DIY wedding photography in Leeds.

Amy and Stiv's DIY wedding in Leeds, West Yorkshire

I was really excited to head over and photograph part two of Amy and Stiv's wedding. This time it was in their garden but before I go on make sure you check out part one the amazing Blackpool elopement wedding.

Build it and they will come

Amy and Stiv thought it would be a great idea to have their own real DIY wedding, sounds like a brilliant idea. I'm not sure that when they decided this they knew how much work it would actually be.

In the last couple of months, I have been following the bride and groom on Instagram and I could see the development of the homemade marquee. February and March in West Yorkshire isn't the best weather and they have certainly been up against it. In fact, we have had some of the worst storms over that period for a long time but the miracle happened and all of Stiv and Amy's friends pulled it off and there was a marquee in place for Saturday's wedding.

A little paradise

I arrived on Saturday early just before the bride and groom headed to the pub and they told me to check out the marquee. When I entered it was a little paradise, they had done an amazing job decorating it and it was adorned with dinosaurs, flowers, sofa's a dressing table, loads of tables and chairs, net curtains and pretty much everything else you could ever wish for, it was a miracle that this had been pulled off.

Documentary wedding photography

As a Yorkshire documentary wedding photographer, I started to capture the day. Some guests had started arriving and the bar was in full flow which was run by Louisiannas mobile bar the sun was shining and everything was going really well. It was lovely to be out doing what I love capturing people enjoying a wedding day.

Always late

One thing I did learn about Amy and Stiv is punctuality isn't a word they know. Apparently, they are always late and even my short time with them I can agree with this statement. The bride and groom had decided to head off to the pub for a few cheeky tequilas before all of the guests arrived. Slowly the garden and marquee started filling up with wedding guests so I made sure I photographed as many people as I could and everyone was waiting for the grand arrival of the bride and groom.

Arrive in style

If you are going to be late then make sure you arrive in style. Well, the bride and groom certainly did that. Ben, Amy's flower girl asked all of the guests to head out onto the street for the bride and groom's arrival, confetti was also distributed at this point. Once again everyone was kept waiting and then all of a sudden I heard some rattling of metal and I looked and saw the bride and groom tootling down the street riding Amy's disability scooter with tin cans on the back. It was amazing! One of the best bride and groom entrances I have seen in the last fifteen years.

Everyone chucked confetti at the bride and groom and they even stopped to grab their dog Stanley who joined them riding the disability scooter. Then the tears started, everyone got really emotional and it was such a lovely moment.

Time for pig

Due to the bride and groom's timekeeping things were already running late and guests were hungry so the second the wedding couple arrived people were queueing up for their hog roast. I do love a good hog roast so I was also very happy to grab a pig sandwich. People ate and chatted and quite a bit of drinking also happened.

Speeches

After sandwiches, it was now time for the speeches. Everyone gathered and the Father of the Bride started. Despite the number of weddings that I photographed I still love to listen to the speeches and Gary nailed it, a good mixture of emotion and comedy. Stiv the groom was up next and once again pulled it off. I knew Gnome the best man was a little nervous but as soon as he started and realised that everyone was rooting for him, he relaxed and did a brilliant job. Well done everyone.

Party time

The first dance commenced, in true DIY wedding form the music kept on going off and the rest of the night drinking went down, people danced and had a fantastic time. Just before 11 pm, she was due on at 7:30 pm (see what I meant about timings) the singer (Mollie I think) came on and did her thing which was fantastic. The rest of the evening people danced and everyone had an amazing time.

Once again a massive congratulations to Stiv and Amy also a massive thank you to everyone for being so brilliant and I still can't believe you pulled it off.

Thank you for having me document this crazy rollercoaster of a wedding.