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Cherry & Duncan’s epic wedding full of fun – with added trampolining action!
Finally, I’m able to blog this epic wedding, so epic they couldn’t fit it all into one day!
You might remember their mammoth pre-wedding shoot – brimful of happiness and fun. Well, they had a wedding to match. Cherry, Duncan and their families are all active members of the church as well as the Chinese community. Friends and family travelled from all over the world (from Vancouver to Hong Kong) to witness their union. A rare chance for the bridal party to be together, they hired a house together and the wedding was in fact, just part of a week of fun activities that they had planned!
This wedding was a combination of both a traditional Chinese and a church wedding. Chinese weddings start with traditional door games and tea ceremonies. The ceremony took place in the church that Cherry went to at school, then I moved on with the bridal party for some photos at a park near Cherry’s home before everyone congregated for the fabulous banquet at Water Sky.
It was a wonderful day with a great sense of community – everyone being so happy for Cherry and Duncan. They are a really fun couple and when they are around, laughter and smiles are never far away. I’m so happy I could be there to record their wedding for them.
It was such a big event, I’m going to start off by sharing some pictures of Cherry and Duncan so they’re not lost in the blogpost. Sit back and enjoy!
If you’re not familiar with Chinese weddings, proceedings are kicked off with a series of door games, where the bridal party issue challenges to the groomsmen. This is then followed by traditional tea ceremonies, where the couple serve tea to members of their family. The morning started off relatively serenely with Cherry gettting ready…
In the flat next door, friends and family were gathering to prepare for the door games and tea ceremony…
Some door games are kinder than others. Looks like mischief is afoot here…
The boys have arrived!!
And the games begin! How determined are these groomsmen to earn access to the bride?
Pretty determined it seems! First up…dance challenge 🙂
Next, the taste challenge…
Some being nicer than others. Luckily for Duncan, the groom was entitled to delegate to his groomsmen. I thought Duncan was pretty smart having so many ushers!
Yes, Duncan thought so too!
Third challenge – no hands allowed! Duncan’s brother Terence came all the way from Hong Kong to show everyone how it’s done…
Followed by this brilliantly photogenic round. I’ll let your imagination get to work on what this challenge was all about! Needless to say it needed his very closest friends (including his brothers Terence and Darren) to step up to the plate!
I should probably explain the next photo! This round involved snorting….pepper, it’s just pepper folks 🙂
Mmmmmm, that feels good!
And the penultimate challenge? It’s a Chinese wedding, it’s about the money of course…Duncan, how much do you think Cherry is worth?!
Having paid a suitably high sum of money for such a fabulous bride, Duncan earnt access to the house. He then had to answer a series of questions and finally…he earnt access to his bride. And doesn’t he look happy about it?
But it doesn’t end there! Next….tea ceremony, where the couple kneel and serve tea to their elders. Their offerings are returned with gifts of money and jewellery and blessings for their future together.
Despite all that bling, the limelight was still stolen by Cherry’s newborn nephew
A whole new day. And all is calm…
The veil was handmade by Cherry’s friend. Amazing!
Meanwhile, over with the boys…
Uh-oh, cufflink down! Glue gun to the rescue…
All sorted!
The wedding took place in the church that Cherry went to when she was at school…
This was a super cute idea…guests signed and wrote messages on little wooden hearts which were dropped into a frame
Contender for biggest group photo ever
Despite the rain, the bridal party rocked it at this playground
Yes, Cherry climbed up onto the fort in her dress. Respect!
Then this awesomeness happened…
Finally, the couple get a moment to themselves…
We haven’t even got to the banquet yet! The Chinese Banquet…with amazing cake made by Cherry & Ducan’s friend
At Chinese weddings, the guest write messages on long red card or fabric
Cherry in her traditional Chinese bridal gown. Stunning embroidery and check out her newly acquired bling!
Ready for another round of tea ceremonies
Time for the second dress change
And a whoooooole lot of toasting!
An amaaazing day! The bridal party went on into the night, but I will just leave you with this shot…
Congratulations Cherry and Duncan. Thanks for having me along for the day, it was swell! Wishing you the very best of luck in your new life together. Good luck in Hong Kong.
With thanks to James and Gareth for helping me with this big, big day
If you’re interested in having documentary wedding photography coverage at your wedding, contact Marie -
Chinese Door Games!
If you’ve never been to a Chinese Wedding before, the it’s traditional to hold ‘door games’ as part of the proceedings. This is where the bridal party set the groom and ushers a series of challenges before he can gain access to the bride. You can see from these images that there is a lot of fun to be had! These are a preview of Cherry & Duncan’s mega wedding. Enjoy…
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Elaine & Sam: 99 yew trees in a traditional Cotswolds village: Gloucestershire engagement photographer
A quick Christmas Eve post! Say hello to Elaine & Sam, who are childhood sweethearts.
The chose the picturesque village of Painswick for their engagement shoot. It’s a gorgeous Cotswold village built out of traditional Cotswold stone, with a church and village green in the centre. In fact, their annual apple festival was taking place when we were there, complete with apple-bobbing and hay bales for sitting on. You couldn’t get more quintessentially English! We had to wait for the kids to clear out from the churchyard, which is filled with yew trees. 99 in fact, according to local folklore no more ever
Elaine and Sam, I look forward to your wedding at the fabulous Manor on the Lake, which will be my first wedding of 2013!
Happy Christmas and happy new year everyone 🙂
xx
If you are interested in an engagement photography session, drop Marie a line.
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Sinéad & Josh: Sunbeams & Smiles in an English country garden: Bristol wedding photographer
I had to blog Sinéad and Josh’s pre-wedding shoot extra fast as their wedding is in only two days time! I was almost thwarted as my PC kept shutting itself down. I tried lots of tricks and was about to give up, when a huge ball (ball? More like a boulder…) of dust and fluff flew out of the CPU fan. Having coughed up the furball, my PC was much happier and I’m happy to be able to share these images with you…Phew!
Sinéad is a nanny, but secretly would like to be a children’s librarian and Josh is one of the brains behind Factfinder Guides, travel guides for children, written with input from children (in fact, it turns out that by coincidence, his business partner is a childhood friend, but that’s another story!) Needless to say, they share lots of laughter as well as love, which I think comes through in their images. I came away from my shoot with them all buzzy because they share that kind of love that makes wedding photographers go ‘yay!’ inside 🙂
Although Sinéad and Josh are from London, they chose to have their shoot at Josh’s parents house and gardens in Bristol where they’ve shared many a happy time. And what a lovely house and garden it is…Josh’s dad renovated it from scratch and his mum had lovingly bought the walled gardens to life, making it a wonderful family home for Josh and his brothers and sisters. In fact, his mum had been working all year on growing flowers for Sinéad and Josh’s wedding, which you’ll be seeing very soon!
Although we’re in mid-winter and we were just happy that the rain had finally stopped, the sun also burst through and made the images of Sinéad and Josh extra dreamy. I’m totally looking forward to their wedding this Saturday at the Lord Mayor’s Mansion House in Bristol. Ladies and gents, I present you with Sinéad, Josh and a whole load of love…
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SNEAK PEEK – Bonnie & Will, Clifton pre-wedding shoot in Bristol
Quick sneak peek from a pre-wedding shoot in Clifton with stunning couple, Bonnie & Will. Loved shooting with them. More on them in a full blog post soon 🙂
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South Wales Coast: A stroll by the sea with Marley Hamilton
At the end of a recent shoot, I spotted Marley walking in her Ugg boots by the sea.
I started snapping, she started playing. End of story…and the beginning of this documentary photostory 🙂
Meet Marley:
