Cheshire Winter Wedding : Sonia & Keir

Sonia & Keir married on the day after Boxing Day. It was well worth the time spent and distance travelled on Boxing Day itself, traversing a country clad white with snow all the way from Dorset to Cheshire, to be there in time to document their wedding. A couple that glow; effervescent personalities with strong creative streaks to boot.

I first met with Sonia & Keir at a point in time that seems to be ages ago and at the same time, only yesterday – such is the way time unfolds during the planning phase of such significant events – when I was last in Cheshire to photograph a wedding and we found some time the day after to do a pre-wedding shoot in Dunham Park.

Prior to that it was an interesting route to the commission itself.

Keir’s sister Jessica is married to Bristol wedding photographer Joseph Yarrow. Joseph was to be Keir’s Best Man. Sonia & Keir love Joseph’s photography and wanted him to document their wedding day. Whilst also being Best Man. Anyone with any experience of wedding photography will know how such an undertaking would be likely to add up!

So Joseph set about sourcing a photographer with at least a broadly similar style to his, likely to satisfy the couple’s image related needs. Being an award winning member of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (I have great admiration for Joseph’s work; I rate him as standing amongst the best of documentary wedding photographers in the UK today) this might prove to be a tricky task but it all came together a great deal more easily than one might have imagined.

And there I was, and thoroughly enjoyed it all I did too!

Before proceeding with the story of Sonia & Keir’s day I’ll also make mention of Cheshire wedding photographer Neil Matthews. I’d not met Neil before in person though he knows people well that have met me and I know people well that have met him, and I’ve enjoyed his witty banter on Twitter for quite some time. When Neil heard that I’d be photographing a wedding in his home town he offered to put me up the night before and night of the commission and this was the first of a fantastic series of examples of Northern hospitality that I experienced over the Christmas and New Year period. My thanks to Neil and his family for the warm welcome, the food, the beer, the splendidly comfortable bed and the brilliant company.

The brilliant company came in tandem with the food and the beer, I hasten to add. I had the splendidly comfortable bed all to myself.

Story time…

First port of call for the day, Sonia’s family home. The flowers had just been delivered. I’d also hoped to take the shoes for a walk but it was raining; cold December rain. Winter wedding season hasn’t been quite so conducive to the shoe safari. Skis for wedding shoes; that should do the trick. Wellington Boots would do just fine too.

Then a quick trip down a number of back streets and a few diversions whilst I tamed my SatNav, to Keir’s home where I found a man totally at ease with tying a tie…

Later that day, in conversation with Joseph, I undertook to keep his identity a secret in my eventual feature on the wedding. It was going to prove tricky though what with him being the Best Man and all. So I found a random by-passer to replace him in my shots. Uncanny resemblance though…

Keir keeps a clean and tidy household. At least all the evidence of such was in place on my visit. It’s the first time I’ve seen a groom attack the dishes before setting off to get married…

“About that anonymity agreement”…

Had I swapped the order of the above image with the below image it might have suggested something altogether untrue.

Not just expert tie tyers…

Back over at Sonia’s place all was placid, calm as can be, constrained and quiet…

… on the street outside the house.

And the time approached. I’ve just noticed that I can make out my car in the following photograph. It’s the green one, frame right. What strikes me is that I reversed into the parking space. It’s a wedding photographer thing, in turn a habit inspired by the parking practices of a volunteer fireman I once found myself in conversation with. It’s all about fast getaways, not that I drive fast if truth be said. Easy getaways may be more the case. I’m sure you want to know all this.

Don’t mind me :~)

Back to Sonia & Keir. We’re now at the Kingdom Hall in Stockport…

A first for me and really quite enjoyable to behold at that, there was no recessional (bride and groom walking back up the aisle together) but an immediate immersion into prolonged congratulatory mingling. This tied in perfectly with the ceremonial informality of the whole process and brings back to mind that for the entire day I found myself amongst a large grouping of easy going, gentle, warm and friendly people with a great sense of fun at that. Thus far in my wedding photography career I’ve always found myself amongst brilliant people on wedding days, none more so than on this occasion.

From Stockport, the wedding party headed on to the Cheshire town of Wilmslow and Stanneylands Hotel.

Wedding breakfast guests all greeted, we had some time to nip up the road to the nearby village of Styal. The advantage of a midday marriage ceremony for a Winter wedding, from a photographic standpoint: a good bit of natural light to play with for portraits afterwards (though it was that cold we lasted barely 15 minutes). Lovely soft-box light it was too.

I spy an Irregular Choice (or two)…

Sartorial bed pillows; it’s the new fashion fusion…

If Sergio Leone shot weddings…

Back into the warm at Stanneylands…

Joseph gets down to a spot of last-minute speech writing. I don’t know if the iPad runs any text to speech apps but that would make for a great way to kick back come speech delivery time…

Sprouts! Remarkably easy to grow don’t you know?…

Sonia wasn’t going anywhere during the main course so she didn’t need her shoes. I dare say they needed warming up after our chilly jaunt to Styal anyway…

Joseph had maintained enormous discipline for the entire day…

Let’s hope it doesn’t crash…

As I’ve mentioned in previous wedding features, I view the speeches as being analogous to a SWOT analysis and there is indeed noble motivation behind the tradition of Best Man reducing Groom to rubble. It clears the metaphorical building plot of all structural foibles and allows for solid construction of a new unit to progress. Joseph clearly got the process of demolition in full-swing…

… but when the Best Man’s wife is the Groom’s sister and she teams up with you to deliver the speech…

… Oof! Now we’re really getting down into the foundations…

I thought Joseph might appreciate a new profile picture for his Web site…

Sonia had been up late the night before putting the finishing touches to what I can only describe as a delicious series of table decorations for the evening party.

DJ Test-suo…

With a tip of the lens cap to Robert Burress, whom I had the privilege of assisting at a wedding a couple of years back, and has a mastery of this kind of thing that I’ve yet to even contemplate pursuing…

And a further tip of the lens cap to Simon Fazackarley whom I’ve worked with a few times during 2010. I’ve yet to achieve his flare though…

Joseph went into wedding photographer’s remission again, though I can’t blame him…

… as such subjects are irresistible to all (the cute little ‘uns)…

A recurring and to me welcome modern phenomena at weddings; youngsters bring their own portrait lighting kit with them…

I think the boogie’s blame free myself…

Congratulations Sonia & Keir, and thanks for having me along to tell the story of your special day (thanks for the food too!) Thanks also to all of your friends and family for being such great people to be amongst, and to Joseph and Jessica for your sterling assistance with those few group photographs! :~)

If you’d like to see yet more images then… follow the shoes…

Music courtesy of Kevin MacLeod.

Contact Cheshire Wedding Photographer Phillip Allen : phill@misterphill.com : 07870 696248