Some years ago I photographed a bridal shoot in St Albans. I met Lucy when she modelled for us that day, it was such a fun shoot and we were all delighted with the results. So, when Lucy later reached out to me to book photography for her own wedding, stating it was because of my friendly relaxed approach, I couldn’t have felt more humbled. I knew Lucy was going to have a gorgeous, elegant and fun filled day. And, with fiancé James they absolutely did. It was an absolute pleasure to be there and to be their wedding photographer at St Michael’s Manor Hotel in St Albans!
“Both of us absolutely LOVED our wedding ceremony, and the whole thing was one of the biggest highlights of the day for us both. We were overwhelmed by the love and joy everyone felt, and dancing back down the aisle as we exited the church to Jackie Wilson’s ‘Higher and Higher’ will live with us forever! (This song was chosen especially, as it was the joyous finale number we performed in the first show we did together as a couple, down at The Minack theatre in Cornwall. At the end of every show we got a full standing ovation from an audience of 750 people, so to have a similar standing ovation as we walked back down the aisle with all our family and friends clapping along felt incredibly special!)”
Lucy’s bridal prep took place between her parents home and a close neighbors in St Albans. Surrounded by family and her closest friends the morning was relaxed but with the buzz of excitement and anticipation in the air that always precedes a wedding! Niki Lawrence, make up artist, was set up in the lounge making sure the ladies looked their very best. She is always so lovely to work alongside on a wedding day morning. As the morning went on I also met Ed Bray, the talented videographer hired by our bride and groom to film the day.
Lucy’s final preparations took place in her childhood bedroom with her favourite play posters adorning the walls. The inevitable final rush to get ready to leave for church was well underway, Lucy looking elegant as ever taking it in her stride. With the final accessory touches made to compliment her stunning bridal gown by Birdcage Bridal, Lucy’s father awaited her at the bottom of the families’ staircase. One proud Father lost for words as she came down to meet him.
“My pregnant bridesmaid Hannah kneeling on my bedroom floor with her hand up my wedding dress to straighten out my seams…!”
St Peter’s Church in St Albans is a delight to photograph. Light floods in through large stained glass windows with impressive white pillars lining the aisles. Groom James stood coolly awaiting his bride in a sharp three piece tweed suit by Waterers. Guests were welcomed and the final preparations for the ceremony completed. Finally, with some last minute pinning of button holes and with his best men by his side our handsome groom was ready to get married. Which was just as well given bride Lucy arrived early!
“ Arriving EARLY at the Church and feeling concerned that no one would be expecting me and that people might miss the service (I am often fashionably late…) ”
I snapped away discretely as Lucy and James made their vows to one another in this beautiful St Albans church. I haven’t yet mentioned that Both Lucy and James are actors. When they asked some close friends from their theater group to perform a reading for them the result was a very special. A romantic and powerful performance unlike anything I have ever witnessed during a wedding ceremony.
“As actors, we felt we should definitely make the most of having some incredibly talented friends, so we selected some of our closest theatre friends for 2 of our readings. We wanted to be a bit different with one of them, and given that we had met through theatre, it felt only fitting that we should have one reading as a piece of dialogue. Of the 5 plays we’ve acted in together, 4 of them have been by Shakespeare, so we knew we wanted to include him in our day somehow! We wanted to find a love scene and we chose the scene from ‘The Tempest’ as it’s a play we’d both been in separately, playing the parts of Miranda and Ferdinand but in different productions. At the end of the scene, the two come together and decide to marry, so it felt apt as a way of bringing us together as separate people to finally form a married couple. It was actually our vicar, Mark Dearnley, who suggested that one reader could be in the pulpit and one at the lectern, just to add to the dramatic effect. It worked wonderfully and all the readers got a huge round of applause afterwards - several people said it was the most dramatic wedding they’d ever been to, which we *hope* is a compliment…! ”
In another touching personal moment Lucy’s sister joined the choir to sing as the wedding register was signed. With this complete Lucy and James danced their way out of church together to ‘Higher and Higher’ as husband and wife!
When the confetti settled we all made our way over to St Michael’s Manor Hotel. Guests were greeted with welcome drinks, canapés and beautiful music provided by violinist Helena Gullan.
“When we arrived at St. Michael’s Manor, our hugely talented friend Helena Gullan was playing the violin for our drinks reception. Along with some beautiful favourite songs, we’d asked Helena to play film music from some of our favourite films. We’ve had many a date at the Odyssey, as well as other cinemas, and it was magical to have Helena playing some special and significant pieces so beautifully for us”
The orangery room was dressed with more flowers by Julie Amor and lots personal touches. As a center piece Lucy and James had three utterly delicious looking wedding cakes made in three different flavors by Patisserie Gemma.
St Michael’s Manor is one of my favorite St Albans wedding venues. The grand manor sits atop formal gardens and a pretty lake. The décor is sophisticated and anywhere you point a camera looks good. Lucy and James further decorated the Manor with various photos and collages of themselves together. These were on the mantelpiece and on various shelves and tables in the lounge and foyer. A few people even jokingly asked if them if they lived there! They also had light up letters spelling out ‘JUCY’ (an amalgamation of James and Lucy). To continue the theme, they served 'JUCY gin and tonics' during the drinks reception (raspberry gin with elderflower tonic and a raspberry garnish and rhubarb and ginger gin with elderflower tonic and a rhubarb twist).
“For the cake-cutting, we thought we’d do things a bit differently and make use of James’ Taid’s (Welsh Grandad’s) incredible naval ceremonial sword…! I have to say, we were a little nervous about that moment as it’s *incredibly* sharp. I certainly said to James more than once : ‘We can’t drink too much until *AFTER* the cake-cutting!’ - as we did NOT want to add any extra unnecessary drama to the day…!”
With the speeches made and the cake cut, Lucy and James took to the dance floor as band Rhythm of the Night played ‘Stand By Me’. A very special song to the couple who sang it together as part of a production at the famous Minack Theater in Cornwall.
Before the night was over we popped outside to take one last picture together. Standing by the lake I asked Lucy and James if they could do a quick dip. This request was met with a brief moment of silence. Standing in the dark, facing the lake they had very logically assumed that I was asking them to jump in! “No swimming is required!” I assured them. And, of course they absolutely nailed the dip!
If you are planning a wedding at St Michael’s Manor Hotel in St Albans and need a photographer please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I would love to hear all about your plans for your big day at this beautiful venue.
