Julie & Debbie's Civil Ceremony, Stowmarket, Suffolk

The last Wedding I photographed at Stowmarket Registry Office took place in June and was aa short civil ceremony for Debbie and Julie. I only had a short day available on this date as I had already signed up to attend a summer charity ball in the evening which fitted in perfectly with the length of coverage that Debbie and Julie were after.

This day was blessed with blue skies and sunshine and a very happy couple. I don’t think I have ever photographed a couple who beamed through the whole ceremony, photos, confetti and were just extremely happy.

These three photos were taken during their ceremony. In the last one Debbie’s ring wouldn’t go on easily as it was so warm her hands were a little larger than usual.

This one was taken after the ceremony outside the registry office.

Here’s their guests throwing confetti on the lawns outside there.


When I originally met with Julie and Debbie they had seen a photo they really loved of another civil ceremony (Laura and Naomi who I photographed back in 2006) where the dresses had come out of the photo frame. This was a little tricky to do with their photos as both Julie and Debbie had chosen to wear trousers. I have attempted to do one similar for them though with them walking into the frame which I hope they like.


This was a small and intimate day (less than 20 people) so whilst the guests went on the reception I spent a little time just photographing Debbie and Julie on their own together. I love this one of the two of them.


This last one was taken at the reception (The Limes Hotel, Needham Market) just before they went in for their meal and I left them to enjoy the rest of their day.


It was really nice to do a small wedding to end the month’s wedding and it was lovely to work with such a bubbly, happy and friendly couple. I hope that they have many happy years together. I am expecting your proof book back any day now. Once it arrives I will send this to you together with some album suggestions and we can then sort a date to get together and design your album (I’m looking forward to seeing you both again).

If you went to Debbie and Julie’s wedding and would like to view their wedding photos they are online now. They have the password which I’m sure they’ll give to you.

Jo & Mark's Wedding @ Wells-Next-The-Sea, Norfolk

The following week I photographed Jo and Mark’s Wedding at Wells-Next-TThe-Sea on the North Norfolk Coast.

Again the weather forecast wasn’t so good but in between the drizzle we did get breaks to do photos outside and we had a lovely time.

I started again with the bride getting ready whilst David again spent his time done the pub with the boys.

I love this one of Jo getting her dress on.
I also love this high contrast one of her on the stairs before we left.


It’s always the way on a wet day (especially when you are walking to the church) that it would start raining (more the sort of drizzle that soaks you unexpectedly) just as we were heading over for the ceremony - something known as Sod's Law I think!!! Fortunately we always carry a couple of giant white umbrellas for such occasions so, no catastrophe occurred, we got one out for Jo and kindly one of the ushers kept her dry.
Here’s Jo and her dad before they walked up the aisle.
The ceremony was lovely and they even had a touring Belgium choir sing for them. After the service Jo and Mark had hired two old fashioned red double decker buses to take guests down to the beach for ice cream. Like all good plans, the rain meant that we weren’t sure if they would get to eat their ice creams on the beach so instead guests were given them as they got on the buses. Here’s some taken on the buses.


Once we arrived at the beach it was still drizzling. Although Jo and Mark were happy to still go down to the beach they weren’t so sure their guests would want to get wet so I did a group shot of them in front of each of the buses and the guests waving from steamed up windows!


They needn’t have worried – their friends and family were happy to come down on the beach anyway and thankfully although it remained overcast the rain stopped for a while. For anyone who knows Wells-Next-The-Sea you will be aware that in the height of the summer the beach and car parks etc can be heaving with people. Here’s where a wet day really helped us, due to the rain most people stayed away from the coast which meant it looked like this was their own private beach! Here’s just a small selection to have a peep at.





I love this black and white and colour mix with the beach huts. We also used the beach huts for some of the group shots.


When it came to photographing Jo with the bestman and ushers they decided they wanted to pick her up. I love this photo of them. Needless to say Mark didn’t want to be left out so we did the same shot with him and the bestman and ushers which was very funny.



After we’d spent a little time on the beach we had to make our way back to the buses which drove us to The Crown (also at Wells) where the meal and evening entertainment was taking place. As we arrived back for the reception, a couple of brave guests threw a little confetti which thankfully I managed to catch on camera.


In the evening I took one of Jo and Mark without flash to capture the atmosphere and the glow from The Crown which worked really well.


This is another wedding where although it was a very long day (we had to set off at 8am in the morning and weren’t home again ‘til gone midnight) it was well worth it and we enjoyed every minute of sharing in their celebrations. Again, another wonderful couple, great guests and a brilliant time had by all. I’m really looking forward to designing the album with the two of you when you are back this way at the end of August. I am expecting your proof book back this week so will be sending you this soon together with some album suggestions.

If you went to Jo and Mark’s wedding (or you couldn’t make it but would still like to see the photos) and you would like to view their wedding photos they are online now. I’m sure they’ll give you the password to have a peek at them.

Laura & John's Wedding photographed @ Bedford Lodge Hotel, Newmarket, Suffolk

The next wedding I photographed in June was Laura and John’s Wedding which we photographed at Bedford Lodge Hotel, Newmarket, Suffolk.

The forecast for this wedding had been terrible rain and thunderstorms so we had all our fingers and toes crossed that the weather forecast may be wrong. Thankfully, although we got a couple of showers and very black skies we had very little rain which meant that we could enjoy being outside.

I started off with Laura during the getting ready whilst David was photographing the groom down the pub with his friends. The men seem to relax more with David than they ever do with me at the pub – here’s them messing about – when asked to do a group shot in a line-up they did a football style pose for him!

Meanwhile, I was back at the hotel and just before they were about to leave the room to go down for the ceremony they all had champagne. Laura drank her bubbly through a straw so that she didn’t ruin her lipstick which the make-up artist had just finished.

