ST. JUDES CHURCH MAPPERLEY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
LET'S TALK COVID RESTRICTIONS
I feel the need for every wedding post to let you know what sort of restrictions were in place at the time of the wedding; this helps people to understand why something might be missing from the series of images at the bottom of this micro wedding blog post.
Elicia and Lewis were married at the end of October 2020 during a time when facemasks were compulsory in places of worship, guest limits were 15 and there was no wedding reception allowed, but you could go to the pub and by some amazing piece of coincidence, all your friends were there having booked individual tables...
Like so many couples who had been planning to get married in 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 had a massive impact on the original plans; which was to have the wedding during the summer of 2020 surrounded by so many of their family and friends
Elicia and Lewis worked very hard with the Church to follow all the rules to allow them to get married. Thankfully, St. Judes Church in Mapperley was amazing with me and allowed me to go about my work and capture the micro wedding of Elicia and Lewis.
BRIDE AND FRIENDS GETTING READY FOR THE WEDDING
My day started over at Elicia’s house, with Elicia's sister, Mum and Dad enjoying a nice relaxing morning.
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 Elicia and the girls were laid back and they left themselves plenty of time to get ready before heading off, but before that a little gift from Lewis..
This was a good fun moment; Lewis had planned for the girls to give Elicia a little wedding survival kit; which contained some sweets, some pain killers, some water, a map to the Church with timings and a bib to catch the crumbs from the Monster Munch crisps!
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 and the reactions as the family and the Bridesmaids see the Bride in the dress for the first time.
Thankfully Elicia had timed everything perfectly, and with a short trip to the Church from her parent's house; It meant I got to capture the dress going on and the final details, including Mum helping with the shoes!
BRIDE ARRIVING FOR HER WEDDING
Elicia arrived in an Old Rolls not long after I'd arrived at the St Jude's church in Mapperley, thankfully, the rain had stopped, and after a quick chat with the priest and Elicia was ready to go!
THE WEDDING CEREMONY
This is the first wedding I have photographed at St Judes Church in Mapperley, and it is a lovely warm, feeling Church; the aisle is a very long one which means Elicia got to have a proper entrance at her wedding - great for me as it had plenty of time to get that first look at each other!
A first for me at a Church wedding was the little photo montage that Elicia and Lewis had put together to showcase the time they have been together - it was great to see the reactions of people looking at pictures from when they were kids to when they got together.
The wedding ceremony was slightly shorted than normal, with no hymns being sung due to the Covid-19 wedding restrictions. However, all the other traditional wedding bits were still there, the wedding vows, the exchange of the rings and a wedding reading.
SIGNING THE WEDDING REGISTER AND A LOLLIPOP
I mentioned in 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 that is 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 or pictures in between the newlyweds signing or their witness's signing the register and this image below is just that sort of moment.
When Elicia was putting her wedding dress on she made sure I knew how amazing it was that her wedding dress had pockets (something as a bloke I never considered). Just before Elicia left the house, she remembered the survival pack that Lewis had put together for her; she popped a Lollipop in a pocket ready for later on....
HUGS AND THAT LOOK FROM MUM
After the guys had been introduced as Husband and Wife and had their first walk together, there were a few lovely moments between Elicia & Lewis and the Mum's and Dad's.
This picture of Elicia's Mum stands out for me, and despite the mask, you can just tell from the eyes how happy and proud Mum was of her Elicia.
CONFETTI, FRIENDS AND A DRINK IN THE CAR
After a quick cake cut inside the Church, it was time for the new Mr and Mrs to head outside and get covered in confetti! This was a challenging one for everyone who had been given the task of covering the bride and groom - the wind was blowing a gale!
To the surprise of Elicia and Lewis, a big gather of friends met them outside the Church where they were also serenaded by a friend playing the trumpet from a nearby house - a new one for me at a wedding!
Once Elicia and Lewis had said hello to everybody - all socially distant of course; it was time for a quick glass of champagne in the car before heading off for a quiet family meal to celebrate.
ROUND TWO IN 2021
Like a lot of couples getting married in 2020, the wedding wasn't what was originally planned, and for some couples, that has meant postponing their wedding into 2021, for Elicia and Lewis, 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 all allowed to have gatherings again, I hope they have a great time next year!
HOW ABOUT SOME MORE WEDDING PHOTOS FROM THIS ST JUDES CHURCH WEDDING?
I HOPE YOU LIKED THESE MAPPERLEY CHURCH WEDDING PHOTOS?
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ST JUDES CHURCH MAPPERLEY WEDDING VENUE LOCATION AND INFORMATION
Address - 405 Woodborough Rd, Nottingham NG3 5HE
Contact Info - https://stjudes.church | 0115 98 56 131 | office@stjudes.church