Fig Photography

Vintage Inspired Prettiness

Matt and Kate

What a wonderful couple, I had the joy of photographing their wedding last week. What a pleasure spending the day in sunny Oxford with these two and their lovely family and friends.

The day before the wedding I went to meet them at the venue and I knew that I was going to love their wedding. We chatted, and even got them a feature on BBC radio Oxford.

The day started with a lovely family meal, there was some great conversation and a good bit of excited banter. The groom and the best man then arrived on a vintage Lambretta scooter, fully kitted out in top & tails.

The day itself was absolutely wonderful, at times moving, a lot of fun with some lovely personal touches, such as the home made tea cup candles for each and every guest, the photographic bunting, home made photo booth, polaroid guest book and the personal cake topper.

The speeches were started by Kate’s Grandfather then followed by Matt, which I have to say bought a tear to me eye, but the best man had everyone laughing again

Kate even kept up the great tradition (that I’ve not seen at a lot of weddings recently) which is the throwing of the bouquet, it had most of the girls up on there feet along with a few chaps.

Overall it was a lovely day, it had a unique feel and was very personal to the couple, it was filled with some real vintage gems, the hair of the bride was beautiful, the bridesmaids dresses and the jewelry  which was also Kate’s something borrowed and blue.

Everyone was friendly, warm and welcoming and I felt really lucky to be a part of it.

French Retreat

I’ve not posted any updates for a couple of weeks, I’ve had a really busy run and then treated myself to a holiday, I have just launched a new website with the help of clever business websites, I’m really happy with it and the team there were fantastic to work with, diligent, helpful and creative, a great company to work with and thoroughly recommended. I’ve been busy at the Guides for Brides Eynsham Hall wedding fair, a lot of lovely brides through the door and some good potentials in the pipeline. I’ve also just received the latest Costwold Bride magazine, I have a double page featured wedding, I’m really happy to have been selected and have enjoyed working with the team from the magazine.

As I mentioned above I’ve also just returned from a lovely holiday in a small village called Dancevoir in France, I thought today I’d leave you with a selection of my favourite pics from the time away. Along with my twins, husband and some great friends we set off on a road trip to our little French retreat. After a long but good drive we arrived at our old farmhouse, a stunning old conversion and an orchard style garden. The village was beautiful it was an authentic, rustic French village, I loved all the different houses, the old fashioned window shutters. The people were very welcoming, the weather was hot and the time was very relaxing. Lots of cheese, red wine and laughs, later we returned, after a busy summer it was great to take stock and relax.

I’m back to it this weekend, I’ve got a very exciting wedding taking place in Oxford tomorrow, the couple are lovely and I think their style will make for some great images, keep an eye out x

An Intimate Irish Garden Wedding

Laura and Dave were married in beautiful Belfast. I’d not visited the city since I was a little girl and fell a little bit in love, especially with the Countryside.

Picture this if you will, A breezy but sunny day in the pretty gardens of Larchfield Estate, lavender blossom, the sun peeping out from behind the cloud, homemade lemonade and Mojitos flowing, instantly I knew this was going to be a great day.

The attention to detail was really impressive, it was clear that Laura and Dave had put some real thought into every area, often the elements that draw the largest response from the guests are the intricate features.  The whole day was full of personality, from their personalised sweet bags, the guest questions, their footwear, even the cake topping miniatures were fantastic.

A particular favourite moment of mine was prior to going to the ceremony at the Brides house, watching the brides father learn how to tie his cravat, in the end he took out his laptop and used the power of you tube where he instantly found a specialist video.

The food for the day was provided by the very talented Yellow Door, it matched the wedding so well, blending contemporary and funky, certainly the first wedding where I’ve seen popping candy incorporated in the meal amongst a few other tasty treats

Congratulations Laura and Dave and wishing you all the love and luck in the future! Thank you for letting me be part of your day and lots of love to your friends and family for being so welcoming, happy and helping to make it a great day.

Part two of this wedding will be up next week as I want to focus on the suppliers, they where some of the best I’ve worked with so far and it got me thinking about what made them so good, I also think that these people need a little praise, so watch this space…

From London with Love

Well where do I start, it’s been amazing couple of weeks with the Olympics gaining, momentum into full flow and now over, as an avid sports fan I’ve enjoyed every minute I think we have done a fantastic job of hosting and it definitely feels like the country has been on a high.  I got right into the swing of things, I started the week by taking my girls to Hyde park to join in all the fun, it was a nice event which mixed big screen viewing with introductions stations for children, the girls enjoyed it we all had a crack from playing swing ball, bowls, Gymnastic dancing, volley ball, followed by ,meeting the mens pursuit team.

