From a relatively small wedding in September I moved into something completely epic for October, with Boya and Xiaoyuan’s lush wedding at the Sanbanks Hotel. If you’ve seen some of my previous work then you’ll know that I love shooting brides and grooms at sandbanks beach. Having grown up in Poole, it’s naturally a very special place to me and I’m sure that plenty of brides and grooms share that with me.

With sandbanks being such a special place I was of course super excited when Boya and Xiaoyuan asked me to be the photographer for their wedding at the Sandbanks Hotel. Add to the location the fact that the wedding was going to be full of Chinese traditions and my excitement to photograph this wedding only increased.

The Sandbanks Hotel has a licence to host wedding ceremonies meaning we had everything in one location with a stunning setting for the ceremony, photos and the evening celebrations. The Poole Registry Service did a brilliant job of he ceremony, going above and beyond to engage the guests.

The Sandbanks Hotel has a licence to host wedding ceremonies meaning we had everything in one location with a stunning setting for the ceremony, photos and the evening celebrations. The Poole Registry Service did a brilliant job of he ceremony, going above and beyond to engage the guests.

After photos on the beach, the stepfather of the bride took me aside and mentioned that he had a bit of a surprise planned…

He’d arranged a traditional Chinese Lion dance for the bride and groom!

After the meal and speeches, Mark from Pegasus Discos took over for the evening’s celebrations. They kicked off with one of the best first dances I’ve seen. Fairly traditional to begin with until half way through when it transitioned into a brilliantly performed argentine tango.

At the risk of sounding like a bad early morning advert for an exercise machine that you’ll never use: THAT’S NOT ALL! Towards the end of the night we had a sparkler exit which was so much fun to be part of.

Boya, Xiaoyuan and their whole family put so much into this wedding and it really showed through in the day and in the photos.

If you’re planning a Sandbanks Hotel wedding and are looking for your perfect wedding photographer then please get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.