Amber & Jeremy's Wedding photographed @ The Old Rectory, Great Melton

The last shoot in July I photographed was Amber and Jeremy's wedding which took place at The Old Rectory, Great Melton

They had their ceremony at St Nicholas' Church, Dereham (a gorgeous, large church where we had the pleasure of photographing Bronwen and Ian's Wedding there two and a half years ago) followed by a reception at The Old Rectory, Great Melton, Norfolk.

We only had one short spell of rain at this wedding whilst I had taken them off for a wander in the woods - thankfully the canopy protected us and we only got a couple of spots (It is apparently meant to be good luck to have rain on your wedding day which I am sure a lot of the brides will be pleased to hear this year!)

Here's a few photos of Amber before she comes in to the ceremony with her dad

and then a few taken in the ceremony

If you're studying the photos closely you may notice that there is a weird reflection behind Amber and Jeremy - this has been caused by a panel of glass that runs across the wood but with the bright sunlight coming through the stained glass you can obviously see the reflection of this.
This wedding had a beautiful country theme to it and Jeremy's mum had spent hours making metres and metres of bunting to go up everywhere. I'm sure you'll agree that it looked fab.

Amber's mum also did a little bunting and hers were all butterflies.

This really was a wedding where they had a lot of individual finishing touches which were really sweet. The favours the guests had were all shortbread biscuits that had been made and iced by Amber and her mum.

Many of the flowers used had come from Amber's mums garden and looked superb spread throughout and outside the marquee.

When I went off for my wander with Amber and Jeremy as I said previously it rained. I think this added to the photos in a way though as we got some superb light and the greens really glowed beautifully. Here are just a few of their photos.

When we got back to the guests it was time for their meal. They had decided to do the cake cutting (as it was to be served as pudding) and the speeches before the meal which went really well. Here's some photos of their superb cake which smelt fantastic together with a photo of a slice of cake after it'd been cut.

In the evening, they had a band playing and one end of the marquee had beautiful star-lit (not sure if this is what you call it) material to create the illusion of stars - I think it works really well.

I love this one of Jeremy singing to Black Velvet!

If you attended Amber and Jeremy's Wedding and would like to view their wedding photos they are online now and I am sure they will give you the password to look at them.

After seeing the photos Amber sent me the following e-mail:

'Thank you so much! They're lovely! Only had a chance to look through them on my own so far but cant wait to sit down with Jeremy and the family to decide which ones to have! You really have captured everything, I love the ones of everyone in the pub and at Church before I arrived, and thanks for leaving out the ones of me crying all the way up the aisle, through the hymns, through my vows etc etc etc!! I'd recommend you to anyone! Thanks again, Amber x'

Thanks for sending this Amber - we love getting wonderful e-mails, it makes all the hours spent on photos worthwhile and helps to keep us motivated! We'd like to wish Amber and Jeremy all the best for their future together. I'm sure they'll go on to have many happy times ahead of them - I also look forward to seeing you both at Donna and Nick's Wedding in September and hearing from you soon regarding your prints selection

Deb & Dave's Wedding Blessing photographed @ Gissing Church followed by Scole Inn

Well, almost there now for the July wedding's - yippee ..... I'm getting almost good at keeping this up-to-date.

The next wedding we photographed was actually a blessing rather than a wedding which took place the day after they were married. Other than the church service though it was pretty much the same as a wedding. Deb and Dave had their Blessing photographed at Gipping Church followed by their wedding reception at the Scole Inn, Suffolk.

This was another mixed day in terms of weather, some heavy showers but in between pleasant temperatures and nice light.

I love this photo taken off the two of them as they arrived at the church together
The vicar for this was photo-sensitive so no photos at all were allowed with flash. I took a few (again from the back without flash) as you can see and again, I'm pleased I did.

At the reception venue there is a very limited garden area (with mainly just car parks) however, we found a nice Willow Tree where we did some photos of the two of them.
Deb hates having her photo and always hides behind her hair so I was pleased to have got some of her looking at me. When we walked back to go inside the heaven's opened and we took temporary shelter underneath an archway where I took a few photos of them - here's one of them.


We then did the rest of there photos inside on their stairs. I love this one of the two of them.

We had a great toastmaster called Terry (I will send you a CD of photos soon) for this wedding who helped us organise the large group shot of everyone and was great at making sure everything ran to time. After their meal they also had a magician called Sean Alexander who did some great close up magic for the guests (again Sean I will send you some of the photos on CD soon). Here's a photo of him performing

They had a fab cake with the sweetest little car on the top. We don't usually see cakes with cars on so here's a couple of photos of it


If you attended Deb and Dave's Blessing and would like to view their wedding photos they are online now and I am sure they will give you the password to look at them.

The day after their wedding Deb sent me a really sweet e-mail which read as follows:

'I just wanted to say thank you for your professionalism yesterday. You and David were unobtrusive and understanding, and so smiley! It was lovely having you there on our special day ..... as you may have gathered I don't like having my photograph taken which is a bit of a problem when you're the bride, but you made me feel very comfortable. We are really excited about seeing the photographs. Thank you again Deb'


Once they'd seen their images they also sent an e-mail with the following comments.

'We've just had a quick look at the images, they are wonderful, you have captured some really amazing moments ... as Dave said you have some corkers in there'

On a separate note we were sad to hear that Dave's mum had a stroke the week after the wedding - we both wish her a very speedy recovery and hope that the photos help her to remember the day.

I look forward to getting together with you two soon to design your photobook. We very much enjoyed working with you both and sharing in your day. Your friends and family were brill and we're sure you'll have a very happy marriage.

