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 :-)
