Southdowns Manor have Nailed it!

Southdowns Manor have absolutely knocked it out the park since their outside refurbishment in Spring 2018. Their outside ceremony setup is stunning.

The white gazebo that couples get married in is just lovely both inside and out.

The decor of the bridal suite has always been stunning...

...and its hot-tub in the ensuite bathroom has always attracted much attention.

Much like Southdowns' iconic white framed pergola on the front lawn.

It's absolutely wonderful for romantic portraits. To our knowledge, Southdowns Manor is the only wedding venue with a pergola like this.

 

We have had a bride who booked Southdowns Manor for her Winter wedding specifically because of this pergola but sadly it rained all day and she could not get out there for photographs. To make her day complete, we all dashed out in the rain with her to get this photograph. It has pride of place as a double page spread in her wedding album.

The Southdowns Manor white pergola looks stunning in sunshine, cloud as well as in the rain at night.

They also have a lovely sweet-heart seat in the same style as the white pergola which makes for a different feel of romantic portrait but still with the distinctive Southdowns Manor style.

From the front lawn, there is wonderful access to the western sky. Perfect for evening romantic portraits...

...even with a cloudy sky.

In the Spring there are some fabulous blossom-backdrop opportunities only yards from the bar!

The outside of Southdowns Manor is lovely but there are some wonderful and distinctive opportunities for romantic portraits inside as well.

The dance floor and bar area is fabulous. There is tons of room for a couple to do their First Dance on the dance floor and there still be room for photographers to get amazing photographs from an unobtrusive distance.

We have always liked photographing weddings at Southdowns Manor but since their Spring refurbishment of their outside ceremony area, we love it even more.

If you are looking for a wedding venue with a stunning outside-ceremony option that has an excellent indoor-ceremony alternative, Southdowns Manor may well be worth your consideration.

by Jacqui and Steve

Hampshire Wedding Photographers

(who occasionally venture across the border into West Sussex 

to visit nice venues like Southdowns)

Tommy the Camera-shy Horse

This is Tommy. He was one of the beautifully turned out horses pulling the fantastic looking horse and carriage for Josh and Julia's wedding at Southdowns Manor in the Winter of 2016.

As you can see, he's a fabulous horse but when we started to take photographs of him we noticed a problem. He hated having his photograph taken.

It wasn't flash, we never use flash when we first start to photograph an animal.

Jacqui loves horses (unlike Steve!!!! See our blog post: the Story Behind the Picture: Slobbering Shetland to find out why) so before she starts taking photographs of horses she'll go up to them, find out their names, talk to them and rub their noses. Steve doesn't!

All was going well until Jacqui tried to take some photographs of them. Tommy freaked out. He seriously hated having his photograph taken.

Our first reaction was "HE'S IN THE WRONG JOB!"

Then Jacqui noticed that it wasn't the taking of photographs that was the problem, not the flash, not the camera but it was the breaking of eye contact with him as we brought the camera to our eye.

Occasionally we have this problem with brides and grooms. When we do we work as a team where one of us holds eye contact and the other takes the photographs.

So we adopted this well-practiced approach with Tommy and it worked like a dream. 

Fortunately, the other horse Charlie was no bother at all when it came to photographs. In fact he seemed to quite enjoy it and even pose for the camera.

Using this method we were able to photograph both horses as they waited patiently in the rain for Josh and Julia to board the carriage (note that Tommy is keeping a very careful eye on one of us). 

Tommy was as good as gold as we photographed them pulling away...

...and trotting down the country lane.

Despite the terrible rain,  Josh and Julia had a fabulous trip in a beautiful carriage with two beautiful horses.

Tommy and Charlie were both wonderfully behaved models (once we figured out what Tommy liked) and they looked amazing...even in the rain.

by Jacqui and Steve

Hampshire Wedding Photographers

Story Behind The Picture: Is It Still Raining?

Josh and Julia had their Winter wedding at Southdowns Manor and part of the reason they chose this venue was because of this distinctive pergola.

Sadly, it rained hard all day and we couldn't get outside to do anything. 

Quite late in the evening I popped out to the car to get the lighting equipment we needed to back-light the First Dance.

As I returned Josh saw my wringing wet hair and the sopping shoulders of my DJ and said, "Is it still raining?"

I blew the dripping rain off my nose  and nodded. He then asked if there was any way at all that we could get a photograph of the pergola in the garden because it would mean so much to Julia if we could.

I explained that we could but that she'd get wet, it was still raining really hard.

He said, "Would it be a good picture?"

I said, "It would be an great picture!"

He said, "Let me see what she says."

When he returned he was full of smiles and gave the thumbs up.

Jacqui and I went out on our own and set the lights then we signalled them to come out and join us. We worked really quickly and after a few minutes they were back in the dry.

For this sort of composition I'd normally set the dress with its train laid out but you may just be able to see that Julia is holding her dress up and behind them.

Had it not been raining we would not have got the lovely reflections in the stone pavement and we would not have got the star field behind them (back-lit rain).

There are two take-aways from this:

1) even when it's dark and raining, there's often stunning photographs to be had

2) this photograph was only possible because of Josh and Julia being up for going out in the driving rain

Thanks guys for the opportunity to take this photograph. It was a very rewarding, if soggy, few minutes.

by Steve Dunster

Fun, Fine-art and Story-telling Hampshire Wedding Photography 

from Jacqui Marie Photography Ltd

A Scorcher at Southdowns Manor

Finian and Leanne's wedding was an outside ceremony at Southdowns Manor not far from Rogate near Petersfield. It's a remote place just across the Hampshire border and into West Sussex - it's not often we venture into foreign territories but we are so glad we did.

Their wedding was at the beginning of May but oh my word it could have been high Summer. It was glorious.

Leanne was meticulous in her preparations and the result was truly stunning.

Throughout the entire ceremony, Finian could not take his eyes off of his gorgeous bride...

...and it was obvious to everyone as to why. 

We spent a little time with them in the grounds of Southdowns...

...and what a perfect day it was for them.

Their speeches were a lot of fun but even then, Finian could not take his eyes off his gorgeous new wife.

As the sun went down on their perfect day, we took them back into the gardens for some romantic portraits... 

...but then it was time for silliness and it was up to the honeymoon suite where all the bridesmaids and groomsmen joined the bride and groom in the hot-tub.

During their First Dance they had their guests spell-bound and I don't even think they noticed. It was so touching to watch. They were so wrapped up in each other's company that I'm certain for that moment they felt as though they were the only two people on the planet.

Their wedding was a wonderful day in every way and they were truly blessed with the weather. Their guests were great fun and we had a brilliant day with them.

We wish Finian and Leanne the happiest of lives together.

by Jacqui and Steve

Hampshire Wedding Photographers