"I love a little quirk from time to time - something different for the soul — to keep things fresh, to keep the spark alive and to fuel my passion for wedding photography…”

Maybe that explains why Jonny Harper did such an incredible job of capturing Tanaya and Mathew's wedding. I was so excited to discover their album coming through the Bindery. Working on this blog post was a lot of fun, with rabbits hidden in the bushes, incredible walls of art and so much more…

Tanaya is  a set designer, Matthew a base player for his London based jazz band. They married in the pretty Cotswold village of Painswick, in Gloucestershire, UK.

Their vision was of a church ceremony in the village, their reception a seriously quirky spin on Alice in Wonderland. Jonny credits Tanaya’s exquisite attention to detail, mind-blowing design — and eccentric curios dressing the reception ballroom and tables — for making a perfect day.

After the wedding ceremony they managed a few shots among the famous ninety-nine yew trees in the church yard before the guests were ferried in a beautifully restored vintage bus to Hilles House for Pimms on the lawn.

Hilles House is one Jonny's all-time favourite venues, situated high on a ridge with the most spectacular views of Gloucestershire. It was the family home of the late Isabella Blow and her art dealer husband Detmar.  Isabella was a fashionista — assistant to the editor of USA Vogue magazine, and then fashion director of Tatler magazine in the UK.

The wedding breakfast featured a whole wild deer, shot on the estate and blessed by shamans, washed down with the loveliest imported New Zealand wines and fine champagne — a gastronomic and visual treat before a serious ride down the rabbit hole!

Tanaya & Matthew’s favours were little antique bottles of "miraculous shrinking juice" and once taken along with a few glasses of fine wine it was time for everyone to go on an adventure … to meet the rabbit. The "rabbit hole" was a 100ft yew hedge, hollow in the centre for its entire length, and lit with fairy lights on the inside.  At the end was a stone rabbit to say hi to.  There were pink flamingos, games of croquet, wild flowers, handcrafted bunting and umbrellas stuffed with fairy lights hanging from apple trees.

Photographing in Hilles House was an adventure in itself. Jonny favours natural light, but the muted light and phenomenal centrepieces in the ballroom meant resorting to his speed lights. The table centrepieces were so large that the speeches had to be shot from the top of a 6ft step ladder, wobbling precariously on the ancient floors. 

Later there was time to take Tanaya and Matt through the house and capture more images against the backdrop of the house’s beautiful leaded windows, stairs and tapestries.

Jonny says the entire day was a fun filled adventure. The album is a 14x10 Duo in mint buckram with a wrap-around cover. “When it came to the layout I handed it over to the design team at Queensberry, where my brief was, the quirkier the better — go nuts and have fun with it! I knew I was in good hands, and when it arrived I was blown away. Simply stunning!"

We hope everyone loves the album, Jonny. 

Alexandria x