Heather and Matt had a Quaker ceremony at Frenchay Quaker Meeting House in Bristol, followed by a "festival" style reception at Winterbourne Medieval Barn, complete with bowling, ice creams, a bit of theatre, and some (well-timed) torrential rain.
Phil & Claire had their wedding in the "castle", a historic mansion house which makes up part of the National Museum of Welsh Life in Cardiff. Its a huge site, covered in old reclaimed buildings from across Wales, which are taken to pieces and completely rebuilt on the site of the museum. After the ceremony and afternoon tea all the guests then walked through the grounds across to the Blackwood Miners' Institute building for the evening party.
Stephanie and Peter got married at Nant Gwrtheyrn, a former quarrying village on the northern coast of the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales. Its an amazing place - most of the guests (and myself) were able to stay on the site in the restored cottages which made the morning preparation pictures particularly good fun to do. The chapel and hall were also all within the secluded village, looking out over the sea.
The amazing venue, fantastic weather, laid back vibe and lots of kids made this a really great wedding to shoot.
I'm hoping to go back there again as soon as possible!
I'm a photographer living in the UK. That means I get to shoot pictures in the rain. A lot.
Its just one of those things you have to accept that you have no control over. It doesn't matter which month you plan your wedding for, there's always the chance that it won't be the perfect hot, sunny day you dreamt about.
But it doesn't have to spoil your wedding pictures.
If you book a photographer who is reliant on shooting lots of posed, beautifully lit, carefully arranged pictures, using the designated "photo opportunities" of the venue, then that photographer has a problem when the weather is bad. If you want that kind of photography then you need to make sure your chosen photographer can do it inside as well as outside.
Because I don't work like that, the weather doesn't really have any effect on the way | photograph a wedding. If it rains, then the pictures will show that. And everyone will spend most of the day indoors anyway, where I can shoot in my standard documentary style with no problem at all.
When people are outside, like in these pictures from Huntsham Court in Devon, the rain can sometimes add to the photography. Here the colourful umbrellas contrast nicely with the deep greens of the surrounding gardens.
There's no point trying to pretend that the weather was nice by avoiding showing it in the pictures. The whole point of the photography is to record the day as it was, and help you remember it for years to come.
So, if you're going to get stressed out about something, don't make it the weather - there's nothing you can do to change it!
For me, wedding photography is all about capturing the real emotions of a wedding day. Its not about asking couples to pose and "look happy". Its about genuine moments. Moments which will become lasting memories.
Here are two from the same wedding day - two extremes of emotion, captured and recorded with no need for me to do anything other than be in the right place at the right time. No fancy technique or photoshop trickery - just awareness, positioning and timing.