Here’s Laura and her dad before they came in for the ceremony.

The afternoon was spent in the gardens playing garden games, drinking and eating canapés. We did our group shots during this time. Just before they came in for their meal David took a photo of Laura coming up the stairs into the reception which I adore – it looks like she’s in some kind of time warp (all done in the camera – no photoshoping on this image!).

The speeches at this wedding were very funny. During the father-of-the-bride speech John and his bestman mirrored each other almost perfectly and completely unintentionally which was great to watch.

After dinner I took Laura and John for a short wander to do some photographs of just the two of them. It was just the right time of year for the roses and it looked almost as though Laura had planned them to fit in perfectly with her colour scheme.

Laura’s flowers were very beautiful with lots of elaborate table decorations. Here’s a couple of photos. One of her bouquet and the other of the table centre pieces (this one was taken during the dancing hence the disco light colours!).

Tiffany (of Tiffany’s Flowers in Cambridge) did all the floristry for them. I did promise Tiffany I would send her a CD of the images with the flowers in - I haven’t forgotten about you honest I just haven’t managed to get round to putting these on a CD to you yet. I will get one sent in the next week or so!

In the evening as a surprise Laura and John had arranged for some sumo suits to be put out so that the guests could wrestle in them. The next couple of photos are of John and his bestman wrestling.

This was great fun to watch and really helped pass the time when guests often get bored after dinner waiting for the evening entertainment and was a great plan – I hope to see more of this kind of thing at future weddings. Laura was also brave enough to have a go even in her wedding dress. Here’s her looking ready to go and then just her toes poking out after she was wrestled to the ground (by one of the bridesmaids rather than John!).

When the time came for the first dance we were not disappointed. Laura and John had learnt a dance routine which seemed to go perfectly. It even had a lift involved in it!

This really was an interesting and fun wedding to work at. It helped that Laura, John, their families and friends were all fab to work with as well as being really lovely people. We wish you both all the best for a long and happy marriage. I am looking forward to seeing you both in a few weeks time to design your album with you.

If you attended Laura and John’s Wedding and would like to view their wedding photos they are online now. They have the password which I’m sure they’ll give to you.

Jackie and Mark's Wedding - Kings Lynn Town Hall and Briarfields, Titchwell

The first wet wedding of many that I shot in June was Jackie and Mark'sWedding which we photographed at Kings Lynn Town Hall which is a grand building with a beautiful window.

During the ceremony the couple had already prepared me that their little West Highland Terrier was going to be the ring bearer. When it came to the ring exchange part Oscar (the dog) came rushing up the aisle with his walker trying to hold him back. He was so excited to see them both and very well behaved considering how many people were there. He sat patiently and quietly through the rest of the service. What an adorable dog Oscar is!

I love this one of the two of them as they've just finished walking down the aisle together.

The staff at Kings Lynn Town Hall were brilliant about the wet weather and let us use one of their grand adjoining rooms so that we could do the group shots indoors. Whilst we did the group shots the guests went on to their reception which was at wedding reception at Briarfields Hotel, Titchwell. Just as I was about to leave with Jackie and Mark I noticed that the chairs from the ceremony had been cleared and we had a huge window to use. Here are a couple of photos taken here. David took the close up whilst I took the full length one.

When we reached the reception it was still raining so all the guests were indoors which in my opinion does have its advantages as everyone mingles with each other far better in confined spaces!

During a couple of breaks in the rain (drizzle rather than heavy rain) we did venture outside to do the confetti and a couple of group shots (I am so pleased that the guests and the couple were still willing to go out in the rain as it's made for some lovely vibrant photos).

I also took Jackie and Mark outside for a couple of photos of the two of them on their own. They certainly didn't let the rain ruin their day and we are always willing to go out in the rain to get fab photos.

By the evening it was still wet - after the speeches Jackie and Mark had organised for Mark's band to have a kind of jamming session in the bar area to keep the guests entertained whilst the disco set up and evening guests arrived. This worked really well and the time in between dinner and the disco flew by.

This is one of the first weddings we have worked at where we had the pleasure of working with a fab videographer team who I feel it is only right to mention. Andy and Linda of Any Occasions Videography were fab. They worked with us (rather than against us which believe it or not is quiet rare as often videographers want them same shots so just set up huge tripods in front of us!) which was a real treat. They are sending me a copy of Jackie and Mark's final DVD to have a look at so I'm looking forward to seeing the end results. We are certainly hoping that we will work with them again in the future - their details are on my website if you are looking for informal and relaxed videographers for your day. Please mention us if you do go on to contact them.

I took a sneaky one of Andy (the videographer) when he was filming the disco before the first dance. It reminds me of a scene in one of the Star Wars films and makes me smile.

Both Jackie and Mark love music and dancing. This one was taken during their first dance and the second photo was taken as the disco was well underway.



If you attended Jackie and Mark's Wedding and would like to view their wedding photos
they are now online (they have the password)

After I sent Jackie and Mark the details of how to view their images they sent me the following e-mail the next day:

'Hayley...OH WOW!

Have checked out the pictures - several times already - and they are absolutely amazing!! You have both done such a fantastic job. Mark and I had the most amazing day. It was packed with sentiment, crazy madness and awesome fun and every picture captures the atmosphere perfectly.

How on earth we will determine which ones go in the album is absolutely beyond me...they are all so great.

I can't wait to get together to finalise the album.

Thank you both so much.

Kindest regards

Jackie and Mark'


We really appreciate e-mails like this as it's nice to know that you are all happy with the end results we're producing. I am looking forward to seeing them both again soon to design their album with them. A great couple to work who we wish all the happiness for their future together. We hope that they stay in touch with their future news.