MELBOURNE DERBY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
LET'S TALK COVID RESTRICTIONS
Helen and George were married in a Church wedding ceremony during the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020 at the lovely Church of Our Lady of Mercy and St Philip Neri in Melbourne, Derbyshire.
Helen and George were married on the first day that facemasks became compulsory in places of worship, meaning everyone except for the Bride and Groom were required by law to wear a facemask/face covering inside the Church.
Like so many couples who had been planning to get married in 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 had a massive impact on the plans, the timings and the guests allowed at their wedding; the restrictions at the time of the wedding were for no more than 30 people to be allowed inside the Church for the wedding ceremony, the guests had to be 2 meters apart at all times, and no reception/wedding food was allowed unless it was kept to household bubbles.
Helen and George had worked very hard with the Church to follow all the rules to allow them to get married on the date they had chosen almost 18 months ago.
BRIDE AND FRIENDS GETTING READY FOR THE WEDDING
My day started over at Helen's parent's house, where on arrival, the wedding cars were being 'wedding detailed' with ribbons and bows everywhere. Inside, the girls were enjoying the build-up to the wedding with a little bit of bubbly!
The morning of a wedding often tells you a lot about how the wedding will go; if its a stressy morning and there's tension; that often means the rest of the wedding will follow, but Helen and the girls were laid back, and they left themselves plenty of time to get ready before heading off.
BRIDE AND THE WEDDING DRESS
There are some weddings where the wedding ceremony is a good distance away, and the Bride doesn't start getting the wedding dress on until I have to leave or I have left to make sure that I get to the wedding ceremony location in time for the Groom and guest arrivals.
It's a big shame that I sometimes miss the final bits of the dress being done up, the reactions as the family and the Bridesmaids see the Bride in the dress for the first time, and my favourite bit the Brides excitement at finally getting to wear the dress on the day of her weddding!
Helen had timed everything perfectly to allow me time to capture the wedding dress going on and also give me plenty of time to get to George at the Church before the start of the ceremony.
You will see images at the bottom of the page of Helen's mum helping her with the final details of lacing up the wedding dress, but my favourite image is this one of Helen's reaction when she gets to the point on the stairs where her girls can finally see her in her wedding dress.
FACE COVERINGS AND A FIST BUMP
With the restrictions coming in to force on the day of their wedding that all guests must wear face coverings, it was a little odd at first to see people wearing facemasks, but it was nice that people had gone with fun ones, funky ones and not just the surgical ones - so at least the masks added something!
This picture shows a little first bump between George and his best man - why the first bump? Much better for COVID prevention than a handshake!
BRIDE WALKING DOWN THE AISLE
It wasn't long after I'd captured Helen arriving at her wedding in a nice white Merc S-Class, then she was walking down the aisle arm in arm with her Dad - always a special moment for Dad and Daughter.
THE WEDDING CEREMONY
After a little hiccup with the Church sound system and with the streaming live cam set-up, it was time for the wedding ceremony.
A great thing about church wedding ceremonies is they typically last between 45-60 minutes, which is ideal as it allows me time to watch and capture the little moments that are happening in the background, some civil weddings are done and dusted in a matter of minutes, and the focus has to be on the Bride and Groom.
This picture of Grandma straining to get a view of her Grand Daughter is such a strong image from the wedding ceremony. Weddings to our older generation mean so much; you always and I always see people outside Churches waiting to get a glimpse of the happy couple, and the majority of the time, it's an older person - they don't know the couple. Still, they get so much joy from seeing newlyweds.
SIGNING THE WEDDING REGISTER
I mentioned on a previous blog post about access for photographers within Churches and the restrictions we have placed on us, the signing of the register is one part of a wedding ceremony restricted in Churches or for Civil Weddings.
I'm not a fan of the posed picture where the Bride and Groom hold a pen with no ink in it and pretend to sign the register, I much prefer getting pictures of the couple signing the register - not taking a picture of the actual register which contains all their private details, but them just signing and being in the moment of signing as a new married couple.
BRIDE AND GROOM WALKING DOWN THE AISLE
It's the look that makes this picture for me as Helen and George start their walk down the aisle after signing the wedding register, there are other images in this sequence, but that look as newlyweds - makes it a winner for me!
AN AFTERNOON IN THE CHURCH GARDENS
Helen and George had originally planned for their wedding reception to be 100+ people, but with the COVID restrictions limiting the guests limit to 30, the guys decided that they were going to keep people in their social bubbles and have a small intimate garden picnic in the gardens of the Church.
With the glorious sunshine beating down, it was a perfect afternoon with people enjoying the picnic, chatting to friends and, after eating too much food a little rest in the shade.
ROUND TWO IN 2021
Like many couples getting married in 2020, the wedding wasn't what was originally planned. For some couples, that has meant postponing their wedding into 2021; for Helen and George, the important thing for them was to get married, to be able to say they are husband and wife and to start their new life chapter as soon as possible.
The guys wanted to have their wedding ceremony this year - 2020 and then plan to have a large party in 2021 when we are allowed to have gatherings again, and I cannot wait to capture round two of the wedding and celebration next July.
SOME KIND WORDS FROM HELEN & GEORGE
“Andy has been very supportive throughout the whole process. He was incredibly quick to offer support and advice, and was eager to make sure we were happy with whatever decisions were being made. It was obvious that Andy has our best interests at heart, and on our wedding day he was extremely flexible to accommodate the changing nature of the event. He seemed to be everywhere at once, and captured a fantastic range of different moments that occurred during our day ”
-Helen & George
HOW ABOUT SOME MORE WEDDING PHOTOS FROM THIS MELBOURNE DERBY CHURCH WEDDING?
I HOPE YOU LIKED THESE MELBOURNE DERBY WEDDING PHOTOS?
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CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF MERCY AND ST PHILIP NERI WEDDING VENUE LOCATION AND INFORMATION
Address - Church St, Melbourne, Derby DE73 8EJ
Contact Info - https://www.rcparishofashbymelbourneanddonington.com | 01332 862 631