Fanhams Hall – wedding of Kate and Michael

Date of wedding – Sunday 2nd September 2018.

Bride – Kate Green.

Groom – Michael Rogie.

Ceremony and Reception Venue – Fanhams Hall.

Best Men – Bradley and Chris.

Maid of Honour – Rachael.

Bridesmaids– Grace and Daniella.

Flower Girl – Amilia.

Pageboy – Alfie.

Hair & Make Up – Zoe Towell.

Filmed by – Spotlight Weddings

Dj – Piano DJ 

Photographer – John Paul ODonnell.

Kate and Michael, what a fantastic day it was on Sunday.  We got on so well when we first met at the Fanhams Hall wedding show back in October last year. Thank you for choosing me to photograph your wedding. It was a beautiful day, you two were amazing posing for the pictures. Your family and friends are amongst some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.  Heres a little write up from the day and some pics.

The Wedding Day

I started the photos at 11.15am. Michael was getting ready in one of the rooms at Fanhams Hall. He was in there with his two best men and both dads. Kate was getting ready in a room just next to The Long Gallery where the ceremony was taking place.  Anthony Video from Spotlight Weddings arrived and we went in to see Kate together.  She was having her hair and make up done and looked lovely and chilled.  She had arranged all the dresses so I got a lovely picture. The maid of honour and Bridesmaids all came in and we photographed and filmed them, what lovely girls; they couldn’t do enough to make Kate’s morning any better. I left them too it and went across to see the boys again.

Michael is one of the nicest guys i’ve ever met, he loves my style of photography as does Kate, so I just had to do what I wanted and I knew they’d be happy. He was now ready and his dad Michael snr helped him into his suit jacket. They went down into the bar area, some of the guests were starting to arrive. The beautiful thing with Fanhams Hall is there are many great areas to use for the pictures. I like to use the buildings and established gardens, at the moment there is lovely high grass which really looks great in the pictures when shooting against the light. These areas were used by me with through out the day with the last shots being taken around 7.30 pm to get get that beautiful warm sunlight which gives a beautiful romantic feel to my shots.

So back to the wedding day. The guests were all seated in the Long Gallery ready for the ceremony to start. Kate was now ready and chatting to the registraas. I took a quick  opportunity to get a few pictures of Kate and then went into The Long Gallery to get set up for the ceremony.

Piano DJ was set up and playing beautifully. I looked over Michael was looking sharp but at the same time quite nervous. It was at this point his brother Bradley started crying which had an echo effect on pretty much everyone in the room. Kate stood at the end of the Long Gallery, paused and then walked down towards Michael with her dad. Michael did the traditional thing and looked over his shoulder as his bride walked towards him, his mother in law Claire looked at him and smiled. He was indeed a very happy man. He was marrying the absolute love of his life , his best friend; his soulmate. The ceremony was beautiful and finished with the couple signing the marriage certificate and then leading all their guests out for their drinks reception.

After a nice amount of time chatting and being congratulated, I took a great confetti shot.. I say great, I always know if its great when Anthony Video says ooo yeaaa luvvly. There was plenty of that today, we work very regularly together and work as a team. We don’t just want couples to have a great day, we want them to the best day ever and have a great memory of the pictures and video being taken too.

The sun was very bright so I took the wedding party to the back of the Mansion House, went up into a high window and shot a picture of the whole wedding party. After a few family and friends shots on the lawns I saw a beautiful break of light through the trees and the bride and groom walked into it creating a fantastic Image. Michael laid the dress out beautifully, Rachael the maid of honour helped too. Ooo yeaaa luvvly – Yep Anthony was loving it too.  The time was ticking and I knew we needed to get the main romantic shots done by the fountain so I took the couple down to the main gardens. The time had now gone, it was time for everyone to sit down for the meal. Florin from Fanhams Hall gave me the key to the golf buggy so I knew after the speeches we could go into the heart of the gardens and really get the best from the grounds in the time we had. The meal was amazing, the speeches brilliant with even the mother of the bride saying some lovely words.

The couple freshened up and we got onto the golf buggy. For 20 minutes we drove around to the best areas for the shots to be taken in. And then literally almost by mistake Anthony and I saw a beautiful break in the fences which opened out to a splendid warm sun. I used the Japanese Gardens, Long Grass, High Trees, Moongate areas and then the secret new spot that we found by mistake for the bulk of these pictures.

Piano DJ was now set up for the evenings entertainment. The Bride and Groom came in and cut their wedding cake. They then had their first dance together as husband and wife.  I finished the photos with a picture at the bottom of the main staircase. A Picture very important to the couple as it was one that they loved when viewing my work initially. The pictures were now done, I was very happy with them so I said goodnight and made my way back to download everything.

What a great day it has been, lovely people, great weather and one of the most beautiful wedding venues on the planet.

I would just like to thank you Michael and Kate for booking me. I know how important to you it was to have a great day, see your family and friends and also get some beautiful pictures. Well you certainly put a lot of effort in on making this happen. The day was perfect in every way… other than the glasses but thats not the end of the world haha. Enjoy your honeymoon together and I look forward to getting together with you when you return.

In the meantime take a look at the shots below, theres a little taster for you of whats to come and more.   Warmest regards and have the best time ever. JP

IMPORTANT *   These Images are low resolution. Anyone wishing to use them for social media purposes please make sure that the Logo is seen and that credit is given to John Paul O’Donnell Photography.