When I met Freya & Chris a month before their wedding to go through the details for their wedding day, I had no idea what was to greet me. I can honestly say I’ve never been to a wedding that had so much love & plain hard work lavished on it. Organising weddings is hard enough, but Freya & Chris had not only organised their wedding but made a huge amount of it themselves. From the groom & groomsmen’s ties, to the invitations & the organic toilets, they had a vision of what they wanted & managed to totally fulfil it, very impressive. You’ll be able to see from my photos below just what I mean.
Starting with Freya at their Sussex home, I found her having her makeup done by Tabby her bridesmaid, while Ruth & Jessie, with Freya’s mum Clara, were sorting the bouquets. I talk about using beautiful light a lot, & it was great to have some really lovely soft light bouncing round the house giving all of them lovely skin tones. Freya’s dad Simon turned up which gave me a wonderful opportunity to photograph him seeing Freya in her dress for the first time. They say that father’s have a particular relationship with their daughters, but I would say that daughters do with their mums too, but it is often quite different & photographing Simon come in and see Freya in her dress for the first time was wonderful. It’s moments like that that remind me why I love shooting weddings.
I headed over to the church to find it totally packed to the rafters. There were even guests sitting where the choir would usually sit. Rev’d Michael looked a bit bemused, but took it all very much in his stride. After a beautiful service, complete with French horn & violin, we all walked out into gorgeous summer sunshine.
After confetti made up of Indian bougainvillea petals, Freya & Chris drove off in a vintage Daimler. We all followed in a big procession along the small country roads. It’s hard to know if Graffham has ever seen so many people & cars.
Once at Simon & Clara’s home, with their huge garden hosting the festivities, I had a good wander round photographing everything and everyone. As a Sussex wedding photographer I don’t think I’ve ever seen quite so many different themed areas in one marquee wedding.
After much drinking & lovely canapés it was time for the tug of war. Freya’s team won consistently, much to the annoyance of the groomsmen! I managed to take Chris & Freya off at this point to get some shots of just the two of them. Here’s where doing a visit to all the locations a month or so before the wedding really comes into its own. I’d had a good look round the whole of Simon & Clara’s garden, but it wasn’t until Simon & I walked down a path round the side of the garden that I really found what I was looking for. A fantastic, beautifully lit field away from the wedding where Freya & Chris could relax & enjoy being together while I photographed them. They were so happy together, the results speak for themselves.
The speeches were lovely & the guests happy & content, it pretty much felt like a mini festival to celebrate Freya & Chris’s marriage. However, one of the best bits was yet to come. When Freya & Chris went on to the dance floor I knew they had been working on something the night before. They danced together and then suddenly they parted and Chris went up to one end of the dance floor and Freya the other, the groomsmen rushed on and Freya ran at Chris and dived and was lifted up over their heads. She was then spun round to the obvious shock & delight of everyone around them, some of the expressions were fantastic! They were then followed on to the dance floor by everyone who had taken advantage of the Trunk of Oblivion, which contained clothing guests had brought with them & put in the trunk…oblivion, because they wouldn’t ever see the clothes they had put in again! Check out the photos to see some of the great outfits it all lead to.
Thanks to Simon & Clara for their help & hospitality & particularly the wonderful afternoon I spent with them all going through the wedding plans. Of course I also need to thank Freya & Chris for choosing me to photograph one of my favourite weddings of the year!