Nikki and Paul

Did any bride ever smile as much as Nikki on her wedding day? From the moment we got to her house until the time we left after the speeches we never saw the smile fade. It increased at times into outright laughter, but it never dimished. And her mood was infectious. The whole day was one where everyone was relaxed and happy. The weather was fine, the setting was perfect, the entertainment by the wedding singers was just right ( we’ll be adding them to our list of ‘recommended suppliers just as soon as we get the chance) and the mix og guests enured that everything went even better than Nikki and Paul could possibly have dared for.

I’ve got to admit that, after attending some 300 weddings, I tend to let the church bit wash over me. We’re not allowed to photograph in most churches and so have nothing to do for 45 minutes. Some vicars are frankly quite boring , having churned out the same old tired jokes at ceremony after ceremony for the last 30 years. The vital, personal commitment that weddings are about is actually lost  and the personalities of the couple disappear within the ritual. As wedding guests how many of you actually remember the actual ceremonies you have attended?

But people will remember this. Technology ( or its failure) ensured Nikki, Paul and the guests will look back with affection on this ceremony. The strains of the organ in dire distress and the vision of the organist desperately trying to keep it going by thrashing away at the long-obsolete bellows was simply unforgettable. Everyone – including Nikki, of course, – was smiling or laughing as they tried to make out the strains of  The Wedding March amongst the torturous agonies. And it wasn’t a disaster. It was lovely. The vicar became embarrassed and more human, the couple were more relaxed and the guests were involved. The ceremony became what all church ceremonies should be – a joyous occasion when friends and relatives are united in celebration.

I could rant on about the rest of the day, but you must have the picture by now. At Aurora Studio we always enjoy our wedding and love doing the wedding photography. And here was certainly no exception. Nikki and Paul’s love was obvious and inspiriung. The setting at Hall Farm, Ashby-cum-Fenby, was perfect and we got some super pictures of the couple and their guests.Look under the ‘Weddings’ section on our main site to see al the pictures we took.

We always spend about 100 hours designing and perfecting our wedding albums. It’s what makes us unique and it’s a real labour of love for us. But with Nikki and Paul’s album we know it’s going to be both especially exciting and especially challenging. To give them just a collection of fantastic wedding pictures is easy – but for us to create layouts of  the selection which really encapsulate all the joy and all that emotion will be a real challenge. Bring it on!

Apologies

The whole point of a blog is that it’s kept up to date so that regular readers know what’s going on at Aurora Studio and can stay in touch with events. I know that a lot of our clients ( and some of our competitors!) visit the blog regularly to glean useful tidbits of information and to help plan their own wedding. It’s what we’re here for.

The last two months I’ve been really bad at keeping up to date on theblog, and I’ve got to apologize. We knew we were having building work done at Aurora and so planned our work to give us a slack period over May. This gave us less to report on the Blog anyway. But then the builders arived and chaos ensued! Two months of scaffolding, a leaky roof and dust everywhere are now behind us, thank God, and with a bit of luck – and time- we will get straight again! Our new store room is complete and finished, which means that Carole’s office no longer has boxes, frames and folios piled from floor to ceiling and her computer space is now clear and tidy, allowing her to design her fantastic wedding albums without fear of triggering an avalanche of boxes once again.

So, thanks to this choas and the fact that those weddings we did over this period had largely asked that their weddings weren’t mentioned on-line,  the blog has become somewhat neglected. Apologies again.

This whole year is turning out to be quite an odd one for us. After covering over 300 weddings since we started the business we thought we’d seen it all and knew roughly what to expect. But not this year. And it started early on. One January Saturday  we could have filled  a dozen times over and yet didn’t receive a single wedding enquiry for the whole of rest of the month. Then there was the weather at the start of the year. It was fantastic! After rain on virtually every Saturday last year we’ve found that all our weddings this year have been completely dry. Even the January and February weddings were dry and bright, allowing the couples to have at least some of their photography outside.

But probably the biggest ‘oddity’ this year is in the couples we have booked! I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course. It’s not the couples themselves – it’s the spectrum they represent. Our youngest are both under 20 – our eldest have grandchildren in their 20′s! The smallest wedding we’re covering has 13 guests – our largest has 900 guests sitting down for the wedding breakfast and expects well over 1000 for the Cathedral ceremony. Some couples have been together for years, others have had a whirlwind romance.  For some of our couples the cost of the photography represents only a tiny fraction of the cost of the whole wedding: for others it is the biggest single outlay of the day. We’ve got the lavish and the minimalist, the laidback and the tightly controlled. I could go on…… but the thing is – this is what we love about weddings!

No two couples are the same and the variety of personalities and approaches make weddings fantastic, vibrant and exciting places. Both Carole and I gave up other secure and well-paid professions to start Aurora Studio and do what we love – helping others to get the most out of their wedding day and giving them memories they will cherish. It’s more of a passion than a job for us and a passion which is constsntly revitalised by every wedding that we cover.

Melanie and Dave

At Aurora Studio we enjoy our weddings. We never know what to expect and get a real adrenaline buzz from trying to capture the atmosphere of the event as it happens. Our smallest wedding this year has just 13 guests, our largest has 900 at the wedding breakfast. They will be hugely different, demand a completely different set of skills from us. And they will be equally enjoyable ( though I’ve got to say, one of them will be slightly less exhausting than the other!)

Melanie and Dave’s wedding was no exception on the theme of enjoyability. The sun shone, the guests were warm and supportive, the couple were relaxed and happy and the setting was beautiful.And it was the setting that added a touch of poignancy for us. The Barn at Elsham Hall has been transformed in the past few years. The proprietors, Andy Coleman and his wife Fiona have invested heavily in a run-down shell and transformed it into one of our top three wedding venues in Lincolnshire. Wedding guests have access to the beautiful grounds of Elsham Hall itself and then dine in the atmospheric Barn restaurant on some of Andy’s award-winning food. A wedding at Elsham is always serene, civilised and atmospheric.

What made Melanie and Dave’s wedding special for us was the knowledge that we had to savour and relish this unique atmosphere. For it looks like this is the last year that Andy will be holding his tenancy of the Barn and the future of weddings at Elsham is uncertain. Nothing is certain yet and Andy may change his mind but at the moment he isn’t accepting any more bookings for weddings after November this year. In a county that has precious few decent wedding venues this is a sad blow for brides!

But thankfully not for Melanie and Dave. They saw the very best of Elsham. The civil ceremony in the barn was simple and moving. Canapes in the courtyard were followed by a stroll around the grounds where the couple were able to chill out and we were able to get some lovely images of the two of them together. After the big group shot it was back to the Barn for the wedding breakfast and speeches. By the time we left the good food, the wine and the good company had worked their magic. Everyone was mellow; the room exuded happiness and everyone looked forward to what I’m sure would be an excellent evening’s entertainment.