Jorge and Kelly got married at Delbury Hall South Shropshire on the 4th of June. They asked me to take the photos at their wedding just over 12 months ago and of course it was my pleasure to do just that.
Before the wedding we had a pre wedding shoot and a look around the venue a month before. Although it can seem a bit unnecessary sometimes, especially as you get more experienced and if the couple are confident, I really think this is one of the most vital things to do. It gave us ample time to discuss the timings of the day in a relaxed setting and any particular shots they would like. There is always something you notice on the pre-visit that might trip you up on the big day itself. Also, on seeing the venue I was excited as it was a beautiful location and with some nice weather it would be a fantastic day for a wedding.
So when the day itself arrived after packing and unpacking my kit several times the night before and again in the morning I was good to go. The sun was shining and it was thankfully forecast to be sunny all weekend! On arrival to the Delbury Hall I had a good walk around again picking out some spots for the photos, the one problem I had was the weather was getting too good! Bright sunshine was beating down everywhere, so I had a good scout around for some shaded areas that I could use to photograph Jorge and Kelly. Luckily I remembered spotting a good spot on my pre-visit so as ever that trip was worthwhile. Apologies for teaching people to suck eggs, but as I am sure you know, if you take photographs in direct sunlight you’ll end up with harsh shadows, with wrinkles and all sorts of things appearing on the skin, if you find some shade you will get a nice even covering of light across the face.
I met up with Jorge and the ushers at the venue, Jorge seemed pretty calm even when for a short period they thought one of the brides maid dresses may have been left back in Shrewsbury! Thankfully not one of the Photographer’s responsibilities. Relief all round when they found it!
Once the usual fumbling around with cufflinks and ties was finished we took a walk from the hall to the church. Delbury Hall is a great location as not only does the hall face onto its own small lake that you can walk all the way around but the Hall has its own access to the church via a short walk through a wooded area. A perfectly tended foot path led up to the church adding a great extra element to the whole experience for the bride on her way to the church.
I then high tailed it back to Delbury Hall to capture the bridal preparations. In true bridal style things weren’t running on time but Kelly looked stunning. Due to the schedule slipping my time (as ever you have to be brutal with timings) with Kelly in bridal prep was very brief and then it was time to go! Instead of a fancy car the bridal party had a really beautiful walk to the church. This meant I got my exercise for the day running ahead shooting then when they were almost on top of me running ahead again, so after pepper potting all the way to the church I said a quick hello to the vicar and got ready for the service.
Once the service was finished I asked the ushers to hold everyone back while I took the short walk through the trees with Jorge and Kelly, once I had got everything I needed we got all the guests to catch up so the whole group were walking back towards the Hall.
Once everyone was back at the Hall it was a perfect afternoon the sun was shining, the bubbly was flowing and the atmosphere was fantastic. I stole Jorge and Kelly away for 20 minutes to get some photos of the new Mr and Mrs. This is also a really nice time for the bride and groom to spend alone in the mass of greetings and well wishes from everyone. You can tell them this at the pre-meet and make sure they really enjoy this bit.
The plan was then to get the group shots in the bag but just as we got back it started to rain! Everyone headed over to the reception and some shelter, luckily it was only a brief shower and everyone was straight back out in the sunshine. Note it is vital to have a Plan B if this happens.
The meal and speeches soon followed, an excellent round of speeches from Jorge, Kelly’s Dad and the two best men, it had the full mix of tears and side splitting laughter! I don’t think Kelly and Jorge could have asked for a better day! From my point of view it went well. I was glad that I had done a pre-visit so I knew where the nice shady areas were. I also really learnt how you have to be prepared not just for a raining day, but if it starts raining mid-way through the group shots – I got away with it this time, but definitely learnt for the future.
Comments from Kelly:
“I could not recommend Mike enough. He was very professional, flexible and generally made the photos a very enjoyable experience, even at my most most stressed moments and there were a couple! From the first time we met up with him at the pre wedding shoot he really went through how we would like our day to go; so he could work with us to achieve this. I was not the most organised bride in the world and going through things with him at the pre wedding shoot, actually helped me plan my day!! He made at us at ease very quickly and really worked hard to get the best shots he could.
The wedding arrived so quickly , and as normal I was not running to time ! Mike worked around this very well and worked with what he could ! He really made everyone in my wedding party at ease and even though last minute on the day we decide to break up the photos in to two parts of the day, Mike worked round this to ensure we had all the photos we could ever need. All in all we were very please with Mike’s work, he was professional, great to have around on the day and most importantly we were very pleased with the end product. All our guests have been commenting on how good these photos are. Thank you”