Hello there, David here from www.davidpurlsow.com
The wedding of Mathew and Rebecca took place at St Peters church in goodwick nr Fishguard with the wedding reception at Gellifawr Hotel.
As my blog grows and the number of images on it grows also, I have decided to split the pages down, what that means is below the first two photos is a link where you have to click to see the rest of the photos, I am simply putting the blog entry on its own page. I will do this from now on as it makes it quicker for you guys to look around.
I am going to start off with one of the must have photos from all weddings – The dress shot.
and I am going to jump a little, the second photo is a shot I wanted to shoot as soon as I walked into the brides bedroom. On her wall was an amazing canvas photo of a rose opening up. I knew the contrast between the rose and the bride would make for a great photo and asked the bride just to look over her shoulder at the camera. I had a little light off to the left of me to light up the rose and the light on the bride was from the windows directly behind me. – I think this is a stunning bridal portrait shot.
As stated above – to see the rest of the images click here
Okay, back to the story of the day, This wedding took place on December 20th 2008 in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. One of the things I loved about this wedding is the bride and groom had a few shots in mind but left the rest to me – we were challenged a little by the wind which was pretty strong but the bride and groom were troopers and just went with the flow. The other thing I loved about this wedding was I was there all day from Bridal Preperation until the first dance. This does cost a little more but gives the couple SO MUCH more in return !
The bridal prep photos really capture the emotions the bride goes thru during the lead up to her wedding and its the little moments I have decided to concentrate on rather than the main wedding pics. So here goes.
As we (I have an assistant called Nikki) arrived at the hair dressers Michelle’s in Goodwick, Nikki went in to see if the brideal party were already there – the thumbs up came and Nikki via our walkie talkies let me know exactly where the bride was sitting so I could start taking pics right away. – I find it difficult to work out who the bride is when they are all under those dryer things………….
So in I walk, and this is the first pic of the day. Rebecca getting ready
You will hear me over and over say I love shooting the bridal prep, why ? well it serves 2 purposes, 1. You do get the best reaction images during this part of the day but mainly because by the time the bridal prep is over the bride is so used to you being there that her proper wedding pictures look so much better – remember that if your planning on booking your photographer!
What do I mean you see a whole host of emotions (and when I say you, I am generally talking about the bride and groom) – well in the next 3 images all taken within 30 seconds of each other, just look at the brides expressions. The groom is probably still in bed at this time of day but the bridal party are hard at work. I often hear from grooms that it was quite an eye opener to see what the brides go thru in the morning before the wedding. – Its also a special time for the bride and her mum / bridesmaids – her last few hours as a single girl.
Here talking to mum
Here just contemplating getting married
and 3 seconds later – I have no idea what Rebecca was thinking but the expression is priceless
From the hair dressers we went to the Spa located at the Ivy Bridge Hotel. As I walked into the spa, Rebecca’s bridesmaid was being made over and Rebecca was sitting again looking all contemplative !
While we were waiting Rebecca managed to grab the Spa’s computer for a final look at my blog for a bit of inspiration – here she is looking at some pics from the reception venue.
then it was down to the job in hand, makeup time!
From the spa we went back to the brides parents house so the bride could get ready. During a quick time out, I managed to snap this shot – I think its a great album photo
I am sure the bride wont think so !
So the bride gets all dressed up and while she is doing that, I drop Nikki my assistant down the church to snag a few shots of people arriving etc, a shot of the groom with his best man – what a cracker !
and back to the house for me to grab a few shots of the bride with family etc that and the photo above the rose photo !
Just before we leave I grab a shot of the bridal flowers only because I cant spell buquet ?
Once we are all finished at the house, its down to the church for the wedding itself
followed by a shot of the Mathew looking very sheepish and with that, I am getting married in a few minutes look on his face
and this one which is a shot Nikki took, its a shot I normally have to miss as I am shooting the bride coming down the isle, but its the grooms reaction to seeing his bride for the first time in the day
I always try to get a varity of shots inside the church and while looking around I noticed this young girl in the isle, the light was pretty poor and its a little grainy but its a great shot imho !
and here is a nice shot of the couple just as they become man and wife
The bride and groom had requested a special portrait shot with the window in the church so after the wedding was over, we snuck back inside and shot this
Then outside for the confetti shot
Then it was off to The Gellifawr Hotel for the wedding reception. I wanted to do some stuff with the sword so the cutting of the cake was a natural.
After a few shots around the place and the group shot, it was time to sit down to dinner, the bride and groom did the speaches before the meal which was nice as it ment that the couple looked there best, if you shoot speaches after the meal, people start to get a glazed look over there face dependent on how much wine they have drunk.
I tried a new lighting technique for shooting the speeches, one I picked up from fellow photographer Tim Driver from Driver Photography. The results were the best speech photos all year. In this first one, its quite a poinent moment as the groom a hero in my eyes after serving in Iraq, toasted absent friends.
and hten in a more light hearted moment during one of the BEST EVER speaches I have heard at a wedding, it was the SAS story !
and here the couple enjoy a private little moment
and dad toasting the couple
From there, it was chow time, and Nikki and I had a fantastic meal of Roast Beef with all the trimmings – thanks guys !
During the downtime between the meal and the disco starting in the evening, the couple had requested we play a slideshow of the photos from the day, this went down very well indeed with the picture getting the most reaction being one of Rebecca’s bridesmaid half way through having her hair done – Naturally I WONT post that here it just would not be fair but she was a good sport and let it run in the slide shows !
While waiting for the first dance, I noticed a young girl playing with some bubbles at a table next to us and pulled out the long lens and snagged this shot, its one of my favorite from the day and just goes to prove you have to be on your toes from the time you first start shooting until your very last shot.
The night time festivities kicked off with the couples first dance, and our last shots of the night, hereis a one of the shots, we took around 20 or so and this one captured the light nice in the background.
Congratulations Mr and Mrs T – thanks for choosing us to photgraph your wedding we had a great time, no doubt we will be intouch early next year to sort out the photos but for now, enjoy Christmas and the start of your new life together.
All the best David and Nikki.
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I hope you have enjoyed this preview and thanks for stopping by my website, if your in the market for a wedding photographer I cover anywhere in the UK and LOVE shooting SNOWY weddings or Beach weddings if your going further afield.
Take care, have a very merry Christmas
Hugs to you and yours and thanks for visiting my website in 2008
Ciao
dp
David Purslow
Photographer
www.davidpurslow.com
0759 007 6666
david@davidpurslow.com
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