EMILY & CHRIS - JERSEY WEDDING
A question I am sometimes asked at weddings is, “which is the best wedding you have ever been to?”
I have never been able to answer that question. Until now. Because it’s this one.
I went to shoot a wedding and fell in love with an entire island. (More about that shortly).
What makes a wedding great?
5 key factors; The Couple, The Venue/Location, The Planning (and execution of that plan), The Suppliers and the fact that if I don’t want it to end, you done good.
Let’s start with some of the key players because ultimately, above all other factors, it’s the people involved…
But just prior to that, if you are looking at this on your phone, do yourselves a favour and switch to an iPad or laptop. Or at least turn your phone sideways!
^ THE BRIDE & GROOM ^
We are going to be seeing quite a bit of them as after all, along with the island, they are the stars of this particular show.
Simon, you have completely blown Chris and I away!
That video and all the pictures have had us crying and laughing- they are so beautiful- and we look so happy!
You have captured “us” completely and everything we are about. Thank you.
We are so grateful you travelled over, and are so pleased you loved the island as much as we do
💕💕
^ THE CELEBRANT, LOCATION & MARQUEE ^
(He used to be in TV series Bergerac and those marquees we are going to be seeing quite a bit of, came from Vibert Marquees Ltd)
^ THE FINANCIAL PEOPLE BEHIND THE FUNDING OF THIS PROJECT ^
AKA ‘The Parents’
^ TRANSPORT & CATERING ^
2CV cars from Emily’s godmother Helen, plus Chef Will Gorman and his team
^ THE MUSOS ^
Jonah’s Lift, one of the craziest dance floor fillers you are ever likely to meet and for the ceremony, unpaid bridesmaid Lucie.
^ THE FACILITATORS ^
And last but not least, without these two, I wouldn’t have been there, ie, if I hadn’t pulled off a half-decent job at their own wedding last year, I’d never have got this gig. Best Man Ben and Maid of Honour Daisy, - I had the pleasure of capturing their wedding last year where I met at least 20+ of the characters that will appear in this post including Daisy’s bridesmaid, Emily and Ben’s best man, Chris, our B&G of the moment. Thanks Daisy & Ben. Love you.
***
POSTCARDS OF JERSEY
For my American readers, this is the island of Jersey, or to be precise, The Bailiwick of Jersey, the largest of a small self-governing island group off the coast of Brittany, Northern France (and not ‘the state next door to New York’!)
As I mentioned above, I went for a wedding, but fell in love with an island. As a Brit, I’ve always been aware of The Channel Islands and have never really given them any more thought beyond the fact that I am aware they exist. Until Emily contacted me a couple of weeks after Daisy & Ben’s wedding with these exact words:
“We watched your video of Daisy and Ben’s wedding last night, and seen your photos. They are incredible. Daisy said you would potentially be available to come to Jersey for our wedding next year. We are planning to get married on the 24th August. Do you know if you’d be available?”
I was and it led to this point.
I’m not big on researching destinations and venues, - I want to discover them fresh and live as it were, rather than seeing what someone else did. I don’t look at what other photographers did at any new (to me) venue and I didn’t really look too hard at Jersey other than where stuff was going to take place. And knowing it was ‘quite pretty’.
Ha, ‘quite pretty’. It’s where I’d choose to live other than, ‘have an income of £1,250,000 per annum, and have personal wealth of £10,000,000 in assets. It is also required to have a residential property worth at least £1,750,000’. Slightly beyond my means…
I’m not going to bombard this post with every picture I took around the island, mostly the coast, over a couple of days, but below, a selection as a slideshow.
WEDDING FILM
Basically ALL my clients book me for BOTH photography AND video. Emily & Chris were no exception.
Below is their Wedding/Event Film that encapsulates all 3 days that I shared with them.
SWITCHING BACK TO PICTURES
Below, there is now an extensive set of pictures that ‘summarise’ this wedding. This was an extremely difficult task as there were so many…
Most weddings produce ‘a lot’ and some more than others, but this one took records to a new level and I am not a photographer that just as the industry saying goes, ‘sprays and prays’, ie, just shoots as much as possible for the sake of doing so and then after the fact, looks at what they can pull from the available material.
Instead, I shoot with intent. The big picture, the smallest detail, everything in between including the intimate, the fun, the moments, - the bits between the stuff.
Culling that to a manageable level for the client is always a hard task. Culling it for a post, harder still and this one was my hardest to date.
So without any further waffle from me, I have split this wedding into 3 galleries below:
The Day Prior (set up and ceremony rehearsal)
Wedding Day
Day After Beach Party
So to start, THE DAY PRIOR
There was no ‘Welcome Party’ as pretty much all my France based weddings have but instead, due to the massive friends & family DIY input into this wedding, a set up day including ceremony rehearsal. Plus I got the drone out and managed to capture my absolute favourite colour, - this blueish emerald green.
WEDDING DAY
Now if the weather had just stayed like it was yesterday/above…well the wedding day itself would not have produced the same set of results that it did.
This is neither a good nor a bad thing, but just ‘is’. We can plan and organise pretty much anything and everything except the weather and we got what might be called a ‘mixed day’.
It started off with relentless rain. Throughout bride prep at an AirB&B, it rained and it rained and it rained and it looked like it would never stop. But stop it did, approx 20-30 minutes prior to the ceremony and there were then brief periods of sunshine throughout the afternoon. It was a tad windy however and borderline weather for flying the drone, but managed it. Just.
Other than that, as always, the results below tell a far better story than my words can, but a couple of other mentions at this time and these are:
Hair = Bleue at Hair Central
Rings = Cleave & Co
Dress = Madi Lane
Light & Sound = Blue Elephant
Furniture = Events @ The Workshop
Otherwise, on with the wedding day below…
THE DAY AFTER
And as with all weddings, at some point, there has to be a conclusion.
This one ‘ended’ with a fun BYO BBQ on the beach at Saint Brelade’s Bay.
One of the strongest memories of my childhood, are those quintessential coastal holidays in seaside towns. Buckets and spades on the beach. Actual sand and in your sandwiches. Ice cream. Fish & chips. Gulls. Mixed weather. Striped deck chairs and windbreaks.
Add into that mix, 50+ friends & family and a BBQ and the perfect end to a perfect wedding weekend.
Just wow. Loved every minute. Including being stuck in the marquee field overnight due to the rain that morning. But that’s when having a motorhome/RV comes in handy…
But as above, just wow x 1000%. This is the kind of wedding I exist for.
