Ooh so this is a good one! I've been looking forward to blogging this wedding for so long - in fact I'm not really sure why I haven;t done it sooner - because it was possibly one of my favourite weddings to date. One of my favourite venues - the gorgeous Wootton Park - and some of the loveliest, easy going and fun people I have met in a long time!
Firstly, when Rachel and Rob booked me, I wondered whether we would have enough time to "click". They both lived in London being super-creative in their jobs in the film/acting industry (yes - awesome) so it was hard for us to meet up. In fact I think I only met Rob one time before their wedding day (not counting a Skype meeting we had just before they booked), and I managed to sit down with Rachel and her Mum a few weeks before their wedding day. I needn't have worried though, because as soon as I arrived at Trust Salons to begin photographing the ladies getting ready, it felt like I'd walked into a room full of old friends. Rachel's family is American, so perhaps the famous American hospitality/positivity had something to do with it...but the morning went so quickly and before I knew it I was off to the tree pods to join the guys for some pre-ceremony photographs.
So without going into a huge amount of detail about all the quirky things that Rachel and Rob had at their wedding (I might be here a while!) let's just say that when it came to helping with the buttonholes, lego power rangers made for a much more fun alternative to the standard white roses! This pretty much formed the basis of the day, with the couples' friends bursting into song ahead of their hand-fasting ceremony (a tradition when leading the guests to the ceremony so I learned) and including "Go Go Power Rangers" and a very sweet song they'd made up just for Rachel and Rob! Add to this some couple shots with their "wedding weapons" (see photos!), a cake cutting sword and an amazing hand mould that Rachel and Rob made during their wedding breakfast (again - see photos otherwise I'm sure this makes no sense haha) and you get the most amazing day!
It was hard going squeezing in both a legal ceremony down on the boat AND a second hand-fasting blessing for their extra guests later in the afternoon (plus a BBQ, lawn games, some awesome speeches, street food, a beautiful cornfield photo session and shots around the farm - phew!) but I honestly wouldn't have asked for this day to go any differently. It was even worth the epic sunburn to the backs of my legs as we were right smack in the middle of that incredible heatwave at the end of June.
I'm back to Wootton Park for a double whammy this weekend - weddings on Friday and Sunday - and I am thoroughly looking forward to it :) Wootton Park is part of the Warwickshire Wedding Collective - a local group of small wedding businesses - check the collective out at www.warwickshireweddingcollective.com
So, it's time for me to stop typing and just share some images...here goes!
Rachel and Rob - just amazing! I loved working with you guys and I am SO coming down to London to gatecrash you soon!