It's that time of the week again folks, and I've been fortunate enough to enjoy another holiday! It seems I'm always off gallivanting around the country, but I play hard and work even harder.... That's how the saying goes, right?
Both myself and Rachel caught up on some quality time with her side of the family and took the pooch (Cleo) on her very first holiday, to the North of Wales!
But no sooner were we back, than we were straight back out doing what we love most, photographing weddings!
This week, it was the turn of Shelley and Adrian.
I've often said how excited I get when it comes to wedding planning, and with Shelley, I'd definitely cashed in on the enjoyment of doing just that. From day 1, I can imagine Shelley has had everything mapped out and planned to the highest detail.
In the run-up to her wedding, Shelley shared her fair share of pictures she wanted to recreate on the big day, so when myself and Rachel arrived, we'd got a solid plan in mind of shots we wanted to capture on top of the usual pictures and candid moments we always aim to get in the normal way.
The only thing I think Shelley hadn't planned for was a broken toe the day before, so when we arrived for bridal prep, seeing her having her makeup done whilst her foot was wrapped in an ice pack was certainly a new one for us! Most brides would have had a meltdown, not Shelley though, she soldiered on, as cool as a cucumber like it hadn't even happened.
As is always the case with weddings, we ran a little behind schedule, but nevertheless, we managed to cram in all the shots we needed before flying over to the church to meet with Adrian and the rest of the wedding guests.
Included in the photos Shelley had sent over before the big day, she made a real point of mentioning the stained glass window at the church, and how she wanted to get some pictures of them both during the ceremony with the window in the background. Turns out the phone photos she'd sent over hadn't done the window justice. Top that with the perfect weather, they'd both been blessed with, the sun flooding through the stained glass made for perfect shots, which I absolutely can't wait to show them both!
Once the service had finished, it was onto everyone's favourite, the confetti shot!!
In true Shelley style, she'd clearly been hard at work preparing dried flower petals. I'm not kidding, she'd put together what must have been the biggest and fullest basket of confetti I'd ever seen. Guests were literally grabbing fistfuls! We lined everyone up ready to cover the happy couple making some of their first steps as husband and wife. The bar for confetti has officially been raised!
As there were a few must-have shots the couple wanted, some time with them away from their guests was definitely needed, so we headed over to a field adjacent to the church (Carefully dodging the various cow pats!) to get some staged photos inline with the images Shelley had sent over, just before taking the short drive over to the venue to capture speeches before we departed.
The more observant among you will notice I've not spoken much about Adrian.
Now, not only did Shelley's dad and Adrian do some fantastic speeches, the highlight of them, for me, was the speeches from the 2 best men, which has to be one of my favourites to date.
Without going into too much detail (and to save Adrian's further embarrassment), they'd both done a fantastic job stitching up Adrian, with one very apt analogy involving his love of cars. Perfect speeches, that held the attention of the audience the whole time, and had everyone in fits of laughter.
I also paid close attention to them saying Adrian once had a Ford Escort XR3i, which peaks the interest of any petrol head such as myself.
Once the speeches were over, it was time for myself and Rachel to depart, leaving the couple to enjoy the rest of their day, which I've no doubt whatsoever will have been full of smiles and laughter right up until the bitter end!
For any engaged couples, I'll be attending the wedding fayre at Quorn Grange Hotel next Sunday. I'm very much looking forward to meeting with lots of you to discuss your upcoming wedding plans. 11:00am - 3:00pm, be there, or be square!
Peace, Love and Photos.
Jono x