The Morning...
Emma and Justin chose to get married at the lovely St Bernards Church, which was situated really close to their family home. Their reception was then to take place at the Village Hotel in Cheadle a short drive away.
Their morning was full of laughter as everyone was getting ready, some tears when the surprise wedding day card arrived and the usual rush of making sure everything is packed and ready for the big day ahead. It's a great time to photograph the real moments to really tell the wedding day story! The wedding dress was simply stunning and the bridesmaids dresses complimented it perfectly, also matching the colour theme of their day.
The service...
Once at St Bernards church it was nice to see Justin super chilled and excited for the day ahead, his best men seemingly more nervous than him! Emma beamed as she walked down the aisle with her Dad who looked real proud to giving away his little girl. The service was full of smiles and laughter as they exchanged their vows and also had some beautiful music performed by the local church singer.
The reception and the portraits...
When we arrived at the Village Hotel we quickly went into the portraits so that we could head back inside. Although it was a dry day, November can be a bitter cold month so getting people back into the warmth as soon as possible was important. We headed around the back with the immediate family and had plenty of fun getting the shots they wanted before heading off to explore the grounds for their couples portraits. At this time of year you see some beautiful colours as the trees are turning so I made the most of the colour available and the setting sun to capture some lovely moments between them both.
The speeches and the evening reception...
The speeches can be an awesome time to capture natural laughter but also the perfect time to learn more about the couple as tales told by their parents and friends come out. It such a pleasure to learn more about the couple during the speeches, and like all of the wedding day, a pleasure to be allowed to briefly step into peoples lives to capture one of their most iconic days. The speeches were great, with Justin doing part of his speech in French for this relatives who had come over from France, a very nice touch for those who have travelled so far to join the celebration.
After the speeches we ran outside to do a couple of portraits in the dark. It's always nice to challenge yourself and winter weddings can be tricky as you never know what the weather will be like and you have to control the lighting differently. I loved doing these shots and Emma and Justin nailed it allowing me to create some lovely evening shots for them both!
Once back inside it was time for the evening fun to begin. They cut their stunning wedding cake and then headed to the dance floor for their first dance. Emma's brother provided an awesome DIY photo-booth that went down a storm with the dancing then continued well into the night with people really enjoying themselves and celebrating in style!
Enjoy the rest of the gallery below!
