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Megan & Tom!  Married at the beautiful Merriscourt in the Cotswolds.  If you are a guest from the wedding and would like to see the full gallery of photos, go to https://www.alexisknight.co.uk/client/ and get in touch if you need the password. 

I had already spent the most wonderful evening with them both in Box Hill, Surrey for their engagement shoot where we laughed and chatted and laughed a lot more.   I felt like I had known them both for years and was so excited about photographing their wedding.  

Tom and the boys stayed in The Wychwood Inn in Shipton Under Wychwood the night before and Megan stayed with her bridesmaids at Merriscourt.  My second shooter Brad Payne went to the boys and I went to the girls.  With 7 bridemaids getting ready, as you would imagine, there was a lot going on!  Pizzas were in the oven whilst makeup, flowers, gifts, jewellery & clothes decorated the rooms!  The mood was relaxed & happy.  Megan arrived down the isle on time (I believe) looking so beautiful whilst Tom waited emotionally, being supported by his groomsmen.  The love you could see between the two of them throughout the service bought tears to their eyes and everyone else’s!  

Being a typical spring day, the rain came down hard as soon as they were married, so the beginning of the drinks reception was in the gallery, but then the sun shone for the rest of the day.  The speeches were wonderful and hilarious, meaningful with the right balance of funny, at points I found it hard to photograph as I was laughing so much.  Towards the end of the day when the sun was low, we snuck out for the photos of the two of them whilst their guests partied hard on the dance floor.  This is always such a special time, as it’s time of the day where they get to be together without so much going on around them (ignore the two photographers with large cameras pointing at them).  

After the dancing was well underway, Brad and I left feeling very pleased with how the day had gone.

I hope you enjoy browsing through this selection of their photographs.  It was such a pleasure to be a part of Megan and Tom’s wedding, I hope to be able to photograph more for them in the years to come.  

About Merriscourt:

Merriscourt is a breathtakingly beautiful Cotswold wedding venue on the border of Oxfordshire & Gloucestershire.

Home of Thomas Astor & his family, there are three interlinking, beautiful Cotswold wedding barns for you & your guests to enjoy. You are also free to roam the 500 acres of glorious Cotswold countryside.

Known as one of the prime Cotswold wedding venues, each of our weddings is bespoke, designed to your specifications. Our diligent event team pride themselves on giving you everything you dreamt of for your wedding day… and more.

The three interlinking, converted Cotswold barns surround a romantic courtyard, with spectacular rural views across the rolling countryside. There are a wealth of stunning spots for wedding photos & idyllic strolls, whatever the season.

Our wedding packages can include catering, Bentley bridal transport & beautiful accommodation.
We are fully licensed for Civil Ceremonies & Partnerships.

Here are a few of my favourites shots from Hannah & Toby’s wedding.  They married in St Mary the Virgin Church in the very picturesque Hambleden, where Toby grew up.  They then had a wonderful bag pipe led procession to the cricket green where there marquee stood, beautifully decorated, where they feasted, celebrated and danced the night away. 

Th photos are now available in my client gallery for guests to view.  Please get in touch if you need if you need the password.  

Dress by Ellie Sanderson, Beaconsfield.  

Make up – Charlie Jennings http://www.charlie-jennings.co.uk/

Hair – Angela McKnight http://agmhair.com/

Flowers by Heather Rogers. 

Megan & Tom’s engagement photos!  I’m so pleased to be able to share them.  We met for their shoot in Box Hill National Trust Park, a place that means a lot to the two of them.  They will be marrying further afield in the Cotswolds, in the very beautiful Merriscourt.  It was my first time visiting Box Hill, but I intend to go back a lot as I was blown away by how vast and beautiful it is.  You can see for yourself the variety of views, woodland, fields & pathways.  Every direction I turned there was a magical photo opportunity, a complete photographs dream location.  On top of that, we all got on so well, it was such a pleasure getting to know them both, I felt like I was spending a beautiful sunny afternoon, walking with two good friends.  They were completely at ease in front of the camera, relaxed happy and most importantly, in love.  I now cannot wait to photograph their wedding.  I hope you enjoy browsing through there photos.  

Below I talk about some of the reasons why I recommend having a pre wedding shoot.  So have a read if you are thinking about booking a wedding photographer and not sure if you think it is necessary to have an engagement shoot, or are just interested to know why so many couples are having them. 