Then for the real deal, (unlike someone below) I had a golden ticket for the athletics, Adam and I went down early to soak up the atmosphere and we were not disappointed, people talk about it being a great atmosphere and it really was, the park was brilliantly designed from the wild flowers growing around the stadium, to watching the cycling in a special section called the Park Live, with the beauty of the velodrome in the background, topped off with the athletics it truly was one of the most memorable day’s i’ve ever had, the noise was electric for team GB, we saw some great races and could hardly believe we where there, I hope you enjoy the pictures from the day as much as i did.

After some fun this week, I’m back into busy season on the work front, a series of weddings coming up, some more bookings for next year confirmed and I even picked up a lead whilst getting a taxi back from a night out, proving it always pays to be friendly it turns out the driver was looking for a photographer for his wedding next year!

My Week in Pictures: 27.07.12

Doesn’t time fly when your having fun, yes it’s been a whole year nearly since Adam and I got married in the lovely town of Woodstock in Oxfordshire, It’s crazy to think a whole year has passed so quickly. You start reliving it all over in your head, the planning, the guests the dress, have I thought of everything? I really did have one of the best days of my life, it was everything we had hoped for and a little bit more, every time I think of the day my smile just gets bigger and bigger and those fluttery stomach feelings come back, I just had the best time and the fact I married my best friend and can now call him my husband is one of the best feelings in the world, and to have our girls as bridesmaids was so special I feel very lucky indeed.

I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from the day as I was not doing this blog at the time so it only seems fair they get a showing of there own. Our photographer was the lovely Kate Mather who was simply amazing. I also took a few pictures of the things I’ve collected and kept from our day as a good reminder including my favorite Polaroid album that the lovely Sam peeps did for us, thanks Sam xx

The one thing I have taken from my own wedding in terms of businesses, is that I put myself in the shoes of the Bride and Grooms, I learnt what it is like to be a Bride, the build up, the desire for everything to be perfect, the emotion, the laughs, those special moments that not many people see, it has made me think a lot about how I photograph weddings and what really goes into a wedding day. I try to listen and understand what you’re looking for and interpret rather than tell, the main aim is capture the moment and for it to be real, so for all those bride and grooms out there, hopefully I can put you at ease knowing how you both feel.

My Week in Pictures: 20.07.12

Once upon a time… two people got married in a secret Irish garden. So last weekend I had a trip to Belfast and photographed a beautiful wedding, the full story of Laura and Dave getting married will be up in three weeks when they are back from honeymoon and they have had a chance to review the pictures, I can’t wait to share this one with you, it was a great venue and the guests and atmosphere were fantastic, there were a lot of little details that really helped to make the day so great. 



The countdown is on, I’m one of the many who is fully embracing the Olympics and as you will see it’s been a recent theme going on in the Reynolds household. Last week I saw the Olympic torch go past my house, so me and my girls hung out to see it, we also had a fancy dress Olympic birthday party to go too and my much-anticipated Athletic tickets dropped through the letterbox this week.

I know there are some detractors but for me it’s a tremendously exciting event. I’ve always loved sport and use to coach athletics in Oxford. I love the whole spectacle of the Olympics, the thought of competing for your country in your home country is a dream most of us will never realise. That said let’s get fully behind those who will, I’m also convinced it will inspire the younger generations to get outside, get active and try these events, I’m very much looking forward to it all happening in London. 



I’m off on holiday tomorrow, I’m looking forward to some time relaxing in the sun with the family, my girls are very excited about going on an aeroplane I’m not expecting too much sleep tonight xxx

My Week in Pictures: 06.07.12

I’m very excited about all of the below..



Starting with myself in my dress above, I thought I’d have one of those moments we all think about, yes I did it, I put my wedding dress back on this week, well with our first wedding anniversary only three weeks away, it seemed appropriate. I’ve had a couple of requests this week from people wanting to get involved, so have been putting some plans around the future shoots. If you’d like to revisit your dress then please just contact me.