Amanda & Anthony's Wedding Photographed @ Braxted Park, Essex

The Next wedding we shot was Amanda and Anthony's Wedding which we photographed at Kelvedon Church and Braxted Park

The weather was kind to us and although we had dark black clouds again, we were fortunate in not having any rain! This was a relatively short day for us as we started at the ceremony and went through until they sat down to eat.

I love this one of Amanda and her dad


These were taken in the church. It's quite rare to have such a large area for the signing so it was nice to be able to take this without being crammed into a corner.
It is also unusual that I am allowed to be near the front of the church for their exit which was great for getting some slightly more unusual shots of their exit.

When we arrived at Braxted there is a great step area which is perfect for doing a group shot (as below) before walking around the outside of the walled garden where confetti is allowed. This wedding also had some great confetti shots - here's just one of them.

Before they went in to eat I took the two of them off for a little while and I love this panoramic of them sat on a wall in the gardens.
They then told me all about their rehearsed first dance (which apparently went down a storm) and asked if they could do their starting pose for a photo which we did.
We then went back to the walled garden and their guests. I love this one taken as we made our way back - the thunder clouds looked very ominous at this point!

If you attended Amanda and Anthony's Wedding and would like to view their wedding photos they are online now and I am sure they will give you the password to look at them.

Amanda and Anthony wanted prints from their package and I have received their order this morning which I look forward to processing shortly. Also, good luck in your new home, we hope that you get unpacked and settled in no time. We are sure this couple will be very happy together and wish them a great future together.

Rachel and Richard's Wedding photographed at The West Wing, Ickworth

The following week we photographed Rachel and Richard's Wedding at The West Wing, Ickworth House in Horringer, Suffolk. This is the second time we have photographed at this venue this year and this time the toastmaster was a little better thankfully (that reminds me that I still haven't written up that story!)

The weather forecast wasn't so good for the day but someone must have been looking down on us favourably as we had bright sunshine and blue skies for most of it with just the occasional downpour. It certainly made for some dramatic skies!

I started with Rachel getting ready and love this one of her putting lip gloss on the flowergirl before we left.

I also love this one of Rachel in high contrast which was taken in her parent's back garden.

Here's just one from the ceremony that I loved as Rachel's dad hands her over

When we went for our wander we had bright sunshine and blue skies. I love this one which is done in Infrared and looks dramatic.

The only thing I miss is the bright blue sky so I've included a couple with that in.

This one I also love as they both are laughing and looking relaxed

When it came to the time of the cake cutting I think I have now seen the biggest cake ever. Here's a peek for you - I'd love to know whether they managed to eat it all!

With this wedding we stayed all day which was great and I love this dancing one taken later in the evening.

If you attended Rachel and Richard's Wedding and would like to view their wedding photos they are online now and I am sure they will give you the password to look at them.

Rachel sent me a quick e-mail on initially viewing their photos which read as follows:

'Hi Hayley
Had a look through the pictures, they are fabulous I love them. Can’t wait to arrange a meeting to put together our album. Will show Richard tonight.
Many thanks
Rachel'

I look forward to seeing them both next week to design their album with them. This is another couple who were lovely to work with and we wish them a lifetime of happiness together.

Joanne & Stuart's Wedding @ Yaxley Hall, Suffolk

The next wedding we shot was Joanne and Stuart's Wedding which we photographed at Yaxley Hall

The weather was a little wet and drizzly but it certainly didn't ruin the atmosphere of their day. Joanne's brothers both turned up in uniform which looked great and when Joanne arrived with her dad he was also in uniform.
With this wedding we started with the ceremony rather than the getting ready and here are a couple of photos as Joanne came in with her dad and the kiss during the ceremony.
After the ceremony it was raining quite heavily but Joanne and Stuart were happy to go out under umbrellas as they wanted a couple of photos in the car before it left.
Thankfully, after these were taken the rain past and it was mainly dry for the rest of the day so we could do all the group shots outside which meant we could use Yaxley's gorgeous grounds.
Joanne was actually just over 4 months pregnant for the wedding and I love these ones emphasising her bump and Stuart holding her


This one was taken in the hall itself as the couple specifically wanted to use the chandelier with the candles burning in their photos

I always love close ups of couples holding hands and here's one of those shots
There were 4 bestmen for this wedding which has to be a record! Stuart's dad was bestman for the ceremony (although he did also give a short speech) whilst the other 3 bestmen's main duty was the speeches. They delivered one of the best speeches I've heard in a long time so I thought I'd include a couple of photos of them


This was a lovely, small, intimate wedding that we very much enjoyed being able to share with the couple and their family. We can't wait to hear from Joanne and Stuart over the next few months with the progress with the bump. I know that it has started moving and that they haven't found out if it's a boy or girl (I think they're very patient - I think I would have to know if I was them!)

If you attended Joanne and Stuart’s Wedding and would like to view their wedding photos they are online now and I am sure they will give you the password to look at them.

Joanne and Stuart sent us a lovely e-mail after viewing their photos which read as follows:

'Well I don't know what to say!!! they are fantastic, you captured the day perfectly. Both sets of parents want them all!! We have passed your web address and password to all and everybody has said " I don't know how you will choose which ones?!" We had a wonderful wedding, it was more than we dreamt it could be, and memories to last a lifetime. The comments from family and friends have been great to hear not just about the day but also about all involved in making our wedding so perfect, we had lovely feedback for both yourself and David and would not hesitate in recommending you.We had a fab honeymoon just what we needed and we have lots of baby movement!
Once again thank you so much. Best wishes Joanne and Stuart'

Thanks for taking the time to send us this - we wish you all the best for the future and can't wait to hear more baby news over the next few months.