Real Wedding – Carol and Ken

As you may or may not know, I work alone. I know there are some double teams out there who cover weddings together to get a couple of different view points and I can see the benefit for sure, however, it’s just never been an option for me but I’d never rule it out.

So, why is this being mentioned now? Well, when it came to Carol and Ken’s wedding I thought I’d give Eoin, a smart young fella who showed an interest in the camera a crack at taking some shots.  I always carry a backup camera so I gave him that, stuck a memory card in there to last him a while, ran him through the basic controls and told him to come back to me when he’d run out of space.  Before long I could see him lining people up, taking their photo and then showing them his instant results on the camera screen to much ooing and aahing.  I may just have trained up a guy to one day put me out of a job.

Running rings around me…

I’m sure he wont mind if I share one of his shots with you.

Not bad eh!

Right, now Eoin, go and get your own website.

So, back to Carol and Ken.  I went over to Carol’s house a couple of hours before she was due to head to the church.  Preparation was already in full swing.  Hair and makeup was already all under control so it was a matter of playing the waiting game and more importantly entertaining the neighbours!  Carol’s folks had put on the biggest spread with sandwiches, crisps, nuts and not to mention every drink you can imagine. Word obviously got out and and it wasn’t long before the doorbell began to ring, drinks were put into peoples hands and everyone cooed over the beautful bride.

A hive of activity

Outside, children from the area had gathered and waited patiently for what’s called ‘the scramble’.  I had never seen this before but apparently it comes from an old Scottish tradition. As the couple come out of the church after getting married the groom will dip his hand into his pocket and throw a few coins to the local kids.  Nowadays this is done as the bride leaves the house.  So they waited and waited and eventually their patience paid off as out came one of Carol’s relatives with several big handfuls of change.  It didn’t take long to see why it’s called the scramble…

Get Ready!!

Scramble!!!!!!

After all that excitement it was time to get to the church. There was a wedding to go to!

Carol is given a few calming words before getting out of the car.

And by the way… what a church it was. The Immaculate Conception Church in Clondalkin is absolutely gorgeous inside. I’d love to have gotten up into the balcony but when I inquired I was told that a previous wedding photographer went off with the key! tsk.. Pesky photographers…

The beautiful church interior

The media scrum! Okay, it’s just friends and family.

After the ceremony it was on to Finnstown house to kick of the celebrations and where I hired my first assistant

You can see the rest of the shots from the day in the slideshow right here or by clicking on any of the images above.

Congrats Carol and Ken and thanks for a wonderful day and Eoin, I’d hire you any day.

By the way – coincidentally the next real wedding post will be from exactly the same church and reception. It should be online tomorrow