Beautiful Warwickshire Wedding Photography at Henley Golf Club
As a Warwickshire wedding photographer, it was nice to photograph in a venue I had not been to before. Henley Golf & Country Club was a beautiful, very accommodating wedding venue with stunning scenery. All the makings for a great day for Christina & Dan on their wedding. As Christina mentions below, I photographed her friend Jess & Dave’s wedding back in 2012. Ever since, Jess has been more productive than any other Google or Facebook advert for me, and I would just like to thank her for her continued support. You are the best! 🙂
Please enjoy the photographs from their day… Congratulations Christina & Dan!!
Their Love Story
1) Please tell me how you first met?
We both worked for Birmingham Children’s Hospital for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services on different inpatient wards. Our first conversation involved me asking Christina to speak to one of her patients with regard to giving me one of her razor blades, so not exactly what you call romantic! We next met on an impromptu work night out, and Christina obviously couldn’t resist my dodgy dance moves, some of which resulted in me tying her up with her own scarf. My bad influence had definitely taken hold as Christina had to cancel her driving lesson the next morning due to her having one too many.
2) When was it you knew they were the one?
Christina: I think I first realised Dan was ‘the one’ a couple of months into our relationship when we had our first argument. We were on our way home from an 80’s fancy dress party and got into a heated discussion. I remember feeling mortified that we were having an argument, until the moment Dan took off his 80’s afro wig and threw it into the road. I remember bursting out laughing and thinking, ‘yeah he is the one’.
Dan: I can’t remember exactly, I knew I loved Christina around three months into the relationship & confirmed this with a good old drunken text. What came into my mind when reading this question was a night when we were on holiday in Gran Canaria. It was our second anniversary and to celebrate, we’d gone out for a nice meal, followed by a trip to the Moonlight Cinema & a film under the stars, then a walk along the beach. I already knew I was going to ask Christina to marry me at some point during the year, and this night made me realise how lucky I was.
3) Could you give us the story of the proposal?
It was the day of our daughter’s first scan, so emotions were definitely running high & we were very excited. The scan went well, we were both completely overjoyed. To celebrate, Dan took me to the restaurant where we had our first date, followed by the bar where we ended our first date – It was non-alcoholic beer for me this time, though. When we got back, Dan kept asking me when I was going to have a bath, which I was a bit annoyed about because I thought he was trying to get rid of me so he could watch the football in peace. When I’d finished and come back into the lounge, it was decorated with candles, rose petals & hearts hanging from the ceiling with my favourite song playing in the background. As I walked further into the lounge, I saw a red ribbon with signs hanging from it. As I read each one, I realised it was a timeline of our life together, including our first dates, first gig, when we moved in together, etc. As I got to the end of the timeline, the last sign said ‘The day of our first scan and …… The day we got engaged??’ We both had a few tears, and then Dan popped the question. I was completely surprised, particularly as Dan had been constantly telling me how he’d changed his mind around marriage & didn’t think he ever wanted to get married! I was completely gutted by this – little did I know it was all to throw me off guard & told me he’d been planning to propose for months!
4) If you don’t mind sharing, can you tell me something quirky, funny or silly about your partner?
Dan: Christina can be extremely gullible. I’ve had a lot of fun with this at times & Christina often comes out with hilarious comments without thinking about them first. I once told her that if she said the word orange really slowly, it sounded like gullible … She could be overheard for the rest of the day, continually saying orange as slow as possible!! In fact, just today she told me a story whereby at work they had to discard a contraceptive pill down the sink. A patient told her you should not do that as there is a chemical in it which stays in the water, as it can’t be filtered. Christina’s response to this was ‘Why aren’t fish extinct & how do they keep getting pregnant!?’ Her manager had to explain to her that maybe the contraceptive pill doesn’t affect fish in the same way it does people.
Christina: I’m not quite sure if this is a funny trait or a disturbing one. But when Dan has a drink, he tends to like to take his clothes off (don’t worry, this isn’t leading where you think it will…) He likes to come home, take his clothes off, and usually cook a fish finger sandwich whilst standing naked in the kitchen for the world to see. He has also been known to take his clothes off just to complete a naked handstand up the wall. I think this first originated from something called ‘pants off dance off’ with his friends… I don’t think I need to explain this further! Here’s to hoping the suit stays on…
5) What is your perfect day together?
