We had the privilege of attending the very funky wedding of Holly and Steven at Northampton’s Guildhall and then their reception at the Hunsbury Hill Centre. It was a great day filled with fun and laughter. It followed a village fete theme with more than the odd nice touch (see the knitted cake, below). This is a short-ish post to whet the appetite as i’m still processing the full set.

Gotta love a red bus!

The characaturist was excellent.

Plenty of fun and banter during the group shots.

Steven was unceremoniously dropped after this (and yes, i got pics).

The may pole happened, but perhaps not as the purists would have liked

Nipped over to Cambridgeshire for the marriage of Pippa and Joe at Abington Pigotts church and then on to the gorgeous South Farm: a superb venue, close to perfect. Here’s a selection from the day.

Show off!

What happened in Vegas stays in Vegas. Fortunately, Sam and Dave managed to bring back their marriage certificate and held a wedding reception in the not dissimilar surroundings of the Hunsbury Hill Centre. Here are a few from the evening:

What is a photographer to do when stood in a moonlit car park and the couple say, “What about a shot with Dad’s car?”. Well, light it!

We also had a few requests for night group shots. Not a problem. You want to a double monkey, no problem

And Dave, as you know, we’ll always have the mound, let’s just leave it as something special

Dodmoor House was the place to be for the marriage of Nathalie and Mark. It’s a fantastic venue – don’t delay to avoid disappointment – that even the damp British summer couldn’t affect. En fait, il pleuvait comme une vache qui pisse! We had surprises galore, several songs, a game of Mr. & Mrs. and there was entente cordiale all over the place as half the assembled guests were French (see above for some bad French). D’accord, allons y!

Nathalie’s sister arranged a surprise slideshow which got some great reactions.

This was Mark’s reaction to a pic of him in a Hooters bar… apparently, i didn’t look.

It’s a charming French tradition that the bride has a waltz with her father before the first dance.

We were back to Harrowden Hall for the marriage of Tracey and Paul. The day was chock full of emotion and humour, plenty of humour

Great Harrowden also did its best to better the weather of Hawaii – the honeymoon destination – although it couldn’t deliver on the wild dolphin front.

Fetch the guitar…

“Trraaaayseee” still ringing in my ears! How do you follow that?

As you can see Tracey was exceptionally elegant in her dress..

… but a simple change of shoes allows refinement to transform into rowdy

Finally Spinal Tap fans, Paul’s guitar even went to 11:

[Update]: direct from Hawaii, the happy couple are “chuffed to bits” with the pics. Yay!!

OK, as promised, here’s some more from our fantastic day with Hema and David. Both Hema’s preparations and the wedding breakfast where held at the Staverton Park Hotel with the ceremony in Northampton’s resplendent Guildhall.

After some interesting encounters with the general public of Northampton town during group shots, we were able to get 10 minutes with the happy couple:

It was then time to make the journey make to Staverton Park for the reception:

Their first dance was nicely done [although anyone who has seen me dance knows i'm no Len Goodman - but then i just need to be able to say "Seeeveerrrn" don't i?]

Looking for a band to really bring the house down?. Look no further than Funkify who more than ably soundtracked the evening’s festivities.

Pete certainly got into it, as you can see:

Although that view did strike fear into the eyes of one very special bridesmaid:

Although she recovered later when the disco played Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies”

Now dear reader, remember the golf reference? Well, David is a performance coach of some repute (just ask one of the fastest women on two wheels, Maria Costello MBE) and has picked up golf along the way. He couldn’t resist hitting a ball whilst we waited for some of the guests to assemble for group shots:

He even sorted a romantic hoon around the course in a golf buggy – he wasn’t even wearing a gaudy polo shirt!

We had a great day with Hema and David for their wedding ceremony at Northampton’s Guildhall and for their reception at Staverton Park Hotel. Now, this is a little teaser as their images are still in post-process; just something to whet the appetite whilst the happy couple are sunning it up in Dubai – assuming BA* got them there!

* BA as in British Airways, not BA “I ain’t getting on no plane” Baracus.

Virtually everything we shoot these days is on digital. The quality is superb now and when coupled with the speed, flexibility and almost limitless volume, there really is no other option for coverage of today’s fast moving weddings.

However, when i do have time to take recreational photos – not much these days – i often find myself gravitating towards film photography. More specifically, medium format and polaroid using equipment from my collection of vintage cameras.

Unfortunately, with all the folks like us embracing digital, film has taken a hit.  One particularly lamentable day saw the decision by Polaroid to cease manufacturing film.  I feverishly bought up all remaining stocks that weren’t over priced; the remaining packs now reside in the salad drawer of the fridge*.

Today however, i’m one happy [easter] bunny.  For a while i’ve been keeping tabs on the impossible project whose mission has been to try and re-engineer Polaroid film for a new generation.  Honestly, i didn’t think it would happen but yesterday saw the announcement of a new film: PX 100.  It’s black and white and optimised for my beautiful, if a little battered, late-70′s SX-70.

I’ve already ordered some, so lo-fi fun here i come!  Using cameras like this is great fun: getting back to the basics of light and composition.  OK, the pics won’t be flawless quality like we achieve with our professional digital cameras, lenses and lights,  but vive la différence!

* film keeps longer in the fridge; film isn’t more important than salad kids… honest… eat your greens… don’t do drugs.