That was May that was

OK, I know it's not actually over yet but gosh what a month it's been! We covered four great weddings, one of which was Alyson and Mark's bid for the title "Longest Christian Wedding Ceremony Ever With Most Choral Music", the order of service for which ran to 16 closely-typeset A5 pages. That's now featured as one of the complete weddings on the pictures page of our main site.

We presented another seminar on wedding photography, this time in Dorset, and the two-day workshop we've organised in August with two seriously good wedding photographers from the States has now sold out. The current edition of the Master Photographers Association magazine has a three page article about us in it, and we're rather bemused by the fact that the editor's caption to two of our pictures says that they "clearly involve some arrangement" of the subjects when in fact they're our usual as-it-happens documentary shots ...

We've managed to get up to speed with some new software and further improve our workflow, and we've met with some interesting people in interesting places - including the 32nd floor of one of the glass towers in Canary Wharf.

Unfortunately I can't show you a picture of the amazing view of the Thames from the top because we ... erm ... didn't have a camera with us :(

Ann's Pudding Picture #16

Once again we're not sure now what it was, but this was the pud at Becky and John's wedding breakfast at The Commissioner's House, Chatham Dockyard

Wedding Videos

Fortunately, not many of our clients book a professional videographer. Maybe two or three a year, and then usually just to keep mum happy.

For the last seven years we've always tried to work in harmony with pro videographers, but more often than not we've come back from the gig intent upon making a Plasticine model of the videographer and getting out the pins. The only exception that springs to mind is Leo Ferenc of Perfect Day Studios with whom it's always a pleasure to work.

However, after the last wedding at which we had a pro video crew we've reluctantly decided that enough is enough. Unless they get carried away on the day, we usually have no problem with a guest videoing the ceremony and speeches, but we're no longer prepared to work with a professional videographer unless we know for sure that he or she won't compromise our coverage of the day. In practice that means one with whom we've worked before or who comes highly recommended by fellow wedding photographers.

Rather Unusual Weddings - cont'd

Denny and Brian got married yesterday. After a very nice service in a lovely old village church, the reception was held in the grounds of a country house with a string quartet playing while 120 guests enjoyed their drinks and posh nibbles. The stars of the show had bags of time for socialising before the wedding breakfast, which was a very laid back but otherwise perfectly normal three-course meal in a marquee .

What was not perfectly normal about Denny and Brian's wedding was that they had ...

No bridesmaids

No best man

No ushers

No formal photos

No receiving line

No favours

No wedding cake

No bar

No DJ or band and

No evening guests

I was going to say that they also didn't have any speeches, but Brian did in fact make a short one with Denny standing by his side before the meal kicked off.

The absence of many of the usual trappings wasn't down to budget in this case but to the couple's wish for nothing more than a really relaxed and enjoyable wedding day surrounded by friends and family, which is precisely what they got. And for what it's worth, we're now convinced that for some couples at least, this is definitely the way to go ...

PS This was the wedding at which the catering manager greeted the bride as she entered the marquee with a gushing "Oh Denny you look absolutely ravishing". Or rather he thought he did. What he actually said was "Oh Denny you look absolutely ravenous" :)

Another cool invitation

Here's the invitation to Verity and Bo's wedding this summer, complete with a handy removable listing of local accomodation and taxi firms, plus map, wedding list details and the all-important RSVP card ...

A Rather Unusual Wedding

Earlier this month we photographed a wedding which involved among other things 2 wedding co-ordinators, 2 sound engineers, 7 video cameras, a jazz quartet, an 8-piece brass section, tympani and 2 percussionists, a world-class viola player and a 40-piece professional choir, all conducted by John Rutter - a man widely acclaimed as the greatest living composer and conductor of choral music.

The total time from Alyson setting off up the aisle on her father's arm to exiting the church on Mark's was exactly 2 hours 50 minutes, and the pictures are now on the pictures page of our main site. It's the bottom one of the complete weddings.

Coach and horses

No picture I'm afraid because we haven't done the editing yet from Saturday's wedding, but I wanted to point out that Westways Carriage Horses are now added to our supplier links on here.

And why might that be? It's not just because the coach and pair that took Alyson to the church was turned out absolutely immaculately in every respect, as were both coachman and groom, and driven so expertly.

What sold me on David West and his company was the way in which he doffed his hat and held it properly whilst the bride got into and out of the carriage, exactly as he would have done in Victorian times.

Never seen a coachman do that before, and it's such a nice touch. Their website's interesting too!

Ann's Pudding Picture #15

Just realised that we haven't had a Pudding Picture for ages, so for connoiseurs of the art here's one from Vanessa and Nils' wedding last month at Nutfield Priory. We can't remember what it was but it looked very nice!

What happens if ... ?

From time to time, we get asked the perhaps inevitable "What happens if one of you breaks a leg or gets struck by lightning?". We always explain that we have A Plan for any eventuality, but point out that in well over 300 weddings we've never had to use it. Well sure enough ...

Guess who woke up last Thursday feeling wretched and by Friday was sporting a really horrible rash. "Have you had chickenpox?" said the doctor. "Yes thanks" said I. "Well congratulations. You've got it again" said she. "I'm glad we don't have a wedding this weekend" said Ann.

To cut a long story short, by Sunday morning we had in place a contingency plan to cover this Saturday's wedding in the event that one or both of us can't, and a bride not only fully aware of the situation here but totally cool about it. In fact her exact words were

"Since you have been by far the most organised, thorough and communicative of all my suppliers, I am not in the least concerned and look forward to seeing the outcome on Saturday!"

So as of now I still don't know if I'll be presentable enough to turn out for the gig, but if I'm not, the wedding coverage will still be just fine with Ann ably supported by our pals Richard and Sarah, who are totally up to speed with all the details and ready to go.

It's nice to know that The Plan actually worked, and worked so well too: within 24 hours of putting out a call for help, we had a total of 9 experienced professional wedding photographers ready and willing to help out on a really demanding big London wedding.

Thanks guys. You know we'll do the same for you.