Bradford Town Hall and National Media Centre, Bradford.

Kelly and Martyn were married here.

there.
well, married here and reception there,
or vice versa. ..

darn. I'm tangled up already. . . flipping heck.

I stayed in Bradford for a two nights in order to photograph Kelly and Martyns wedding.

Whilst wandering about the area,
well before the wedding time, I was amazed to find Martyn and his friends,
also wandering about Bradford town centre.

when asked for a pose - they immediately struck catalogue poses on the steps of the town hall.

hmm.  sign of things to come here . . . . they haven't even been drinking . . . .

what can the rest of the day bring we wonder . . . .

I hop over to the Victoria Hotel, Bradford, to find Kelly getting ready.

The schedule did initially seem to have plenty of time in it . . .

Kelly assured me that she's always on time . . .

Martyn meanwhile, explained to the wedding guests that 20 minutes late was sort of normal . . . .

Kelly arrives . . not quite on time,

a full 20 minutes late . . . . aaaaaaaaagh

Kelly dashes up the steps of the town hall

did I say Town Hall ?

rather nice building eh !

there's just time to glimpse it as we streak up the steps  . . .

I run past Kelly and the bridesmaids,

climb up a drainpipe and reach my vantage point, where I can photograph Kelly swooshing up the staircase

a festive christmas tree awaits at the top of the steps,

along with a registrar nervously waiting . .

Ah - everything turned out well in the end,
the 20 minutes was just to get the man keen . . .

I'm sure it was planned that way . .

I deploy the small helicopter and obtain a birds eye view of the wedding in Bradford Town Hall

Quick as a trice
( a trice is a small bicycle with three wheels)
the wedding service is concluded -
Kelly and Martyn - beaming 1000 watts of sunshine, swoosh down the aisle

err . where are they going - that's the council chamber isn't it ?

short cut . .

straight out of the front door and we stand near to some big thing with lights on it.

what the heck can this be ?

you don't think it's a . . . . . . . .

150 FOOT HIGH FERRIS WHEEL.

no . . you don't get those at traditional English weddings . . .

yes it is folks - and the building that you can see through the spokes of the wheel is Bradford Town Hall
(where the wedding has just taken place)
and . . . it's getting dark early because this is December.

December the 27th to be exact . . .  basically in the depths of winter . . .

NO . . THEY WONT - THEY WOULDN'T . . I DON'T THINK.

yes . they would and they did.

sailing above The town square 150 feet up on a winters night in a wedding dress.

you might say that this is a little different !

as their basket swings down to ground level again - I grab shots - then it swooshes up to the top again

she's certainly smiling !

actually - he's smiling too . . wouldn't you !

yes . . it was real -
many of the wedding guests then clambered aboard
and enjoyed a whirl above the city in sub zero temperatures !

oddly enough - the guests were also smiling . . .

back inside - I grab a couple of posed pictures,
before a buffet,
then we all hop over to the next stop

aw come on . . you can't get married in a place like this and NOT use the architecture in your pictures

anyway - we rattle off dozens of pictures very quickly
in fact so quickly - I'm out of breath.

ooh.everywhere I point my camera - I get lovely images

I can't decide if it's me

the place

or Kelly and Martyn

I tell you what . . if it wasn't for Kelly and Martyn - these lovely pictures wouldn't have happened.
so basically . .  they made the pictures.

even trying to hop out of the doorway - I see a picture.

quick . stand there . click . done . . move on . . .

ooh confetti. guests outside are waiting to shower confetti . .

in the dark . .  hmm. might have to use a flash here I think . .

not hanging around - Kelly and Martyn jump into their car
and swoosh over to the next stop.

the National Media Museum in Bradford.

it's so close - the guests simply walk over

(like a couple of hundred yards)

but having an Aston - Martyn decides to drive over.

there's that lovely smile again - Kelly looking out of the car window as it pulls away

I think that the lady in the background tried to attach balloons to the back of the car

but unfortunately - there wasn't a balloon hook fitted to the car . .

what's this ?

dimly lit figures approaching down a sloping corridor . .
one of them seems to be wearing a wedding dress . . . .

the guests are waiting in the cinema - this is where the speeches are to take place

Kellys father makes his speech - watched by Kelly and Martyn

and this is  . . . .

the best men, explaining a finer point of one of the speeches to the audience

I sneak up to the rear of the cinema to get a view of the whole scene

(trying to get the pictures to tell a story)

after the speeches - Kelly finds a blue screen - and in a totally demure fashion,
proceeds to fly about on the tv screen that you see suspended from the ceiling.

she was only doing it to amuse the little feller to the left . . of course . .

the national media museum looks rather good at night from outside

but remember, this is December the 29th, so it's cold, so we can stay outside for a maximum 5 mins

before fingertips freeze to the camera body.

(or grooms fingertips freeze to Bride).

I decide that the best way to get some pictures is to do nothing.

absolutely nothing.

Kelly and Martyn are standing about chatting
they see me pointing a camera at them and ask me - what should we do ?

I say . . nothing . .

I cunningly realise that things look just fine the way they are -
there's a cinema behind them called the Alhambra -
it's lit up quite well, and the street lamps are giving me just enough light to make a picture.

so I grab these little beauties.

as I say - I did nothing, they did nothing,

nothing posed. nothing contrived.

but the picture below was contrived.

for a reason.

Kelly and Martyn are both Geographers

Kelly teaches Geography and Martyn owns a mapping company.

so the picture above means something to them - it's a map of the world, made up of lots of little pictures.

it's quite apt.

Kelly and Martyn sweep downstairs for the wedding breakfast

I like this picture - it shows off the dress, shows what's going on,
and also shows the guests following the couple down the staircase.

ah - this being a media museum,

we find topical table markers

I clamber up onto a balcony to obtain a birdseye view
of things

after oh yes.  those balloons. fill em with air, let 'em go.
then they blurt up to a great height.

by the way - you need to see these two pictures together .

(they're part of a sequence of 3)

above, the concentration on the mans face is absolute.

must be an aerodynamics scientist or something like that . . .

back up to my birdseye platform - and the room has filled with guests

for some odd reason - I took this picture, it's a little bit of a self portrait.

this is probably the only picture of me on this website . . .

(I'm reflected in the window - standing on the balcony,
no . . . you can't see me either . . . . )

oh - and those pink things on the big sail thingymajigs . . .

they're fallen blurting balloons of course.

here, Martyn measures Kellys arm.

I was kidding, they're dancing.

back up to a balcony - and you can see the whole scene

a prize goes to anyone who can spot the dalek.

but since I and yes. a final picture.

Kelly and Martyn share a moment on the dance floor.

after this . . . I flopped behind a screen and a gentleman brought me a lovely plate of food.

most welcome . .

and thank you for a lovely day Kelly and Martyn.

one to remember. definitely.