The weather was set fair and nothing was left to chance, not even the batting order for the shower [i hope you've included reading this blog post on today's colour-coded spreadsheet].

The wedding party included a rather special new addition [coo-ing wasn't on the schedule].

Onwards to the spectacular Rushton Hall.

Not everyone could relax: there were speeches to be prepped…. and itchy ring syndrome to be sated.

John’s speech was statesman-like, a cracker…

..although there were moments when i thought he had lost the audience.

Mere brinkmanship!

We had two speeches from the best men; neither one of the happy couple were immune from the rapier wit on show

The wedding cake was surrounded by photos from the past weddings of loved ones.

A few relaxing moments in the evening sun and then onwards to the party.

The barometer predicted a ‘fair’ day. Fair to say it exceeded expectations.

Andy and the lads arrived and set about their to-do list with ruthless efficiency.  This first-class display of formation walking wasn’t set-up btw.

Caption competition #1:

Caption competition #2:

The raconteurs were on form; the best-man had to follow a standing ovation but he stuck to his task manfully.

The sweepstake winner was sitting suspiciously close to the timekeeper.

There was a practice dance…

… then the real thing:

Doesn’t play well with others.

So, we round-off another great day at Crockwell.  There was a lot of laughter at this wedding, a really fun day.  Right, move along, it’s your own time your wasting…..

Now that’s a tasty bench.

Grandad, a truly remarkable man.

Lauren is definitely looking at the place were she got married; Tim is definitely looking at the sheep (he’s a big sheep fan so it transpires – purely in the agricultural sense).

There’s dancing, and then there’s Dad dancing:

The verdict: “Hi Steve & Cathy, Hope you are both well. Thank you so much, the photos are as amazing as we knew they would be with such a skilled photography team! We love them and have been looking at them for the last couple of hours, so thank you very much.”

Read on to see that last sentence couldn’t be further from the truth

James is one cool customer; not nervous at all.

Come on, you said, “ahhhh” didn’t you?

Yep, not nervous at all

Daughter Phoebe was close to the action throughout.  Here she is doing her best to look aloof.

Right, time to party at the Falcon Hotel in Castle Ashby.

I think the laughter below was something to do with a vajazzle – google it, unless you’re at work.

Remember i mentioned Rachel’s love of wasps?  She’s absolutely petrified in fact – good news about the orchard then!  Here’s Rachel mid-wasp-defence-mode. Kind of a flappy hand dance followed by a loud moo-ing noise (now if i was writing for ‘Are You Being Served‘ that sentence would probably lead somewhere else).

You said, ‘Ahhh’ again didn’t you?

In short, a more relaxed and fun day you couldn’t find.  Rachel & James (and Phoebe) were brilliant, this one was a breeze.  Here’s the verdict:

“Just wanted to drop you a quick mail to say THANKS for everything you did for us on our day…. and our beautiful photos. We love them! Whoop Whoop! So many people have commented on how good you were (on the day as well as your photos!!!) Couldnt agreed with them more. Looking forward to being on your blog too!!!!”

Now for a change of pace at the Shoulder of Mutton in Great Bowden.

Technically, i’m not sure brides can ever be late.

A proud brother.

“You sure?”

Chris isn’t the sort of fella to do anything he isn’t sure of!

Onwards to Kelmarsh Hall [tip: the building on the left serves delicious homemade cakes - it was research btw and hopefully tax deductible]

There were some excellent speeches on this one, although i’ve been to rugby dinners that were less near the knuckle!

Hey, they’re only human

Pretty sure Don’t Stop Believing was playing around this time.

And so night fell on Kelmarsh but silence definitely did not, the party continued, hard.  Thoroughly enjoyed our time on this one.

Craig did what any self-respecting husband-to-be should do, ensured the wife-to-be had something to open during the bridal preps.

Reckon it’s safe to say the boy done good!

Onwards to Dodmoor then, where we await a convoy of Mercedes.

We are available for civil partnerships by the way.

Tales of Craig’s wheeler-dealing: authentic papyrus bookmarks going cheap after a decade of not selling.

The party got into full swing.

Did i mention we do civil partnerships?

It was a fun day at Dodmoor as always. Particular shout out to Ash for his sterling efforts during the groups when he single-handedly managed to double the length of the list whilst simultaneously not getting me a drink from the bar.

Pleased to say the pics have gone down well: “We love them, they’re perfect!!!  We like, we like!!!  You captured everything we wanted and they’re just awesome, I could look at them all day (and at the weekend I may just do that!!)!”  It’s also the first time i’ve been called a “comfort blanket”

Fact fans: it’s the same distance from Lois’ childhood home to the church as it is the village pub.

