Sarah & Stuart - Rowley Manor - 25th June

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As a Yorkshire Wedding Photographer, Saturday saw me covering Sarah and Stuart's big day at Rowley Manor, East Yorkshire. Stuart is a Bombardier with the Royal Artillery and Sarah is a Primary School teacher and have been together for over 8 years. I was introduced to the couple through one of my good friends and colleague, Ian who is the father of the bride and a very keen photographer.

I joined the boys at 8am and I was a little skeptical as to how I may find the groom as his best man was his brother (another soldier) and thought they may be in a 'merry' state from the night before but was totally impressed when I arrived and the boys were munching on bacon banjoes, uniforms at the ready. I spent just short of an hour and a half photographing the uniforms, shooting the guys getting ready and creating portraits.

Onto Swanland for the girls preparations where I found our bride, Sarah, in a very giddy state! She was so excited and in fact i had observed her almost hourly posts on Facebook as she counted down the days to her wedding, from about 60 days in! It was a very humid morning and my reflector came in very handy as a fan as the girls dressed and the temperature rose.

The wedding ceremony was held in the church next door to Rowley Manor and it was the first time I had shot inside. It was very intimate setting and the Vicar gave me free rein to photograph the proceedings which I appreciated very much. After a beautiful marriage, we went for a drive in one of Alan Marshall's famous Humber Wedding Cars. Alan is undoubtedly, the most passionate wedding car enthusiast I have worked with (I seem to work with him most weekends these days!) and really makes his part of the day memorable!

We photographed the group shots on the croquet lawn at Rowley Manor and then a delightful wedding breakfast followed. After dinner and speeches, I took Stuart and Sarah for their 'Penny Drop Session' around the grounds and got some stunning images. There was no 'lull' in the day at all - there was a feeling of 'flow' running through and before we knew it, the evening guests arrived en masse. The cake cut was a classic as the boys had been gifted their regiment's sword to use and Andrew, Stuart's brother/best man, presented it to the groom. The first dance was totally classic as the couple had rehearsed the closing scene from Dirty Dancing with the famous 'lift' included - the performance brought the house down and started the party off with a massive bang! The video can be seen here on Youtube.

I can't wait to share the story with Sarah and Stuart in a couple of weeks time.