Emma & Grant
Emma and Grant. From the initial consultation onwards you could tell these two were made for each-other and we had a great time capturing their day for them.
St Marys in The Castle was our final destination but the day started at the home of Emma's parents in Hastings. It's always a pleasure to be invited into the homes of the parents and to see the excitement that their son or daughter are about to get married. They also more often than not treat us far too well. No sooner had I arrived at Emma's parents house I was being offered a bacon sandwich and a cuppa tea. My poor waistline during the summer months honestly! Once I had stopped being such a pig I got on with the job at hand, photographing Emma's dress, shoes and flowers as well as the occasional dog that wandered past (another advantage of going to peoples houses, puppers!). Emma's makeup was being done by the fab Chloe Campbell.
Steph spent a short while with Grant and his Bestman in the morning at home before they headed down to the venue and more photos followed. Everyone congregated in the cafe downstairs before heading upstairs to the ceremony in the theatre itself. I arrived just before Emma so was in the right place to see her arrive in the gorgeous blue VW camper van that she had hired.
The ceremony was set out in a really awesome way, just in-front of the stage. I was down at ground level finding the best angles to capture the marriage with Steph positioned up in the auditorium to get those spectacular wide shots, making the most of the space. The fact the venue is a working theatre meant that they could use the lighting rigs to light the ceremony. This made things rather tricky at times but looked spectacular.
After the ceremony everyone descended into the catacombs for drinks and photos. This provided a very unique backdrop for us for photos. I am so very glad also that I had met with Grant & Emma a couple of weeks prior to the day at St Marys. I try to have this consultation with every couple and is for deciding on photo locations and finalising times. This proved super important here as space in the catacombs was limited, so knowing exactly what the plan was, was essential.
As well as a few more relaxed photos of guests enjoying themselves, and the reception all set up and ready to go, we found time for a few couple shots. For these we just went to utilise the big, beautiful blue doors at the front of the venue. We had ideas on going to the beach and the arcades for a few photos but looking at how good the weather was going to be all day we knew that after dinner would be the best bet!
Dinner and speeches took place back in the stunning auditorium, where now tables had replaced the ceremony setup. Speeches were lovely, with the highlight being a surprise speech from Emmas brother who had then planted other paragraphs of speech on different tables, then a guest would read a bit out. Such a neat idea and it brought the whole room together. We then had entertainment from the fantastic Spencer Wood. Who wowed a performance of his magical predicting skills.
After dinner Dale, Steph and myself assembled for more photo/video opportunities out on the beautiful summer lit seafront. With the sun setting over the iconic pier we got some awesome beach shots. I also spied a shot I really wanted to take, in the arcade next door. I had actually initially seen it before their wedding, when I had met Emma & Grant in St Mary in the Castle Cafe. We went for a quick wander, and I saw the location then and we made note of it. However no sooner had we started to take the first shot, we were asked to leave!! Frustrating yes, but we did manage to get one of the shots of the day, even in that small window of time thankfully.
Heading back inside and we now had a dance floor and band! One awesome thing about St Marys, especially from a photography and video point of view is that it is performance venue, so the lighting was fantastic for the evenings entertainment The Cavaliers. They put on an awesome performance.
Emma and Grant make such a wonderful couple and we wish them every happiness going forward.
Ceremony Venue: St Mary in the Castle
Hair: Lily Flack Hair
Make-up: Chloe Campbell
Dress: Phase Eight
Suit: Moss Bros
Flowers: Chirpee Flowers
Magician: Spencer Wood
Video: Dale Rook Scroll to the bottom of the blog to watch Dales wedding video.
Catering: Fab Food For You
Band: The Cavaliers
Festoon Lights: Perfect Planning Events
