I was thrilled to find out that I made the shortlist for the top wedding photographer in the South East.  I must thank my past clients for being so generous with voting and especially for their comments – I was genuinely moved when reading them.  I’ve shared a few random ones here – all were submitted anonymously.

“As soon as I found Julie’s website on the internet and took a look at her work, I knew I wanted to book her straight away. Ultimately Julie has a very human way about her style, she completely captures the atmosphere of the day, instinctively keeping her shots fresh and savvy. I have spent hours looking at my finished wedding shots, and am so grateful Julie was free to work on my wedding day. All my friends and family have praised her photography too. On the actual day you would not notice Julie was there – she was a quiet presence going about her business! I trusted that Julie would come up with some great shots but I still was overwhelmed with the originality and style when I saw the finished results. I really can’t praise Julie’s service or photographs enough…..we are so happy with the results – they have become our wedding memories, more than the day itself…and I’m so pleased they have because the shots are so brilliant!”

“We were so lucky to have Julie. We left her total creative freedom with the pictures and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Julie photographed a close friend’s wedding last year and we have been very lucky my friend let us pinch her. Julie’s eye for detail, unusual perspectives and stunning shots were equally brilliant at capturing candids of guests as well as romantic shots in colour and black and white, dancers as well as night time photography.”

“Julie Kim was recommended to us by another wedding photographer. When I first met Julie I knew she was the one! The quality of her work spoke for itself and she told me that she was always looking to improve. I loved the fact that although she’s really talented and already producing outstanding work, she’s still up for learning and producing better quality photography. She is not resting on her laurels. Finding an amazing wedding photographer was one of the most important things for us when organising the wedding, the one thing we were not ready to comprise on, and I just knew we were in good hands with Julie Kim. I trusted her 100% and just knew we would not have a bad surprise! In fact, even after 18 months, i still look at our wedding photos with awe and emotion. Julie Kim captures and produces timeless photos, she captures moments no one else sees. She is as good as capturing people as she is capturing the ambiance, the landscape and the little details that make the wedding unique. All the photos she produced were amazing to look at! As a person she is a pleasure to have at the wedding. She’s discreet, respectful and great to have a chat with. The post wedding service was amazing. We received a link to her blog with her favourite pictures and, a few days later, a slide show with music! All the pictures were delivered soon after we came back from honeymoon with a lovely handwritten card. One of our wedding guest hired Julie for their wedding this year. I just cannot speak highly enough of Julie and I can’t stop recommending her.”

“By our own admission we are hard to please, and discounted numerous photographers, before we found Julie Kim. We booked her because her work is distinctive and stunning. This combined with her passion, approachability and her unique style meant she was the only photographer we wanted for our wedding. Her documentary style images beautifully capture the essence of the day – the beauty, humour, warmth and the energy.”

“We were captivated by the images on Julie Kim’s Facebook advert, and when we viewed her on-line gallery, my husband and I found ourselves entranced by the beauty of her photographs, and the depth of emotion she captured in her images. When we first met with Julie, we were immediately comfortable in her presence. We left that meeting flying with excitement about having a photographer able to produce photographs of such quality, and the thought of having Julie there as part of our wedding day. We liked her so much. On the day itself, Julie was amazing. She was friendly to everyone, very calming, discreet and everyone felt at ease with her being there. Julie quietly and discretely captured everything we wanted and so much more. We left every decision about the photography to Julie. We trusted her implicitly and nothing could have prepared us for how we felt when her magic was revealed to us upon receiving our photographs. We were thrilled. We couldn’t believe that we were so lucky to have such stunning images of our wedding. Julie’s photographs are of the utmost quality. We were incredibly moved by the feelings and emotions of the day that Julie captured in her photographs. Every photograph tells a story and we cherish them. Julie is a very special photographer. She is the loveliest person to work with, the photographs she produces are top level photography, and most importantly she gave us a collection of photographs that captured every special moment of our wedding, and the emotion of our day. We feel very lucky to have had Julie as our wedding photographer.”

“Quite simply I would not have considered hiring anyone but her. If she had not been available on that date, we would have booked another when she was available.”

On the day I was greeted by some friendly, furry faces at Caroline’s family home:

We then headed down to St James church in Fulmer, Bucks for the ceremony.  Guest kept warm in the pub next door, captured by photojournalist Elizabeth Dalziel who helped me out on the day:

We were blessed with the most beautiful light upon arriving at Hedsor House and light is one thing you never take for granted when photographing in winter!

I love the next two pictures by Elizabeth and it really shows off the moody lighting on the dancefloor.

Caroline and Trevor, you are still whooshing down the slopes I imagine but if you are reading this then I thank you for a fab day and many best wishes for 2012!

I’m really looking forward to the new year and have a whole host of things to still blog from last year that I haven’t yet got round to yet – watch this space…

I was really looking forward to the big day and could barely sleep the night before – I just wanted to jump out of bed and get started!  Here are a few faves from the day:

A big thank you to Jez Dickson who was an immeasurable help beyond words.  Jez met up with the guys in Notting Hill while they were having a spot of lunch…

…while I was with Rachel and the girls at the family home.  It was another chance to work with the lovely Amanda, my fave and most talented make-up artist:

Next picture by Jez:

Rachel is completely mad about the ballet so it was only fitting that they held their reception at The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, whose lighting elves created a spectacular winter wonderland in Paul Hamlyn Hall.  Picture by Jez:

More pictures on the Julie Kim Photography Facebook page.

