Wedding photography at The Engine Shed, Wetherby, North Yorkshire

Jamie and Tom’s wedding at The Engine Shed, Wetherby

I had been looking forward to photographing Jamie and Tom’s wedding at The Engine Shed, Wetherby for ages. I knew that the wedding would be brilliant after I met up with the bride and groom before the wedding.

The Engine Shed, Wetherby

I had never actually photographed a wedding at The Engine Shed, Wetherby but it’s one of those venues that I’ve always had my eye on and It certainly didn’t disappoint. Let me just say, Lee, the wedding coordinator is absolutely amazing! I have mentioned loads of times but the key to successful wedding photography is communication and Lee was absolutely brilliant. The Engine Shed has now certainly made my top three list and I’ve already recommended it to loads of folk.

Jamie and Tom

Jamie didn’t want me to photograph bridal preparation and that’s absolutely fine. Every wedding client is different and I do what they want me to do. I arranged to meet Tom at the pub with the chaps. Tom seemed really excited, one thing I did notice was how nice and genuine everyone was. In fact, I met so many lovely people at this wedding at it was an absolute pleasure.

Documentary wedding photography

Being hired as a documentary wedding photographer I knew that I was there to capture Tom and Jamie’s day unfold. I headed over to The Engine Shed with Tom and the boys and watched the hug-fest begin. Tom ended up hugging everyone in the venue, it’s so lovely to see people hug again after the last few years of craziness.

Here comes the bride

A good ninety per cent of the time when I photograph a wedding I am with the bride for morning bridal preparations however this wasn’t the case. Jamie arrived in her dad’s car with her dad and then it was straight into the ceremony (she did look amazing by the way)

Ceremony

I knew it was going to be good as soon as I heard the bride walk down the aisle to Elvis Pressley. Even the registrar was happy to hear a bit of Elvis so we were on to a winner. The ceremony was nice and short but still emotional which is how it should be.

Wedding afternoon

After the ceremony when I photograph a wedding I just go into documentary wedding photography mode. My clients hire me to capture a wedding, however, I still see the importance of photographing groups and bride and groom portraits. But my main aim is to make sure that everyone enjoys the day and it doesn’t turn into a photoshoot.

After some drinks and canapes, it was time to get everyone outside, a good way to do this is to organise a confetti line and then quickly whizz through the group photographs, which is exactly what I did. It’s really important to get the group shots done as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Bride and groom portraits

As a documentary wedding photographer, I attract people who don’t like having their pictures taken so it’s important that I can take great portraits, really quickly and make them as painless as possible. After the group shots, I just asked Jamie and Tom if I could have five minutes of their time. I certainly had nothing to fear, the bride and groom were naturals and in the five minutes I had loads of portraits in the bag and everyone was happy

Wedding breakfast

I could tell that there was going to be some fun for the wedding breakfast. I noticed that some guests had been given chef’s hats and aprons on their place settings so I knew what was going to happen. The Engine Shed does a fantastic carvery for their wedding breakfasts and they get the guests to cut and serve the meat. They also have a competition for who does the best carving. Let’s just say things got a little competitive as Tom’s brother is a chef and there was also another lady who used to be a chef and things did get a little heated. There was a fantastic atmosphere during the meal and I also got fed which is a double bonus.

After the wedding breakfast, the speeches commenced and they were fabulous. Not too long, just very heartfelt, funny and emotional which is the perfect recipe for wedding speeches.

Party time

When I met with Jamie and Tom I knew the wedding was all about the party. In fact, the wedding was festival themed. I knew I was going to be in for a good night.

The first dance started with Coldplay’s “Sky Full of Stars” and Tom was especially excited to have booked the dancing on a cloud machine and it did make fabulous pictures. After the first dance, everyone jumped on the dance floor and it was a party on!

Rave

The dancing went on and loads of people were on the dancefloor and I didn’t think anything could get better but then the glowsticks came out. The bride and groom had bought loads of large glowsticks and the wedding turned on to a full-on rave! It was amazing! I loved it.

The whole day was absolutely brilliant, I met some wonderful people and captured an amazing wedding story.

Congratulations Jamie and Tom and thanks for having me along to capture your story.