So I met Faye and Chris at a wedding in 2015 where Faye was the bridesmaid for Charlene & Neil’s big day. Before even seeing the photos from that wedding Faye and Chris booked me as they loved my relaxed and fun style on the day. Well fast forward a year and it was their turn to get married, and what a day it was. The morning started with the girls prep at their house in Willington with lots of familiar faces from the previous wedding. Everyone was in high spirits and the champagne was flowing. Faye looked absolutely stunning in her Rococo dress and Amy, Jess, Lydia & Maz from Hair & Graces had done a super job helping all the girls hair & makeup to look fantastic. At the same time as capturing all the fun and emotional photographs from the morning, they had also booked my mini video highlights package so looking forward to sharing that too in the next week!
Once all the girls had finished doing selfies and the ‘wedding necklace present conga‘ we headed to St Mary’s church in Marston Upon Dove. The church looked beautiful and Chris seemed pretty relaxed and cool while he excitedly awaited Faye’s entrance. It was a lovely service and after the formalities, everyone braved the cold for an epic amount of confetti throwing and a few family photos. We then made our way to The Coopers Arms for the reception and what a stunning place for it. A 17th Century mansion house with so much rustic charm, set overlooking the fantastic lake and surrounding grounds. By this point and being early December the last bit of light was quickly fading, so Faye’s sister Kate did an awesome job of rounding up the different family and friends for some formal (and informal!!) shots with the beautiful lake as the backdrop. After the formal stuff I got to hang out with Chris and Faye for a few minutes to get some great relaxed photos of the newlyweds. It was only now I found out that it was actually on the edge of the same lake that Chris had proposed!! We just had time to gather everyone outside for a huge group shot before heading in to warm up just in time for some amazing food provided the awesome wedding team at The Coopers on the day.
During the meal one of the guests (a rather large 6 foot plus chap) grabbed me in what at first I thought was either a bear hug or an attempt to head butt me. As I initially feared for my life, I was massively relieved when he gave me a massive ‘sniff’ on my neck and asked what aftershave I was wearing as his wife had smelt me earlier and wanted him to get the same one!! Haha very mixed emotions at this point some what flattered and massively relieved, we all had a big laugh about it and this wedding was full of laughs and good times. It’s something I’m always drawn to at weddings and love capturing the fun that everyone is having. As you can see from the pictures the wedding wasn’t short of laughs and the speeches were finished off brilliantly by the best man Ryan with a huge betting slip and opening a book on a few different possibilities – The favourite at 5/2 ‘a mini Gosling within a year’ and the outsider at 5000/1 ‘Divorce’!!
After lots more alcohol was consumed by all, Faye & Chris got the party well and truly started with their first dance and the dance floor was absolutely bouncing for the rest of the night. Was such a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed being part of it with such a great crowd. I’m so passionate about Wedding Photography and capturing the emotion and feeling of the day so if you like my style of natural storytelling wedding photography and you’re looking for Wedding Photography at The Coopers Arms, Derby then get in touch here, thanks Gareth Newstead Photography.
Hair- Lydia & Maz, Hair & Graces
Make up – Amy & Jess, Hair & Graces Swadlincote
Florist – Lorna at Flowers by Joy, Derby
Rings – Ernest Jones, Derby
Dress – Rococo, Melbourne
Suits & Shoes – Moss Bros, Derby
Wedding Venue – The Coopers Arms
Transport – Cupid Carriages Sheffield
Cake – Miss Jojos Bakery, Derby
So while capturing all of Chris & Faye’s Wedding Photography they also booked my Video Photography Fusion package (more details click here) The beauty of this package is it allows you to have a film of all the in between moments and highlights from the whole day put together as a montage and set to music of your choice but also without feeling like a full production company is there and keeps everything as relaxed as possible. Not sure about you but watching Faye & Chris’s Wedding Video back from The Coopers Arms, it just reminds me of what a great wedding it was, how completely in love these two are and how much fun everyone had too!!
