Haidee & Richard James – Kapow Wedding Photography, Fonmon Castle, Cardiff, South Wales
Only one wedding this weekend and with Saturday being a total washout it was all fingers crossed for Haidee and Richard on Sunday at Fonmon Castle in Barry, just outside of Cardiff, South Wales. There must have been more than one pair of digits crossed because luckily the day turned out to be absolutely stunning. So stunning in fact that by the end of it I was regretting not applying my usual factor 20 before I left the studio.
Myself and Luciano got to Haidee’s house at 10.30 in plenty of time to get some photographs of the bride having her makeup applied. The house had a surprisingly calm atmosphere without any of the last minute panic that accompanies the usual bridal preparations.
I’ve heard the same couldn’t be said for the groom and best man’s preparations. Apparently the house was a scene of chaos from the word go and I was glad they decided to meet me at Fonmon for their pre-ceremony shots.
We got to Fonmon and had enough time to have another walk around the grounds to see if we could spot any new locations for the couple photographs later on. I had met Haidee, Richard and their four children at the castle a few weeks before on their pre-wedding shoot. Every wedding that we have photographed that included a pre-wedding session seems to run like clockwork. Probably due to the fact that we have already met and worked with the bride and groom before the wedding day. This means that we are all now friends and the bride and groom are already familiar with our style of photography and everyone is relaxed.
Haidee arrived at the caremony with Richard waiting nervously at the front. The room is the old library at Fonmon and the books still remain in shelves on the walls. This made for some interesting backgrounds to the photos while the ceremony took place.
A little later, after the guests were allowed a few moments to relax at the bar, everyone was assembled on the stunning lawns for the group shot. Luciano stayed downstairs to arrange the shot while I ran upstairs and climbed onto the huge window ledge to get the perfect vantage point. There was a family of Housemartins making a nest directly above my head but I managed to get the shot before they, shall we say ‘made me lucky’ (to the amusement of all of the guests I’m sure).
Then it was the turn of the kids to have some fun with the arrival of The Party Bus. A old red double decker that had been converted into a children’s play centre. Accompanying this was the most energetic children’s entertainer that I had ever seen.
I have to say that this was a great idea. The adults were allowed to relax on the lawns while the kids (and a merry uncle) enjoyed egg and spoon races with the bus’s clown.
Meanwhile the teenagers that were obviously too cool for these activities managed to entertain themselves with the wedding juke box that was linked up to the disco’s sound system on the dance floor.
Thanks to Haidee and Richard for making us feel so welcome all day, enjoy your honeymoon and we’ll see you when you get back
Dave
In: Wedding Photography · Tagged with: Cardiff, Fonmon Castle, South Wales Wedding Photography