Today I drove to Newdigate for Sarah and Mark's wedding in the beautiful St. Peter's Church. (I won't post photos from the whole day, but only a select few from here and there.)
I was early, as I wanted to double-check that my lens choices for the indoor shots were right, i.e. that I could get decent shots during the ceremony in the dimly lit church.
Soon after the groom and his Best Man arrived. Not too nervous, either!
The Best Man hadn't forgotten the rings. Check.
How cute is the Page Boy!
Bride arrived in time...
She does look a little nervous here.
All ready?
Changing of the rings.
The priest was the most thoughtful of the wedding photography that I have ever met. He made sure that Sarah's father wasn't blocking my view of the couple's hands, and that Sarah and Mark were slightly turned so that I'd definitely see their hands! I was extremely impressed and grateful for the priest, as often priests and registrars seem slightly resentful of the photographer, and are not really interested in co-operating with them.
Blessings at the altar.
The altar part of the ceremony went on for a little while in fact - so long that the Page Boy fell asleep, which everyone around him thought was quite funny.
After the ceremony.
It was really difficult to take the group shot outside: the only possible place was in front of the church, but what made it difficult was that the church was on a hill and it meant that I was lower down than the big group of people I tried to photograph! I had my step-ladder with me, but the hill was so steep that it wasn't really tall enough - I was still barely at the same level with the others. I had to resort to using fish-eye lens, taking the shot with my arms stretched above my head. Well, at least I managed to get all 150 people in the shot.
After the group shot I took all other "formal shots" in front of the church - but that wasn't completely easy, either, because of this:
The bells were being ringed... hard... and long, which made it pretty difficult to direct people in and out of the formal shots, shouting on top of the bells "NEXT, BOTH PARENTS, PLEASE!!", click, "NEXT, SARAH'S WHOLE FAMILY!!", click, "NEXT,..." etc. But somehow I managed.
Back to the fabulous car...
...and onto the wedding reception venue.
At the reception, children had hamburgers...
...and adults a hog roast. Click on the photo to see the granddad's happy face! :)
After the drinks and meal and mingling, I asked the couple come aside and have a little celebratory moment in quiet.
The first dance.
Lovely!
And then: Let's boogie!
A bit of cake in between...
...and back to the dance floor!
This was a very relaxed and fun wedding... wish I could have stayed longer. I trust everyone had a fantastic time until late night.
Wishing lots of continued happiness for the lovely couple and the whole family!
