Cerys & Gavin's wedding at the New House County Hotel

As soon as I met Cerys to discuss her wedding I knew we'd be a great fit for each other. Sat in her kitchen chewing the fat about everything from her dreams for her wedding day to the red gingham curtains her mum had made, I knew this was going to be a great wedding. The first time I met Gav was on their pre wedding shoot and he was so laid back and happy. Their daughter's Lilly and Poppy were there too and I could just tell how excited Lilly was about the wedding, she told me how pretty her dress was and it didn't disappoint.

The wedding day itself was a sunny day in early August. On arriving at Cery's parent's house for bridal prep I was struck by how this wedding was all about family and friends. The house was packed with close family, it was lovely and being from a very small family myself I could see how special this was. Thankyou to Cerys's mum and dad for making me feel so welcome at their home.

I was fortunate to have a second shooter on this wedding, Tunde who met the boys at the church. Good job too because bridal prep ran a little late so there's no way I could have covered people arriving at the church and Cerys getting dressed if I had been on my own. I love St Martin's Church in Caerphilly and have been using it myself for years as it was associated with my old school and only had my son christened there 2 years ago. Father Mark took the service and he really is a fantastic vicar to work with. A second shooter for St Martins is a good idea because you can make sure you get those immense images from the back of the church and the stain glass windows, something I couldn't have done as I was positioned at the front in the pews. 

Click here for my blog on why a second shooter is a good option for your wedding

The reception was at the New House Country Hotel in Thornhill, with stunning views over Cardiff. The staff there are so helpful, it's a lovely place to work (and to eat in too - the food is great and I highly recommend their afternoon tea). I've already mentioned that this wedding was all about celebrating with family and friends and the reception really brought this to life. Children were included in the day and had so much fun free playing around the fountain and using the swing seat. Cerys's girl friends looked after her well and I couldn't help but envy their outfits, they looked amazing. Gav's brothers were ushers and Stan the Man, his best man made the most hilarious speech I've ever heard. I almost had to stop shooting when he brought out a life size cardboard cutout of Gavin dressed in suspenders because I was laughing so much. Before the first dance the bridesmaids and the children lit up the dance floor, everyone mixed with each other so easily.

However the my best moment of the whole wedding was just after the first dance whereby Cerys had asked the DJ to play songs from Frozen. The 4 of them, Cerys, Gav, Lilly and Pops owned the dance floor rocking it out to 'Let it Go'. Arms in the air, singing their hearts out together. It was one of the most magical moments I've ever witnessed at a wedding and I'm not ashamed to admit that I actually shed a few tears watching them. It was beautiful and summed up what this wedding was all about. Family. Love. Togetherness. Fun. 

My I wish you a life time of happiness. Thank you again for choosing me to be your wedding photographer. I really do have the best job in the world. Here's a little gallery of your wonderful day...

Katie & Richard's Sunny Vineyard Wedding →

Venue: Llanerch Vineyard http://www.llanerch-vineyard.co.uk

Florist: Gail Armytage http://www.gailarmytage.co.uk

Harpist: Rhian Morgan http://www.rhianmorgan.co.uk

Choir: Barry Male Voice Choir http://www.barrymalevoicechoir.co.uk

Clicking on the words in capitals throughout the blog will take you to their Facebook page. Thanks.

WOW!!! This is the best word to sum up this wedding, though if I had to choose 3 words they would be 'Emotional, Beautiful & Intimate'. The success of this beautiful day comes down to some basic factors... Katie & Richard's love for each other and their family & friends; Katie's attention to detail in planning the day and the amazingly organised Llanerch Vineyard staff that had the day running like clockwork. 

I arrived for pre wedding preparation at the Copthorne in Cardiff, where Katie, her 4 bridesmaids and parents were in full flow of getting ready. Lovely relaxed atmosphere, though not much space to work in. The highlight was Katie's mum Sylvia finding a hole in her tights and as I was the only one there with a car I legged it to Tesco to pick some up for her (this job isn't just about taking photographs ;-) ). What I loved most about the bridal preps was the bridesmaids dresses, which were all different pastel colours and matched beautifully. Make up was by Natasha at MAC, hair by Steph.

