I was very excited for this day to arrive especially after their recent pre-wedding shoot which was so much fun! Having documented two consecutive weddings prior I was certainly heading to this one with a nice strong black coffee in hand but with the sun shining I knew it was going to be a ‘cracking the flags’ kind of day! I left the house and headed for the hair salon which Paige and her Bridal party were having their hair and make-up done, I arrived nice and early and as I headed inside Contour Hair Salon in Leigh I was greeted by smiling faces and a very energetic Bride. The morning was going, well, like any other wedding day I guess, until someone came running upstairs shouting “there’s a lizard on the street”. Now my initial reaction was, oh, there’s a gecko randomly on the pavement which may have escaped…oh no, it was only a bloke walking his 4 ft Monitor Lizard which brazenly headed inside shops which had their doors open! Anyway, whilst I was capturing the moment the girls realised they needed to crack on a get ready. Paige’s Mum arrived to pick up a couple of the girls who were ready and then made their way to their home where I was to follow and photograph the smaller details. Everything was pre-placed in one room to help me organise for specific shots which helps and offers me any spare time to capture documentary photos once complete. Stress began to settle in with Paige outside on the phone wondering where the remainder of her Bridal party were, 5 minutes later the girls arrived and were upstairs and back down dressed and final amendments being made.
About 30 minutes before the wedding ceremony was to begin I met up with Danny and his Best man who were greeting wedding guests and I ran through a few things with him. Paige arrived and I got a selection of photographs before setting up near the front of the aisle for the official arrival of the Bride. The wedding ceremony was lovely and included a couple of readings including one from the Bride’s Brother. Once rings were exchanged and the official signing of the register was complete the new Mr & Mrs headed back up the aisle together hand-in-hand with their family and friends watching on. I love to incorporate one photograph of everyone that is part of a wedding day and then followed by a small selection of formal groups but before all of this I gathered most people around the entrance to the church surrounding the couple but creating a tunnel like effect. With the newlyweds prepped and a countdown from 3 the happy couple were walking through a shower of confetti which (for me) is the best shot of the day. All wedding guests were invited to head to the wedding reception venue whilst I headed to Pennington Hall park with Danny and Paige for some personal photos of them together.
The sun was beaming down and the temperature was perfect…we wondered through the park getting photos with beautiful backdrops. Danny and Paige knew how it all worked and so smiled away naturally. This time with any couple is lovely as I get to know them more but I do appreciate that they don’t want to be spending their afternoon with me so I try and keep it to a minimum so they get to spend some quality time with their friends and family.
Soon we arrived at Albert’s in Worsley where drinks were at the ready but they were made aware by the wedding coordinator that there wedding guests had drunk the bar dry downstairs and proceeded to head to the upstairs bar, haha! Anyway, the afternoon included speeches offered by Paige’s Mum, Danny and Danny’s Best man. We had a little time later to get some photos outside the wedding venue but as we lost the sun the DJ setup and banging out some tunes. The cake was cut and just like that the day had turned into night and the evening celebrations were just beginning! The first dance was lovely but even more was Paige’s moment with her Mum as they swayed together on the dance floor.
It was time for me to head off and leave everyone to party hard but I had such an amazing time capturing memories for the happy couple!
