Well here it is, my first wedding assignment!
I honestly thought it would also be the last as I was absolutely terrified at the prospect and always said that I wouldn't do weddings. Hey ho, never say never eh? I LOVED it!! Every minute of it was exciting, fun, challenging and yes, the day did go by rather in a bit of a daze!
You need to be so aware of what is going on all around all the time. Every wedding will have those little moments that make it special, that make it unique to that couple and their families and friends.
I considered it my job (and that of my very able assistant) to look for those moments and capture them forever so that the bride and groom can relive their very special day for years to come.
The wedding was in Dundee and as I now reside waaaaay down south in Berkshire, I had to be doubly and trebly sure that I had everything I needed. Batteries, cards, lighting equipment and a plan B in case of rain... all needed to be checked and re-checked before I travelled back up north of the border. I'd thought of everything, laid it all out on the bed and ticked it all off the list I'd made, packed it up, unpacked it and checked it again, and then went to bed happy in the knowledge that I was ready.
Oops!!
How on earth did I forget the spare camera? D'oh!! Thank goodness for the goodness of my very good friend Walter, who happily lives down in Livingston... which though a fair drive down from Dundee is at least in Scotland and so a darn sight more useful than having to go home to pick up the one I'd forgotten! Another bonus was being at the Forth Bridges at sunset... (coming in another blog post here soon).
So, the wedding day dawned and I was up early checking and re-checking the equipment and batteries and a plan of the day. I knew that a huge amount of flexibility would be required, as there will be all those little moments and unexpected things to scupper any hard and fast plans, but I felt that it was still important to have a plan. And a plan B... a good weather plan and a bad weather plan!
The forecast was mixed so it was actually very important to have a plan B just in case! Luckily it wasn't required in the end, though we did get a few spots of rain when doing the family shots outside after the ceremony. Not enough to dampen anything though, and the cloud cover also meant that we didn't get any harsh shadows to contend with! The day went really well. Rachel looked absolutely beautiful, and it was hard not to blub at the beginning of the ceremony when Jason saw her for the first time and broke into tears because she looked so gorgeous! He spent the whole day looking like the cat who'd got the cream, it was wonderful.
Ooh, I do love a wedding!! I have always loved weddings actually. It used to be a standing joke with my old crew mate back in the days when I worked as a paramedic in Sevenoaks (I'm going back a few years here, by gum!). If we were sent on standby and I was driving then I would always park by a wedding dress shop to see what was in the window... yes, I know, wedding dresses lol. I've been a bridesmaid four times now, and I love seeing a wedding car drive by or seeing couples at the church as we go past, but to be the actual wedding photographer... oh my word, that filled me with horror!!!
Imagine the pressure! Good grief, you can hardly ask the couple to come back on Monday 'cos you've cocked up their photos can you? Although that did actually happen to my younger sister when she got married nearly 25 years ago.
The horror of finding out that she had no proper photos actually taken on the wedding day still hurts her now. I can only imagine how the poor photographer must have felt! He did get them back into the garden of his studio, but it's obviously not the same; there's no family or friends or bridesmaids, or their little boy who was all dressed up in a cutie wee sailor costume... it was the '80's... it was thought cute at the time! Roy is obviously all grown up now and is understandably relieved that there are no photos of him in his sailor suit, but that doesn't make it any better really does it?
So, fully aware of how things could go horribly wrong and of the enormous responsibility that I was undertaking, it was with huge trepidation that we set out to Dundee. Luckily there were no disasters, everything went by in a bit of a blur but it all went pretty well I think.
Rachel did know that I wasn't a wedding photographer but she put her faith in me and I'm pleased to say that she wasn't disappointed. Phew!!
So will I do another wedding? Oh yes, in a heartbeat!! There's so much more I'd like to do with the weddings, and I think they will only get better and better and more and more fun. I also hope that I will also always be a little bit nervous, as to not be scared means that you can't be fully appreciative of the enormity of what you are doing for the couple. Yes, I will definitely do it again!
Rebecca, x
www.rtphotographics.co.ukrebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk
