Gloucester Wedding Photography - Sarah & Adrian

Have you ever seen the St Trinian movies? Not those hideous remakes, but the originals with Alistair Sim & George Cole? You have? Good. Keep them in mind for later reference.

I met Sarah & Adrian 6 months ago and got on like a house on fire. But without the insurance claim.

They knew exactly the style of wedding images they wanted, which always make my job so much easier. Lots and lots of photojournalist reportage photography. They would prefer not to see me at the wedding. At all. I never take it personally, despite wiping away a tear. But, of course they mean shooting their wedding as a Photojournalist. By far my favourite weddings.

We were promised sunny weather, and, although we didn't get that, we did get a bright, overcast day. Perfect weather for wedding photography. No need to find a number of shaded areas to avoid the harsh lighting.

The day started with Adrian working hard to finish off the table decorations and collecting the flowers with the assistance of my assistant-for-the-day, Kim, of Kim De Beer fame. If you read the previous blog you will know of her greatness.

After taking a few shots of Adrian, hard at work, we then went to shoot the bridal preparation with Sarah. Sarah looked fantastic in her gold dress.

We got to the Gloucester Registry Office for the Ceremony. One of my favourite venues as all the guests line up outside before the ceremony which is perfect for the photojournalist. Plenty of hedges, walls and pillars to stand near, taking shots of everyone anticipating the great day, without them noticing me.

The wedding ceremony was a real treat. I got front-of-house positioning to get some lovely shots of all the emotions fitting a wedding.

This is where your memories of St Trinian's will come in handy, as I describe one of the funniest moments I have ever seen at a wedding - and possibly anywhere else.

Picture this - Sarah & Adrian were reading their own vows to each other in front of their friends and family. A lovely moment. Not five feet behind them the 4 young girls, who by this point had provided much entertainment for me to shoot, decided that to entertain each other by jumping around in their seats, climbing over each other and letting out cries of how bored they were. The hilarious incredulity of seeing both of these moments at the same time was only surpassed by the fact that neither Sarah or Adrian noticed and completed their vows unaffected. My new favourite wedding moment and one that's going to take some beating.

Everyone made their way back to Gloucester's Gala Club for the Reception where, after more opportunities for me to get some informal shots, Kim and I had a chance to put our feet up and review the images so far, while the wedding party enjoyed their breakfast.

As I'm sure everyone knows by now, one of my favourite moments of any wedding are the speeches. I love walking around the room capturing true emotions. There are always tears, laughter and, in most instances, looks of horror as the Best Man "stitches up" the Groom. Adrian seems to have lived a purer life than most based on Darren's speech. Either that or Darren was being kind.

Sarah was very keen to get some shots of her son, Steve, who is going out to Afghanistan in a few weeks. The spare time after the speeches gave me an opportunity to get those for a very proud Mum. Good luck to Steve in the coming months.

I spent an hour at the local pub having dinner before the Evening Reception. 5 mins after settling down I heard a wall of sound behind me only to see the hilarious St Trinian Crew swarming towards me. They was a good 10 mins of good-natured terrorising of the locals and climbing over everything taller than them - which was everything.

This energy continued through to the Evening Reception where all the kids danced and threw themselves around the dance floor. I was also treated to some "robot" moves under the instruction of the dancer that I capture every movement. I did.

A long day and an utterly enjoyable one. Sarah & Adrian didn't stop smiling all day. This is the kind of wedding that reminds me how much I love to shoot them. Laughter, tears, hilarious kids with boundless energy and a group of friends and family who enjoyed every moment of the day.

Thank you to Sarah & Adrian for allowing me to capture their special day. I wish them all the very best the future has.

Flowers supplied by Daisy Chain, Gloucester - www.daisychaingloucester.co.uk
Suits supplied by Beaus & Balls, Gloucester - www.beaus-and-balls.co.uk
Balloons supplied by All Occasioins, Gloucester - www.alloccasionsglos.co.uk

Gloucester Wedding Photography - Sarah & Dan

It only seemed like yesterday when I shot Sarah & Dan for their Engagement Portrait.

In the four months since that shoot Sarah & Dan have been working hard planning their wedding and what a cracker it was. Even the weather joined in on the fun.

Today started off a new season of weddings for 2011 with a new assistant, Kim De Beer. Kim has great experience of urban social art photography and is looking to add wedding photography to her endless list of talents.

Meeting Sarah for her Bridal Preparation shoot, it was soon obvious how nervous she was. It was easy to see how much her wedding day meant to her.

With the preparation shots completed, we met Dan at St Barthelomew Church, Lower Cam. Dan was as calm a groom as I've worked with.

I remember the fun fun we had on the Engagement Portrait shoot a few months earlier and today was no different.

Sarah arrived at the Church in one of the greatest wedding cars - a Burgundy 1960's VW Campervan. The Bridesmaids arrived in a stretched Hum-Vee Limo. The owners of both didn't seem keen on swapping their cars with mine - a very sporty Toyota Yaris. I would have cleaned the car for them too.

Sarah looked fantastic in her wedding dress and with the weather doing it's job, she really had no reason to worry.

After the ceremony, we worked on some shots of Sarah & Dan at one of the beautiful stain-glass windows. The photo above is one of my favourites.

After being drenched in, what seemed like endless, confetti, friends and family made their way to Eastwood Park Hotel in Falfield, Wotton-Under-Edge. I've worked at this venue before and remember it as one of my all-time favourites.

After a number of shots with the wedding cars and group shot, we moved into Eastwood's beautiful gardens for the formal shots. The sunshine provided the perfect back-lighting and I provided the perfect seat for Sarah & Dan to rest their very weary feet.

During the shoot and despite, prompting, no-one was willing to tell me about, what sounded like an incredibly interesting, Hen Night. I think more probing into that evening is required at the Wedding Image Review in a few weeks.

Dan's speech was one of the best and most emotional. A heartfelt thank-you to his new wife, made all, but the hardest of souls, reach for their hankies to wipe away a tear. Obviously, I didn't cry. I was working. I'm a professional. ;o)

The wedding group was a real joy to work with and provided a lot of fantastic opportunities for me to get some interesting photo-journalistic reportage shots. More of these shots will be shared when I created a page dedicated to Sarah & Dan's wedding in a couple of weeks.

Lastly, I would like to thank Sarah & Dan for choosing me to shoot their special day and for being such great sports, and a thank you to everyone at the Eastwood Hotel for helping get all the images we wanted.

All the very best wishes to Sarah & Dan. A wonderful couple who thoroughly deserved every magical moment of their day.