Brighton Harbour Hotel Beachfront Wedding | Franki + Josh
There's just time to squeeze in one more wedding blog before next month's 2019 Wedding Highlights video. And this one is perfect for some beach wedding inspiration!
I absolutely loved Franki and Josh's fab wedding - my first at Brighton Harbour Hotel. It was a sunny August Bank Holiday weekend, and the tourists were out in force on Brighton Beach, but we still managed to find room to create some amazing memories - it's always possible to lose the crowds if you're happy to ditch the heels and head to the shoreline. Franki and Josh were super willing to oblige and we even managed a confetti arch on the walkway down to the beach (it's the only time of the day I had to get a little bossy!)
Brighton beach weddingSummer Wedding at Brighton Harbour Hotel
The ceremony-cum-reception room at Brighton Harbour Hotel is white with plenty of window light and makes a great blank canvas for flowers and foliage. The very talented Belinda at Chez Fleur did the honours on this occasion, with stunning displays of eucalyptus and white roses, which were also used to decorate the semi-naked wedding cake made by Kasserina Cakes. The seating plan, place settings and menus were created in shades of green and white, and beautifully arranged with candles and eucalyptus sprigs. The bride and bridesmaids even wore personalised dressing gowns adorned with the same pattern - Franki's in white, with her besties wearing peach. The overall look was simple and sophisticated and made for timeless but eye-catching images.
Bride Franki looked amazing in a gorgeous wedding gown made by her Nan. Fittingly, it was her Nan who lovingly helped Franki into her dress - a rather emotional moment which was lovely to capture and which you can see in the images that follow. I love that the large bay windows in the bridal suite look out onto the historic West Pier, making for a picturesque backdrop to the ladies' preparations.
I headed downstairs just in time to capture Josh and his groomsmen enjoying a sneaky pint at the bar. I usually capture the ushers just before the ceremony in a more candid, documentary style, but this lot were such posers that I just had to get behind the bar for some fun beer action shots! I also headed out onto the beach with the boys at sunset as they smoked cigars. By then they mostly ignored the camera and I captured some of my favourite shots of the day - just candids of friends enjoying the cigars and each other's company.
To make the most of the pinky-orange skies, I simply positioned myself with the sunset and Brighton's West Pier in the background and took a mix of natural light images and a few with a small pop of on-camera flash just to light their faces. Off-camera flash is great indoors, or for posed couple images, but when you simply want a few relaxed candids outdoors, I find that just a little diffused fill-in on camera does the job effectively and unobtrusively. Those images of the groom laughing were some of Franki's absolute favourites of her husband; I was so happy when she told me how I'd captured his personality to a T!
Before showcasing the story of their day through a selection of my images, I'm proud to share with you Franki and Josh's lovely testimonial:
"Jenny was our wedding photographer back in August this year, in Brighton and we could not have asked for more! Jenny was very attentive and spent every second of our day making sure she got the perfect shots! She was able to capture such beautiful shots without getting in the way of us, or our guests, a lot of our whom have commented on how, most of the time they didn't even realise Jenny was there!!
Jenny is such a passionate person in regards to her work and such a kind an easy person to get on with, she helped us feel calm and relaxed and captured every moment of our day perfectly! We are so happy that we decided to use her as our photographer and we have not stopped looking at our wonderful photos since!
Thank you so much Jenny,
Love Josh and Franki"
Franki & Josh's Wedding team:
Venue: Brighton Harbour Hotel
Flowers: Belinda at Chez Fleur
Cake: Kasserina Cakes
DJ + Photobooth: Disco Fever
Dress: Made by Bride's very talented Nan!
I hope you enjoyed Franki and Josh's wedding story. Do pop back to my blog next month to see what I've been up to in 2019 - yep, it's time for my annual weddings roundup video!
2021 is filling up fast, so if you're planning a wedding and love my work, please do get in touch soon. I'd love to hear from you,
Jenny x