Engagement, or pre wedding shoots as they can be known as are so much fun and worth while doing. Below are a few reason why, that stand out to me. 

They are a wonderful opportunity for:

• Us to get to know each other before the wedding.  We probably will have met once before to chat about the wedding, maybe not, we might have only talked on the phone.  The more we get to know each other, the easier it will be for you to feel relaxed on your wedding when being photographed… the photographer is one of the people you spend the most time with on the day so it is essential you feel at ease and comfortable with that person.  
• You to get used to having your photo taken and for me to give you an idea of how I work, depending on how much guidance I can see you may or may not need, I might ask you to stand, tilt you head, hold hands….  I like to keep the photos as natural as possible, but a little guidance goes a long way.  This way you will know what you have in store on the big day… putting you further at ease.  I want for your wedding photography to be a positive experience, enjoyable & fun.
• Me to get to know your venue and suss out all of the potential locations, any lighting issues etc.  As well as meet your wedding co-ordinator and/or any other key people that may be there.  Or alternatively if we have a walk through the countryside or go to a location that has meaning to you both, it makes for a very lovely afternoon.
• You to have a wonderful set of photos and a photo enlarged to display on your wedding day maybe with a large mount for all of your guests to sign, or use as a ‘save the date’ or simply put in a frame in the house.

I am always updating my wedding gallery, take a look to get an idea of the style of my photography, hopefully it will leave you inspired for your own wedding photography.  

Alexis x

Sara, Ed & their 3 children were visiting from Canada to spend Christmas with Sara’s family in England.  Their beautiful country family home was heaving with family, it felt so festive and was very lovely to be a part of it all.  Sara & Ed are old friends of mine and I have been lucky enough to photographer their wedding and each of their children as they have brought them to visit over the years.   Here are some of my favourite shots from the their family photos, just two days after Christmas.  

I photographed Liz, Harry & Woof on a beautiful midsummers evening, just as the sun was setting, giving that beautiful golden light.  The views at White Horse Hill are spectacular and made for such a beautiful backdrop so I was very happy to meet them there for their photos.  I hadn’t however taken into account how high up and open we would be when deciding to wear shorts and a vest top, the wind was so cold and ferocious!  It was only right that Woof the dog joined their shoot, being an important part of their family and he really helped Liz and Harry feel at ease with having their photos taken.  

Here is a little of what Liz had to say about themselves and their vision for their photography.

‘We love the outdoors and The Ridgeway where we’ve spent many a weekend walking our dog, Woof. We got engaged at White Horse Hill and celebrated our engagement with a camping get together at a campsite next to it called Britchcombe Farm. We’re getting married in a small picturesque church in the nearby village of Lockinge and our reception venue will be Cold Harbour Barn, both are surrounded by beautiful scenery. Our vision for our day is for a relaxed celebration, surrounded by the people and things we love. This year we are also celebrating our 10 year anniversary and are moving in to our very own home.  Thank you Alexis for the beautiful engagement photos which capture us and the landscape we love so beautifully.’

Only a few weeks away from getting married now.  Here are some of my favourite shots from Daphne & Richards pre wedding photos.  We wandered through the cobbled streets of Oxford and Christchurch Meadow.  They were a pleasure to photograph, so in love and at ease with the camera.

Oxford Wedding Photography

I am so pleased to be able to share Asha & Perry’s wedding photographs and a piece of writing by Asha about the two of them.  It was truly a special day and I felt completely swept up in it.  Beautiful, quirky, ethereal, funny, sweet and full of love and laughter are just a few words that come to mind when I think of it.   This was my first time photographing at the Bodleian and it was a complete honour.  It is an incredible venue and run so well.  I was captivated by its beauty and history.  Some of the shots where taken upstairs on the library, you may recognise it from the Harry Potter films.  The books are so ancient and so special that they are all individually alarmed.  And each used to be chained to the wall so that they were only available for the scholars to read in that very spot.

For all of their guests, all of the photos are available to view here let me know if you need the password.

Here is a little about Asha and Perry.

