Doxford Hall Hotel - the scene of Cheryl and Jonathans summer wedding,
lovely weather - wall to wall sunshine
and a bride with a huge smile,
she never stopped smiling all day . . honestly !

Dress. Ronald Joyce. (ok you can't see it all here - but I'm sure you can pick out bits of it in the picture if you stare carefully).

Cheryls father, Jeff - dons his shirt - and bursts into laughter,
remembering that his father once wore similar shirts -
and when he was young - he said that he'd never wear shirts like his fathers . . . .

Bridesmaids receive presents . . .

Ah. you might be curious about this picture. the dog is called Sophie,

now Sophie the dog, is getting on in years,
but she's very important to Cheryl and Jonathan - she's been around all through their relationship,
part of the furniture really - and it somehow wouldn't seem right if Sophie wasn't involved in the wedding day.

At the church - a congregation congregates.

and within the church - Jonathan (our groom on the right, awaits).

within seconds - he adopts an extremely religious pose . . probably rubbing his hands together . .

only he can tell you what was going through his mind . . .

I caught him on camera anyway.

The god squad arrive in force - marshalled by the man with the ironmongery at the front.

quick ecclesiastical timecheck - yup - she's on time.

actually - this was fascinating to watch (watch . . pun . . geddit . .. . )

the vicar was counting seconds . .
he was uttering cryptic phrases like  'seventeen seconds . . . .'
it seems that he was timing the brides arrival to a very exact moment in the music.

hats off to the man - was he well organised or what !.

seventeen seconds must have elapsed - we have the moment of launch

and in a jolly church fashion - the seats all have little cushions behind them
showing vaguely comical flying popes hats . .

serious stuff here - I notice that the dress not only reflects vertically onto the floor
but also horizontally on the pew ends.  must have a picture . .

ah - that solemn moment when the documents are signed the vicar signs one section and Jonathan looks over his shoulder to make sure that he's filled it in correctly.

Surprise guest . .  Sophie the beloved and elderly dog has been brought to the church,
poor soul - she hardly knows she's here . . . .
she is deaf and pretty much blind,
but she's definitely loved though - and that counts for a lot.

Another special guest - gran couldn't make it to the reception - but was able to attend the church -
so we quickly obtain a picture.

drinkies at Doxford . . .

you can guess that at this point -
we've moved on to Doxford Hall and are awaiting the arrival of the bride and groom. 
(we got there first only because we drove like lunatics).

a handful of obligatory family pictures are produced in record time.

it's probably a good idea to have some family pictures - as a record of who was there more than anything else.

dozens and dozens of other pictures were produced. basically showing folks having a good time.

we hop off to take a few arty pictures of Cheryl and Jonathan.

to the right of the doorway - a guest says - hey - you look good walking through the doorway
oddly enough - it was organised so that I could take a picture - I knew they'd look good . . .

so I ask the guests to hop it for a few moments whilst I take a picture

inaminnit they say . . we'll take a picture first . . .

doh . . moment gone.  we move on.

I can probably remove the guest from the pictures using the wonders of computer technology

but I'm planning to carry a taser in my camera bag next week . . . that'll sort the problem out . . .

we couldn't really have a reception here without some images of the garden. 

Doxford Hall also has a maze.

we hop in and take a some pictures . . 

then spend the next 25 minutes trying to find the way back out . . . .

you didn't believe that did you ?
we'd be nuts to walk all the way in when theres a party waiting for us . . . 
the truth is that we were extremely careful not to get lost . . . . .

anyway . . . I brought some shears, just in case . ..

anyhow moments later - - we head back to Doxford Hall

and take some fashion shoot pictures . . and why not . . lovely girl, lovely dress,

you only do this once - so have fun with it !

umm . . this is me being obscure again.

it's a double portrait - sort of - the groom is actually in the picture but only in shadow form.

if you try this sort of thing - its a good way to find out whether you've married a vampire.

we produce loads of these lovely images - then slide into the receiving line.
bang on schedule.

Here - Cheryl demonstrates that if you squeeze a woman hard enough - her hat will pop off

Jeff (he's Cheryls father - you remember) launches his speech
somewhat to the amusement of Cheryl - and Jonathan wonders what'll happen next . . .

loads of things happen next . . . . . . one of those things is the first dance.
sorry about the video man in the background . . . not my doing.
(video guys also have a job to do - sometimes they end up in pictures)
my choice is to either take the picture or not . . .
it's best to take it I suppose -
when most of my photography is unstaged and unposed -
moments just don't happen twice and there's really only one opportunity to capture the image.

End of the day . . the little crimson glimmer on the horizon is all that remains of the setting sun.

thanks guys.  for a very enjoyable day !