They’re going to the church btw.

Having refreshed himself at the pub our hero, Mark, made the short skip from there to Stow Minster.

Married!

The organist learnt the intro to Jump by Van Halen for the procession out of the Minster

Confetti was an ad-hoc affair, which was nice.

Now just a short walk back past home to the house at the end of the road, site of the festivities.

Right, i’ve seen a few wedding gifts in my time, none of which are quite in the same league as this wedding message written in moss on some rocks.   Answers on a postcard!

To put you out of your misery it says, “I want you for all time… 4th June… Mark n Lois… ♥ Rocks”, ohhhhh

Lois is an electrician, a good one, the best, please no… not the face!  This is my new portrait signature shot.  In truth, they were performing for friends and i happened to have been in the right place at the right time

Ok, time to party on.  Off with the little shoes and on with the colour scheme friendly DMs.

First dance was to an elegant little rock number.

The night was rounded off with a little Zumba, which is a first for me!

Finally, i hadn’t encountered a couple who requested a jumping shot, until now.  Does seem appropriate though.

From a lovely comment on our Facebook page: “Thanks again Steve and Cathy, we are so pleased with the photo’s, as are all the bridesmaids, parents and family. You two were great company on top of getting some beautiful shots, and plenty funny ones. What a fun day.”

Indeed!

So we were delighted – and a little nostalgic – to return there for the wedding of Claire and Darren.  First of all we found ourselves a bit further north in Broughton Astley, where no-one walks alone:

Formation button-holing – illegal in 12 counties.

This was pretty much our first glimpse of Claire after finishing her morning scrub-up; makes for a very proud father.

We managed to haggle a balcony position so got a good view of the proceedings.

A groom has a lot to remember on the day: get dressed, get to the church, give the correct hand to your soon-to-be-wife so she can put the wedding ring on your appropriately named ‘wedding ring finger’….  well two out of three will do

Reliving the ring moment

Onwards to Brownsover.

I dabbled with a bit of algebra at uni [it's just one thing which makes me such a vivacious dinner guest], so here we go: C = Claire, D = Darren ∴ C x D = 300.  Seems like a lot of future offspring to me, put that’s admirable fecundity.

What with the ring clanger and photos from Darren’s past, the bestman’s excellent speech effectively wrote itself.

Had a request for evening formals of the stags and hens.  Now, in the speeches there was mention of surf ironing boards being carried around on the stag-do, so it seemed only fitting to ‘acquire’ one for this shot.  Did i mention i’m fully insured?

So the stags partied pretty hard, but in all honesty, the hens put them in the shade…

… especially when asked to replicate what they thought a strangely absent hen might have been doing at that particular time:

We had a bouquet toss this time.

And a lucky winner from the ensuing scrum.

We managed to get a few shots online whilst Claire and Darren were on honeymoon: “Just checked phone for first time since our Big Day and had to take a look at your amazing pics!! WOW!! Thank you so much for capturing our special day so well…. Thanks again mate, we owe you and Cathy a Chang Beer when we get home!!” – we’ll hold you to that!

Looking forward to the album from this one.

In the ether of last month, before the happy couple lived it up on safari in Kenya, we had the wedding of Beth and Mike at Southam church. The events then moved on to Crockwell Farm, where Hermione and her team put on another flawless show.

Neither of our heroes like having their picture taken. I don’t think that shows one bit

If i wasn’t fully insured, i might baulk at the idea of my steps being used as a games room.

Now, a dancefloor that has no natural light, black walls and a black ceiling i’m sure has made many a photographer’s eyes water. Not this intrepid adventurer; it’s just one element that really lends some atmosphere to the day i reckon.

Beth and Mike sent me some pics of some pretty fierce creatures from their honeymoon in Kenya. If it wasn’t for fear of competition i would add a few here. I’m pleased to say the email also said:
“The wedding day feels like a lifetime ago and seeing the pictures and people smiling really brought back lots of happy memories for us. A few nearly brought a tear to the eye! You’ve done a fabulous job and can’t wait to get our favourite shots printed and framed.”

Tears early doors.

The vivacious Lincoln Noel was tremendous as always.

Helen did practice the stairs.

Helen & Jason thought they heard some tears from the assembled.  We know different   Neither of them knows why they giggled so much.

Now, many of the folks here are involved in some way with horses and thank goodness someone had the foresight to pack the racing pages:

There was a call for all ex-partners to return house keys

Update: “Just had a chance to sit down and look at pics! They are brilliant, you have done a super job”… then
“Album has arrived and it is AMAZING! Thank you so much for doing such a super job, we really will treasure it forever.” Yay and double yay.