My Adam and me had a short break away to see the Stone Roses, it was a great gig and at times surreal to be watching, there were some “interesting” characters and I did particularly feel for the gentleman who waited 20 years for the comeback and then proceeded to pass out 5 minutes before they came on. That said classic tunes and a 75,000 person sing along is a good experience, after making an amazingly quick exit on the park and ride, I did then manage to get the car stuck in the field we had parked in and burnt out the clutch in the process (I was in the bad books) we did though make it away in the end and had a couple of days in a lovely spa hotel, which was thoroughly relaxing. 


Work wise it was a great week, 2013 continues to get busier, I confirmed 4 further bookings in a couple of days and love the feeling, it’s so nice when someone feels so comfortable with you and your work, that they trust you enough to capture the day that is so important to them.

I then finished the week of by baking gingerbread men and millionaires’ shortbread and dancing with my girls. 


The 50’s charity shop wedding dress find is a little project I’m working on, so watch this space. 


Have a lovely weekend everyone. X

My Week in Pictures: 29.06.12

I had the pleasure of photographing a real talent a few weeks ago and he goes by the name of Nick Cope, he is in my opinion the best childrens singer/songwriter i’ve ever come across and my girls simply love listening to him, whether it’s live at one of his performances, which he does all over Oxford or one of his cd’s in the car, they are a must pack for a long car journey. I have to confess, I’m a bit of a fan too and know most of the songs.

Nick is going to be playing at the Edinburgh fringe Festival in August, I have helped him with some promotional material, so check him out especially if you are heading up there, if not you can follow his diary, find out where he is playing and gain some more information at http://nickcope.co.uk/ 

xx

My Week in Pictures: 22.06.12

Amanda puts on a one off show!

As I continue my ongoing project of getting brides to dust down their dresses, several years after their special day. This week I had the pleasure of photographing my friend Amanda in her wedding dress at the Oxford Playhouse, who were so incredibly accommodating as a venue. The Playhouse was a great setting for the shoot, the dark surrounds, history of the venue and the red seating provided a great backdrop against the beautiful dress and beautiful bride.

It turns out, it’s wedding season for the theatre, with Lisa Wood getting married in a few weeks and her manager who got married last weekend, good luck and congratulations to both.

Amanda Kelly married Bernard Grenville-Jones, at Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, in December 2008.

I’ll give you a little background, I hope your sitting comfortably with a cuppa!

Amanda and her husband Bernard got married back in 2008 in Mandy’s home town in New Zealand , the venue was the beautiful church of the good shepherd in lake Tekapo, check out that for an incredible setting! The setting for the proposal was a Sunday evening at sunset in le Touquet, Paris Plage. Bernard got down on one knee and popped the question and as they say the rest is history. They even had a picture taken to capture the moment.

Mandy’s lovely dress was from Caroline Castigliano along with matching accessories, where as Berny’s suit was handmade by a local Oxford seamstress to the groom’s own design.

The newly weds were then whisked away by helicopter to capture the all important shots, that they now love and cherish. They then moved onto the reception at the reflections lakeside restaurant, they partied and danced long into the evening, ending the night as the new Mr and Mrs Grenville-Jones.

It seemed such a shame to leave that beautiful dress all boxed up, so we took a trip to the Theatre, well it only seemed fair!

Many thanks to the Oxford Playhouse and to Mandy it was a great day and as always lots of fun.

The Proposal 

Church of the Good Shepherd in lake Tekapo, Mackenzie District, New Zealand.

Wedding day 

Sealed with a kiss x

xx

My Week in Pictures: 8.06.12

Well it’s been an interesting week, at times it’s been a hard week, Adam and I have both had food poisoning, for those of you who have children you’ll appreciate that 2 sick parents and 2 healthy children are not a good mix, it wasn’t long before they were climbing the walls but all in all they were very good. Before the poisoning happened we had a a great long weekend of double celebrations, it was my friend Gemma’s birthday, masks and all, and of course not forgetting the Queen herself having a knees up, good times had by all. We showed some of our best friends round our home town of Lincoln which they fell in love with and wanted to move their by the end of the weekend, well cheap house prices compared to Oxford! The kids all had a sleepover, they were all very excited followed by copious amounts of party food, a win win situation.

Here is a collection of my favourite pictures that took place this week. Enjoy!

Enjoy your weekend, I’ll be mainly dancing the night away to some great oldies i’m sure.