Inspiration

When you look at wedding photography every single day, you really start to get an idea of what it takes to be an excellent photographer. And Jason Mark Harris is most definitely one of them. I always find his imagery emotive, visually stunning and very thoughtful - but somehow this gorgeous Icelandic pre-wedding shoot has managed to top everything I've ever seen from him before. I know - big words indeed, but it's true. These images of Andrew and Scott truly gave me a lump in my throat and made my heart swell. Perhaps it's the combination of the stunning scenery, the simplicity of the shoot and the ease of presence that just radiates from the couple? Whatever it is, it takes some skill to really capture all of these things in the single click of a camera. We'll be sharing Andrew & Scott's wedding with you all at some point soon, but for now, let's just revel in the beauty of these images...and celebrate the fact that these long-term lovers can now have a proper wedding day, just like the millions of lovers that have gone before them.
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Our Story

We met whilst working hotels in a small village called Dunster, in Somerset. We both recollect catching each other’s eye in a fleeting moment in a corridor of one of the hotels and thinking “he’s the one”. We spent the summer getting to know one another, but then I dropped the bombshell I would be moving to London to start university. After starting uni, we both endured exhausting weekends alternatively travelling back and forth between London and Somerset to see each other affirming we had something special that was worth saving. So Scott made the decision to move to London so that we could be together properly. Fast forwarding a decade or so, we’ve now been together for a almost 15 years. We had talked about marriage at different points over the course of our relationship but at those times it wasn’t actually an option, and the idea of a civil partnership didn’t appeal to us. All that changed in 2014, when same sex marriage was made legal in the UK.

The Proposal

Ruby (our 10 year old ‘baby girl’ pug) became really poorly just before the Christmas break in 2015, so on the vets orders we decided to stay home rather than travel to our families so that she could recuperate. It was actually perfect - we moved in to our basement snug where we have a wood burner and sofa bed. The proposal came on Christmas Day, following the discovery of a small, impenetrably wrapped box at the bottom of my stocking! After 15 minutes of me asking "...what is it? ...what is it?" whilst peeling off endless layers of tape and wrapping paper to reveal what was inside, I finally got to a small jewellery box, and on opening it Scott said the words "will you marry me?". It was such a surprise, and looking back it perhaps couldn’t have been more obvious, and of course I said "yes!".

The Wedding

We decided early on that we wanted the ceremony and reception to take place at a single venue and as foodies that the menu should be something special and exciting. So when we found River Cottage on the Devon/Somerset border we just knew it would make the perfect place to say ‘I do’. We have had several meetings with the wedding coordinator and chefs at River Cottage helping us to design our perfect menu, and over 90% of the menu is organic and locally sourced which is important for us. The ceremony will take place with Scott and I standing under the doorway of the famous farmhouse with our family and friends gathered in the walled kitchen garden. We then have an afternoon of games in the nearby paddock with a spot of welly wanging (obviously!) before heading to the converted barn for the main dinner and then evening party in the yurt afterwards.

Finding our Photographer

We initially started off googling wedding photographers which didn't help us at all- we wanted to know other people's stories of choosing and working with their photographers so a friend recommended I start following RMW. We found some of Jason's work almost straight away and fell in love with his style, creativity, the ability to compose beautiful shots and capture those fleeting moments that often get missed. We continued looking through the RMW archives and reading the regular new posts to really explore, understand and make sure what we wanted in terms of style and approach. But in the end, our gut reaction was right and we booked Jason as soon as we could. We found Sarah by chance through talking to Jason, and when viewing her work in film loved how both their styles seamlessly complimented each other. So it was a no brainier not to ask Sarah to come onboard, and given that they are a husband-wife team we knew that there would be a synergy between them that couldn't be replicated if we'd booked photography and film separately.

Iceland

This was affirmed during our epic 800 mile road trip in Iceland earlier this year for our pre wedding connection session - a great ice-breaker (sorry!) and opportunity to meet and bond before the wedding day. Nothing felt forced, and we instantly felt at ease. We witnessed some stunning waterfalls and magical landscapes, all expertly captured by Jason and Sarah and can't wait to work with them on our wedding day!
Fern Godfrey

Written by Fern Godfrey

Film: Harris Films
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