Jay Rowden Wedding Photography

A beach wedding in Ibiza. The bride arrived in a rowing boat which in itself was quite special. Then the couple had flown in a very famous Shaman from Switzerland to marry them using the four elements: earth, wind, water and fire. It was unlike any other wedding I'd seen before. Incredible!

Contemporary. Iconic. Dramatic. Beautiful. Authentic.

That it is self made. I built this business from the ground up without little or no help.

Make sure you go through your timings from beginning to end with a fine tooth comb. Ensure there is enough time to do the things that you both want to do. Plan, prepare and then let go because on the day your timings are bound to drift though there's no point in getting stressed about it. Enjoy the day and savour every moment because it will be over in a flash!

A bride giving her husband to be a painting of his favourite view. It was a beautiful moment to witness.

We normally meet first of all to look through albums and discuss their wedding day and their plans. We will then correspond by email and phone intermittently right up until the day before the wedding, when we normally schedule in a Skype call to run through final timings to make sure we are all on the same page.

Allow as much time as is possible for couple shots. This is such an important time for them to chat, to be together, to be close without prying eyes (apart from mine of course!). Ideally at least half an hour though 40-60 mins would be preferable.

I had to climb into a rowing boat (not the Ibiza wedding by the way!!) to get shots of the bride and groom on a jetty. The only thing was, I found it hard to come ashore and had to be rescued by a passing guest!

Umbrellas are a given! I personally love an umbrella shot. Typically British and can be really iconic moments and they look great in B&W. That aside, there are always places to shelter from the rain: a beautiful entrance, a large tree...plus inside the venue there will be places to capture beautiful shots. The wedding planner at the venue will be best advised to talk more about great places for rainy days.

After 15 years of working as a Creative in Television making adverts, I decided to pursue a career in photography and studied it at Central St Martins which is one of the best places in the UK to study the craft. I instantly fell in love with photography and decided to pursue wedding photography. The rest is history.