A wedding story does not always happen in one place, or on one day. Andrew and Georgia had already married in Puglia, Italy, before bringing 150 of their closest people together at The Grand Brighton to celebrate their marriage. My part of their story was here, in Brighton: a room full of family and friends, a three-course meal, a live singer and a disco to carry the evening on.
What I loved about this celebration was how much room there was for everyone. The photographs hold the elegance of The Grand, but they also hold children dancing, smiles around the tables and Andrew and Georgia right in the middle of it all. Those are the things I want a couple to find when they come back to their wedding photographs: the setting they chose, and the people who made it feel like theirs.
A Brighton celebration after a wedding in Italy
In one of my favourite photographs, they are holding hands beside the open doors, both smiling towards the room. It is a simple picture, and there is such warmth in their expressions. Alongside the photographs of the two of them, I wanted to make room for the groups and the individual faces that would make this collection personal.
A wedding reception in the Albert Room at The Grand Brighton
The Albert Room gave the evening a beautiful setting. In the photographs, its decorative walls and warm lighting sit behind tables filled with glasses, flowers and guests. There is a sense of occasion in those wider pictures, with Andrew and Georgia standing among the people who had come to celebrate them.
A three-course meal gave everyone a chance to settle in together. I like making photographs around the tables as well as on the dance floor; this is where so much of a reception is shared. The children belong in those pictures too, sitting with the grown-ups or finding their own way into the frame. A collection feels much more like a family celebration when there is space for all of that.
As a Brighton wedding photographer, I love the variety of celebrations that happen in this city. The Grand brings the feeling of a seaside hotel occasion to the story. For Andrew and Georgia, the photographs I made stayed with the celebration inside, where their family, friends and music gave the evening its character.
Live music, cake and a dance floor full of life
With a live singer and a disco, music was part of the evening’s plans, and the dance-floor photographs have such a lovely energy. There are children turning and dancing, guests gathering around, and Andrew and Georgia enjoying the party together. I am always drawn to those pictures where there is something happening at the edges as well as in the centre.
The cake photographs bring everything a little closer. There is the moment of cutting it together, followed by a playful exchange beside the table. I like keeping these small sequences in a wedding story: one photograph remembers the occasion, and the next catches a little more of the couple’s personality.
By the time we see Andrew and Georgia dancing among their guests, the room feels full in every sense. These are photographs with movement and closeness in them, the kind that invite you to remember who was beside you and how it felt to be there.
Planning photographs for your own Brighton wedding reception
If you are marrying abroad and celebrating in Brighton afterwards, your reception can have a photographic story of its own. I would begin with the people you want photographed and the moments you have planned, then look at how a little time for portraits and family groups can fit around the meal and music.
For a reception like this, it helps to share the timings for dinner, the cake and the evening entertainment before the day. That gives us a thoughtful starting point, with room for the unexpected photographs in between. My guide to wedding reception photography has more advice on bringing those parts of the celebration together.
Your Brighton celebration, thoughtfully photographed.
If you are planning a wedding or a reception at The Grand Brighton, I would love to hear about it. Tell me about your date, your plans and the people you want beside you, and we can find the coverage that fits.
