Photos show family wedding 'buzz'

The official pictures of William and Kate's wedding were shot to show two families coming together and reveal the couple's love for each other, the photographer has said.

Speaking at Clarence House in London, Hugo Burnand said he hoped it looked "effortless, relaxed and friendly".

He said his favourite photograph was one of the newlyweds with the bridesmaids and page boys, but there were only seconds to set it up and the children were coaxed with promises of jelly beans and other sweets.

The pictures, taken in Buckingham Palace's throne room immediately after the bride and groom arrived from Westminster Abbey, capture the Royal Family and the Middletons in rapturous mood.

Mr Burnand said: "Amazingly it was a family wedding. From where I was and from their point of view it was two families coming together and that was the feeling, the sense of family and love going between everyone.

"They had their own buzz. Everyone had their own buzz. It was that excitement that I hope you feel at most weddings."

Asked about his technique, he said: "I hope it looks effortless and relaxed and friendly and smiley because that is how it was.

"But that comes from months of preparation, hours of setting up, and being so organised that you are sort of in control at the time."

Mr Burnand had only a short period of time between the couple's arrival at Buckingham Palace and their appearance on the balcony to take the official photographs.

He said: "I hope when you look at the picture you feel, as a viewer, that you're engaged with the people in the picture. The only way to do that is to be engaged as a photographer."

Bridesmaid Grace van Cutsem, the new Duke of Cambridge's three-year-old goddaughter, won hearts at the wedding when she was pictured on the balcony with her hands over her ears.

Mr Burnand said he had met and photographed her as a bridesmaid before.

He said: "When she walked in I was able to go straight up to her and talk to her about the last time we had met and explain to her it was the same thing and she knew what was going to happen.

"She was great. She's so adorable, Grace.

"They were all fantastic actually. A bit cheeky some of them, but we like that."

Mr Burnand was red-eyed and emotional as he talked about his favourite picture.

He said: "It was a picture we all wanted to take but we didn't know if we were ever going to have the time to do it.

"If things hadn't gone really smoothly we would never have got to that picture.

"We had seconds to put that picture together."

But he said that, because he had discussed with his team and everyone in the picture knew what they were going to have to do, they were able to rush into position.

"Those children came in - there was a promise of sweets and jelly beans - but they knew what they had to do.

"When you look at those individual children in that picture you are seeing those children and their characters.

"That's the same with the bride and groom in the middle of the picture as well. That's really them. There's no time for direction, we've done all that."

Mr Burnand said Kate was a keen photographer herself and he discussed the images with her and William before hand.

Speaking of the main picture, where the two families are pictured forward in the room in a warm spring light, he said: "It was a team effort. She does have a good knowledge and keen interest in photography.

"She had good ideas. She put them to me. I used my technical knowledge and together we came up with that picture."

He said the lack of time gave the pictures "good energy" because he knew they had to get on and do it.

Asked about the mood between the couple, he said: "Fantastic. I don't know what to say - I love them.

"They are so bloody nice. They are just so nice as individuals and as a pair, and they work so well together."

He said of the formal portrait of them standing side by side: "In a way what I really like about that picture is that it is formal and it shows their respect for the formality, where they are, who they are.

"At the same time they are right side by side with each other and they are connected and they are touching, their arms are connected and they've got a smile on their face.

"That picture really sums up a lot about them.

"They understand and respect where they are and yet you can still see a smile and love between them."

He described the occasion as the "gig of the century", adding: "It was amazing, incredible, and there were a couple of moments where I did pinch myself."

Mr Burnand spent months preparing for the wedding.

He was accompanied by assistants including his mother, photographer Ursy Burnand, 71, who he says is an invaluable member of the team.

As well as cameras, spares and spares of spares, the team were carrying extensive lighting and computing equipment.

They were also using stopwatches to ensure perfect timing.

Mr Burnand has photographed everyone from Spike Milligan to Michael Jackson, Mikhail Gorbachev, Victoria Beckham, Bill Clinton and former prime minister Lady Thatcher.

He was commissioned to photograph the marriage of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in 2005 and the wedding of David and Samantha Cameron in 1996.

Charles also asked him to take the birthday image which marked his 60th year in 2008.

In the picture, the heir to the throne wore the ceremonial uniform of the Welsh Guards but was shown in a very relaxed seated pose with his arm across the back of an ornate chair.

Mr Burnand, 47, who has four children with wife Louisa, has also taken pictures of William and Prince Harry and the Queen.

He has been a photographer for Tatler magazine since 1993.

He has had an interest in cameras since he was a young boy and learned to develop his films and make prints using a makeshift darkroom in his family's kitchen.

After a number of careers, Mr Burnand decided to take up photography as a job only in the early 1990s and went on to win a long list of high-profile commissions.

Yesterday, the old Harrovian, based in Notting Hill, west London, was himself pictured in an unexpected pose - as he and his team made their way to Buckingham Palace on bicycles.

He said from the moment the first member of the Royal Family left it was "a buzz".

He added: "I never really got nervous. You almost go into another zone when it's happening.

"As far as I'm aware everything went according to plan from the moment they walked in to the moment they walked out."

The final image is more informal and shows the bride and groom with the pageboys and bridesmaids looking very relaxed.

William and Kate are sitting on some plush carpeted steps leading up to the thrones with the youngsters around them.

The bride has her hand resting on the groom's leg while the bridesmaids and pageboys are allowed to find their own natural poses and one - Tom - even leans behind the couple to get into shot.