Dan: Prior to Bella being born this would probably of consisted of a day out with a few drinks, maybe with a bit of live music & a good bit of shape throwing until the early hours of the morning … Now we have a child, this is never a good idea, we have tried – obviously when we had child care, we did not leave Bella home alone before calls to social services are made!! The next day consisted of Bella using my lifeless body as her personal climbing frame.
We stopped at a hotel & spa together recently & that was an amazing day giving us the opportunity to relax & enjoy each other’s company, so aside from spending time together as a family, my perfect day would be similar to this.
Christina: I love sleep!! My two favourite things in life (other than Dan & Bella, of course) have to be food & sleep. So my perfect day would probably consist of some good food, followed by a nap of approximately 5 hours, to wake up to a yummy snack, followed by an early night! Sad I know!?
6) Apart from the obvious, what are you most looking forward to on your wedding day?
Christina: The pudding! Tucking into that tasty pudding without feeling guilty that I have a wedding dress to squeeze into! There’s so much pressure out there to be a beautiful bride, it will be refreshing to know I can eat as much as I like without the fear of my wedding dress not fitting! Plus I’ll be married… I can let myself go then right!?
Dan: Obviously, the moment I first see Bella & Christina walking down the Aisle. Other than this, it will be the moment the speeches have finished as I think the pressure will be off & I’ll be able to completely relax and enjoy the rest of the day having a few drinks with family and friends and probably finishing with a bit of Dad dancing – Hopefully Duncan doesn’t capture that moment!
7) What was it that inspired you to go for the theme or the decor you chose for your wedding?
Christina: So it all began with a ‘mint’ debate. We couldn’t agree if the colour mint was blue or green, but we knew we wanted something around that colour. Having 6 bridesmaids, it was always going to be tough finding a dress and colour that they all liked and agreed on. So when one of the bridesmaids saw a nice dress and everyone else agreed they too liked it, there was no longer a question, they were the dresses, and that was the colour! I’m very much a girly girl, so I knew that I had to drop some pink in there somewhere & it all fell into place quite well – sage green and dusty pink. We never really had any ideas on themes, but turns out the colours we have are those of a ‘vintage’ theme, so we ran with that… I’ve always wanted a very pretty, romantic wedding with twinkly lights and all things magical.
Dan: I was inspired by Christina telling me what the theme was going to be, as probably like most men, I didn’t have much of a choice haha!
8) Please tell me one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your wedding planning process, that you could pass on to future brides reading this blog?
Don’t try on ten million wedding dresses! I became so overwhelmed and confused by all the choices that in the end, I had no idea what it was that I wanted. Definitely go in with an open mind, but don’t fall in love with too many! Also, we watch so many TV programmes where the bride is in tears as she finds ‘the one’, along with every member of her family. It’s not always the case – it doesn’t mean that you have picked the wrong dress just because you don’t use up a whole box of Kleenex the first time you try it on!
9) What were you looking for in a wedding venue when you were searching, and why did you choose the one you did?
Dan: I didn’t realise I was looking for something specific until it came to looking around different venues & finding out the bar in most was actually in a different room to everything else – One venue actually had a room completely on its own for the disco! Considering the majority of our guests would be hanging around the bar for the majority of the time, we wanted to be able to see the bar from the main room with dance floor etc & vice versa. This venue works perfectly, as although the rooms are separate, it opens up to one large room, so the party can definitely get going! The wedding planner we first met also showed a genuine interest in us and the wedding, which went a long way to sealing the deal – along with the free golf!
Christina’s main concerns were the carpet & the curtains … I had no idea what she was going on about half the time, but she even managed to get the venue to change their curtains!!
10) Could you tell me the process you went through when you were looking for a wedding photographer?
We both wanted a photographer whose style was more of a reportage style, which told the story of the day rather than having lots of posed photos. Our good friends Jess & Dave previously had Duncan as their wedding photographer, and the pictures were amazing. From that point, we decided to meet with Duncan, who made us feel completely at ease, and the work he showed us was incredible. We are both extremely excited to see Duncan’s interpretation of our day.
Vendor List
Photography | Duncan Cox Photography
Ceremony Location | Henley In Arden Golf & Country Club
Reception Location | Henley In Arden Golf & Country Club
Video | Polka Dot Productions
Florist | Event
Wedding Planner | Karen Hughes from Event for Room Decoration & Lucy & Andrew from the venue
Wedding DJ | Quasar Discos
Dress Designer | Maureen Myring Kesterton
Wedding Dress Retailer | Maureen Myring Kesterton Couture Bridal
Other Details/Vendors | Suits from Peter Posh
Make Up by Helen Brady
Hair by Bella Diva
