A short tale of a French family, an English family, a couple with a new baby on a short hop over from Malaysia, some of the wackiest group shots I've ever taken... and a wedding cake made entirely from cheese!
When Jez and Rosie first asked me to shoot their wedding, I was thrilled not only because they were the lovelies, funniest, most laid-back young couple, but also because it was a chance to shoot at the Zetter Hotel, at Islington Town Hall, AND at the fun and funky Artisan of Clerkenwell.
The boys got the day off to a great start with that classic combo; champagne and hankie-folding.
Zetter's is a fantastic boutique hotel in the heart of trendy Clerkenwell. Having taken a few healthy drafts of bubbly, the boys were more than happy to gad about the corridors to make the most of such an unusual and eclectic location.
Rosie, meanwhile, was busy getting ready at the Holiday Inn, having opted for space and comfort over funky furniture. After all, she had the baby, and the rest of the family to think about.
... including a certain young lady who would later on be quite the spirit of the party, but for now, was a little less than enthusiastic about having her hair done !
There's something so moving about a father giving away his daughter, the pride in his eyes, his joy at her happiness, and at the same time, the sweet sadness of letting go of the most precious person to you.
From those heart-stopping last few moments of anticipation....
...to that perfect moment of recognition and love, where you know you committed to the right person!
Islington Town Hall has one of the finest marble staircases of any London town hall, offset as it is by the wonderful green panelling.
And what really makes a London wedding, is a classic London Routemaster Bus
With just a little bit of retro fun
And then it came to the group shots, and a whole different kind of unexpected fun started to happen. After mucking around on the bus - a big kid's thrill for everyone - not least the photographer who got the chance to break some of the H&S rules - we were left with limited time, in a courtyard that wasn't all that interesting or well lit. Then I had an idea and had a chat with the Maitre D at Zetter's and was pleasantly surprised to discover they were more than happy about letting us use their lovely Georgian town house to shoot group portraits. Provided we were quick. With a lightning five minute lighting set up, which took me back to some of my most dramatic commercial shoots, I was left with a whole new task. Shoot the group shots quick AND can we do something different, something less boring, something a bit wacky and off the wall? Well asking a photographer these things is like candy to a baby... You want wacky, you got it!
The less formal side of formals. Heheh. Okay, great. Now give me Charlie's Angels...
Excellent, excellent, now can we have a family punch-up? Can you all try and murder each other?
Not often you get the chance to say that at a Wedding, right? But it resulted in one of my favourite ever group shots, and, one of Jez and Rosie's favourite shots from the day too!
Then it was into The Artisan for the reception, where certain small people were starting to look a little tired.
While other small people were full of beans!
I'll admit, this was my first ever time witnessing the best man's speech as powerpoint demonstration. But as it was part of an interactive quiz involving everyone there, and testing their knowledge on some of their funnier memories of Jez and Rosie, it was far different from any powerpoint demo I'd ever seen before.
Jerome is half-French, which goes a long way to explaining his love of cheese, a love that somehow found it's way into the couple's layer cake. Yes, you read that right. A wedding cake made entirely of French cheeses!
Do please feel free to leave a comment, if you enjoyed these pictures, and thanks for reading.
x
Adam