Sabrina and Gavin at Slieve Russell

Happy Saturday everyone. I hope you’ve all woken up in lovely energetic form and your scrolling finger is ready for a bit of a marathon. This is a long one.
This featured wedding is a return of a rather extended sneak peak – so if you start to recognise some shots don’t let that stop you, these have been all processed good and proper since then so look even better than before – plus there are heaps of new shots here too.

I can tell I’m rambling already so I’ll get on with it will I?
This is the wedding of Sabrina and Gavin who married on the most gorgeous November day I’ve seen in a long, long time. As I arrived at Castle Leslie that morning there was this cold thick fog which added to the look of this beautiful building. It was my first time to shoot at Castle Leslie and I let out an audible “Woaaaaaaw” as I drove through the gates. The place is pretty special.

As I arrived Sabrina was perched up on her stool at the window (if you look closely you’ll see her white gown in the main window on the first picture) having her makeup done. She was in great form even with the news that there was drama surrounding the flowers – I’ve seen brides worry over a lot less and Sabrina wasn’t prepared to let this affect her. Instead she was making sure I was good for coffee and full of chat. The room was busy but the mood was calm and that was a great environment to shoot.

Our man of the day, Gavin, was getting ready in The Lodge with the boys. I arrived just in time to see them struggle with tying ties and attaching buttonholes. I’m pretty sure that whoever invented the buttonhole was a former female wedding photographer who wanted to prove to the world that men are a bit useless when it comes to trying to attach flowers to their lapels. Whoever invented the magnetic ones should be given an award.
Back in the main castle Sabrina was about to put on the dress and what a dress it was. As it hung on the wardrobe it looked stunning and you knew that it was only going to get better as This dress+Sabrina=Totally stunning! I remember as she put it on and turned around to her mother there was a short silence, a hush. This hush happens every now and then and it’s caused by the fact that everyone in the room is just taking in what’s going on and the emotions are building. Then everyone takes a breath and is ready for the next stage. I always feel so privileged to be able to share moments like this – it’s goose pimple stuff.
The church was just a few miles down the road in St Patrick’s Church, Emyvale. It’s a lovely little church. It had plenty of light and room for me to move around which was great as it means I can quietly slip into the background and don’t feel in the way. It was a real happy ceremony with lots of laughs and the I Do’s were all in the right place. They’re married!

After the ceremony there was a moment of “will we go to the pub/will we not go to the pub” – I have to say, I was so, so happy when they decided not to. It was November and I could see the light was fading fast. So as soon we arrived back at the castle we decided to get the portrait session done as quickly as possible. This was probably the easiest/most difficult part of the day. Easy because Sabrina and Gavin are both very good looking and totally photogenic. Difficult because Sabrina is soooooo shy! My goodness. She hates having her photo taken (this is very common) and was therefore feeling a little uncomfortable. I assured her that there was no way I would ever take anything that wouldn’t make her look anything but amazing. She soon loosened up and before long I had a couple of pros. The secret here – act natural. In fact, don’t act. Just be natural. Don’t pose. Imagine that I’m not there and the photos will all the better for. They complied and I have to say these are some of my favorite shots from my portrait sessions. Oh and the light was amazing too. Thanks again for not going to the pub!

This is now my favorite time of the day as I just get to shoot candids and in a setting like Castle Leslie it’s a doddle. There are so many areas for guests to hang out and all of which are beautiful areas so it just makes for so many opportunities. I love this place!

I’ll not bore you too much further except to say that the speeches were brilliant mix of funny, incredibly emotional and downright cringe worthy (see head in hands shots). I’ll not forget them in a hurry. As for the dancing. WOW! Amazing. Everyone was totally up for it – no-one more so than Sabrina’s mother who was getting swung around like a rag doll by Gavin. She’s agile!

Thanks again to Sabrina and Gavin for an utterly incredible day and for being two of the most lovely people I’ve ever shot. It was a privilege.

Now..get scrolling!