Perry and I met in 2010, when I came up to Oxford University and joined an extremely fun and strange drama society called the Oxford University Light Entertainment Society (or OULES for short). We got together in November 2011, after putting on several pantomimes, and we’ve never quite managed to leave the society yet, even though we’ve both graduated in the meantime! Fittingly, our first date was at the theatre, at a show now affectionately referred to as ‘that terrible Antony and Cleopatra’ (sorry James!) – the best part of the night was Perry walking me home in the rain, and then both of us being so nervous that we managed to talk over each other while asking each other out. From that day, we’ve pretty much been inseparable – I don’t think either of us had any idea how right everything was going to feel. We have a lot to thank OULES for! Perry even proposed to me on stage, on the last night of Robin Hood, a show I wrote and he directed, with all of our family and friends there to witness it (and boost ticket sales, of course!). Now that’s some fairy tale magic.

We’ve more or less stayed attached to Oxford since meeting – I now work for the University’s Mathematical Institute, while Perry teaches Maths at Radley College. The city holds so many memories for us, and has been an amazing backdrop to our relationship, so getting married at the Bodleian Library was a natural choice. It’s the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen, and made the whole day feel wonderfully special but also perfectly ‘us’. I was lucky enough to be able to get ready in Brasenose College, in the room I lived in when I first started dating Perry, and he got ready in his old room at Mansfield, so when we walked over to the Bodleian to come together for the ceremony, it was an echo of all the times Perry walked over to Brasenose to see me. We chose to meet (but not see!) each other before the ceremony at the college door where I had to let him in every night!

The main thing we wanted to achieve with our wedding (besides marrying each other!) was to have a relaxed, fun day, as there is so much laughter in our relationship. It was incredibly good fun to add touches of humour throughout the day, like the plush echidna that joined in the celebrations, the geeky references in our vows and readings, or the sheer ridiculousness of dancing to ‘Uptown Funk’ in one of the oldest and most revered buildings in Oxford! We haven’t been able to keep the smiles off our faces since we got together, so it’s only fitting that the wedding was so much fun too.

Here are some words from Asha and Perry, from one of the most wonderful emails I’ve ever had…

ALEXIS WE LOVE YOUUUUUUU!!!!

Seriously, these pictures are all amazing! You did such a wonderful job of capturing the day, we were beaming from start to finish as we went through them all – what wonderful photos 😀 You and Kay are absolute geniuses behind the camera!

I love how many shots you got of us cracking up. The solemn and sensible ones are gorgeous and will be much loved, but the funny ones are the cutest reminder of that wonderful butterfly elation we both felt!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I don’t think we’ll ever be able to express exactly how much we love what you’ve done for us. You are amazing!!!

I love my job!

Here are few of my favourite shots from Catherine and Nick’s engagement shoot.  We met in the very idilic Cotswold village, Lower Slaughter, somewhere the two of them love for its beauty.  We met for a chat first in the pub, where Nick was tucking into his dinner and then headed out for the last hour of daylight, the golden hour as many of us photographers like to call it.  It was a perfect location, so much so that there was a traditional Chinese engagement shoot happening in the village at the same time… a first for me, two engagement shoots crossing paths.

We shot these in July this year all in good time, one year before they are due to get married.  There is never really a set plan to when the best time is to do pre wedding photos, or what the best location is, just what feels best for the couple.  Sometimes they prefer to choose a completely different season to the one they are getting married in so they get two very different sets of photos, sometimes we do the shoot the week before the wedding!   Some couples prefer to meet at the reception venue to get a good idea of spots they will go to on the day for their photos, some like to go for walks to places that have significance in their relationships.  I love to find the beauty in the place that they take me to and give lasting memories of such a special time.

It was a pleasure to get to know the two of them and watch them completely relax into the shoot as it went on.  I feel confident that they will now have no nerves when thinking about having their photos taken on their wedding day.

I stood on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral looking out for the couple that were searching for their photographer.  I always love this part of the job, guessing which couple in the crowd have come to see me.  Its a bit like a blind date… something I had never experienced.  We chatted in a cafe first to get to know each other and for me to suss out their wedding photography plan.  The two of them had felt quite nervous and self conscious to begin with about their photos as neither of them particularly crave the spotlight.  This is really normal for most of my couples.  So many of us hate having our photos taken, including myself!  They were completely thrown in at the deep end at this shoot as not only were the photos all about them, but it was lunch time in central London so people were everywhere!!!

