Happy Sunday!
And it is a very happy one at that, seeing as it's a bank holiday weekend, and most people have got the luxury of an additional day together with their families or even just an extra lie-in!
Seems crazy to think that this is the last bank holiday before Christmas and then, just like that, 2021 will be over and done with and we'll be straight into 2022, which again is shaping up to be a very exciting year!
All this being said, we've still got a lot of couples still yet to tie the knot in 2021, and we're currently in talks with a few venues about taking on some more Wedding Fayres in 2022 to meet even more awesome couples!
But let's talk about yesterday, which saw us attending the wedding of the lovely Emma and Steve, which just so happened to be an exciting day in itself, and a little bit different to the usual weddings I shoot.
So, our story starts a few months ago now, when Emma reached out to me on Hitched to discuss booking me for her wedding. Now, you'd be forgiven for thinking there's nothing unusual about that, but Emma then went on to tell me, this was going to be a surprise wedding, with their guests attending their reception in the evening believing fully that they were going to an engagement party, and definitely not a wedding.
I was instantly on board with the idea, and the prospect of capturing their friends and families faces as they both walked in was on a bucket list I never knew I had! The afternoon ceremony was set to be at a registry office with just Emma, Steve, 3 guests, 2 registrars and obviously myself.
Due to covid, I've been no stranger to quieter, more intimate weddings, but Steve and Emma's ceremony was just perfect. They'd both prepared their own vows, and it was just really refreshing to see a couple who were doing it their own special way.
After that, it was time to grab some obligatory pictures outside the registry office, the opportunity to grab a confetti throw photo with slightly fewer people than normal and then it was over to Arnold in Nottingham to capture the happy couple arriving and revealing their big surprise to all their friends and family who had literally no idea.
I'm not going to post the reaction photo's just yet, but let's just say that the moment when the DJ announced their arrival as husband and wife was just amazing to capture.
Steve and Emma's family and friends are a fantastic group of people and really threw themselves into the evening's festivities providing me with no shortage of photo opportunities. They were all on the dance floor from the very start of the evening, (which generally doesn't tend to happen till everyone has had a good drink in the normal way) and we're just generally a pleasure to photograph!
After that, Steve made a fantastic speech, that was both engaging, funny and did real justice to the couples incredible bond, the memories they'd shared together and the admiration he quite clearly has for Emma.
I can't wait to set to and get these photos edited up and handed over to them, and I would just like to thank them both for including me in their special day, letting me in on their plans and allowing me to capture some truly magical moments.
Steven and Emma are amongst the growing list of couples, I'm honoured to count as friends and I wish them all the happiness in the world for what I hope will be a long and happy marriage.
I'm going to button this one up for this week, I hope you all have a brilliant bank holiday.
Peace, Love and Photo's
Jono x