Don't Tell The Bride...about the Guns, Vintage & Jazz

Mark and Gina had a wedding day full of fun and surprises. Gina had given Mark the job of organising their wedding...all she knew was her wedding dress, her photographers (that would be us) and her colour scheme.

There was never any doubt as to her colour scheme, red is her favourite colour and would have to play a major part in her wedding.

...and what a part it played, it was vivid and vibrant, stunning and stylish...just like, in fact, the rest of their wedding.

The first surprise for Gina was her venue...Fort Nelson, Museum of the Royal Armouries.

Shoes, it turns out, was a big part of the styling for the day, for both the youngsters...

...and the grownups.

There were so many running jokes throughout the day but one of the most notable was involving a teddy bear so it seemed a given to have a ring shot with said bear.

Their ceremony at Fort Nelson, was just like the rest of the day, full of fun...

...and affection.

After their ceremony, they both took it in turns to fire one of the guns at the museum...

...which went down well with the crowd and Gina alike.

Then there was just time for a few bride and groom portraits around the fort...

...and amongst some of the guns

...and then it was time to move on to their next venue, yet another secret that Gina had no idea about.

Mark had organised their reception to be at the Concorde Club in Eastleigh, home of British jazz.

It was wonderfully stylish. Mark had used Gina's chosen colour of red to stunning effect.

It didn't just look good, with the red and black, it felt good with a fabulously vintage feel.

Mark had got a gramophone...

...complete with a red (of course) vinyl record with a "Gina & Mark" label.

He had an old typewriter and the copy sticking out of it was the Guests' Seating Plan.

Their cake looked wonderfully vintage...

 ...even their photo-booth was vintage...

...and of course their band was vintage.

After the meal they had a children's entertainer who had the youngsters mesmerised. He didn't just do balloon dogs...he did bazookas and jet packs!

Then, after a quick change, he did the most amazing things with fire...

...including fire breathing!!!!

Then inside for the chocolate fountain...

...and then their First Dance as man and wife...and this of course was fun and stylish...and jazz!

...they thrilled their guests to an amazing dance routine...to the all time jazz favourite...

..."I'm the King of the Jungle"

...which was well received by the "judges".

This was an amazing wedding, meticulously planned and full to the brim with style...but more than all of that...this was a wedding overflowing with fun and affection.

Well played Mark...well played. We wish you both a long, fun and affectionate marriage.

by Steve Dunster

14 August 2014

Fairground Fun & Fireworks Wedding

Planning even the most modest of weddings, as every bride knows, is a real challenge but Nick and Andrea pulled off one of the most elaborate weddings we've ever seen, and the did it almost entirely themselves.

Their transport was this gorgeous blue VW Camper van which had a very busy day. It started at their venue, which was the fabulous Newbury Manor Hotel where the boys were setting up for the day. Then took the boys off to get ready, then over to pick up the girls.

...and this is the girls arriving back at Newbury Manor Hotel for the ceremony.

Nick and Andrea had an outside ceremony with perfect weather and beautiful live acoustic guitar playing to set the mood.

After the ceremony we had a few moments to shoot some portraits around Newbury Manor Hotel before the day really gathered momentum.

It was lovely to the two of them together...

...and how perfect the weather had turned out for them.

The details throughout the day were immense. They had a "Just Married" sticker on the back of their camper van...

...and even the inside of the camper van was beautifully decorated with flowers...

...and bunting.

Nick is a drummer in his rock band and on the back of his fob watch is inscribed, "Keep in time, never miss a beat."

Nick and Andrea made a Bride and Groom Hoopla stall....

...and a Bride and Groom Coconut Shy...

...which did seem to bring out the competitive side in some of the guests...

...as well as the groom.

But Nick really got into his stride when it came to some of the inflatable games...

...including a bouncy castle.

...but when it came to sparing, Andrea was not going to be left out, so with the help of some of her guests...

She rose to the challenge in her bid to knock Nick of his perch.

Some of her other guests got really into the sparing game...

...and I have to say it was fantastic to watch.

When it was time for ice-cream, Nick's first attempt was lacking a little finesse...

...and Andrea's looked a little unstable...

...but in no time at all they were serving ice-creams like pros.

Then there was just time for this portrait of them poking their heads through a seaside comedy board actually painted by Nick.

Here's a lovely shot of Andrea enjoying seeing her guests having so much fun...just before she called up the teams for tug-of-war.

Two teams...and best of three...

Nick's team hauled for all they were worth...

...but it didn't stop Andrea helping the other side.

Their table plan naming convention was based around board games and there was just as much detail here as with the rest of their wedding.  This table, for example, was Guess Who, and each of the name tabs had photographs of the guests.

...and this table was Hungry Hippos. Nick even made their own wedding cake.

After their meal and speeches, their guests wrote them a message, fixed it to a balloon and all the balloons were released in the garden.

Whilst all their guests were together for the balloon release, we organised them into a heart shape for this "everybody" shot.  You can just see inside the top of the heart a bottle on the grass that one of the guests put there and spun it...I think he thought we were playing a different sort of game.

When it came to Nick and Andrea's First Dance as a married couple, their dance routine was amazing...

...and they certainly wow'ed their guests.

After their First Dance, Nick's band played a live set with him on drums...it was fantastic music and it really energised the evening.

At the end of their one hour set, was yet another surprise...Nick had taught Andrea to play the drums...specifically for the wedding...and she played the band's final number....

...under Nick's watchful eye.

As the band played the last chord, Andrea stood in triumph and brought the house down with applause and cheers.

Then it was all outside to see a fabulous firework display...

....to perfectly round of the evening...

...with bangs...and explosions...and oohs and ahhhs from their guests.

What a fantastic way to finish a fantastic day.

Nick and Andrea are a gorgeous, creative and talented couple...who turned their talents and energies to making sure their guests were both welcomed and entertained with hardly a pause in the schedule. Their wedding day was not only fun, and novel, and entertaining but immersed in details and full of surprises. What a day!

Congratulations Nick and Andrea, it was fantastic.

by Steve Dunster