The one with the missing Wedding Co-ordinator.

After the two weddings in April I had no further bookings until September when I had three weddings booked. Mark and Sarah’s wedding was the first that month. Although it was a lovely day, it was memorable as the event wedding co-ordinator went AWOL for an hour just after the registrars had set up and were ready for the ceremony.

Where’s the Bride?

With everyone seated all we needed was Sarah, the bride, to be escorted down with her bridal party, to the outdoor ceremony area from the room where she was getting ready. That was the co-ordinators job but, without her there, Sarah had no idea we were ready and no one with us knew the co-ordinator had disappeared. Eventually someone went looking for the co-ordinator (they didn’t find her), but they did find the bridal party and brought them down to us.

The ceremony itself was late in the afternoon and with the delay, we lost light quite quickly. I managed to get the group shots but we had no time for couple shots with Mark and Sarah. Fortunately, we were all staying at a hotel next door to the venue. So, we negotiated with the co-ordinator, once she reappeared, and she agreed that we could return to the venue the following day to take some couple shots. It wasn’t ideal and Sarah and Mark had to get dressed and prepped again but we did get the Bride/Groom shots we’d missed.

Although they weren’t happy with the turn of events ,Sarah and Mark remained remarkably calm and didn’t let it affect their special day. I was left beginning to wonder if a wedding day ever  followed the script I’d prepared for!

The One with the Owl

Towards the end of the month I had two weddings in quick succession. On the Friday I shot Esther and Johns wedding at St Audrie’s Park, Somerset. It’s a stunning country house, set in beautiful grounds with a small lake and large Orangery. John and Esther were friends of ours so we were guests as well as the wedding day photographer. Experience has taught me that the guest/photographer role really doesn’t work and you’re better off being one or the other. If I was there to record the wedding day then I found I couldn’t switch off from that. Plus I never drank alcohol at any of the weddings where I was working, for obvious reasons, which tends to inhibit your participation.

A Barn Owl to deliver the wedding rings.

Having said all that, I did enjoy my day and it sprung another surprise I wasn’t expecting. The groom, John, had organised a Bird of Prey display to entertain their guests, between the end of the wedding ceremony and the wedding breakfast. Part of the deal was that a Barn Owl would deliver the wedding rings, to the Best Man, during the ceremony. The bird was going to swoop down, flying the length of the Orangery, landing on the best Mans gloved hand.

My immediate thoughts were ‘I’ve got to get this right because it’s going to be the talking point of the wedding’. Fortunately the Orangery had plenty of light but, I did ask the handler if we could do some practice runs, prior to the ceremony, just so I knew if I was going to pre focus to catch the bird or try to track it. I was allowed two practice runs as they wanted to keep the bird hungry for the ceremony and I opted to pre focus.

I asked the wedding co-ordinator if she’d had owls at the venue before. She told me they’d had an owl on a few occasions, and assorted other animals, although a pig delivering the rings was her favourite!

As it turned out, the practice run paid off and I managed to get the shot of the owl flying towards us. The rest of the day went well. I was pleased with my images and I left St Audrie’s hoping I’d get more bookings there.

Our third wedding that month

The following day we went to Arnos Court Hotel, Bristol, for Scott and Emma’s wedding. I shot two weddings there and I have mixed feelings about the hotel as a venue. The main Bridal Suite faces North and has fantastic light for getting ready shots and portraits. The main ceremony room is painted red and green. Not an obvious mix but it really works and it was one of my favourites from all the venues I shot in.

One of Emma’s bridesmaids getting ready in the Bridal Suite. She booked me for her wedding shortly after. A lot of my future bookings were coming from people associated with weddings I’d shot, which was quite gratifying.

If the weather is good the main dining room is an open courtyard, enclosed on the sides, and great for shooting in natural light. If its wet they move the dining to a large function room that’s quite dark. We had the courtyard on this occasion. Other than that, the hotel grounds are a bit limited for couple portraits but ok for the group shots. I got around that by taking Scott and Emma out onto the road outside the hotel for something a bit different.

Scott and Emma waving to the cars beeping their horns as they drove past us on Bath Rd

All in all the day went well with no surprises this time. We left late in the day, tired after two quick weddings and knowing I now had three weddings to post process over the next few weeks.

All images: ©Stephen Hyde 2007-2025 – All rights reserved.