The practical stuff, and the people I'd send my own friends to.
Not the twelve-page checklists — just the six things I've learned actually matter, from being in the room for enough weddings to know.
TapInvitations, the order of service, the seating plan you agonised over — I photograph all of it before the day gets going. Six months on, it's the detail shots people forget they wanted.
TapOne table, one camera, a box for the prints. It runs itself after the first hour, and it's the one part of the day guests actually take home.
TapSomeone loses track of them between the car and the ceremony at most weddings. Give one person — just one — the job of holding them, and nothing else.
TapIt changes how I work on the day — slower, more deliberate, fewer frames chasing the same moment. Ask early, because it needs planning into the timeline, not bolting on.
TapTwenty minutes with two people who'd rather be at their own party. The guide is just how I make that time work for you instead of against you.
Get the guide
TapThe walk down the aisle shouldn't be seen through a wall of phones held up by people you love. Ask your celebrant to say a quick word before you come in. Everyone gets the photos afterwards anyway.
The short list
Vivienne May Weddings
Kerrie and her team plan the sort of day where nothing looks planned. If you want a proper planner in your corner, start here.
Sudeley Castle
A thousand-year-old backdrop that does the heavy lifting on its own. I've shot enough days here to know every corner of it.
Sarah Harper Floral Design
Sarah's arrangements look like they grew there. Proper flowers, not the stiff, over-wired kind.
The Willow Tree Bakery
Hannah's cakes taste as good as they look, which is rarer than it should be.
Cotswold Bridal Couture
A proper dress shop in Chipping Campden — no upselling, just good gowns and people who know what they're doing.
Anna Jones Bridal
Anna makes people look like themselves on a good day, not like someone else entirely.
AFFILIATES
Deabill and Quince
Proper stationery, properly made. Worth it if you want your invites to feel like part of the day, not an afterthought.
We Are The Clarkes
Simon's films are honest in the same way I try to be with photos. No narration, no music video nonsense.
Rousham House
A Jacobean house near Steeple Aston, with William Kent's garden running down to the Cherwell. A garden wedding, not a ballroom one.
Oxford Town Hall
A Grade II* listed hall on St Aldate's, opened in 1897. Five licensed rooms, from a ceremony for 40 to one for 500.
Medley Walled Garden
A walled garden in Binsey, nearly 400 years old and part of a working farm. A garden first, a venue second.
Ashmolean Museum
Britain's oldest public museum, on Beaumont Street. Sculpture galleries, a sweeping staircase and a rooftop over the city.
Blenheim Palace
A Baroque palace near Woodstock, with two thousand acres and a UNESCO listing. Grand enough to need proper time on the day.
Stonor Park
An 850-year-old family estate in the Chilterns, with a thirteenth-century chapel and the best view in Henley.
Ardington House
A Georgian manor on the River Ock near Wantage, with a private island and a marquee that seats 200 on the riverbank.
Caswell House
Restored fifteenth-century barns near Brize Norton, with exclusive use and grounds run for sustainability, not just looks.
More in Oxfordshire
The Slaughters Manor House
A seventeenth-century manor in Lower Slaughter. Exclusive use for up to 120 guests, across five acres of garden.
Owlpen Manor
A Tudor manor and a 1446 barn near Uley. Exclusive use, with a marquee lawn and a walled garden.
Sudeley Castle
A thousand-year-old castle near Winchcombe, with four English queens buried or married within its walls. Up to 130 guests, with nineteen cottages to stay over.
Ellenborough Park
A five-hundred-year-old manor at the foot of Cleeve Hill, near Cheltenham. Up to 120 guests, with sixty-one rooms to stay over.
Cotswold wedding venues
LSA Champagne Coupes
A proper coupe glass turns a ring shot from a snapshot into something worth keeping. I ask every couple to bring one along for the morning.
Olympus mju II
Foolproof enough to hand to anyone at the reception. It's the camera behind most of the best candids I didn't take myself.
Kodak Portra 400
The film stock behind most of the warmth in my galleries. Honest skin tones, forgiving in flat light, and it doesn't try too hard.