Beth and Fin’s Winter Wedding at Plymouth

I’m always honoured to shoot a wedding, to play apart in a special day, but capturing Beth and Fin’s wedding was extra special as I have known Beth for years. Beth was a member of my church youth group and I was her youth leader. I was also, kinda, semi involved, maybe slightly involved in how both Beth and Fin met. 

Both Beth and Fin volunteered for a festival called Soul Survivor - which I badgered Beth to steward at when she was 18. A few years later, Beth and Fin were both on team and the rest as they say is history. So yes, it was extra special to be part of the day.

The wedding itself was down the other end of the country, down in Plymouth - which is about 8 hours from where I was based at the time. This is where Fin called home. The venue for the day was Mutley Baptist Church. The church itself was more like a centre with the church sanctuary and at least two big halls. 

The day started with breakfast at the hotel with others who had ventured from Stockton for the wedding, and then a house where Beth and her bridesmaids were getting ready to capture the moments - like the preciousness of them all standing in their dresses gathered round in prayer for the day ahead. Then to church to capture Fin and his best man putting the final touches to their suits.

As the entire day was done on a budget, I had another important job to do, and that was to be responsible for getting the bride to church. 

The wedding was on the 30th December, the church was still decorated for Christmas. This meant beautiful shots with the tree lights. It also meant it was cold outside. Fortunately, there was no need to go outside as the whole day was in the same loacation.

A slight twist on the day, was that the reception came after the ceremony. Members of the church provided food, and then there were silly games involving Beth and Fin. It’s always great for laughter to flow out of something simple.

After the reception, family and close friends stayed back for another more intimate meal. Once the night drew in, it was time to head back to the hotel. I had to be up and on the road by 8am the next morning, as I had agreed to play keys at a church’s New Year’s Eve event - rehearsal was at 18:30, then event itself was 22:30 to 00:30, now that was a long day!

Beth is a talented creative illustrator. Her work can be found here