Hannah + Dave's Iford hall wedding
Having shot 3 village hall weddings this year, I have absolutely fallen in love with them and this one just goes to show why. The gorgeously funky, alternative Iford Hall Wedding of Hannah and Dave...
Hannah (aka Jones) and Dave are one seriously awesome couple and from day one of meeting them knew they would throw a wedding to remember, a wedding I would love and exactly the kind of wedding I love to capture.
No serious formalities, just an awesome gathering of friends and family to share an intimate and personal day about them, and a day that suited their laid back personalities perfectly.
Hannah and Dave held their wedding at the brilliant Iford Hall in Lewes, East Sussex and chose to have a humanist type service, conducted by Dave's dad and Hannah's brother. The initial idea was to have this as an outdoor ceremony under a beautifully and lovingly hand made flower arch in the gorgeous English, August sunshine. But of course this is England and an English summer, which meant one thing, rain, and a serious amount of it, sadly just at the time Hannah was arriving. But having such an incredible amount of supportive friends this didn't dampen any moods and everyone rallied together to move all the now soaking wet chairs into the village hall. It was definitely a moment to remember, with very little room to move, but none the less everyone pulled together and I even managed to find a spot or 2 to squeeze into to capture the moment.
With the ceremony over and the rain holding off everyone headed outside where a couple of close friends provided some acoustic music, which by the end everyone was singing along to, a moment where I wished I could have been a videographer!!
With a mixture of blue skies and dark thunderous clouds it was a given that the rest of the day was going to be a mixture of heavy rain and bursts of brilliant sunshine, so for me as a wedding photographer trying to fit all the outdoor shots into those sunny moments was a challenge, but one I always relish. I sometimes even prefer rainy weddings, I am sure it makes everyone get on and pull together more than normal.
Having run out of time, in between rain showers to grab some bride and groom portrait shots it was time for everyone to head into marquee for the speeches and wedding breakfast. With me left keeping both my fingers and toes crossed that the weather would play ball and we would get a chance at some point after the meal. Luckily we did, and although I did have to make the call that it wouldn't have been the wisest decision to allow a bride to walk up a steep muddy hill to the corn field, we did find some lovely spots and I loved Hannah's attitude completely when I realised her shoes and dress were somewhat wet and muddy. "life is too short to be precious about a bit of mud!!" Absobloodylutely Hannah!!
As a homage to sharing their day with Gay Pride in Brighton, Hannah and Dave had awesomely decided to create a glitter table, where come 6pm everyone and I mean everyone, even me! could share the love and share the glitter, from glittery faces and glittery hair, to glittery beards, no one was getting away and everyone embraced it. My kids loved it when I got home with glittery stars all over my face!
The day just got better and better with the evening being taken care of by an awesome all girl band, Festival Foxes, a group I would seriously recommend to any potential wedding couple out there!! Who wouldn't want an all girl band with a double base in!!
Its not very often that I get to the end of a 10 hour wedding shoot and don't want to go home, but this wedding was one of them moments. Everyone was so super lovely and welcoming to me and I felt by the end that I was just at a mates wedding.
Hannah and Dave, you guys completely rock, thanks so much for having me share your day with you!! xxxx
ps.. My blog posts are never this long, so it must have been good! :)
Credits-
Venue - Iford Village Hall
Band - Festival Foxes
Marquee - http://marquee2hire.com/
Flowers - Supplied by sussex cutting garden
Catering - http://www.swinewaiter.co.uk/
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