I got to the venue, Lllanerch Vineyard to meet the groom and his 5 groomsmen and they were brilliant to work with, all wearing a lovely blue coloured suit and ties of various pastel shades. Blue is definitely the colour for grooms this season.. looking really sharp!

On arrival I also met some key family members, the Groom's mother and Brian, Katie's brother in law. I knew immediately that this was going to be a great wedding as they made me feel so much at ease. The atmosphere was electric. I must mention Richard's best man, Gareth Owen who really did his friend proud. From a fantastic speech to helping me gather people for photos, there wasn't anything he wasn't prepared to do to ensure his mate had the best day. Thank you Gareth for your help. 

The ceremony was unbelievable. The room was stunning with french ivory chairs and huge glass patio doors leading onto the vineyard and garden. BARRY MALE VOICE CHOIR, dressed in royal blue and looking very dapper, were standing just outside the doors singing so beautifully as Richard waited nervously with friends and family. They sang Katie down the isle too which even led me to try and hold back the tears. When his beautiful bride joined him there were a few tears of emotion from the groom and you could feel the connection between them all around the room.

The day was thoroughly a family affair with readings by Katie's brother Mark and his lovely wife, and by Lisa, Katie's sister and her son Josh.  Katie's niece Caitlin sang accompanied by her dad Brian playing guitar. There seriously wasn't a dry eye in the house. It was so lovely and emotional. I loved it! 

You've heard the catch phrase from Marks & Spencer, 'it's not just...., it's M&S....'. Well.... this wasn't just a wedding, this was a LLANERCH VINEYARD wedding and oh my, the staff and wedding coordinator worked so hard and nothing went unturned. Loads of tasty looking canopies after the ceremony whilst they moved the room around ready for the reception. They had even provided a separate plate of goodies for the bride & groom although it was hilarious when Katie's friend (no names mentioned) took a mini burger from their plate lol!. 

Outside there was a fantastic harpist, RHIAN MORGAN and an ice-cream van by ANTONIO'S ICE-CREAM DELIGHTS. I must admit at times I was gutted I was working and not a guest because this was a wedding where you would want to be a guest... absoultely amazing! 

We did some group shots though the sun was bright so I took the bride & groom out later in the day when the light was better, during the golden hour at about 7.30pm. Probably the funniest part of the group photograph part of the day was with all the hens, who broke out into song immediately... they were infectious so spontaneously I jumped on the floor to get a quirky different perspective shot of them, which has since become a few cover pictures on Facebook :-). Katie threw the bouquet and the hen that caught it was delighted, running straight to her boyfriend... next wedding... I'll give you a discount if you book me ;-) ??

As the guests settled at the reception I rested a for a bit in the bar area. Katie & Richard had bought me a meal, which is a luxury as a photographer (we usually eat warm sandwiches in the car!!), thank you so much both for thinking of me, I'm so grateful and it was delicious. The  wedding favour was a donation to the charity the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in memory of Richard's father Trevor Page. For information on the charity and how to donate please click HERE.

Their cake was AWESOME.. by Marks & Spencer, a 3 layer cheese cake and next to it a table sized ferris wheel full of grapes!! Katie had seriously thought of everything. They also had cupcakes from Waitrose, a sweet table, more blocks of pink and blue 'K&R's' than I could count and ladders decorated with flowers, hearts and fairy lights... such attention to detail... ( I wish I'd done this wedding before my own so I could have stolen some ideas!!).

Some of my favourite images were taken at the end of the day, in the vineyard when the light was beautiful and orange from the fading sun. I decided to do something different with the bouquet and rings and put them within the vineyard itself for a lovely earthy organic feel. The flowers were simply gorgeous, in soft pastel colours, florist was GAIL ARMYTAGE in Cowbridge. The bouquet was so well made it even survived the 'throwing' and 2 hens scrambling to catch it ;-).

