Kelly and Luke tied the knot the other week and I had the pleasure of covering their special day. This wedding capped off a fantastic weekend for me as the previous day I was down at Wembley for the FA cup final. I sped back up the M1 after the match and got an early night to prepare myself for the early start I had the following day. I arrived at the bride’s mother’s house at 9.30am to catch all the bride and bridesmaids’ preparations. There was a great buzz around the dining room of the house with all the girls chatting and joking whilst having their hair and make up done in splendid fashion. My heart went out to the bride’s younger brother looking bemused at being stuck in the house with 8 women.
I left the bride’s house to get to St Anne’s Church in Crumpsall, Manchester to meet the groom and his groomsmen. This was quite a big wedding party, even before the guests arrived. 14 groomsmen in total, including the groom and the dads. That’s a lot of suits! The lads were doing a sterling job of greeting all the guests as they arrived at the venue and handing out carnations to everyone.
Anyway, the bridesmaids showed up and everyone was quickly ushered inside to await the bride’s arrival. Kelly arrived with her dad and looked absolutely stunning in her dress. The wedding was a traditional catholic ceremony with full mass, giving me plenty of time to get lots of photos. The service was broken up with an amazing performance by a classical singer called Bethany who left everyone gobsmacked with a fantastic rendition of Ave Maria. Over an hours worth of church time practically flew by.
From the church we left for the Marriott in Worsley. A venue I’ve photographed before, perfect for a wedding party. Unfortunately the Manchester weather was true to form and in rained from after the church until about 6pm. But it didn’t dampen any spirits, which was proven during the speeches. The best man double act was a relentless, two pronged verbal assault on the groom, which had a grand finale of a rap to the ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air’ theme tune. Ingenious and hilarious! After the meal the rain had stopped for a short while, allowing me to take the bride and groom out for a quick lap of the grounds for some portrait shots. A former member of One True Voice from the TV show ‘Pop Stars, The Rivals’, provided the evening’s entertainment Djing and singing. A fantastic day for the perfect couple, highlights below!
Congratulations to Kelly and Luke! All the best for the future from me.
Oh, and I’ll give Luke’s shop a quick plug. Luke runs Styxx Menswear in Cheetham Hill, check out his shop on Bury Old Road if you’re in the area or look online http://www.styxonline.co.uk/
