I’d been looking forward to Christy & Jame’s wedding for ages. They were tying the knot in a Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony at the incredibly beautiful St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Bayswater. I have been to the Cathedral several times over the years both as a wedding guest and as a wedding photographer but the last time was a long while ago when I was still shooting on film. I was really excited to be shooting there again and on digital this time. Now with my super-fast Canon lenses and high ISO capabilities, I could, at last capture the true beauty of the interior of the church.
The thing that makes my job so fantastic is the people I meet and, even if only for one day, I get to share with them their hopes and dreams. When I first met Christy and James it was very clear that family was really important to them as a couple, consequently there were so many aspects of their day that were all about family.
Another thing I remembered about our first meeting to discuss their plans was Chirsty’s wedding book - to say it’s a ‘book’ kind of belittles it; it’s more like a wedding bible! She and James were childhood sweethearts and have been in each others lives for fourteen years. They had been engaged for around five years and during this time, not only had they been blessed a beautiful son, George, but Christy had amounted a huge amount of ideas and information on “the perfect wedding”. The book contained so many ideas on flowers, dresses, suits and lots of finer details concerned with the planning of the day. I thought it was a masterstroke and promptly went running to the nearest WH Smith to buy something that I could stuff all my wedding thoughts and ideas into.
The first page of her book was a picture taken from the film, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and with it a quote from the film: “Okay, life’s a fact, people DO fall in love, people DO belong to each other, because that’s the only chance anybody’s got for real happiness”. I knew then, I had a fellow romantic on my hands. Shooting Christy’s pictures was going to be a lot of fun.
One thing that the book couldn’t illustrate is just how personal many of the touches in the wedding were. Christy pinned a gold locket containing pictures of her grandmothers on her bouquet (which was made by a member of the family) and it was hand tied using the ribbon from her old ballet shoes. She wore a beautiful bracelet given to her by her grandmother and carried with her a silver crucifix, a 30th birthday present from her parents.
Surrounded by all her bridesmaids, Christy spend a leisurely few hours preparing for the ceremony and it was here at the gorgeous Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington where I started the shoot. I really hope I get to work there again, it’s a great place and its location to the stunning Kensington Gardens couldn’t be more ideal.
Here are some of my favourite moments from a wonderful day…
The very cute, George!
As Christy’s best woman placed the crowns on the couple’s heads, one crown accidentally fell. Afterwards she felt bad about it as she thought the accident might have ruined their moment – in fact, I think it made the moment, I would have never got this beautiful image of the couple laughing had this not happened.
The couple take their first married steps.
We stopped off on the way to the reception for some pictures, the light was beautiful in Kensington Gardens.
I wanted to give the couple a picture reminiscent of the type of shot Christy’s Greek Cypriot relations may have had taken years ago. Christy had lots and lots of framed family pictures at the reception and I don’t think this picture would look out of place on that table.
Christy toasts with some girlfriends at The Royal Garden Hotel
My favourite picture of the day.
James had arranged a suprise for Christy – Britain’s Got Talent’s Stavros Flatley.
Judging by Christy’s reaction – I think she was suprised!
The evening continued with a lot of Greek dancing, it was so much fun to shoot.
As is traditional, the bride and groom dance the ‘money dance’, as their guests pin money to their outfits.
Congratulations Christy & James
If you were a guest at their wedding you can register to see the pictures once the bride and groom have seen them by clicking HERE.
To the regular viewers of this blog – This post is a bumper edition, as it will be my last big one for a few weeks. I have a deadline in which to complete my book and this will not leave much time to do anything else.
Please feel free to use the comment button – I read each one and find them so encouraging.
Kerry xxx
by Kerry Morgan
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