall. It was just as well we brought our eXpression umbrellas as they were needed, but despite the rain it was a great day (and they had the most amazing zebra design cake - fantastic!)

Fanhams Hall Wedding Photography

Emily and Emmet at Parklands, Quendon Hall Emily and Emmet got married at St Michaels in Bishops Stortford it was then on to stunning Parklands, Quendon Hall for the reception. No umbrellas needed on this day, it was gorgeous, with clear blue skies!

Until my next post

Take care, Rachel x

Downhall Wedding Photography, Parklands Wedding Photography, Wedding Photographers in Essex

Welcome

2008-03-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Welcome to our Blog!

This is the place to read about what is going on at eXpression Photography. Both Rachel and I will tell you about our weddings and assignments, where we are exhibiting and what we are generally getting up to.

We will introduce you to some of the wonderful people we come across, as well as some suppliers we think might interest you.

To get a feel for the style of our photography, please visit our website www.eXpression-photography.co.uk.

This has been an exciting and busy week with the launch of our new website/BLOG and in addition the enquiries have been rolling in. We now have more bookings than expected for 2008/09 compared to last year’s forecast.

Please feel free to email me with any comments at info@expression-photography

Speak soon

Mark