Wow Martin & Chris's wedding - such a lovely intimate affair with only 12 guests and done in a way which reflected their personalities and challenged the 'norm' by doing it differently. I loved it. and feel really honoured to have been part of their special day.
This was my first same sex wedding to cover but hopefully not my last. I'd known Martin for many years as he manages my favourite place to have coffee in Caerphilly. Only 2 weeks ago I was there and we started chatting and that's when he told me he was getting married. I joked and asked if he wanted to book me to take photos and before I knew it we were sitting over a coffee planning all the amazing shots we could take around Cardiff City Hall. I insisted he checked with Chris first and a week later the 3 of us were discussing weddings, photo preferences, how they met and some stuff I can't repeat here ;-)
The wedding was a Monday, which is getting more popular but their reason wasn't price or anything like that. It happened to be the anniversary date of when they met over a decade ago. They also got ready together in the Park Plaza Hotel, arriving later than they should have with not even time for a whisky to calm the nerves. Martin left a bit earlier to meet his parents at City Hall whilst Chris stayed behind to help his parents. Perhaps the only traditional part of this wedding was Chris arriving fashionably late with less than a minute to spare.. but he made it and it was lovely. A quick and simple ceremony after they walked down the aisle hand in hand together.
After confetti, group shots and mingling Chris, Martin and I went for a stroll to the gardens behind City Hall, to the museum and then into town. They were so happy for me to try new things so I got to use a smoke bomb for the first time and Martin clambered all over the buildings like he was in the Next catalogue ;-). We tried some slow shutter speed shots in the middle of town and finally some coloured gels back in Park Plaza.
I stayed long enough to capture some images of the table which Chris's mother had prepared with lots of thought and love. She'd made a wedding cake and it all looked so pretty. Then a glass of prosecco to celebrate with the grooms and I left them to the amazing food at Park Plaza.
Congratulations Chris & Martin, thank you so much for inviting me to take your wedding photos. Here's a photo summary of your special day...
