Two brides smile as they walk together through the colourful gardens at Petersham Nurseries, bouquets in hand

Petersham Nurseries Wedding Photographer Richmond | Ariel & Constance | Dale Weeks

I’m Dale, a documentary wedding photographer based in St Leonards-on-Sea, and I photograph weddings across Sussex, Kent and London. Petersham Nurseries sits in a quiet corner of Richmond, part glasshouse, part garden, part restaurant, with the food and the flowers both coming from the same place. Ariel and Constance live in New York and wanted their wedding in the UK, so this is where they landed.

I don’t direct much. There are no stiff group shots on a lawn, no lists of poses to work through while everyone else is having a drink. I follow the day as it happens and photograph what’s actually in front of me, which on this occasion included a bus and a soul band.

  • Bridesmaids in satin blue dresses hold bright bouquets on benches as guests watch the poolside ceremony
  • Beer-garden benches with colorful cushions on the lawn beside a turquoise pool at Petersham Nurseries
  • Flower girl in a pale green dress scatters petals down the coir aisle as smiling guests watch from the garden seats
  • Older guest in a pink cardigan and sunglasses walks across the lawn beside the pool as other guests follow in the rain
  • Smiling guests on wooden benches watch the ceremony beside the pool at Petersham Nurseries
  • Guest in a yellow floral slip dress glances back with a smile at a candlelit dinner table in the Petersham glasshouse
  • Older woman in a pink cardigan reads her notes into a microphone while giving a speech in the plant-filled glasshouse
  • Guest in a tan jacket laughs by pink dahlias as two women in pale dresses smile at Petersham Nurseries
  • Woman in a yellow dress laughs with her head back, beer in hand, as guests dance and clap under party lights
  • Woman in a pale yellow top and skirt beams mid-dance, arms outstretched, as guests dance behind her late at night
  • Guest in a brown jacket points at the camera from a packed wedding bus while a woman in red laughs behind him
  • Long wooden dining table set with dahlias and candles under a vine-covered glasshouse roof at Petersham Nurseries
  • Long zinc-topped table laid with white plates and small flower pots, hung with trailing greenery in the glasshouse
  • Wedding table of dahlias and pink blooms in vases under the glasshouse at Petersham Nurseries
  • Rose gold-foiled champagne bottles chilling in crushed ice beside green grapes at Petersham Nurseries
  • Two women in pale satin dresses hold espresso martinis at the late-night party, one grinning, one mid-sip
  • Two women in pale blue dresses hug cheek to cheek, laughing, as guests dance around them in a dimly lit room
  • Guest in a tan blazer and blue shirt holds up two espresso martinis to the camera on the late-night dance floor
  • String trio in black plays violins and viola on wooden chairs under a leafy canopy at Petersham Nurseries
  • Singer with big copper curls laughs in a sequinned black dress, holding a microphone and saxophone on a blue-lit stage
  • Guest in a floral ruffled dress snaps a photo through a metal-framed glasshouse window, her reflection doing the same
  • Guests stream into the Petersham Nurseries glasshouse, a man in a navy blazer waving and laughing among ferns and vines
  • Copper-foiled Bruno Paillard bottles beaded with condensation in an ice tub at Petersham Nurseries

Richmond Hill Hotel

I met Ariel and Constance at the Richmond Hill Hotel in the morning. Family photos happened there, out front, with the view over the meadows down to the river behind everyone. It’s one of the few places in London where you can put a group of relatives in a line and still have something worth looking at behind them.

Rows of ribbed glasses filled with lime cocktails lined up on a dark bar, ready for guests to enjoy

A cab to the nurseries

From the hotel we got in a cab and went down the hill to the nurseries for couple portraits. That timing matters more than it sounds. We had the place before the guests arrived, which meant Ariel and Constance got twenty quiet minutes together in the glasshouses at the start of the day rather than being pulled out of their own party later on.

Wedding table of dahlias and pink blooms in vases under the glasshouse at Petersham Nurseries

Outside, rain forecast and all

The ceremony was outside. They made that call the day before, with rain in the forecast, and the way they framed it was the best argument for an outdoor ceremony I’ve heard: would you be more annoyed sitting indoors while the sun comes out, or sitting outdoors while it rains?
It rained just as the ceremony ended!

Two brides in pale blue and white hold hands beside a long pool as guests watch their outdoor ceremony at Petersham Nurseries

Cocktails in the glasshouses

Then cocktails, and the part of Petersham that does the work for you. Flowers everywhere, because the flowers are the business. Long tables under glass. Occasion Queens were running the day and kept everything moving without ever appearing in the middle of it, which is the highest compliment I can pay a planner. Food came from the nurseries too, so the whole afternoon stayed in one place with one set of hands behind it.

Two guests in a blue off-the-shoulder dress and floral top chat at a long table among foliage in the Petersham glasshouse

The 8.30pm bus

Then everyone got on a bus. This is the latest in the day I have ever been put on a bus at a wedding, and I’ve been on a few. Normally the coach happens somewhere around six, when people are full of food and slightly flat. At half eight, after a full afternoon of drinks, the guests were considerably more up for it. Best bus I’ve photographed.

Guests grin and wave woven fans from the seats of the late-evening wedding bus, one pulling a delighted face

The Turk’s Head

The bus went to the Turk’s Head, and the Turk’s Head had a soul band. That was the rest of the night. Full room, full volume, no sitting down.

Two brides share a kiss mid-dance while guests cheer and film on their phones at The Turk's Head

Thinking about Petersham Nurseries?

It suits couples who want the day to feel like a long lunch that got out of hand in the best way. The glasshouses give you cover and light at the same time, the flowers and the food come from the venue itself, and Richmond gives you the hill, the river and the meadows within a few minutes of each other.

Alice & John

“Such a chilled presence and it shows in the photos with everyone looking so natural!“

“We’ve only just had a chance to go through -WOW, these are amazing! Thank you so much, you’ve captured the day so well. Thanks for even getting details like the signs on the table, I wouldn’t have thought of that but it’s so nice to have a record of it. You were such a chilled presence and I think it shows in the photos as everyone is looking really natural, which is exactly what we hoped for.”

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Guest photographs a plate of peaches and burrata on a rustic wedding table with dahlias and candles at Petersham Nurseries

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