NEALE JAMES • PHOTOGRAPHER • VIDEOGRAPHER

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ANDY MURRAY GETS WED

VINEYARD WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

Shameless clickbait for which I apologise, although Andy Murray did indeed get married, to Hannah at a venue called The Vineyard at Stockcross in Berkshire and it was over the summer during Wimbledon fortnight too. But this isn't the AMC-wearing, Head Graphene-wielding Scot you may immediately associate with the moniker. Our Andy in this story does indeed sport a kilt and there was famous folk around him at the venue, (they were taking a break during filming of a certain celebrity food show), this Andy, is not the kind able to serve up 135mph woolen-covered rubber balls across a 3 foot 6 inches high net.

This, as you have by now worked through, is a different flavoured A.M. While we're talking doubles (note a topspin return to tennis references) there are two notable quality Vineyard hotels in the world; one located in the shadow of Cape Town's Table Mountain, and one firmly established sixty miles west of London, famed for its links to a Californian vineyard with a Michelin starred heritage and known to be a watering hole for those in the know who like their luxury and privacy away from the 'familiar' English country hotels.

This Vineyard is the one owned by Sir. Peter Michael, famous for championing American wines, funding prostate cancer charities on both sides of the pond, being. a guardian of the arts and as the founder of the national radio station, Classic FM. If you can’t find what you want on the radio, why not just open your own?

You visit The Vineyard because you like your food and wine, period. It’s not a wedding venue as such, more an establishment that every now and then opens its kitchens and five-star comfort to those saying “I do.” This is a place where your top trouser button can and should easily feel like it has tightened just a tad following a stay. I've eaten here professionally, if being fed whilst photographing counts as professional consumption and I've eaten and stayed as a guest too. I'm yet to report less than satisfactory movement on the top trouser button. Of course, a wedding isn't just about food, so here are some of my favourites from Andy and Hannah's Vineyard wedding, from start to finish. Or game, set and match, if you will.

Bridal preparations with makeup by Lorraine Milligan.