Two weekends ago I had the immense pleasure of photographing Rachel and Richard’s wedding at St George’s Church in Edgbaston and Birmingham Botanical Gardens. This wedding really did have it all; a beautiful bride, a dashing groom, military regalia, swords, (lots of) whiskey, an oompah band blasting out Britpop, two great venues plus an amazing bunch of friends and family . . . and then some!
I met up with the bridal party early on the Saturday morning at Rachel’s house with the preparations already underway. Makeup was by Gemma Clarke whilst Rob Jukes was in charge of hair. Rachel’s stunning Tara Keely wedding dress was from The Bridal Boutique Henley-in-Arden. Across town at the Five Ways Marriott Hotel the groomsmen were preparing themselves for the big day ahead with shots of whiskey and lashings of Vaseline . . . apparently it’s for the swords!
With the preparations complete Rachel made her way to St George’s in an amazing vintage styled Regent car provided by Love Wedding Cars. The ceremony, conducted by the Revd Julian Francis, was a lovely light hearted affair at the end of which Rachel and Richard made their exit from the church via a guard of honour, complete with a sword arch.
The wedding party then made their way to Birmingham Botanical Gardens for the reception where they were treated to wonderfully warming winter wedding breakfast with a lamb shank main course. Evening entertainment was provided by the oompah band from the Royal Engineers who belted out a set of Bavarian classics intermixed with some Britpop hits. It was a heady mix which got the dance floor rocking before DJ James Blond took over until the end of the evening.
I also need to say a massive thanks to lovely Amy-Rose who did an amazing job second shooting with me for the day. This is the first military wedding I’ve photographed and I have to say how much fun it was . . . and how much those forces boys can drink! Here’s a few pictures from Rachel and Richard’s big day . . .
Simon that is one amazing set, the colours are so cool let alone the photos!
Bet they love these mate
Thanks for the lovely words Steve . . . it’s much appreciated!
Simon, these are fantastic! Love the colours and you knock those dance floor shots out of the park, excellent work! If Rachel and Richard read this too, thanks for having me along, you were wonderful. All the best for the future and sorry for stacking it on your couples portraits :)
Thanks for being an excellent second shooter for the day, it was a real pleasure to have you along. Still killed it, despite stacking it!