Helen was itching to run down the aisle to meet Pete…

There’s not a single picture of Helen without a beaming smile on her face – definitely the happiest girl alive!

After an emotional service, we headed outside where we had just enough light to do a few portraits before joining the rest of the guests to enjoy a cozy evening by the fire.

My good friend, Rob Burress, came along to help me to capture guests chilling out over a winter Pimm’s.

More pictures from Helen and Pete’s Christmassy wedding are on their way.  Stay tuned!

From Hanna and Billy’s wedding in Scotland:

From Andrea and Jonathan’s blast of a wedding in Portugal:

You can learn a lot about a couple by what the best man says in his speech and I’ve heard enough of them to suss out which parts are true and which have had their share of embellishments.  There has never, ever been a bad word said about Ben, a statement that was met with big whoops and rapturous applause.   And after spending the day with him and Eve, I know that must be absolutely true.

Here are just a few of many faves from the day:

I met up with the girls at The Zetter hotel in Clerkenwell before heading off to the beautiful St Etheldreda’s church in the City, and the oldest Catholic church in England, which is tucked into a pocket of a private road off Hatton Garden.

Gorgeous flowers by Rebel Rebel in Hackney:

If my lip reading skills are any good, during the service I caught Eve mouthing “I am so happy!” to Ben.

After the ceremony we jumped in a black cab driven by their pal, Dave, and headed to Smithfields, one of my favourite parts of London, to do a few portraits around the historic meatmarket.

The reception was at Smithy’s near King’s Cross, a cozy and friendly wine bar along a quiet street amidst one of the busiest hubs in the country – a great secret in Central London.

I was eyeing what I deemed “the party table” most of the evening where various games and antics were going on.

Eve’s dad told me that she’d been planning this day since she was a little girl – all she needed was for Ben to come along.  I’m pretty sure that the day exceeded all her dreams, I have no idea how it could have been better!

Fab tunes by The LowDown kept the dancefloor (and tables and chairs!) well oiled all night.  There is definitely something in the water as people are giving it large this year!  Either that or I’m lucky to have clients who love letting their hair down and rocking the night away.

I always leave each wedding with a tinge of sadness, kind of like the same feeling you get when you finish a good book, you just want to open it and start all over again.   I’ve photographed over 150 couples over the last five years, and while I can’t recall the colour of the bouquets or the designer of the dress, I can still remember the connections each one of them had – those moments just don’t leave my head.  I’m just so very happy that the universe decided to bring Eve and Ben together to give me a little gift to add to my memory box.

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Part of my love of documenting weddings is observing dynamics between people and I admit that I’ve always been a bit of an armchair sociologist. What came through on the day more than anything was the strength of Melissa and Richard’s relationships with their families, and in particular, their parents.  Melissa and Richard Snrs are clearly best friends with their grown-up children and I can imagine how much fun it is when they get together during the holidays and special occasions (and in Richard’s family, rugby matches!).   Here is just a small selection of many faves from the day:

Discreet arrival at St Paul’s?  No chance.

Richard’s best men did a hilarious double-act, unveiling an endless stream of embarrassing stories that only older brothers could get away with.

As I sift through the whole set of pictures I can only smile when I see the evening unfold.  As most followers of this blog know, I love the party and everyone, young and old, were out there shaking their booties to tunes belted out by Christian and The Noize.

Their wedding was all about community and youthfulness.  Everyone chipped in to set up the decorations, put up the lights and prepare meals with endless top-ups of steaming cups of coffee to fuel their efforts.  It felt like the build-up to a stage production, which is fitting as Hanna and Billy both work in theatre.  They had a clear vision of their day: a bit of vintage, a little wild and rustic, with some Latin American flourishes thrown in.  With amazing attention to detail they must feel so proud to think back on how perfectly it all came together.  Here are a few faves from the weekend:

We could not have been more lucky with the weather, and the guests took the short walk across the fields down to the beach for the ceremony.

Hanna and Billy respectfully requested their guests to leave their cameras at home, as they wanted everyone to just enjoy being there.  I found this hugely refreshing, as in this modern world our insatiable need to record and document everything can sometimes get in the way of quietly savouring the most important moments.

An incredible Mexican feast (prepared by Scottish chefs!) made sure that everyone’s belly was full of guacamole, salsa, jalapenos and frijoles, washed down with a mojito or four. Delicioso!

In the evening, a couple of the guests who are members of Stan’s Cafe Theatre Company told stories chronicling Hanna and Billy’s times together to a captivated room.

Witnessing everyone’s efforts over the weekend and spending a good chunk of time with Hanna and Billy left me completely inspired.   They are two people where “can’t” is simply not a part of their world and I admire their unfailing optimism and sense of adventure.  In my ageing years I’ve maybe lost some of this and am so glad to have had it restored thanks to Hanna and Billy (cue a little choked up tear!).  Thank you a million times over, H + B, and I wish you the very best in your new life in Canada.