It's not often that I start a wedding shoot in direct competition with another photographer, let alone two. This rivalry was intense and, to be honest, a little disconcerting, as I went up against Charlotte (6) and Aimee (4). Both Charlotte and Aimee showed me that photographs of feet can often, possibly always, be as interesting as faces. A lesson learned. Although, I will refuse to give them credit for that in my future work.Yesterday's wedding began with Emma's Bridal Preparation where we made a wonderful start to the Wedding Gallery. I must give credit to Paul, Emma's Dad, for creating the "Dress Hook", for the wedding dress and hanging it in the perfect place for photographing. I have stolen the blueprints for the "Hook" and submitted it to the Patent Office.
Emma looked absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress as you can see in the photo. And yes, for the ladies reading this blog, Kris did look devilishly handsome too.
After more wrangling with my "competition" I moved on to St Giles' Church in Maisemore, the venue for the Wedding Ceremony. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Revd. Rob Merchant for allowing me the freedom to shoot the wedding ceremony itself. I believe the Ceremony is the key moment of every wedding and it's always a shame if the Wedding Gallery has no images from that moment. I'd also like to thank Rob for quoting Hugh Grant in a Ceremony.
After the Ceremony, the new Mr & Mrs Dever walked hand in hand down the aisle to The Prodigy's "Stand Up". Most of you might know this as Kick-Ass' theme from the brilliant movie. Absolutely inspired moment.
All the formal photos were taken at St Giles, using the beautiful building as a backdrop for all the images. This gives me the chance to thank James (possibly the greatest Usher ever) for all his help in organising all the friends and family.
Emma & Kris chose The Manor By The Lake for their Wedding Reception. If you've ever seen The Manor you'll appreciate that it's any photographer's dream to work there. Check out my upcoming "Emma & Kris @ The Manor" for more details.
With all the wedding guests at the Manor, we decided to take a few photos of Emma & Kris with their wedding cars, a Rolls Royce and VW Campervan. Now, for someone who claimed they didn't know how to pose for a "car" shot, Emma and Kris did a fantastic job. There was James Bond-like posing. There was pouting. There was a lot of pouting. Some of my favourite shots of the day.
After the wedding breakfast came the speeches and what a roller coaster of emotions. I always think that for any wedding speech you either need to make everyone laugh or cry. Even better if you can do both. Both Paul (you may remember him as Emma's Dad) and Kris (you may remember him as the Groom) made really wonderful "even better" speeches. Concluding with Stu's Best Man speech we moved onto Emma and Kris' Flow-posing Portrait Shoot. By the way, for everyone who knows Stu, am I the only one who thinks that he looks like Hugh Jackman?
We did a short tour of the Manor grounds for the Flow-pose Shoot, including the Bridge, Gardens, Tree Avenue and, not forgetting, the Arches. We completed the shoot using the Manor's interior, including the Oak Room, fireplaces and insanely huge sofa.
The Evening Reception started with Emma & Kris' first dance and it was great to see everyone up and cheering them on as they danced as well as joining in. I can't let this moment pass without thanking Jenny (you may remember her as Emma's Mum) for wearing the neon-flashing red wig/hat while dancing. I hope she kept it. It did look cool.
I have thanked a lot of people, while still giving no credit to Charlotte and Aimee for the inspired "feet-style" photography, and have saved the best for last. The biggest thank-you to Emma and Kris for allowing me to photograph their wedding. An absolute joy to photograph from start to finish. Best wishes to both of them for a long and happy future.
