How time flies, so does your wedding day!
"The wedding of Matt & Cath", the words on everyone's invites 6 months ago!
And I cannot believe we've been married 6 months already.
So, as a wedding photographer, here's a quick insight to my day, along with any hints and tips I picked up on the day!
Venue: All Saints Hotel, Fornham St Martin, Bury St Edmunds
So first of all, a quick about us.
Catherine & I met online. She lived in the Philippines and to cut a long story short, once we matched, we didn't stop talking. I was lucky enough to spend 4 weeks in the Philippines in between photographing weddings and just knew she was the one and proposed!
The road to be together was a big hurdle, getting a visa to be in the UK was very difficult, so we actually had a relatively short engagement of around 7 months, so we could be together.
As you may know 7 months isn't very long to plan a wedding, but if anyone can you would hope a wedding photographer with tons of experience can (and luckily I did.)
Not to downplay the importance of weddings, but I go to SO many weddings every year, I personally didn't want a big wedding and only wanted family, Catherine also wanted a small intimate wedding.
Being a recommended supplier at All Saints Hotel we spoke to Melissa knowing they had a small room called the Snug which was absolutely perfect for what we wanted. It had a large banquet table for our meal, along with built in speakers in the ceiling for a disco in the evening, plus a TV so I could play messages from Catherines family and friends who couldn't make the wedding from the Philippines. Melidssa and the team at ASH were great. Melissa even managed to serve us with a broken arm. That's dedictaion for you!
Once the venue is booked, everything flows from there.
Photography is usually booked next, I couldn't book myself. But a big thank you goes to my sister who is luckily also a photographer, was willing to do it alongside our part time assistant Jess. Therefore my Dad John was able to have a wedding off and enjoy being father of the Groom.
So that's the set up.
Here's our day:
The Father & Son duo having a day off and being on the other side the camera.
Catherine getting ready for our big day.
We got married at Bury St Edmunds registry office. A big "thank you" to Suffolk Registrars who we work with so frequently!
As a groom I wanted to make sure my bride's day was as stress free as possible.
Plus being a photographer I still had some bits I had to do.
My sister although doing the photography wasn't 100% sure how to work all my microphones. So I was still stressing on getting the videos ready.
And as mentioned earlier, Catherine's family and friend's couldn't make it all the way from the Philippines, so we live streamed it on facebook.
So, even though I've done 100s of weddings, it was still my wedding day and being pressed for time, my mind went blank just remembering Catherine's pin on her phone to share on her facebook live!
This is one of the experiences from getting married I would share, is just how quick the day goes.
What I thought was only 2/3 minutes 15-20 minutes had flown by just setting up cameras and facebook live. Then before I knew it, my bride was about to walk down the aisle.
All the emotions then flood to you along with some tears when you see them walking down the aisle and I'd say most weddings we do it's us men who tear up. So don't say we don't have emotions ladies!
Another thing you may or may not know is you no longer sign the register (for a wedding photographer it was always a "must get" shot). You sign a schedule on the day and receive your certificate by post. Therefore we can only really get a table shot with your witnesses now.
Bury St Edmunds Registry office
After the registry office we went in the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds for our confetti and group photos.
This in itself was stressful in the build up. It was December so we were worried about the cold and all morning the forecast was rain! But luckily it never rained and we were sheltered from the wind so it never actually felt to cold.
But if it had rained, this is England, so never let it spoil your day, of course the back up plan is to do photos indoors, you just have to roll with what you get in the UK.
Everyone then headed to the venue, so Catherine and I had our romantic couple photos.
If you have a wedding with us or even had, you know we do a thing called 'unposed' we play games and try and capture natural reactions so you don't know the camera is on you. Unfortunately I know of all my own prompts so my sister had to come up with new prompts.
Again advice with this is although there's a photographer there, take the time to embrace being with each other before being the centre or attention again with your guests all wanting to talk to you!
Off to All Saint's Hotel
We had welcome drinks and had the chance to catch up with guests.
Catherine & I also allowed 10 minutes in our schedule to just head to our hotel room and have some time alone. We opened a few cards and just had a sit down, but it was nice... as quick as it was.
We had a travel theme due to the distance and travel we've taken to be with each other.
It was then time for speeches!
We did a terrible job on timing for this, we allowed 20-30 minutes, instead it took nearly an hour! (oops)
Catherines family and many of her friends had done a video congratulating us on our marriage.
I then received the customary Groom's roast from my 2 best men (all in good spirits) followed by our dinner.
It was then time for cake and cupcakes (all made by my Mum) followed by our reception.
Photo Booth
Included with most of our photography packages is our photo booth. So of course a photo booth had to be at our wedding which always goes down a treat.
Coming to the end off my 6 month anniversary blog, I have to mention the blooper that happened to my camera. (Don't worry this camera has been replaced now) but the lesson was learned to never leave camers lying around when kids are playing haha.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my wedding.
If you have come across us for the first time and are looking into wedding photography I hope you've got to know us a bit more. We love being part of a couple's day and capturing your memories.
I of course have to mention the current offer we have. £300 off our bundle of wedding photography, photo booth and a highlight video. We'd love to talk to you if this is something you are interested in.
Thanks to all my family and friends who made our day so special.
I still can't believe it's been 6 months since our wedding. But time flies when you're having fun with your best friend.
Happy 6 months Catherine! XXX
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Matt and John.
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