Shotton Hall Wedding - Katy and Neil

Where do I start?  Well it's quite simple....about 15 minutes later than I should.  This was a bit of a running joke at Katy and Neil's wedding.  You see, Katy is infamous for her time keeping...or lack or it which raised a lot of laughs at their wedding.  More of that later!

At Katy's parent's house, Katy and the bridesmaids were getting make up and hair sorted.  There was a lovely smell of warm pastries in the house...croissants were being dished out!!  Lovely!!!  Upstairs in one of the back bedrooms Katy's dress hung.  It was stunning as were her shoes....which led to a lot of Micky taking from the bridesmaids about me.  It's not normal for a man to go "WOW!" when he sees a pair of glittery high heeled shoes!  All my friends know, I love my shoes!  

With the car arriving, I made my way to the church giving myself plenty of time to do the usual pre-wedding checks and photos of the groomsmen.  I had a lot of fun with one of the ushers who had been given the task of handing out the order of service.  "Do you want one of these?" was his line.  He asked me 4 or 5 times!  

Do You Want One of These?

So there was Neil, sat inside the church.  Not massively nervous, just deep in thought.  Noon came and went........I seemed to be the only one concerned that at 12.10 there was still no Katy.  I sidled up to the vicar "You don't seem alarmed that she's late?".  He looked at me and smiled "No, not at all.  Katy's always late.  It was expected" he said chuckling away.  But when she did arrive, she looked mind-blowing! 

Now, anyone who knows me well, knows that my favourite hymn is Jerusalem.  It always sends a shiver down my spine....it's the patriotic fool in me.  But my god, this congregation belted it out!  I was tingling by the time the organist had finished the last chords!  The hairs on my arms were stood on end!

In the build up to their wedding, Katy and Neil had commented that they were nervous about having their pictures taken and that following their pre-wedding shoot at Marsden Beach they were more relaxed with the idea.  They were complete naturals on their big day and a pleasure to work with.  

Shotton Hall looked stunning on one of the few sunny days of the summer.  Both inside and out, it had been lovingly and expertly decorated by Donna and her team from The Timeless Table.  

Everyone knows I love quirkiness!  This wedding had it's share of it but one thing had me stumped!  The table names.  The first one I saw was "The Queen is Dead".  What!!!!  Then "Meat is Murder" "Vauxhall and I" "You are the Quarry".....I was stumped!  And then it struck me....The Smiths and Morrisey!  Genius!  "I bet you'd have Def Leppard or Queen album titles" my wife said afterwards.........Yeah possibly or The Wildhearts! 

It was such a blast working with Katy and Neil.  So comfortable in front of the camera and such a pleasure to shoot.