Yesterday saw me travelling to South Shields for my final wedding of 2008, the wedding of Victoria & Kieran at the Little Haven Hotel. Vic is the sister of a former work colleague and that, coupled with the fact that I’m not going to be photographing any more weddings before the new year, made me determined to go out with a big bang!
I met up with Vic, preparing at her Mum’s house after returning from having her hair and makeup done. She’d also received a card from Kieran, and she was busy reading this when I first arrived.
Flowers (along with chair covers and a starlight curtain for the venue!) were provided by the exceptionally talented Flower Boutique of South Shields:
Just as Vic finshed putting her dress on, the clouds shifted, the sun started to break through and the excitement was ever-so slightly noticeable. The dress had a full train that looked absolutely stunning whichever way you looked at it. Vic positively glowed, and barely showed a trace of nerves.
In the meantime, groom Kieran was already at The Little Haven Hotel in South Shields. Some of the evidence that was left lying around the room clearly showed that he’d been doing some last minute preparations! He was joined outside later by Best Man, Mark, and page boy Dylan.
The ceremony itself went off without a hitch. More than one person commented on how emotional Kieran looked as he caught sight of his bride for the first time, though it’s not hard to see why!
The timings of the day ensured that we had plenty of time inbetween the ceremony and the reception for taking photographs of the happy couple. After the group photographs, and a chance to mingle with their guests, I took Vic & Kieran to their honeymoon suite for some photographs of them as a newly-married couple.
After a brief pause, everyone was called through to be seated for the wedding breakfast. The speeches were all very memorable, with Uncle Ken in particular dispensing some invaluable advice in how to keep Vic quiet when trying to watch the football (you need a knitting needle, apparently!)
I realised, after the meal, that I’d not yet managed to grab a picture of Victoria’s wedding shoes. Turned out that I was lucky: She’d already taken them off to give her feet a bit of a rest!
After the meal, and before the evening reception had started, I managed to persuade Vic & Kieran to follow me into the night for a few final portraits. It was starting to rain, the wind was picking up and I think we’d all admit that it was on the cold side, but we managed to grab a few more shots before heading back in!
The evening reception followed in the high spirits of the rest of the day - guests were kept entertained by a great DJ and filled with wonderful food both from the buffet provided by The Little Haven and also from a chocolate fountain. Before everyone was too filled up, the happiest of happy couples took to the floor for their first dance. Some people couldn’t be dragged away from the chocolate however!
Before I left, I was given a reminder of why I love photographing weddings so much: A personalised card from the Bride & Groom, thanking me for my beautiful photographs, before I’d even left the venue! Small touches like that remind me how I know that I’ve got the very best job in the world!
The rest of the photographs will be available in due course, after Vic & Kieran return from their honeymoon. Please contact me if you’d like to be notified when this is.