Matfen Hall Wedding

Matfen Hall was the venue for Stephanie and Stephen's wedding.

you might notice that most of these pictures are . . . .

firstly - they're mostly in black and white

and secondly - in the main - they are totally unposed images.

you can call this style - reportage wedding photography

or photojournalist wedding photography

the important thing is - the unposed pictures are just that . . .

they are absolutely not posed in any way.

of course -  the posed pictures are posed

but you'll spot the difference immediately.

Steph's mum making final adjustments to lipstick.  pre wedding . .

Little flower girl Millie (only 6 years old !)

gazing down on the great hall at Matfen, before the wedding.

and on the wall down there - a clock which will feature in one of the pictures to follow.

we hop inside the room where the grown ups are getting ready

and little Millie poses for a picture

I had great difficulty in deciding whether to leave the diagonal slanting line in the picture

I took the line out - the picture didn't look right

I left it in - the picture looks right - but it keeps on drawing my attention.

what is rather lovely - is Little Millies patient gaze.

I think that these guys are Daniel and Tom

or Tom and Adam

or Adam and Daniel . . .

(three names to play with - ages 8, 9, and 10)

you try guessing their identities

armed only with three possible ages  8,9,10 . . . . .

our groom - Stephen

is waiting downstairs - I put the clock into the composition

because it tells part of the story (and the time !).

Little Millie is accompanied down the staircase by Liam

the three boys set off on their longest walk of the day

and now our bride walks down the staircase accompanied by her father.

descending the staircase into the Great Hall at Matfen

Steph and her father walk up the aisle

where Stephs future husband awaits

an aerial view of our couple getting married

and a sneaky peek at the registrars file showing post it notes . .

have you seen the cuffs on this fellers jacket !

smart or what !

(I might be wrong - but I think that the style is Danish or Norwegian).

a register is signed - in the great hall at Matfen

one of those two young fellers that we encountered earlier

suddenly spots the camera

ok. register signed - bride and groom pause for a moment whilst the guests
do the paparrazi thing and get pictures on their cameras.

you drinkies afficionados will know what this is
it's a lot of beer bottles with slices of lime inserted in the necks

here's a visitors book,
a comments book . . or it could be simply a guest book,

placed on a lectern in the Great Hall - guests write their good wishes

guests spot our couple

and immediately zap them papparazzi style.

the lady with the hat in the centre of the picture

hasn't really got a face that has just vaporised . . .

what you're looking at is the flash on her camera . . .

ah - someone rather special gets to kiss the Groom . . .

Steph and Stephen hop outside and share a few moments together

we have sunshine too !

a quick picture on the steps - with Matfen Hall in the background.

(just to remind us where we are !)

I know it's a strange picture - but I really like Ivy

and there was quite a lot of it

on this picture - you also get to admire the cut of Stephens Suit.

this picture - is a picture of a reflection in a mirror on the wall of Matfens Great Hall

outside of the main door at Matfen Hall

I was doing quite well in keeping most of these pictures in Black and White

but if you're showing chocolate cake - really . . .
black and white doesn't do it justice !

I was going to say - it doesn't cut it . . but that's a wedding cake joke . .

and whilst we're about it - let's have a peek at the room in colour too . . .

I revert to black and white and our couple,
along with sundry flower girls and page boys
enter the room to have a peek

Hmmm . . it al seems to be here . . .

our bride makes a last minute check before the guests arrive . .

I spot a board sporting the names of all of the wedding guests,

a table plan no less.

and each table has the same name.

see if you can work it out . .

as the guests queue to enter the room,
guess who is at the front of the line !

is everyone in the room for the wedding breakfast now ?

flower girl Millie is just checking . .

ah - the master of ceremonies is ready to announce the speeches . .

and . . this is . . .

well, I don't actually know what this is . .

it is on the end of the finger of one of the page boys . .

maybe you've seen this kind of thing before,

in that case - you will know what it is . .
(and if you do know - maybe you can tell me !)

a handshake for Stephen from his brother Christopher. (he's the best man).

and a toast. to the bride and groom.

the toastmaster is somewhere in the picture

bottom left . . you might recognise him . .

here we have a speech.

i.e. this is a picture of a speech, on paper.

Christopher concludes his speech with a toast.

Matfen great hall has been transformed

tables have appeared - chairs . . and . . a band is setting up near to the foot of the staircase

I find two of the three page boys outside

and get a quick snap.

well - more of a portrait than a snap really . .

and this picture is better in colour than black and white

some pictures just are . . .

below - we see Steph and Stephens first dance . .

this was their first dance in Matfens great Hall

they had a second first dance (if that makes sense - wouldn't it simply be the second dance ?

not really - because they might have to dance some more, in between both first dances . . )

it's a complicated concept isn't it . .

too complex for me - I'm just a bloke.

suffice to say - that there was a second first dance later on
to music provided by the Matfen D.J. Tim Hills in the vault room.

and then - below . . Steph and Stephen light their incendiary devices

guaranteed to be spotted by local villagers

who will then ring the police and report U.F.O's

'it was a coloured light officer . . moving slowly in the sky . . . '

and we have lift off

I took this picture from ground level

having walked backwards in the dark . .

the back of my ankles connected with a very small hedge

and I continued to walk backwards . .

CRASH . .

which is how the picture came to be taken from ground level . . . .     :)

more launches followed

set out in front of you here - you have a band playing

and wedding guests dancing in Matfens Great Hall

and even more guests, chatting and enjoying the music at tables by candlelight

I'm clambering all over the place to get pictures,
I look down - and notice someone else doing the same thing.

you do that sort of thing when you're a child, don't you !

downstairs in the Vault - Tim Hills, the (excellent) Matfen resident D.L.

( here's a quick plug for Tim )   email Tim on

matfendisco@hotmail.com

or phone Tim the D.J. on 07748 153206

anyway . . Tim listens to our groom Stephen, as he explains what is to happen.

so  . . your father in law has some kind of cannon

and this thing is going to explode on my dance floor . . . hmmmm

I wasn't joking . .
I'd asked Stephens father in law for a signal . .
a warning so that I could get into position - my finger on the trigger etc.

but what happened was

the first dance commenced.  about half a second later - an almighty bang
and what looked like a ton of confetti exploded across the room.

I was just lucky that I kinda got it on camera.

Steph and Stephen dancing amidst the jettisoned confetti from the cannon

and as the night went on - just about everyone got up to dance,

I spotted our couple having a kiss on the dance floor,

and at this point - I wandered off into the night.

thanks guys.  for a lovely day spent with lovely people.