Bernadette and Chris wanted to have their engagement photos in London as its where the met, live and work so means a lot to them.  They have always particularly loved St Paul’s Cathedral for its spectacular beauty.  Chris is a scientist from Kentucky, USA and Bernadette is a director of a global auditing firm, who moved here from South Africa.

With people in every direction that you turned, at first it was a pretty hard for them to relax into the
photography and focus on each other.  It can be very awkward having a kiss not only with people all around you but with a photographer pointing their camera in your direction.  At this point they said they had a new respect for the celebrities that have paparazzi following them around and with general public always looking at them…. but…. it was so excellent, within such a short space of time they completely relaxed into it and began to really enjoy it.  It was such a lovely transformation to see.  We had so much fun and laughs.  They even said they no longer had a care in the world about who was watching them and that it felt good, as if they were famous!

We started at St Paul’s then crossed the Millennium Bridge over to the South bank where we had a leisurely stroll all the way to Westminster Cathedral.  Some of my favourite photos were taken toward the end, with the Palace, Big Ben and Westminster Bridge in the background.  At that point too, as it was towards the end of their shoot, they were uber relaxed and enjoying themselves.

At one point, shortly after crossing the bridge there was a man blowing giant bubbles.  It seemed as if he was there for them.  Such a romantic and beautiful scene.

This is what is so wonderful about having an engagement shoot or pre wedding photos as some people call it.  Even the most nervous of people enjoy themselves by the end, and then when the wedding photography begins they take off from where they finished.  Themselves, at ease and relaxed.

I always choose to do outdoor portraits when possible as the natural light is so wonderful to work with.  We have such incredible scenery all around us too, which provides an excellent backdrop.  The fresh air helps to ground and relax us.

I am so pleased with this set of photos.  Even the pigeons joined in and helped make the photos even more memorable.

This is what I just received from Bernadette, having just sent her her photos.

“Dear Alexis

Thank you so much for the beautiful memories that you captured on the day! The photos look amazing and I can’t wait to show Chris. Somehow you managed to make us look natural and gorgeous at the same time.

I can’t wait to have you photograph our wedding! I think your work is just sublime!”

Here are a selection of my favourite, I hope you enjoy them,

Alexis

Countryside Wedding Photography

I love being a wedding photographer in Oxfordshire, it is full of the most incredible and picturesque spots.  Jen and Phil were married in the Bay Tree Hotel in Burford.  It was such a beautiful Autumn wedding.  The Bay Tree is so quaint and cosy with its open fires and classic interior, the perfect cotswold venue.  We had an hour of daylight after they were married so we drove a few minutes down a country lane and shot most of their photographs there next to a rustic old farm.  The country lane, the farm, their classic Bentley and the two of them so in love made for such a visually striking shoot, I was in my element and had so much fun with them.  Phil is Scottish, so was in traditional Scottish wedding attire.  Jen wore an incredibly beautiful Ronald Joyce wedding dress.   I perfect couple and beautiful setting for some beautiful countryside wedding photography.

Alexis Knight – Cotswold, Oxfordshire Wedding Photography.  Recently Awarded Photographer of the Year Nationally for 2016 and so pleased to be an award winning photographer.

Suppliers:

Wedding Dress: Ronald Joyce

Make Up: Nataly Egersdorfer Marks

Flowers: Gill Rogers

Hairstylist: Olivia Bradley

About the Bay Tree Hotel:

Website

You can host your wedding throughout the entire hotel; we have a wonderful collection of rooms for the ceremony, weddings breakfast and a good party in the evening. Our walled garden is everything an English country garden ought to be: romantic, intimate and secluded. And with our elegant Summer House positioned right in the middle, you don’t get many better locations than this for a summer wedding amidst manicured lawns and rambling roses.

Combine all of this with delicious food from our carefully tailored menus and plenty of fizz poured by our team of experienced staff, and we offer the character and service quality that will inspire the memories of an unforgettable day.

And it doesn’t end there. With 21 beautifully designed bedrooms and suites, there’s no need for carriages at midnight, or even the next day – why not make a weekend of it! You and your guests can enjoy the run up and relax the day after with plenty of cosy sofas to sink into, next to crackling log fires, or wonderful walled gardens to amble around come the summer months.