Ceremony shots - civil weddings

This is Lavinia and she's happy. She's happy because she's just walked up the aisle and turned to face the guy she's marrying. And she was happy afterwards too, because we got this picture and plenty of other great ceremony shots.

Lavinia was married at Turkey Mill near Maidstone, so it was Kent registrars who officiated, and as usual they had no problem with us taking the pictures during the ceremony.

Unfortunately, not all places are as enlightened as Kent, which has an official policy of normally allowing professional photography during the ceremony.

One notorious example is a certain castle in Gloucestershire, at which the registrars are graciously pleased to allow the official photographer one shot with a long lens from the back of the very long ceremony room. Another is the Sussex registrar who, when we last had the misfortune to work with him, forbade photography during the ceremony then camped it up to the point of holding hands with both bride and groom, before bowing low to kiss the bride's hand ...

So before this turns into a rant about egocentric registrars, let's just say that if pictures during a civil ceremony are important to you, do please talk to us about this as early as possible in your planning process.