I met Georgie and Nick at a couple of weddings before I shot theirs this summer. The first I didn’t know them, the second, we’d messaged and spoken but I had yet to meet them and link their faces to their booking – so I ended up with a ring at the door a few months before their special day and suddenly clicking who it was – the faces I’d seen multiple times laughing and gorgeous, on my computer were those wonderful folk stood in front of me, trusting me with capturing their day!
As you may know, I don’t advertise as a wedding photographer and all of my bookings come from word of mouth, with a health warning that posing and insta wedding photos are not what I do. Georgie had been a bridesmaid at Beth’s wedding last year, so had seen both how I worked on the day and the resulting gallery of images and called up to see if I was available to shoot their day at Trent Vineyard and Attenborough Village Hall. We’d had a good natter through their thoughts and booked in the date, meeting up later on to make sure I was on the right track with their ideas and how they’d like the day captured.
Not all the family could be there, so it was important to capture photos for them to share with those missing on the day, so they could feel part of the event and see what had happened later on; so freezing those moments of family and friends talking and laughing, the kids eyeing up the cakes and the parents smiles of pride during the service. Being aware of the whole event, not just the two important people it was centered on, although of course, they feature pretty heavily! And rightly so!
Amy led the service at Trent Vineyard, and it’s always a nervous time and not just for the bride and groom! Luckily Trent are fine with movement during the service and it was time for shoes to come off, and to be darting quietly from front to back, staying in the shadows while capturing those moments. (Heinz was on last minute video duty, we’d had a quick talk before hand about where he wanted to be and it kept me quietly giggling that, unplanned, we ended up in the same places and seemingly following each other – it gave me confidence I was in the right places too!) The confetti cannon shot at the end was a secret plan of Nick’s and the timing had been variable, as was were they would be standing at the time. In the end, I had to plump for a little bit of guesswork and set up an off camera flash at the back of the aisle – the stage was lit up for the service and the worship but coming back to friends and family, where they would be at the time, was very shadowy. In cases like this, it’s fingers crossed and hope the planning works, that they would be somewhere in flash range when the cannons went off and not too close either!
After some delicious cake (it was kind of difficult to choose, but a certain person nudged me in the direction of the chocolate brownie and boy, was he right!) People had had a chance to catch up and offer congratulations to the beaming couple, then it was time to pull out those umbrellas and grab a handful of the rose petal confetti that Georgie had been collecting and drying for some time!!
While the guests then made their way to the Hall, and ordered ice cream treats, we snuck away to the side of Attenborough County Park and took the opportunity to chill out and grab some photos of the newly weds! Taking 10 minutes away from everyone is a perfect opportunity to just be, take a breathe and realise that all that planning and the hours upon hours of thought have just come together and happened, and that you are actually married! Asking these two to smile was not going to be a question that was anywhere near my lips – the joy and love between them was evident and so lovely to see. And made my job easy – a slight nudge here or there is all that was needed and all that was left was to click away!
Time back with everyone at the Hall, and food together. Then the speeches didn’t disappoint! Memories of Georgie from Dad (accompanied by pictorial evidence!), a speech from the lady herself, a double dose of best man speeches and of course, Nick finished it off in splendid style.
The hall at Attenborough had been decorated beautifully and, after a heavy shower, the sun returned for everyone to spread out into the garden area and enjoy the games, catch up and enjoy that time together with each other. A wonderful day, beautifully planned and organised with a fantastic set of people.