And just when you think things couldn't be any more perfect, a live band, The Salvation (sorry I don't have a link), started off the evening with Katie and Richard's first dance, simply gorgeous, but completely topped by Katie and her mum Syliva rocking out the dance floor straight after. 

Anyway, that's enough talking - here are some images of the day. Enjoy :-)

Lucy & Frank's Beer Themed Wedding →

I'm so excited to be blogging about this one because it was quirky, loving, cheerful and an exceptionally special day for 2 gorgeous thirty-somethings in love. Leading up to the wedding I was a little nervous because Lucy & Frank are friend's of mine and I guess the pressure was on because of this. My husband, baby and best friends were also guests at the wedding and it would be the first time they had seen me at work. 

I joined the beautiful bride and her 3 young bridesmaids at 8.30am at Marsh Hair dressers in Caerphilly. We had some bubbly and Ted kindly brought us bacon and sausage rolls. Thank you Ted.

I then left Lucy and called Frank, who was staying at the Travel Lodge with his 2 sons, to ask if he wanted me to pop by and shoot some groom prep. It was a spontaneous decision as this wasn't requested before the wedding and I had a little time. I got there at the same time as the button holes arrives from Samara's Best Buds... they were stunning and incorporated their beer theme brilliantly with silk hops set in natural fresh flowers to compliment. You would never have known the hops weren't real (silk ones because they are out of season). 

I then went to Lucy's house, where the girls were getting ready but on the way stopped to pick up 8 teal helium balloons as I had a shot in mind with the bridal party holding balloons. Not something I'd normally do but Lucy & Frank were happy for me to try different things at their wedding, which is always a bonus :-).

What I loved most about the bridal-prep part of the day was the shoes... Lucy had a stunning short full circle 1950's inspired wedding dress which was off set by the most lovely pair of Ruby Shoo's one of my favourite brands. The girls had gorgeous coloured teal dresses offset by funky Cons, 2 pairs sparkly and a plain white pair for Orla, the oldest bridesmaid... AMAZING! 

The bouquet was gorgeous with the silk hops running throughout and the girls had silver wands, each with a small corsage of duplicate bridal flowers woven in to it. 

The ceremony took place at Ystrad Registry Office, Caerphilly, which is a lovely light and airy room, perfect for taking photographs. The traffic on the way was too busy that a few guests were late but mostly everyone got there on time. What I love most about Ystrad Registry office is the gardens behind. It is a mixture of landscaped cut grass which is perfect for formal photos  and has wild grasses at the back and a lovely bridge and paths, perfect for romantic images of the bride and groom. There is also a large blue shipping container in the corner of the gardens which many may see as an eye sore... I saw it as an opportunity and bagged some stunning shots of Lucy and Frank in front of it. 

The wedding reception was in Newbridge Memo which is a recently refurbished gem of history in the area. Inside the ballroom is the perfect size for a wedding. Round tables with a long bar, the Memo has a sense of nostalgia with it's art deco design. The ballroom is attached to a theatre that they use for local productions and I knew I had to use it for the photos. Because of the venue and Lucy's style I wanted to give the reception images a filmy look so have gone for a matted black and white for a timeless feel. You really could think we were back in 1955!

It was at the venue that the beer theme came into it's own... favours of beer glasses with our names on, specialised beer from  Grey Trees Brewery, Otley Brewing Company, TudorBreweryWales, The Untapped Brewing Companyand Williams Brothers Cider.  Which went down a treat!

Arrival drinks were a cocktail made by the couple in a teal colour.. as I was a working guest I opted for the non alcoholic version, though I was told the alcohol one was very strong!!  Lucy had hand made labels with guest's names on and used beer bottle tops. 

The tables were decorated with teal helium balloons by 'Balloons by Bev' and the food, buffet style was by Gaffaccino's in Ystrad Mynach... WOW!! They provided so much food.. and it was all delicious. They also provided the wedding cake, which was a large chocolate cupcake and in the evening there was at least a 100 cupcakes.... yumm..

Lucy & Frank's first dance was to Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud' and they finished the evening with a delicious hog roast..

An amazing day, thank you for asking me to be your photographer. Always an honour to do a friend's wedding xxx