Tania and Ramin's wedding brought together three very different Brighton settings: the Town Hall for their registration, The Salt Room for a celebration meal, and the seafront and Bandstand for their portraits. Looking through their photographs, what draws me back is the closeness between them. Ramin's arms around Tania, her face turned towards him, then both of them laughing.
As a Brighton wedding photographer, I love being able to tell a story across the city. Here, the change from the indoor portraits among the flowers to the open sides of the Bandstand gave us different ways to photograph the two of them together.
Flowers, light and laughter.
In the indoor portraits, pale pink, lilac and cream flowers fill the foreground. Tania holds her bouquet while Ramin stands close behind her, his arms around her. The dark lines of the window frame the softer colours of the flowers and her dress. There is so much to look at, but their faces are still where my eye goes first.
Then there is the photograph of them both laughing. I love seeing it beside the quieter portrait. The flowers, the window and the embrace are still there, but their expressions give the picture a completely different feeling.
A little time for Tania.
There are portraits of Tania on her own, too, holding her bouquet in a wooden doorway. I like having enough space in the full-length photograph to see the fall of her dress and the room around her. The doorway gives the picture a gentle frame, while the tables and chairs beyond it keep a sense of where we are.
Closer in, the details become more personal: her lace sleeves, the layers of her necklace, the veil around her shoulders and the flowers held just below her smile. These are lovely things to have chosen for a wedding, and I want to remember them as she wore them. A portrait like this brings those details together with the person who gives them their meaning.
Wedding portraits at Brighton Bandstand.
The Bandstand gave us a beautiful setting for their photographs together. Its white railings, dark green details and patterned floor make the location immediately recognisable. In the wider portraits, I have left room for that intricate structure around Tania and Ramin. It belongs to the picture, just as the wooden doorway belongs to the earlier portraits.
They hold each other close, with Tania's bouquet between them and her veil behind her. In one photograph they kiss; in another, she rests against Ramin with her eyes closed. I find that second picture particularly tender. There is very little happening in it, and that is what lets the embrace hold my attention.
If you are planning portraits across the seafront, it helps to choose the places that matter to you and allow for moving between them. My Brighton wedding photo locations guide is a useful starting point for deciding which settings might belong in your own day.
Beneath the veil, just the two of them.
For these closer portraits, Tania's veil surrounds them both. The fine fabric softens the scene, with the Bandstand still visible above their heads. Their kiss and the way they look at each other become the centre of the photograph.
I love the contrast with the laughter by the window. Both belong to the same couple and the same wedding: the open smiles, then these quieter pictures with their faces close together. Seen as a collection, they give Tania and Ramin more than one way to remember themselves on the day they married.
Your own Brighton wedding story.
If you are planning a Town Hall wedding and a celebration elsewhere in Brighton, tell me about both places. We can think about where portraits fit, which parts of the city you would love in your photographs and the time you want to spend celebrating. Tania and Ramin's choices made a lovely combination. Yours can follow the shape of the day you are planning.
