Meanwhile Pete was hanging out with the boys…

Rickie looks this happy almost ALL of the time!

Make up time!

The ceremony was held at Saint John’s Church…

Rickie was a little nervous!

This was about the time the wind kicked in!

Time to get married…

Check out Part Two for some of my favourite speeches pictures ever and some dance off action!

Luckily the sun came out again in time for a few portraits…

Gorgeous details…

Meal time!

The speeches were awesome!

Dancing time!  The DJ was the lovely Jeff Wood, we were loving his amazing new white sparkly dance floor!

This lot sure know how to party!

An impromptu dance off!

Congrats Charlotte and Rickie, thanks for an awesome day! x

Here’s a slideshow of some of the best bits:

Instead of sharing the portrait pics I am going to share some pictures which illustrate just how awesome they are.  They have cats…

…and they got us cupcakes…

Can’t wait for your wedding Hannah and Neil! x

I am in no way an expert on every lens and camera out there, I just know what I like.  I would also like to point out that although I have lots of equipment you don’t by any means need all this – I used to obsess over Mulberry handbags and now I obsess over lenses.  Like most people I have a core of lenses I use almost all of the time, and then a few fun random lenses which pop out every now and again.  It’s also important to have spare lenses and camera bodies in your car just in case you are robbed in the street or fall into a river (neither of these has ever happened but you never know!).

So let’s start with the bag in question, a Think Tank Urban Disguise 50…

I love this bag.  It’s pretty big (which is good – I like to have everything on me at all times!) and has tons of pockets for all your bits n bobs!

Attaching a lens cloth was one of the best brainwaves I’ve ever had

There’s a section which is designed to hold a laptop, but I keep a reflector in there to whip out some extra sunshine when necessary!

Apart from equipment my bag also holds some essentials…

Moving on to cameras I use two – one around my neck and the other over my shoulder (handbag style!).  The reason behind using two is all down to the fact that I only use prime lenses, and instead of changing lenses every 4 minutes I can pick two I think will work well and run around with those for a little while capturing the action.  Camera number one is a Canon 5D…

…and camera number two is a Canon 5D Mark II.  I love both of these cameras equally.  Using two cameras is not only great for less lens swappage, it also means you have a back up with you all of the time.  Once the shutter went in camera number 1 right at the moment before the first kiss.  I managed to grab camera number 2 and still get the kiss

Now let’s talk about lenses because this is in my opinion the most important bit.  I love prime lenses because I like shallow depth of field and shooting without flash – I just think it’s prettier.  Weddings are generally dark, and you just can’t shoot a ceremony in a dark church at f2.8 without flash (and most priests/vicars/registrars would have a fit if you’re flashing away in the corner!).

When you’re starting out it can be a little overwhelming looking at all the lenses out there and considering which you ‘need’, especially considering the immense cost involved.  The key is to get all the bases covered.  At a wedding you need to be able to shoot portraits, action, details, group shots, dancing; you need to capture close up moments and wider scene setting images.  You can either get a couple of zoom lenses (easy option) or a selection of primes (heavy option).  Since us wedding ‘togs spend most of our week trapped at a computer ‘wediting’, carrying a bag full of primes the weight of a small child is also good exercise.

If I had to pick ONE lens to shoot a whole wedding it would probably be a 50mm.  You can use it for portraits, details, group shots – pretty much everything.  I have a Canon 50mm f1.2 which is fab, but the f1.4 version and the f1.8 version (bargain!) are great too.

My second favourite lens is the Canon 24mm f1.4.  Very sharp and very useful.

Next up is the canon 85mm f1.8.  I know everyone raves about the f1.2 version (including my husband!) but personally I prefer this version – it’s quicker and I trust it for walking down the aisle shots.  It’s like an old comfy pair of shoes.

Now for the fun lenses!  I have the Canon 45mm f2.8 TS-E.  I love this lens – a great addition for adding a touch of whimsy.  It’s rather tricky and fiddly to use and has manual focus only…I am slowly getting used to it!

The Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro.  Ring shots, that is all.

The Canon 15mm f2.8 Fisheye.  Love it – confetti, shots in the car, the bouquet toss, venue shots…have to try not to overuse it!

So there we have Laura’s wedding survival kit.  Apart from this stuff you need comfy shoes, water, sat nav, a phone with web access (google is very handy!) and emergency Kitkats/Pringles/flapjacks.

We stayed at Square, which is a lovely boutique hotel just off the sea front (thanks Mr & Mrs Smith guide!)…

Brighton is pretty far away…we were exhausted after spending most of the day in the car!

Figured we should go see where we were though…

I really love the beach in Brighton.  I know it’s all pebbles but I quite like not getting sand in my shoes.

I am such a tourist

Pete is pretty funny

A cuppa on the pier!

Another reason for heading to Brighton was to visit our buddy Fazackarley who acted as tour guide and also shot some pics of us (more on that later!).  I shall remember my 27th birthday as the day I ate cupcakes in a field full of poppies…

I found this (hilarious) book on our travels which I thought was rather birthday appropriate…

The best thing about this wedding was the atmosphere.  It’s not every day you’re invited to a wedding and told to bring wellies, jeans and a fighting spirit for the tug of war, and it was amazing how much the guests really got into the spirit of things!  We also LOVED the humanist ceremony, it was just so personal; such a shame we can’t legally do that in England too, but I must say if we got married again (to each other of course!) we would do it anyway and go to the registry office the next day!

We were joined at this wedding by lovely Scottish photographer (and friend of ours) James Pearson, who has posted some images of the day over on his blog.

On with the photos!  We joined the action at Carberry Tower where everyone was getting ready…

Marie was ready come rain or shine!

Callum was busy getting ready with his best man/bro…

Love this one…

This clever trio spent the morning picking flowers to make Marie’s bouquet…

They did a great job!

She looked beautiful…

A piper led us through the woods to the ceremony site…

Such a beautiful place!

Here she comes…

The ceremony was so lovely!

Married!

Be sure to check out Part Two for the rest of this amazing day!

It was time for everyone to get suitably attired for the games!

Lots of team spirit!

Too much team spirit?!

We snuck off into the surrounding woodland for some portraits…

Love these trees!

Rather tricky to get to in a wedding dress though!

We went even further into the woods…magical!

My fave!

Then it was time to go see how the team was getting on….

Epic sack race!

After all that hard work it was time to get everyone fed!

Loved the table names!!

Had to get a couple of portraits around the barn, it is rather pretty afterall…

Lovely speeches…

This picture cracks me up!

Dancing time…

…and finally the fabulous bonfire…

Marie and Callum – congratulations!  Thank you for giving us such an amazing day to photograph!

Here’s Stewart, the mastermind behind Folio.  We made him do this…

We were pretty excited to be there!

The inner workings of Folio are TOP SECRET so all I can share with you is a few shots of wheels and buttons

We weren’t just there to be nosy, we were also picking up samples.  They are AWESOME.

Lovely packaging…

A selection of gorgeous leathers…

LOVE the covers!

Thanks for making us such beautiful albums Stewart, and thanks also for lunch