Auckland Castle in the summer . . what more could you wish for ?
a Summer wedding at Auckland Castle, that's what !
this lovely wedding was the creation of Deborah and David,

I'll change subject immediately
in order to avoid offending macho guys
by describing them as pretty.

Hey - take a peek at the flowers,
a single rose languishes in a . .

Lalique crystal vase,

or a . . .

you're kidding ? . . , at this wedding . . . ???

it can't be . .

It must be a Jam Jar from Harrods then . . .

well . . it shows off this buttonhole quite well.

wierd names we have for things in England. . .

a stranger would be thinking, how do I fit a button into that flower ??

More flowers are found lurking in -

gawd knows what.

I refuse to be drawn on this one
in case I put my foot in it again.

Deborah is assisted by her sister

who carefully attaches a large elastic band
to the back of her dress,

when the bride walks down the stairs,

she'll whizz straight back up powered by the elastic band.

only kiddin . . .

did I catch you out ?

Ah - we venture outdoors into Debs parents' garden.

the girls are smiling, waiting for father,

who is currently wrestling with a cufflink.

The cufflink lost the battle,

Debs got her father .

A parallel picture is taken at Auckland Castle
as we find David lurking near to the doorway,
awaiting Deborah.

little does he know,

Debs ended up . . shall we say. . . fashionably late.

traffic took a hand in things,

our hero has to wait
an extra 17 minutes for his lady.

a lesser man would have quaked in his boots.

However, the chapel full of guests (and David)
took everything in good humour,
no one complained . . simply smiles all around.

I bet he breathed a sigh of relief when she arrived though.

Deborah is driven to Auckland Castle by her father, preceded by a piper.

gosh. . . if that kilted guy walked in front of the car
all the way here . . .

no wonder she was late . . .

I clamber up something and take a picture.

This is normal,

so is me falling off things,

just a hazard of the job,

causing much amusement when it happens . . . .

Using a soooopah long lens worthy of a space telescope observatory,
I photograph the vows and rings, and also pick up a lovely smile in the picture on the right.

But to make it all legal,

as we all know . . .

you have to sign bits of paper
and stuff like that.

Here we see bits of paper
and stuff like that
being signed.

Oh all right then.

it's a register . . ..

and the delightful lady vicar
has allowed me to photograph it being signed,

instead of making a pretendy posed picture of two people holding an empty pen over a book

as beloved of many registrars . . . . . .

nuff said.

hey - the pictures are real
they have atmosphere, they actually tell a story

We whizz outside
and everyone hurls abuse at the photographer who obligingly makes a picture
using his sketch pad,
later coloured in using crayons
in an amazingly photographic fashion.

And to the left, a happy fellow takes on the appearance of an alien
by using the simple disguise of a pair of alien sunglasses.

how do I know about aliens you ask . . . ?

well . . I was driving down the road one night . .
there was a bright white light,

and I lost half an hour of my life whilst being examined . . .

OK. maybe I just saw one in a film or something . .

(this guy will biff me for this if he comes across me !
though I'll maintain it's his fault for wearing alien specs . . !).

This being a wedding,
Hats are out in force . . .

I have to admit to enjoying my job almost too much.

the memories of days spent in glorious places
and in good company are almost too good to be true.

hey . . look at the weather we had . .

(quality of the light gives it away a little bit !)

Ah we can't resist taking a few minutes to mooch around the castle (do you mooch round castles or lay siege to them)

we mooched and we're proud of it, we're happy moochers . . .
getting one or two pictures in the process. . .
wandered might be a better word than mooched. . . . . .

The picture above is one of my favourites.

is it big headed to love your own work ?

I don't care. . . It does something for me.

it's almost timeless,
though the architecture is from another time.

if you had the time,
you'd wonder what dreams and secrets these walls could tell.

well .. there are some more now . . .

(courtesy of Deborah and David !).

OK. I admit it.
I love what I do so much that I do it lots . . .. resulting in many variations on my images.

buy hey . . why not ?

I'm known as a quick photographer . . . .. . so I'm not wasting too much of anyones time. . . .

the couple get more images too . . . . . . everyone wins !

Part time Paparazzi pop their flashes at something . .

ooooh they're cutting the cake !

Wot's happening here . . ?

It looks like a toast . .

evidence is as follows . . .

Bride and Groom sitting down on the top table.

(sorry . . sitting at the top table, the cutlery is ON the table)

everyones forearm is raised.

It's either a ceremonial wave or a toast !

heavens above,

we're taking more pictures, you ask ?

well . . .with long summer evenings,

it's nice to take a stroll.

heck . . lets face it,

If you've hired an entire castle for the day,

it would be a shame not to take a walk around it . . .

I'm stuck for a comment to this picture

the reason why I took it
was because I liked the irregular windows in the old wall.

so . . . we continued to enjoy our sunlit evening stroll

and found this picture
in a most secret place.

After which, there was much dancing - in the marquee !

many thanks to Deborah and David for trusting me with your memories,

and to the capable Kim at Auckland
for her assistance in ensuring that everything went smoothly.

thank you also for the food . . . .