Botanical Glasshouse Wedding at Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens Orangery Wedding: A Modern Love Story

Weddings at Kew Gardens—What a venue

With a feature venue like this, I see the venue as the third character in the story—it must be introduced and given its moment in the spotlight. I used visual language that illustrates the scale of the planting, with connected camera movements that pan through layers upon layers of foliage before revealing a little pocket of wedding guests having a wonderful time, unaware they are being filmed. 

Emphasis on family

Max and Becky are fortunate to have a very close family, but this extra emphasis on family was even more poignant because they had become parents just before their wedding. One of my favourite moments of the day was photographing Max dressing his son. Apart from the undeniable cuteness of a toddler in a bow tie and braces, it was a lovely tender moment which played out in the video with words from Becky about Max as a wonderful father.

Avoiding the ick factor

Their ceremony in the Nash Conservatory felt incredibly intimate for such a large gathering, with moving comments about what they value in their relationship. If you add that dialogue to the imagery of couple shots, it can be very powerful, but I also believe you need to break up an edit with lighter moments, to avoid the ‘ick factor’. Getting that balance right is something I spend a lot of time on. Sometimes I have to introduce the lightness with upbeat music or simply some cutaways to guests mingling will lift it.

Don’t get me wrong—I want people to cry when they watch their wedding video, but if I can get them to smile, laugh, and cry, that's even better! Becky and Max already had that balance in their ceremony, with the story of Becky not replying on the dating app at first, being late for their first date and later in the film, a mention of Max’s university ‘achievements’. Some videographers might be tempted to cut around these bits, in fear they might be received badly but I think the couple should lead the editing decisions. If they are genuinely (not nervously) laughing about it on the day, it can go in.

Live recordings

A friend of theirs sang and played guitar as Becky walked down the aisle. It can be a difficult thing to blend a live recording with chatter and coughing from guests, with a studio-recorded and mixed track later in the film. However, these moments will be treasured by the couple if you can capture them well. Therefore, once the ceremony was over and the conservatory room was empty, I approached their friend to do a second recording of the song.  I knew I had less than ten spare minutes to film it, but it would be worth it to surprise Becky and Max later. I recorded the sound four different ways and three camera angles of their friend singing and that’s what I gave them in their trailer video. It’s in these moments that I appreciate what I learned in my days making music videos, as it gave me the experience to execute this so quickly.

When they received their wedding film and photos, they said, “It really makes the most of Kew which is exactly what we were hoping for and more!” Later in the year, they contacted me to say: “We watched our wedding video again for Valentine’s Day yesterday and wanted to say again how much we love it!! It’s such a lovely thing to have to look back on and really means so much to us.”

Kew Gardens Wedding Photography