Amy has a delectable North Eastern accent and, at our planning meeting she looked me in the eye, held me with a serious gaze and said “you had better watch out….there will be a lot of noisy Northerners there”! Awesome I thought! That’s actually just the sort of day I love with lots of chatting, lots of fun and the slight hint at the possibility of misbehaviour! In fact, I’m closely related to a lot of noisy Northerners myself, although my partner’s side of the family can “out noise” anyone, so I had a day of feeling completely at home!
As it turned out, as far as I’m aware, everyone was very well behaved and had a great time! South Farm was very much the perfect venue for a completely stress-free and relaxing. Without different venues to go to and from I was able to photograph both Amy and John’s preparations in the morning before going out into the gardens for the ceremony. The lake really is a beautiful setting for the ceremony and the gardens and terrace are perfect for the drinks reception.
One of the highlights of the day for me were the speeches which contained a number of heartfelt and also slightly embarrassing moments for Amy and John. I always love listening and finding out a bit more about people at this time of the wedding day. It always feels a bit of a privilege to be asked to record such personal and private moments and it’s the time of day where everyone generally really lets their hair down and starts to enjoy themselves – great for photographing!
As ever, there’s a small selection of some of my favourites from the day below. It’s always hard choosing and I now realise that I haven’t included any from the very entertaining receiving line or also any from the moment where Amy took a massive swig from John’s hipflask (followed by much dramatic coughing and spluttering!)
If you are planning your wedding and you are looking for a photographer who isn’t phased by noisy Northerners or hipflask swigging brides then GET IN TOUCH – I would love to hear from you!
Below: When I first arrived Amy was almost completely reclined having her make up done! There was certainly no wedding morning stress or rushing around here!
Below: A lovely quick moment with Amy and her bridesmaids…..
Below: I love this as it was a particularly “hard won” image on my part and took me about 20 minutes of on and off trying to get as I wanted! the bridesmaid was busy with her makeup and I was determined to make the image without her knowing or being disturbed!
Below: A nice moment between John and his Best man as they got ready.
Below: A lovely moment and I tried to make the image more interesting by including the reflection!
Below: I really like this as it was a completely natural moment of luck and timing really. To me, it’s a nice way of showing the venue and adding a bit of context and personality as well.
Below: Final preparations. I love the sort of “inside images” like the one of the bridesmaid’s close attention to the back of the dress bottom right….
Below: Just an appealing composition and moment between two wedding guests.
Below: The beautiful outdoor setting at South Farm
Below: I’m always looking for moments of interaction and character. I think this image gives a real sense of what was going on and conveys the emotion of the moment.
Below: Wedding guests during the reception
Below: Two lovely moments during the speeches. One of Amy’s reaction to her Dad’s speech – you can almost imagine what was being said!- the other as John needed tears wiping from his eyes!
Below: I just love this ladies reaction to me making a photo of here carrying coffee!